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Missouri Republicans see trans rights as potent political issue

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Proposals that would affect transgender Missourians have moved to the top of the GOP agenda in Jefferson City.“It is a priority,” House Speaker Dean Plocher, R-Des Peres, said during a press conference last week before lawmakers departed the Capitol for spring break. “We’re going to protect women’s sports. We’re going to protect surgical intervention for minors.”Proponents and opponents of what Plocher is advocating have different theories on why transgender-related issues have become so prominent in Missouri politics and policy.Republican supporters of these initiatives say they are trying to reclaim ground against what they see as corrosive left-wing beliefs at a time when same-sex marriage and efforts to fight discrimination against LGBTQ people are much more popular than they were 20 years ago. They have also described their efforts to curtail certain types of health care for transgender youth as a way to protect children.But opponents of these proposals see a cynical political ploy to bolster enthusiasm among the Republican base at the expense of a vulnerable part of the LGBTQ community. They also contend that whatever Republicans may gain politically isn’t worth the hit to Missouri’s reputation.“Missourians are asking not if I leave, but when do I leave?” said Shira Berkowitz, senior director for policy and advocacy for PROMO, a Missouri-based group that supports LGBTQ rights. “And I think it’s an incredibly scary time for either parents raising transgender kids or transgender Missourians living here.”

Brian Munoz

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St. Louis Public RadioSen. Mike Moon, R-Ash Grove, on Jan. 4 during the first day of the legislative session at the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City. Moon is the sponsor of legislation that bans gender-affirming care for minors.

Top of the agendaThe first half of the 2023 Missouri General Assembly session featured marathon committee hearings and dramatic debates on the floor over bills that target the state’s transgender community.Some of those proposals include:These types of ideas have caught fire in other GOP-controlled states over the past few months. For instance, Tennessee, Florida and Iowa have prohibited gender-affirming care for minors. And North Dakota and Arkansas have pursued curbs on drag show performances.“What we see from the left is they’re trying to push their agendas on other people,” said Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, a likely GOP candidate for governor in 2024. “And Republicans generally are just saying: ‘Look, we disagree with you. If you want to do that, you can. But don’t make us affirm that.’”“I think most Republicans at the very least would say: ‘Don’t do that to a minor,’” he added, referring to certain types of gender-affirming health care.These issues are not just top of mind in the legislature, but also on the campaign trail. During this year’s Missouri Republican Party Lincoln Days in Springfield, numerous candidates for office in 2024 expressed strong support for barring transgender youth from accessing certain forms of health care and forbidding transgender girls to play girls sports.“We ought to send a clear message, which is a message rooted in the truth of the Bible and all of our history,” said U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, who is running for a second term next year. “Which is: ‘Guess what? God made you as you are, and there’s nothing wrong with that.’”The Kansas City Star reported that polling by Hawley and others shows voters are concerned about transgender issues — and have helped fuel efforts by politicians to push the issue.Some have attributed the rise in prominence to transgender-related proposals to conservative media outlets and social media platforms amplifying the issue. State Sen. Rusty Black said he saw a major uptick in interest from Republican voters when the COVID-19 pandemic began three years ago.“I’ve got grandparents getting a hold of me over these issues,” said Black, R-Chillicothe. “And for some reason during that time when we were at home and quit running to the park or whatever else we were doing, people became so much more intense about what’s going on with their children and grandchildren.“There’s all sorts of people saying ‘we’ve got to do something about it,’” he added. “What we’ve got to hope that we do at the end is … if we do something about it, we do something that does the least amount of harm as possible.”Social wedge issueCritics of the transgender-related proposals say Republican proponents are more interested in advancing politically than implementing sound public policy.Sen. Greg Razer, the only openly gay member of the Missouri Senate, said the push to curtail transgender rights could be linked to the propensity of Missouri Republicans to use social wedge issues to rev up their base.

Sen. Greg Razer on how the filibuster could dramatically change bill on transgender health care

Unlike other states with GOP-controlled governments, Missouri has a state Senate where lawmakers can use the filibuster to force compromise on legislation. Sen. Greg Razer of Kansas City talked with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum about how that procedural device could alter the course of legislation that bans gender affirming care for minors.

