The possibility of a “whites-only” organization from Arkansas expanding into Missouri has inspired bipartisan outrage from state lawmakers and local officials who decry the group as racist and antisemitic.

The private membership association, called Return to the Land, owns 160 acres in northeast Arkansas, according to its website. Jews and non-whites are explicitly banned from membership.

The group’s leader recently said it is exploring the idea of expanding north and building a new enclave in the Springfield area.

“We have the God-given right to form communities according to whatever values we hold dear,” Eric Orwoll, co-founder of Return to the Land, said in a recent social media post, “and the government does not have the right to tell free American citizens what values they have to live according to in their own private lives.”

The idea of a segregated community coming to southwest Missouri was greeted with scorn by both Democratic and Republican legislative leaders from the area.

“Racism in any form is evil and reprehensible,” said House Majority Leader Alex Riley, a Springfield Republican. “Groups engaging in racist conduct are not welcome in Springfield.”

State Rep. Betsy Fogle, a Springfield Democrat, said history has been “very clear on what happens when you stay silent as groups discriminate based on race and discriminate based on whether or not someone is of the Jewish faith. I cannot believe that in 2025 we are retreading this ground.”

The Springfield City Council and City Manager David Cameron issued a joint statement this week declaring that “there is no place in Springfield, or anywhere, for such a divisive and discriminatory vision.”

“While it is improbable that such a project could legally or practically occur within city limits, silence is not an option,” the statement said. “As a regional leader, we will not stand idly by in the face of attempts to revive outdated, harmful ideologies.”

On its website, Return to the Land its mission is to “separate ourselves from a failing modern society, and we will make positive cultural changes in ourselves and in our ancestral communities.”

It also includes a disclaimer that the group does not engage in the sale or rental of real estate.

Orwoll responded to criticism from Springfield elected officials in his social media post, denying that excluding people of color and Jews should be considered racist.

“We are not a hate group,” he said. “We have never expressed hate towards any ethnic group, racial group or religious group.”

He took umbrage with Fogle calling the group racist, saying: “She wants to call us racists because we prefer being among our own people.”

“It’s not a supremacist group. It’s not a hate group. It’s not even a white nationalist group,” he said. “We are white identitarians. We value our identity and want to preserve it. That’s not hate. That is love for your own people.”

Fogle, who was among the first public officials to condemn Return to the Land’s possible expansion to Missouri, said she has been inundated with “pretty horrific messages and pretty horrific responses” on social media.

But she said she has no intention of being silent.

“It’s my job to make sure I’m using my platform to communicate that there’s no place in Springfield, no place in Missouri, no place in this country for a group who is intentionally leaving behind people who have a different skin color or intentionally leaving behind people of the Jewish faith,” she said. “And I would expect every elected official at every level to use their platform to see the same things.”

Across the state line, the group also drew the ire of Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin.

The Republican announced his office would open an investigation of the group to ensure its activities didn’t violate state or federal law. That probe, Griffin said in an email to The Independent, has not turned up any illegal activity.

“Racism has no place in a free society,” he said, “but from a legal perspective, we have not seen anything that would indicate any state or federal laws have been broken.”

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey did not respond to requests for comment.

Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com.

Republican lawmakers’ decision to overturn a voter-approved expansion of paid sick leave means benefits Missouri workers accrued in recent months will disappear on Aug. 28.

They also placed a question on the 2026 ballot rolling back abortion rights that voters enshrined in the state constitution in November.

It’s not the first time the GOP-dominated legislature overturned voter-approved laws in recent years. But this time, the backlash could have long-lasting consequences.

In the short term, proponents of the paid sick leave law are eyeing a new initiative petition to reinstate the benefit in the state constitution, while abortion-rights supporters expect to raise millions to fend off a new ban.

But another coalition hopes to go even further.

Respect Missouri Voters, a bipartisan constellation of organizations, this month submitted 38 versions of a new initiative petition seeking to undermine the legislature’s ability to overturn voter-approved measures.

Most would require 80% of the legislature to agree before a law or constitutional amendment enacted by initiative petition could be revised or repealed. They also would prohibit the legislature from making the initiative and referendum process more difficult.

The group’s PAC reported $200,000 cash on hand on July 1, with another $170,000 in large donations since then. That includes $10,000 from former Republican U.S. Sen. John Danforth.

“This is our one shot,” said Benjamin Singer, CEO of one of the coalition’s members, Show Me Integrity. “If we don’t act now, they’ll succeed in silencing us forever.”

Missouri Gov. Kehoe signs bill repealing paid sick leave

Republicans have taken notice, with some pondering a preemptive strike to change the initiative petition process before any campaign gets off the ground. But others worry it may already be too late and wonder if the GOP overplayed its hand with its recent moves.

