JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Despite essentially filibustering a House bill establishing a statewide prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) this week, Sen. Denny Hoskins hopes the legislation will be brought to the floor before the legislative session ends.
Hoskins said his filibusters weren’t an attempt to block the PDMP bill from being brought up, but rather an attempt to shed light on two House rules committees he said were holding “hostage” Senate bills, particularly those that are a priority for the Conservative Caucus.
Republican Rep. Holly Rehder’s HB 188 — creating a PDMP — sits on the Senate’s calendar for the third reading of House bills. Rehder chairs the House Rules – Administrative Oversight Committee. This is the seventh year Rehder has carried a PDMP bill.
“I hope it will be brought up. I have a lot of amendments to add to make the bill better,” Hoskins told The Missouri Times Wednesday afternoon.
Hoskins filibustered the reading of the Senate journal for two days this week and pointed to two particular bills — his SB 283 removing a sunset on a higher education grant program for veterans, and Sen. Eric Burlison’s SB 145, the HAILEY’S Law bill reforming the state’s Amber Alert system — still held in two House rules committees. Hoskins accused the lower chamber of “playing political games.”
SB 283 has been in the House Rules – Administrative Oversight Committee since mid-April; SB 145 has been in the House Rules – Legislative Oversight Committee since late last month. SB 283 is on the executive schedule for Rehder’s committee Thursday.
Since Hoskins has publicly castigated the House committees, leadership on both sides have held discussions, and multiple Senate bills were able to make it out of the committees Wednesday, he noted. In particular, Hoskins’ SB 219, modifying provisions related to CPA permits, advanced out of the House Rules – Legislative Oversight Committee Wednesday after initially failing and being reconsidered.
Hoskins said he is hopeful his two priorities — SB 145 and SB 283 — will successfully pass out of the respective committees this week.
As for PDMP, Hoskins and others take issue with the government creating a database of information from law-abiding citizens. In particular, Hoskins pointed to potential data breaches and issues with a previous concealed carry database in the state.
Sen. Bill Eigel, also a Conservative Caucus member, has contended the PDMP bill could potentially violate Missourians constitutional rights and said the Senate does not need to “abdicate its duties” or “pass every single bill” brought before it.
Kaitlyn Schallhorn was the editor in chief of The Missouri Times from 2020-2022. She joined the newspaper in early 2019 after working as a reporter for Fox News in New York City.
Throughout her career, Kaitlyn has covered political campaigns across the U.S., including the 2016 presidential election, and humanitarian aid efforts in Africa and the Middle East.
She is a native of Missouri who studied journalism at Winthrop University in South Carolina. She is also an alumna of the National Journalism Center in Washington, D.C.
Contact Kaitlyn at kaitlyn@themissouritimes.com.