The Kansas City Democrat added that since Missouri banned most abortions and removed many restrictions on firearms, there aren’t that many ways that Missouri Republicans can use those social issues to motivate voters.“There’s nothing else you can pass, so you have to find a new social wedge issue,” Razer said. “I think they thought it was going to be critical race theory. That dart didn’t stick. They’re trying to make it stick to trans kids. If that doesn’t do it, they’ll go after another one.”Razer added that while Republicans may get some short-term political gain from passing legislation affecting transgender people, the issue isn’t as politically potent as they may assume. He pointed to former Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler’s decisive loss in the GOP primary for U.S. Senate, even though she made opposition to LGBTQ rights a cornerstone of her political career.Berkowitz said PROMO sees the GOP push against transgender rights as “a real misunderstanding of who is transgender and what makes somebody transgender.”“From the kids that we see that testify constantly at the Missouri legislature, we’ve heard them say things like ‘I’m supported in my family. I’m supported in my school. My teachers use the right pronouns for me. My classmates see me as who I am. The only people that don’t are our elected leaders in our state.’”One example of what Berkowitz is talking about occurred in January, when Clayton High School junior Chelsea Freels testified about legislation barring minors from accessing gender-affirming care.“These bills claim to protect children, I think that’s in the title of two of them. The other is ‘Saving Adolescents from Experimentation.’ But what are you protecting me against, exactly?” Freels said. “I transitioned recently, relatively speaking. And I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. I’m not depressed anymore. I’m not suicidal anymore. I’ve got a great group of friends since I transitioned.”

Brian Munoz

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St. Louis Public RadioGov. Mike Parson greets legislators before delivering the State of the State address in January. Parson made no mention of LGBTQ issues during his speech. He said recently that he expects opposing sides of transgender-related bills will come to a compromise.

Filibuster could block billsUnlike in some other Republican states, lawmakers like Razer can use the filibuster in the Senate to force Republicans to alter their bills around transgender rights.“I think Missourians should be happy that we have a very strong filibuster,” Razer said. “Whichever party is in the minority, the strong filibuster helps that party rein in the more extreme tendencies of the majority party. I think that’s the purpose of it.”Razer added that it’s possible that Republicans will use a legislative maneuver known as the previous question and referred to as a “nuclear option” to end a filibuster, but that could push Senate Democrats to derail other GOP priorities. He adds that his overall goal is to “walk away with some semblance of these kids are going to be OK.”“I’m under no illusion that they won’t use the nuclear option to get this bill passed,” Razer said. “There’s just a lust to get this done.”Eight senators who support the ban on gender-affirming care to minors signed a letter saying they are “unmoved by threats to stall action on the state budget — or any other bill — if [Sen. Mike Moon’s legislation] is brought up for a vote.”“We will not be deterred from protecting kids,” the letter stated.The outcome is personal for Rep. Barbara Phifer, and she also worries about the consequences for the state.The Kirkwood Democrat has a grandchild who is transgender. She said that if her GOP colleagues follow the lead of other states, it will stain Missouri’s reputation.“If you want to look at it very pragmatically, how is the state going to attract people who are educated to come and live in the state of Missouri?” Phifer said. “People aren’t going to come.”Gov. Mike Parson said he hopes that cooler heads can prevail before lawmakers adjourn in mid-May.“I think there are a lot of things up there that are hot-button issues we’ve all been talking about,” Parson said. “I think hopefully you’re going to get people at the table and get a solution.”

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Poll: Support for Missouri abortion rights amendment growing