“The legislature doesn’t really seem to understand, they’ve kicked the hornet’s nest,” said James Harris, a veteran Republican consultant in Missouri. “We may be about to cross the rubicon… where the legislature loses a lot of its power.”

The showdown is decades in the making.

After Missourians approved a constitutional amendment to limit taxes in the 1980s, the Democratic-led legislature tried to make changes to the initiative petition process that were criticized at the time by GOP Gov. John Ashcroft as an attempt to silence voters. He ultimately vetoed the bill.

In 1999, Missouri voters rejected a ballot measure that would have allowed concealed carry of firearms. Despite the defeat, the legislature revisited the issue after Republicans took the majority and ultimately passed a concealed carry bill in 2003.

Voters passed a ballot measure in 2010 called the “Puppy Mill Cruelty and Prevention Act” that specified appropriate living conditions for breeding operations with at least 10 female breeding dogs. It also capped the number of animals that a business could use for breeding at 50.

Soon after, lawmakers passed a bill that peeled back key parts of the new law, including the cap on the number of breeding dogs.

The puppy mill vote inspired advocates to forgo changes to state law and instead put their focus on putting policy changes in the state constitution — making it much harder for lawmakers to make changes because it would require another statewide vote.

In subsequent years, voters approved constitutional amendments legalizing marijuana, expanding Medicaid eligibility, creating a nonpartisan redistricting plan and repealing a ban on abortion.

But the GOP supermajority wasn’t ready to quit without a fight.

Lawmakers refused to fund Medicaid expansion until the Missouri Supreme Court said they had no choice. They pushed through a ballot measure of their own, approved by voters, that repealed the nonpartisan redistricting plan.

Next year, voters will weigh in on an amendment passed by the legislature putting the state’s abortion ban back in place. The paid sick leave expansion was not a constitutional amendment, allowing lawmakers to repeal it without a new statewide vote.

“I don’t understand the legislature’s strategy at all,” said Sean Nicholson, a progressive strategist who has worked on numerous initiative petition campaigns in Missouri. “A very pro-Trump electorate spoke very clearly on abortion rights and paid sick leave in November. And now we head into a midterm, and we’ve seen in Missouri and other states that shenanigans from politicians become part of the story. The legislature has given voters plenty of motivation to double down on what they’ve already said.”

Missouri Republicans shut down Senate debate to pass abortion ban, repeal sick leave law

Republicans, who held legislative super majorities as these progressive ballot measures have been approved by voters, have long complained that out-of-state money from anonymous sources have largely fueled these initiative petition campaigns.

They’ve vowed for years to make it harder to change the constitution through the initiative petition process, but the push always fizzled amidst GOP infighting or other legislative priorities.

The threat of an initiative petition that would weaken the legislature’s hand in the process has reignited calls for Republicans to take action quickly. The Missouri Freedom Caucus, a group of right-wing legislators who regularly quarrel with GOP leadership, is calling on Gov. Mike Kehoe to convene a special legislative session to change the initiative petition process.

“Missouri’s Constitution should not be up for sale to the highest left-wing bidder,” the group said in a statement last week. “Without immediate reform, left-wing activists will continue to use this loophole to force their unpopular agenda on Missouri citizens with a mere 51% of the vote.”

Whether Missourians will get another chance to vote on paid sick leave is still up in the air.

Missouri’s law allowed employees to earn one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, starting May 1. By the time it’s officially repealed, 17 weeks will have elapsed. That means someone working 40 hours a week could have earned 22 hours of paid sick leave.

If workers don’t use their paid sick leave before Aug. 28, there’s no legal guarantee they can do so afterward.

The sick leave expansion was a “job killer,” said Kara Corches, president and CEO of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, adding that “one-size-fits-all mandates threaten growth.”

Richard Von Glahn, policy director of Missouri Jobs with Justice, which advocated for the paid sick leave ballot measure, noted 58% of voters approved the proposal. It was also upheld unanimously by the Missouri Supreme Court.

“Now workers may again face the reality of having no paid sick time to take care of their families without losing out on a check,” Von Glahn said shortly after the governor signed the paid sick leave repeal earlier this month. “This move by the Missouri legislature sets a dangerous precedent for democratic processes in our state.”

Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com.

A group of renegade GOP state lawmakers whose quarrels with party leaders defined years of Missouri legislative inaction appears to be ripping apart over a plan to fund stadiums for the Chiefs and Royals.

On Friday, state Sen. Rick Brattin stepped down as chairman of the Missouri Freedom Caucus just days after voting in favor of $1.5 billion in tax incentives to finance new or renovated stadiums. He noted the stadium vote in the statement announcing his resignation.

