Marie Moyer
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A technical session held by the Missouri House of Representatives on Sunday lasted just two minutes but the political fallout is expected to last much longer.
The meeting began at 5:30 p.m. and adjourned at 5:32 p.m. with no discussion. While little was said in the chamber, the divide between Republicans and Democrats was unmistakable.
“People don’t want this. They would rather have education. They would rather have affordable food, affordable rent, affordable mortgages. They’d like to be able to live without the government interfering in their lives every single day,” Jeremy Dean (D-Springfield) said.
Democrats left the meeting frustrated.
“How can I explain today? A bunch of cowards for one, unconstitutional for two,” Tonya Rush (D-STL) said.
Dean shared the same thoughts.
“Today went exactly how we expected it to with a little bit more dramatics from the Republicans,” Dean said. “Our point here is to make them realize that what we’re doing here is unconstitutional. We aren’t following the will of Missourians.”
Governor Mike Kehoe called for the special session in August with plans to discuss redistricting the state.
The general assembly returned to the state capitol last Wednesday, with House committees approving a Republican-backed redistricting map that would reduce Democrats to just one congressional seat, along with a proposal to raise the number of votes required to pass future ballot initiatives in Missouri.
Gregg Busch (D-Columbia), argued democrats were not given enough transparency in the process.
“Well, what I really want them to be able to do is, number one, kind of own what it is that they’re doing, kind of taking orders from the DC swamp number one. And also making sure that if we’re going to need to be voting on a map, let us have access to the map and to the demographics and how the map was created. We don’t have any of those things,” Bush said.
Several Republican representatives declined interview requests from ABC 17 News on Sunday. However, State Representative Chad Perkins (R- Speaker Pro Tem) shared his perspective.
“I would say that if any democrats feels the technical sessions are held illegally, they should probably pay back any per diem money they’ve ever (received) over the last 50 years, including the 30 years that Democrat speakers were doing that,” Perkins said.
Despite the short meeting, Democrats made it clear they’re preparing for the next election cycle.
“They are bending the knee to Donald Trump and we will see them at the ballot box in November 2026,” Rep Ray Reed (D-St. Louis County) said.
Rush added, “It’s about democracy in for this redistricting thing is a power move. It’s a power move. It’s a Trump power move, and it’s not right. We are not going to sit around and let them take away our rights, our community rights. It’s just not right. That’s the bottom line.”
Reed, Dean and Elizabeth Fuchs (D-St. Louis) have been sitting overnight in the Capitol since Thursday in protest of the session. During an announcement of their protest on Thursday, the representatives demanded to talk with Speaker of the House Jon Patterson and asked for all the bills of the session to be read which was not fulfilled Sunday.
Most Republican representatives left the meeting after reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, appearing satisfied with Sunday’s outcome. Democrats, however, walked away wanting more. Before departing, a group of Democratic lawmakers joined together in a gospel song, vowing they would not stop “until victory is won.”
Click here to follow the original article.
