Press "Enter" to skip to content

Report card: Legislators grade the 2013 session

ST. LOUIS — Following the story at the end of session where House and Senate leadership reflected on the session’s trials and triumphs, The Missouri Times decided to reach out to as many legislators as possible and get their input. We asked what letter grade they would give the session, and why they would give it that grade. This is what they said.

[divider style=”bold”][/divider]

What the senators said…

The Senate Chamber
The Senate Chamber

“C — The Senate worked hard to find a solution to the Second Injury Fund, and we passed a few things for education. We did good on some things, but failed when it comes to we passing bad tax cut bill and didn’t get to Medicaid expansion.”

— Sen. Paul LeVota, D-Kansas City

—–

“I would grade it low because the governor is going to veto the good stuff we passed. But, we did manage to stop a lot of bad things. We stopped the Ameren surcharge, the sales tax, more tax credits and a tax deduction for new home buyers — all bad government.”

— Sen. Rob Schaaf, R-Buchanan County

—–

“C- — I feel that I made some headway with my labor issues, but we didn’t expand Medicaid.”

— Sen. Gina Walsh, D-St. Louis County

—–

“B — I think we were able to work together in the Senate and we were able to come to compromise. Dempsey and Richard were amazing for their positions in leadership, and I had good leadership as well. We were all able to say what we had to say on the floor without being cut off and we had really civil conversations. Everyone took everyone very seriously and equally.”

— Sen. Maria Chappelle Nadal, D- St. Louis

—–

“It’s all about your expectations, and my expectations were not high. I’d give it a B. I’m happy to not have an $8 billion tax increase for tax payers.  We didn’t expand tax credits, which I think is a very good thing, though we did add caps, which is disappointing. I would have liked to have stronger education reform, but that didn’t quite happen either.”

— Sen. Ed Emery, R-Barton County

—–

“B — As chairman of the [Agriculture] Committee I think we got some good things done there — we got some big things through. I think with the transportation tax we should have just let the people vote on it. With as many calls in my district I’ve gotten about it, it just makes sense. My district’s got a lot of start-up businesses that would have liked to expand, but don’t feel they can. That issue was a shame.”

— Sen. Brian Munzlinger, R-Lewis County

—–

“ B — We’re still stalled on economic development for the state, and that’s a problem. I’m disappointed that we weren’t able to get past that. We did great work on the Second Injury Fund and worker’s compensation though. I also would have liked to see Right to Work happen, but maybe next year.”

— Sen. Mike Parson, Polk County

—–

“C+ — The Senate moved faster than usual, but the biggest issues didn’t really come up, namely Medicaid expansion. It didn’t come up and it hindered what Missouri citizens were looking for. Although they accomplished a lot, they failed to accomplish one of the key issues for Missourians this year.”

— Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis

—–

“B — We accomplished a lot but there’s still more to be done. I would have liked to have seen a comprehensive economic development and tax credit reform bill, but all in all it was a good session. We did tax relief, amateur sports incentive, Second Injury Fund, better access to physical therapy services and passed a balanced budget: all positive things.”

— Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-St. Louis County

—–

“I would give the 2013 session a C- because we failed to expand Medicaid to provide health care to nearly 300,000 working Missourians and turned down billions of dollars in federal funding.  The huge tax cut we gave to corporations and wealthy individuals will do little to create jobs, but it will make it much harder for our state to fully fund education.  We had a few successes, but overall the 2013 session was a disappointment for Missouri families.”

— Sen. Kiki Curls, D-Kansas City

—–

“Senate: B, General Assembly: C — We passed legislation placing our Second Injury Fund on a path towards solvency, we were able to compromise on a piece of prevailing wage for out-state Missouri, the Senate passed a transportation development bill and an economic development package, and as debate this session was in good faith minority members did not have the previous question moved once this year. While the Senate was more functional than in past years, and had some successes, the General Assembly failed to solve major problems. The most obvious failure for this session was the inability to address Medicaid expansion, which would be a boom to our economy while insuring thousands of Missourians.”

— Sen. Jason Holsman, D-Kansas City

[divider style=”bold”][/divider]

What the representatives said… 

The House Chamber
The House Chamber

“I would give this session a solid B. I think we were able to take on and pass some significant issues, including the first tax cut legislation in almost 100 years, and a fix to the insolvent Second Injury Fund. We have more work to do next year in hopefully passing the bonding bill and a few other key opportunities, but I think this session as a great first step in that process and the most productive session we’ve seen in several years.”

— Rep. Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia

—–

“B+ — We never get everything we’ve pushed for. I had two bills I sponsored and both got through. One is on the governor’s desk (special election bill) and the other is going to a vote of the people (Right to Farm). The special election bill was something I worked on for five years.”

— Newly elected Congressman Jason Smith

—–

“ C — Without any movement on Medicaid expansion and the cutting of the circuit breaker for those who rent and make so little. Tax credit compromise and workers compensation and second injury fund legislation were enough to keep my letter grade from being a D.”

— Rep. Keith English, D-Florissant

—–

“A — You don’t pass an income tax every year. Last one was 1921. Also, an A for not passing the tax increase on transportation. And an A for paycheck protection, but I’m biased because that was my bill.”

— Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Springfield

—–

“B+ — The Second Injury Fund fix and the first income tax cut in 70 years were the highlights of the session. Unfortunately, we missed opportunities to offer more freedom to working employees and make improvements to our education system. “

— Rep. Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield

—–

“A solid B. A lot of good things for business across the state of Missouri were done. But I would like to see a stronger economic development package next session.”

— Rep. Noel Torpey, R-Kansas City

—–

“A — From my perspective, we passed my prevailing wage reform for rural communities, which is huge. We passed a comprehensive tax cut for the first time in almost a century. We also preserved the right to farm and we’ve tackled some other issues like Second Injury Fund. We also dealt with paycheck protection. Both are solid legislative victories for conservatives.”

— Rep. Casey Cuernsey, R-Bethany

—–

“B — It was a good session for the budget, Second Amendment and life. We helped Missouri Businesses with Second Injury Fund and workers compensation legislation as well as tax policy. However, we failed to bring needed reform to tax credits.”

— Rep. Mike Cierpoit, R-Kansas City

—–

“B+ — The nature of the legislative process is very fluid. Info is constantly updated and verified the interests of people is always foremost. Legislation, like baseball, is often not always about hitting a home run, but about getting to first base, there’s always another session.”

— Rep. Tom Flanigan, R-Carthage

—–

“B — Having returned to the Missouri House of Representatives for a second time (serving two terms in the 1980’s) I found that not much had changed. There are still a small handful on both sides of the aisle that have big egos, big mouths and very little real pertinent vision and positive input; fortunately there is a large majority in the General Assembly from both parties who truly stand on their principles, work hard and stick to their convictions. I think part of the problem today is since there are now term limits there is a lack of institutional knowledge. Our major successes were passing a balanced budget, tax reform, farm rights, educational issues, benevolent tax credits, sunshine law and protecting our Second Amendment rights. I was disappointed that we were not able to do more relating to medical malpractice, Medicaid reform, discrimination, bonds and transportation infrastructure. Overall, I thought the leadership in both parties worked together.”

— Rep. Nate Walker, R-Kirksville