The group had vowed to oppose the funding scheme, which it decried as a “handout to billionaire sports team owners.” But Brattin, a Harrisonville Republican, and state Sen. Brad Hudson, a Cape Fair Republican who is also a Freedom Caucus member, voted in support of the plan after a provision was added making changes to local property tax bills.

The response from conservative activists was swift.

Some accused Brattin of betrayal, while others argued he was duped by the inclusion of language allowing the stadium funding to survive even if a court tosses out the property tax provisions.

“For several years, discussion in (Jefferson City) revolved around conservatives exposing moderate and liberal Republicans by getting them on bad votes that showed who they were,” Bill Eigel, a former Missouri Senate Freedom Caucus leader who is running for St. Charles County executive, posted on social media. “Gov. Mike Kehoe changed this dynamic. He is getting conservatives to vote as badly as the moderates.”

Jim Lembke, a former GOP state senator and adviser to the Freedom Caucus, said the group is “void of any leadership and has lost all credibility. They should disband and join the uniparty that runs Jefferson City.”

Missouri governor allows more spending, property tax cap as he pursues stadium deal

Tim Jones, state director for the Missouri Freedom Caucus, said during a radio appearance on Friday that he advised senators to vote against the stadium bill and was surprised when two members of the caucus ended up supporting it.

“In the light of day, there’s some buyer’s remorse. There’s some regret,” Jones said, though he later added: “To his defense, (Sen. Brattin) thought he was doing the right thing to protect the interest of his constituents.”

Brattin defended his vote on social media, posting a video saying that while the deal wasn’t perfect, he was determined that “if we’re going to be giving handouts to millionaires and billionaires, we need broad-based tax relief for people.”

“To me,” he said, “this was a massive win. On the stadium, they were going to get the votes, whatever it took. So I tried to weigh this out and make lemonade from the lemons we were given.”

Brattin’s chief of staff was less diplomatic, accusing Eigel of treating politics like a game.

“He’d rather chase likes on social media than deliver real wins,” Tom Estes, Brattin’s top legislative staffer, wrote in a now-deleted social media post. “It’s pathetic, and just one more reason he’s never been an effective leader.”

The war between the Freedom Caucus and Missouri Senate leadership raged for years, creating so much gridlock that fewer bills passed last year than any session in living memory — despite Republicans holding a legislative super majority.

Tensions cooled this year, with term limits pushing key figures on both sides of the fight out of the Senate. The detente led to a much more productive session, marked more by partisan squabbling than GOP infighting.

But the Freedom Caucus’ history of using procedural hijinks to upend legislative business made its opposition to the stadium bill an existential threat to its success, forcing Republican leaders to take demands for some form of tax cut seriously.

If approved by the House and signed by Kehoe, the legislation passed by the Senate would allocate state taxes collected from economic activity at Arrowhead and Kauffman to bond payments for renovations at Arrowhead and a new stadium for the Royals in Jackson or Clay counties.

The cost is estimated at close to $1.5 billion over 30 years.

Both teams have expressed interest in leaving Missouri when the lease on their current stadiums expire in 2030, and Kansas lawmakers have put a deal on the table that would use state incentives to pay for up to 70% of the costs of new stadiums.

The Kansas deal expires on June 30.

In order to win over Democrats, who were skeptical of the plan and still upset with how the regular legislative session ended last month, Kehoe agreed to increase the size of a disaster relief package for St. Louis from $25 billion to $100 billion.

To quell any possible Freedom Caucus uprising, Kehoe allowed the inclusion of a provision in the stadium funding bill requiring most counties to put a hard cap on increases in property tax bills.

In 75 counties, tax bills would not increase more than 5% per year from a base amount, or the rate of inflation, whichever is less. In 22 others, including Brattin’s home county of Cass and Hudson’s entire seven-county district of southwest Missouri, no increase in the basic bill would be allowed.

The bill includes exceptions for newly voted levies and the additional value from improvements.

Many of the larger counties of the state, including Boone, Greene, Jackson, St. Louis County and the city of St. Louis, were excluded from the cap provisions. Franklin, Jefferson and St. Charles counties were put under the zero percent cap.

With the concessions, Kehoe stitched together a bipartisan coalition to get the stadium bill out of the Senate. There were 12 Republicans and seven Democrats voting to send it to the House on the 19-13 vote. Three of the chamber’s 10 Democrats joined 10 Republicans in opposition.

Eigel, who fell short to Kehoe in last year’s GOP primary for governor, poured cold water on the deal, arguing residents will never see any tax relief.

He points to language added to the bill after it cleared committee stating it is the “intent of the General Assembly” that if any piece of the legislation is eventually ruled invalid, “that provision shall be severed from the act and all remaining provisions shall be valid.”