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A proposed constitutional amendment legalizing abortion in Missouri received support from more than half of respondents in a new poll from St. Louis University and YouGov.That’s a boost from a poll earlier this year, which could mean what’s known as Amendment 3 is in a solid position to pass in November.SLU/YouGov’s poll of 900 likely Missouri voters from Aug. 8-16 found that 52% of respondents would vote for Amendment 3, which would place constitutional protections for abortion up to fetal viability. Thirty-four percent would vote against the measure, while 14% aren’t sure.By comparison, the SLU/YouGov poll from February found that 44% of voters would back the abortion legalization amendment.St. Louis University political science professor Steven Rogers said 32% of Republicans and 53% of independents would vote for the amendment. That’s in addition to nearly 80% of Democratic respondents who would approve the measure. In the previous poll, 24% of Republicans supported the amendment.Rogers noted that neither Amendment 3 nor a separate ballot item raising the state’s minimum wage is helping Democratic candidates. GOP contenders for U.S. Senate, governor, lieutenant governor, treasurer and secretary of state all hold comfortable leads.“We are seeing this kind of crossover voting, a little bit, where there are voters who are basically saying, ‘I am going to the polls and I’m going to support a Republican candidate, but I’m also going to go to the polls and then I’m also going to try to expand abortion access and then raise the minimum wage,’” Rogers said.Republican gubernatorial nominee Mike Kehoe has a 51%-41% lead over Democrat Crystal Quade. And U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley is leading Democrat Lucas Kunce by 53% to 42%. Some GOP candidates for attorney general, secretary of state and treasurer have even larger leads over their Democratic rivals.

Brian Munoz

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St. Louis Public RadioHundreds of demonstrators pack into a parking lot at Planned Parenthood of St. Louis and Southwest Missouri on June 24, 2022, during a demonstration following the Supreme Court’s reversal of a case that guaranteed the constitutional right to an abortion.

One of the biggest challenges for foes of Amendment 3 could be financial.Typically, Missouri ballot initiatives with well-funded and well-organized campaigns have a better chance of passing — especially if the opposition is underfunded and disorganized. Since the end of July, the campaign committee formed to pass Amendment 3 received more than $3 million in donations of $5,000 or more.That money could be used for television advertisements to improve the proposal’s standing further, Rogers said, as well as point out that Missouri’s current abortion ban doesn’t allow the procedure in the case of rape or incest.“Meanwhile, the anti side won’t have those resources to kind of try to make that counter argument as strongly, and they don’t have public opinion as strongly on their side,” Rogers said.There is precedent of a well-funded initiative almost failing due to opposition from socially conservative voters.In 2006, a measure providing constitutional protections for embryonic stem cell research nearly failed — even though a campaign committee aimed at passing it had a commanding financial advantage.Former state Sen. Bob Onder was part of the opposition campaign to that measure. He said earlier this month it is possible to create a similar dynamic in 2024 against Amendment 3, if social conservatives who oppose abortion rights can band together.“This is not about reproductive rights or care for miscarriages or IVF or anything else,” said Onder, the GOP nominee for Missouri’s 3rd Congressional District seat. “Missourians will learn that out-of-state special interests and dark money from out of state is lying to them and they will reject this amendment.”Quade said earlier this month that Missourians of all political ideologies are ready to roll back the state’s abortion ban.“Regardless of political party, we hear from folks who are tired of politicians being in their doctor’s offices,” Quade said. “They want politicians to mind their own business. So this is going to excite folks all across the political spectrum.”

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Democrat Mark Osmack makes his case for Missouri treasurer

