Politics
Missouri’s new homelessness law goes into effect
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Audra Youmans says most people living on the streets of St. Louis have nowhere else to go.As a volunteer and advocate with St. Louis Winter Outreach, she made over 40 calls to the city’s referral service for homeless shelters last year — recording and compiling a video to demonstrate the problem.“Every single time I’ve called, they’ve told me everything is full,” Youmans said.A lack of available shelter for those experiencing homelessness is not new, or unique to St. Louis.
A new Missouri law targets homelessness. Attorneys say it criminalizes survival
Attorney Stephanie Lummus, who is representing seven homeless clients, and Phil Telfeyan, the executive director of nonprofit Equal Justice Under Law, join “St. Louis on the Air” to discuss their new lawsuit against Missouri’s anti-homelessness law.
Sarah Owsley, director of policy and advocacy for Empower Missouri, which advocates on behalf of low-income residents, said there is “nowhere in Missouri that has adequate shelter beds to meet the needs for people who are currently outdoors,” and many areas have no available beds at all.But that deficit has taken on new meaning in light of a new law advocates say criminalizes homelessness across the state.Since Jan. 1, it is a Class C misdemeanor for those experiencing homelessness in Missouri to camp on state-owned land. Cities that don’t enforce the ban, or that refuse to enforce existing local ordinances on public camping, can be sued by Missouri’s attorney general.Proponents of the law say these provisions would reduce the prevalence of encampments which they believe are dangerous for the unhoused people living there, as well as their communities. Those opposed contend the law risks worsening a crisis.Some advocates and providers worry that this new law could provide blanket justification for law enforcement to intensify harassment of unhoused people. Youmans said she and other providers haven’t been given instructions regarding what land will be subject to these new penalties, or guidance from the city about whether they will enforce the law.“The fear is that there are no shelters, so what are the options?” Youmans asked.Missouri House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, filed a bill to repeal the homelessness law. She said “folks already having a hard time engaging in society — adding fines on top…is not going to improve that situation.”The law also prevents some state and federal funds from being used for permanent supportive housing, instead diverting it to temporary housing and substance use and mental health treatment — in an effort its supporters said would be more effective than focusing on affordable housing.Quade said in conversations with community leaders in Springfield, she has heard concern from nonprofits that their funding could be in jeopardy, and ambiguity remains about how organizations should proceed through seemingly-conflicting federal and state guidance.“I would say it goes even beyond concern,” Quade said. “Some organizations have expressed they might even have to close their doors.”Belle DeLaCruz, communications coordinator at Missouri Balance of State Continuum of Care, an organization of member groups in Missouri working to end homelessness, said she is concerned the law will push unhoused people out of sight and further away from resources.“People who want to help them can’t find them,” DeLaCruz said. “And then it really looks like the law is doing something positive because we can’t ‘see them,’ but really they’re just hiding.”State-owned landThe state’s new homelessness law, which passed last year and went into effect this month, was the object of widespread opposition from hundreds of advocates and providers at the time.Nearly seven months later, many of the same questions raised when the legislature was debating the issue remain unanswered.Observers hoped a lawsuit challenging the measure could prevent it from going into effect, but the main case — filed in Cole County by Legal Services of Eastern Missouri in September — continues to stretch on.“We’re certainly hearing from community partners that many of our cities and local law enforcement are not really sure how to enforce the new law,” Owsley said.For one, law enforcement might need to become “really familiar” with state land divisions to appropriately enforce the law’s language, Owsley said. It’s unclear whether the penalties will apply only to those on land owned by the state, or whether the law could be read to more widely encompass land within the state.That ambiguity could put “a lot of responsibilities on law enforcement officers in every interaction to sort of decide how they’re going to respond,” Owsley added.Amanda Schneider, one of the Legal Services of Eastern Missouri attorneys suing the state, said their concern is primarily with the unhoused people most directly affected by the law.“If you are an unhoused person, how do you know if it’s a state-owned freeway?” she asked. “If you’re sleeping out in the park, is this considered state-owned property or not?”A handful of cities and police departments in the state contacted by The Independent did not offer many details about how they plan to enforce the law, now that it is in effect.Annie Gibson, president of the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, said by email that Missouri’s prosecutors “know homelessness is a serious issue” and that “homeless camps on state property and elsewhere often become dangerous places for those affected” — and said prosecutors have a duty to enforce laws created by the legislature.
