Mitchell Kaminski
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The City of Columbia on Friday held its first legislative priorities session, bringing together local leaders and state lawmakers at City Hall to align ahead of the 2026 legislative session.
Columbia Mayor Barbra Buffaloe said the session was about ensuring Columbia’s priorities are heard in Jefferson City.
“There’s a lot of priorities a lot of institutions have. I’m really thankful for our representatives coming together with us because I believe they carry the voice of Columbia, that is the fourth largest city in the state of Missouri, and so I think that voice should be heard.”
The meeting marked a new process for the city and included Democratic Reps. Adrian Plank, Kathy Steinhoff and Gregg Bush, Republican Rep. John Martin, along with a representative from state Sen. Stephen Webber’s office.
Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe said the idea for the session came after conversations with other Missouri cities.
“The idea first came about in talking to our peers cities. So the city of Springfield did something similar last year when we had a new governor coming in. I met together with the mayors from Springfield, Kansas City, and Saint Louis, and we talked about how we as cities can come together to help advocate with the new governor what our priorities are,” Buffaloe said. “Then I realized, so many other agencies and institutions do this. They advocate for themselves. They come up with what their priorities are. And so I approached the staff with doing that. And so we got together over the summer with city council and put together our priority list.”
Bush said the session helped unify lawmakers across party lines.
“This has been a really great experience tonight, making sure that all of us, irrespective of partisanship, we can all be rowing in the same direction because we don’t represent Columbia for our own sake. We represent Columbia because we love Columbia, just like everybody else that was in this room tonight,” Bush told ABC 17 News.
Bush also emphasized the importance of staying connected to the community.
“I’m in constant contact with folks from the City of Columbia. I’m in constant contact with my family, with my neighbors, with parts of my community. Really fortunate about that. Plus, that proximity means they can come down and talk with us and share certain things that they see that maybe aren’t on our radar,” Bush said.
However, Bush says that he expects the upcoming legislative session to be challenging.
“We’re expecting probably a little bit of a volatile session this time. We’ve got a lot of challenges ahead of us. There’s going to be some budget issues. There are going to be things with respect to the federal government as well. There’s the whole issue with maps right now as well,” Bush said. “I’m really going to focus on being, again, the only nurse in the statehouse. I’m really going to focus on people’s access to health care and what it’s like to work in a health care setting.”
Martin said the session provided valuable insight into the city’s priorities.
“A good crowd today, a number of the state reps are here. And so, to be able to kind of at least be informed of what the city is looking at and then the things that are involved in the state legislature, whether it be infrastructure. MODOT, economic growth, things like that, things that we can be a part of on the state level to help Columbia be successful,” Martin said.
City officials outlined both general and specific legislative priorities they hope to advance at the state level.
Priorities listed focus on retaining local control, public safety and fiscal stability.
The city opposes state legislation that would limit municipal authority, including oversight of short-term rentals and local revenue sources. Columbia supports measures to reduce violent crime, expand community mental health services and strengthen emergency response agencies, including reporting requirements for lost or stolen guns.
Other priorities include expanding affordable housing, protecting municipal taxing authority, investing in transportation and infrastructure, including I-70 expansion and transit funding, and supporting economic growth, workforce development, and environmental initiatives such as a post-consumer paint recycling program.
However, Buffaloe said public safety remains a top priority.
“It’s something that we’ve heard from both our law enforcement, but then also local representatives,” Buffaloe told ABC 17 News.
The city supports amending state law to match federal law regarding handgun possession by minors, requiring lost or stolen firearms to be reported to law enforcement within 72 hours of discovery, and increasing support for state emergency response agencies.
SB 922, filed by Webber, reflects those discussions. Webber’s bill would make it a class A misdemeanor if a minor is caught with a gun.
Buffaloe was among four Missouri mayors last year to sign a letter that asked Gov. Mike Kehoe for help banning youths from possessing guns.
“Part of it was because of our discussions around minors in possession of guns and not following federal law. We just want that clarification. That’s coming from me, that’s coming from our police department, and so appreciative to Senator Webber. State Representative Kathy Steinhoff also has a similar bill in the House filed,” Buffaloe said.
While Bush, the only nurse in the state house, says his legislative agenda revolves mostly around health care, he believes that gun safety is something that needs to be addressed.
“Public safety is going to be an issue as well. I want to make sure that we free up physicians to do the work that they have, particularly around firearms,” Bush said. “I know there’s a physician gag order, so let’s make sure that there’s at every opportunity, there’s an opportunity to educate people about safe firearm storage and handling. I want to make sure that you can do all of those things.”
Martin said community safety and infrastructure remain his key concerns.
“One of the things that’s important to myself as a state legislator, our governor, would be the aspect of community safety,” Martin said. “The University of Missouri, City of Columbia, obviously vital to our state, and so we want to promote and see good safety, public safety for our city and also for the University of Missouri.”
Despite dedicating a significant portion of the city’s 2026 fiscal budget to public safety and forming multiple task forces aimed at addressing violence and crime, many residents still perceive public safety in Columbia negatively, a concern Mayor Barbara Buffaloe addressed.
“I honestly do believe that there are some of those who are writing the narration. They’re writing their own narrative. They’re putting it out there. I think you saw the press release this week from Chief Schlude, which is talking about how an AI-generated sort of like shots-fired system, started creating this chaos for people who thought that there had been a shooting downtown and a homicide with a teen, and that was just not true,” Buffaloe told ABC 17 News. “To me, it’s understanding media literacy, following truth to places I took your information from, rather than relying on social media.”
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