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Mark Osmack has been out of the electoral fray for awhile, but he never completely abandoned his passion for Missouri politics.Osmack, a Valley Park native and U.S. Army veteran, previously ran for Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District seat and for state Senate. Now he’s the Democratic nominee for state treasurer after receiving a phone call from Missouri Democratic Party Chairman Russ Carnahan asking him to run.“There’s a lot of decision making and processing and evaluation that goes into it, which is something I am very passionate and interested in,” Osmack said this week on an episode of Politically Speaking.Osmack is squaring off against state Treasurer Vivek Malek, who was able to easily win a crowded GOP primary against several veteran lawmakers including House Budget Chairman Cody Smith and state Sen. Andrew Koenig.While Malek was able to attract big donations to his political action committee and pour his own money into the campaign, Osmack isn’t worried that he won’t be able to compete in November. Since Malek was appointed to his post, Osmack contends he hasn’t proven that he’s a formidable opponent in a general election.“His actions and his decision making so far in his roughly two year tenure in that office have been questionable,” Osmack said.Among other things, Osmack was critical of Malek for placing unclaimed property notices on video gaming machines which are usually found in gas stations or convenience stores. The legality of the machines has been questioned for some time.As Malek explained on his own episode of Politically Speaking, he wanted to make sure the unclaimed property program was as widely advertised as possible. But he acknowledged it was a mistake to put the decals close to the machines and ultimately decided to remove them.Osmack said: “This doesn’t even pass the common sense sniff test of, ‘Hey, should I put state stickers claiming you might have a billion dollars on a gambling machine that is not registered with the state of Missouri?’ If we’re gonna give kudos for him acknowledging the wrong thing, it never should have been done in the first place.”Osmack’s platform includes supporting programs providing school meals using Missouri agriculture products and making child care more accessible for the working class.He said the fact that Missouri has such a large surplus shows that it’s possible to create programs to make child care within reach for parents.“It is quite audacious for [Republicans] to brag about $8 billion, with a B, dollars in state surplus, while we offer next to no social services to include pre-K, daycare, or child care,” Osmack said.Here’s are some other topics Osmack discussed on the show:How he would handle managing the state’s pension systems and approving low-income housing tax credits. The state treasurer’s office is on boards overseeing both of those programs.Malek’s decision to cut off investments from Chinese companies. Osmack said that Missouri needs to be cautious about abandoning China as a business partner, especially since they’re a major consumer of the state’s agriculture products. “There’s a way to make this work where we are not supporting communist nations to the detriment of the United States or our allies, while also maintaining strong economic ties that benefit Missouri farmers,” he said.What it was like to witness the skirmish at the Missouri State Fair between U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley and Democratic challenger Lucas Kunce.Whether Kunce can get the support of influential groups like the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which often channels money and staff to states with competitive Senate elections.

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As Illinois receives praise for its cannabis equity efforts, stakeholders work on system’s flaws

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Medical marijuana patients can now purchase cannabis grown by small businesses as part of their allotment, Illinois’ top cannabis regulator said, but smaller, newly licensed cannabis growers are still seeking greater access to the state’s medical marijuana customers.Illinois legalized medicinal marijuana beginning in 2014, then legalized it for recreational use in 2020. While the 2020 law legalized cannabis use for any adult age 21 or older, it did not expand licensing for medical dispensaries.Patients can purchase marijuana as part of the medical cannabis program at dual-purpose dispensaries, which are licensed to serve both medical and recreational customers. But dual-purpose dispensaries are greatly outnumbered by dispensaries only licensed to sell recreationally, and there are no medical-only dispensaries in the state.As another part of the adult-use legalization law, lawmakers created a “craft grow” license category that was designed to give more opportunities to Illinoisans hoping to legally grow and sell marijuana. The smaller-scale grow operations were part of the 2020 law’s efforts to diversify the cannabis industry in Illinois.Prior to that, all cultivation centers in Illinois were large-scale operations dominated by large multi-state operators. The existing cultivators, mostly in operation since 2014, were allowed to grow recreational cannabis beginning in 2019.Until recently, dual-purpose dispensaries have been unsure as to whether craft-grown products, made by social equity licensees — those who have lived in a disproportionately impacted area or have been historically impacted by the war on drugs — can be sold medicinally as part of a patient’s medical allotment.Erin Johnson, the state’s cannabis regulation oversight officer, told Capitol News Illinois last month that her office has “been telling dispensaries, as they have been asking us” they can now sell craft-grown products to medical patients.“There was just a track and trace issue on our end, but never anything statutorily,” she said.

Dilpreet Raju

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Capitol News IllinoisThe graphic shows how cannabis grown in Illinois gets from cultivation centers to customers.

