JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – After a day of anticipation, the expected vote on SJR 39 in the House Emerging Issues Committee Wednesday night fizzled at the last moment due to a lack of support.
Many Republicans initially thought to be ‘yes’ votes do not support the bill after significant lobbying efforts on both sides of the issue. Rep. Elijah Haahr, the chair of the committee, noted that the vote would not come tonight after discussions with House leadership and possible legal challenges to the resolution.
SJR 39 would allow those with sincerely held religious convictions to deny service to anyone seeking services or goods for a same-sex wedding. Opponents of the resolution believe it is discrimination against the LGBT community.
Rep. Mike Colona, a Democrat from St. Louis, was visibly angry at the decision by Republican leadership to push the vote back.
“They knew we had killed the bill tonight,” he said.
Sarah Rossi with the ACLU of Missouri and Steph Perkins, the executive director of Missouri’s leading LGBT advocacy group PROMO, are also two opponents of the legislation. They say they wanted the vote to occur.
“I think it’s hard to tell. We’re disappointed that the vote wasn’t held tonight,” Rossi said. “There are a lot of people waiting to see what their fate holds for them as an LGBT person in Missouri. I’m not sure if it’s a good sign or a bad sign, but it’s frustrating.”
Four Republicans are also thought to be grappling with the issue or are outright opposed. The most vocal of the four has been Rep. Anne Zerr, a leading pro-business conservative in the chamber, who echoed concerns by chambers of commerce and other business groups, at last week’s hearing on the measure.
Rep. Caleb Rowden, was relatively quiet at last week’s hearing, but he also opposes the legislation. However, Rowden is in one of the most competitive Senate races this year against Rep. Stephen Webber, D-Columbia, in an area that represents one of the more liberal cities in the state.
Rowden’s opposition comes as a particularly principled stand since a leader in the Senate Republican Campaign Committee is Sen. Bob Onder, the bill’s sponsor.
Sources also confirmed that some Republican members of the committee reached out to Attorney General Chris Koster for advice on dealing with the issue.
Reps. Ron Hicks and Jim Hansen are thought to be the other two unwilling to pull the trigger on a ‘yes’ vote without more thought. They may also be in favor of amending the bill to take out the provisions of the bill that would affect businesses. Haahr said there were no plans to remove those provisions.
“[The Senate has] made their preference known, and they’d like to keep it in its current form,” Haahr said. Ultimately though, he did not rule out amending the bill, even though he personally supports the bill as it is.
“We’ll make our determination as a committee,” he said.
Even if that amendment was made, it could still be revoked by the General Laws Committee, the bill’s next destination should it escape from Emerging Issues.
The Emerging Issues Committee, under Haahr’s leadership, has taken many of the most controversial and complex bills, such as the Uber bill, multiple gun bills, and the bills that would repeal the St. Louis earnings tax. Each of those bills have passed committee, earning Haahr high regards for his efforts.
House and Senate Republicans are planning on having a caucus Monday before the Emerging Issues Committee meeting that evening to allow Republicans to discuss the bill with Onder where the bill is expected to have its share of detractors.