If you are an unhoused person, how do you know if it’s a state-owned freeway?” she asked. “If you’re sleeping out in the park, is this considered state-owned property or not?
Amanda Schneider, an attorney at Legal Services of Eastern Missouri
“Certainly, we hope that community resources can provide resources and alternatives to those who might face prosecution under this statute,” Gibson said.In an email to The Independent, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said he is “committed to enforcing the law as written.“This particular statute is intended to ensure that communities are providing appropriate services to remedy homelessness,” Bailey said. “My office stands ready to assist in those efforts under the new law.”Advocates say they do not yet know which state funds will be diverted from permanent housing efforts. The bill did not appropriate any new funds for the temporary measures it outlined such as substance abuse treatment, but only added restrictions to existing funds.The state law is at odds with federal guidance, which supports the creation of affordable housing as a solution to homelessness.A spokesperson for the Missouri Housing Development Commission, which is in charge of administering state and federal housing assistance programs, declined to answer questions on how the agency expects state funding sources to be affected, citing pending litigation.In a letter to MHDC from the federal Housing and Urban Development in September, obtained by The Independent, the agency said it “does not interpret state laws, but is generally concerned about state laws that may improperly restrict or result in the misuse of HUD funds.”In an email to The Independent, a spokesperson for HUD said the agency “encourages communities to address homelessness by sticking to evidence-based and cost-effective solutions, namely, solutions that help people resolve their homelessness by obtaining stable permanent housing.”‘First step’Last year, those opposed to the bill suggested that it was crafted without the input of statewide providers and advocates.The ideas contained in the legislation had their origins not in Jefferson City, but in Austin, Texas, home to the conservative think tank Cicero Institute, which produced the template legislation Missouri largely reproduced.Cicero is staunchly opposed to the federal Housing First model, which prioritizes permanent, affordable housing as the entry-point for solving homelessness. Instead, Cicero advocates for short-term shelter and prioritizing treatment of substance use and mental health.Citywide bans on public camping have been increasing from 2006 to 2019, a report from the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty found, and Missouri is one of a handful of states to have adopted a state ban in recent years.Both Texas and Tennessee have also adopted statewide bans on homeless encampments. Cicero was most closely involved in Missouri, Judge Glock, who worked at Cicero and helped write the template bill, said in an interview with The Independent.Glock now works at another conservative think tank, The Manhattan Institute.“In terms of the [Cicero] model bill,” Glock said, “Missouri is the only state that has really adopted something close to it.”At Cicero, they argue that the camping ban along with encouragement of temporary support would encourage self-sufficiency and decrease violence, to “help the homeless get back on their feet,” according to their website.Glock said that he interprets the language of the Missouri law to allow law enforcement to enforce the law on “fairly limited” state-owned land. He said only cities that are “actively refusing” to enforce their laws would be subject to potential action by the attorney general.On the funding confusion, he said the law, by allowing funding to be spent on alternatives to housing, “authorizes alternatives rather than restricting state funds,” and “opens up more possibilities,” but those will depend on future appropriations.Bruce DeGroot, former Chesterfield Republican who sponsored the House bill, said last year that the legislation might not have been “perfect” but was a “first step,” continuing: “I want to get to the point where we have clean quality places for homeless people to live and try to get back in society,” he said. (Co-sponsor, Sen. Holly Rehder, R-Sikeston, could not be reached for comment.)Many of the advocates on the ground are waiting with bated breath to see whether clarification comes from the lawsuit against the state, and are watching to see how law enforcement will interpret the law.“It just leaves a lot up in the air,” Youmans said, “and a lot of uncertainty and fear.”This story was originally published by the Missouri Independent, part of States Newsroom, a network of news outlets supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence.
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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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