No notice has been posted, but Johnson’s verbal guidance comes almost two years after the first craft grow business went online in Illinois.It allows roughly 150,000 medical patients, who dispensary owners say are the most consistent purchasers of marijuana, to buy products made by social equity businesses without paying recreational taxes. However — even as more dispensaries open — the number available to medical patients has not increased since 2018, something the Cannabis Regulation Oversight Office “desperately” wants to see changed. Johnson said Illinois is a limited license state, meaning “there are caps on everything” to help control the relatively new market.Berwyn Thompkins, who operates two cannabis businesses, said the rules limited options for patients and small businesses.“It’s about access,” Thompkins said. “Why wouldn’t we want all the patients — which the (adult-use) program was initially built around — why wouldn’t we want them to have access? They should have access to any dispensary.”Customers with a medical marijuana card pay a 1% tax on all marijuana products, whereas recreational customers pay retail taxes between roughly 20 and 40% on a given cannabis product, when accounting for local taxes.While Illinois has received praise for its equity-focused cannabis law, including through an independent study that showed more people of color own cannabis licenses than in any other state, some industry operators say they’ve experienced many unnecessary hurdles getting their businesses up and running.The state, in fact, announced last month that it had opened its 100th social equity dispensary.But Steve Olson, purchasing manager at a pair of dispensaries (including one dual-purpose dispensary) near Rockford, said small specialty license holders have been left in the lurch since the first craft grower opened in October 2022.“You would think that this would be something they’re (the government) trying to help out these social equity companies with, but they’re putting handcuffs on them in so many different spots,” he said. “One of them being this medical thing.”Olson said he contacted state agencies, including the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, months ago about whether craft products can be sold to medical patients at their retail tax rate, but only heard one response: “They all say it was an oversight.”This potentially hurt social equity companies because they sell wholesale to dispensaries and may have been missing out on a consistent customer base through those medical dispensaries.Olson said the state’s attempts to provide licensees with a path to a successful business over the years, such as with corrective lotteries that granted more social equity licenses, have come up short.“It’s like they almost set up the social equity thing to fail so the big guys could come in and swoop up all these licenses,” Olson said. “I hate to feel like that but, if you look at it, it’s pretty black and white.”Olson said craft companies benefit from any type of retail sale.“If we sell it to medical patients or not, it’s a matter of, ‘Are we collecting the proper taxes?’ That’s all it is,” he said.State revenue from cannabis taxes, licensing costs and other fees goes into the Cannabis Regulation Fund, which is used to fund a host of programs, including cannabis offense expungement, the general revenue fund, and the R3 campaign aiming to uplift disinvested communities.For fiscal year 2024, nearly $256 million was paid out from Cannabis Regulation Fund for related initiatives, which includes almost $89 million transferred to the state’s general revenue fund and more than $20 million distributed to local governments, according to the Illinois Department of Revenue.Medical access still limitedThe state’s 55 medical dispensaries that predate the 2020 legalization law, mostly owned by publicly traded multistate operators that had been operating in Illinois since 2014 under the state’s medical marijuana program, were automatically granted a right to licenses to sell recreationally in January 2020. That gave them a dual-purpose license that no new entrants into the market can receive under current law.Since expanding their clientele in 2020, Illinois dispensaries have sold more than $6 billion worth of cannabis products through recreational transactions alone.Nearly two-thirds of dispensaries licensed to sell to medical patients are in the northeast counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake and Will. Dual-purpose dispensaries only represent about 20 percent of the state’s dispensaries.While the state began offering recreational dispensary licenses since the adult-use legalization law passed, it has not granted a new medical dispensary license since 2018. That has allowed the established players to continue to corner the market on the state’s nearly 150,000 medical marijuana patients.But social equity licensees and advocates say there are more ways to level the playing field, including expanding access to medical sales.Johnson, who became the state’s top cannabis regulator in late 2022, expressed hope for movement during the fall veto session on House Bill 2911, which would expand medical access to all Illinois dispensaries.“We would like every single dispensary in Illinois to be able to serve medical patients,” Johnson said. “It’s something that medical patients have been asking for, for years.”Johnson said the bill would benefit patients and small businesses.“It’s something we desperately want to happen as a state system, because we want to make sure that medical patients are able to easily access what they need,” she said. “We also think it’s good for our social equity dispensaries, as they’re opening, to be able to serve medical patients.”Rep. Bob Morgan, D-Deerfield, who was the first statewide project coordinator for Illinois’ medical cannabis program prior to joining the legislature, wrote in an email to Capitol News Illinois that the state needs to be doing more for its patients.“Illinois is failing the state’s 150,000 medical cannabis patients with debilitating conditions. Too many are still denied the patient protections they deserve, including access to their medicine,” Morgan wrote, adding he would continue to work with stakeholders on further legislation.Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of newspapers, radio and TV stations statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.

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