“Kehoe’s guys snuck in a clause that will allow the property tax provisions of the bill to be stripped out by courts while the billionaire stadium bailout remains whole,” Eigel said. “When conservatives missed it in the final reading after being assured by the sponsor it wasn’t in there, the disaster was complete.”

A spokeswoman for the governor’s office didn’t respond to a question about the severability clause.

Brattin keeps hearing from people who say he “sold out,” he said, but he still believes the bill that passed the Senate was a win for Missourians.

“I just wanted to give some clarity to this,” Brattin said in his social media video. “Whether you agree or disagree, this is where my heart is on this.”

Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com.

Former Missouri Congressman Billy Long received $137,000 in campaign contributions — just enough to pay off a personal loan to his campaign — soon after he was tapped to lead the Internal Revenue Service.

Some of the donations are connected to companies that will be policed by the agency Long has been nominated to run.

According to recently filed financial disclosures, which were first reported on by the investigative journalism site The Lever, Long only raised roughly $36,000 in the last two years.

He was named as President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the IRS in December, and in January received $137,000 in donations. He then paid back the remaining $130,000 in debt from a $250,000 loan he made to his unsuccessful 2022 U.S. Senate campaign.

The donations, and their timing, have renewed criticism of Long’s appointment, which still awaits Senate confirmation. Senate Democrats have already called for a criminal investigation of firms with ties to Long that they allege are involved in fraudulent tax credit schemes.

Among the donors to Long’s campaign are financial advisers from some of those firms.

“When they told Billy he’d be in charge of revenue collection, did they forget to tell him that meant for the American people, not his own bank account?” said Sean Nicholson, a longtime progressive activist and campaign consultant in Missouri.

Jordan Libowitz, vice president of communications for the liberal watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said the timing of the donations and the “explicit knowledge that they’d end up directly in Long’s bank account, it’s hard to see them as anything other than an attempt to curry favor with the future head of the IRS.”

Long did not respond to a request for comment.

Billy Long, Trump’s nominee to lead IRS, touts credential tax experts say is dubious

After a career as an auctioneer and conservative radio host, Long served six terms representing a Southwest Missouri congressional district. He gave up his seat to run for U.S. Senate in 2022, losing in the GOP primary to now-Sen. Eric Schmitt.

Long then worked for Lifetime Advisors and earned at least $5,000 in income from White River Energy. Both companies have drawn scorn from Senate Democrats, and intense media scrutiny, over their involvement in controversial tax credit programs.

In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a limit on the amount of post-election funds a candidate can use to pay back personal loans. The majority found the limit an unconstitutional restriction on the freedom of speech, while the dissenting justices argued removing it would pave the way for political corruption.

“Even if our broken campaign finance system allows this behavior,” Libowitz said, “it raises serious questions about future conflicts of interest and needs to be addressed in any hearings (Billy Long) has before Congress.”

Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson commuted the prison sentence of a former Kansas City police officer who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a Black man

Parson announced his decision to free former police detective Eric DeValkenaere from prison in a press release Friday afternoon that included numerous other individuals receiving a commutation or pardon. He did not explain his reasoning, but has long hinted he planned to make the controversial decision before he leaves office next month.

DeValkenaere, who is white, was serving a six-year prison sentence. He was convicted in 2021 of killing 26-year-old Cameron Lamb.

On the morning of Dec. 3, 2019, DeValkenaere responded to a request over his police radio to check out a driver who had been speeding through city streets. The driver, Lamb, had pulled his pickup truck into a driveway and was backing into a garage.

DeValkenaere, who was not in a police uniform, knocked down a makeshift fence to enter the property. Nine seconds later he shot Lamb, who was sitting in his pickup and had just placed a phone call.

DeValkenaere said he fired when Lamb pointed a gun at his partner. Police reportedly found Lamb in his truck, hanging out the driver’s side window and a handgun on the ground near his left hand.

Prosecutors have contended the gun was planted.

Jackson County Judge J. Dale Youngs convicted DeValkenaere of second-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action. The officer had no legal right to enter Lamb’s property, he ruled, and the shooting was unconstitutional.

Since then, an appeals court panel has upheld the verdict. The Missouri Supreme Court refused to review the case. A federal judge ruled in a civil case that DeValkenaere violated Lamb’s constitutional rights.

DeValkenaere’s official commutation document, signed by Parson, places him on parole, “subject to the conditions imposed by the Parole Board

Critics of Parson’s decision noted he has routinely refused to intervene in wrongful conviction cases involving Black men.

“While Eric DeValkenaere gets to spend Christmas with his family, the three children of Cameron Lamb will never see their father again,” said House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, a Kansas City Democrat. “There is no justice here.”

Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com.

One of Josh Hawley’s favorite lines of attack during his first run for U.S. Senate in 2018 was to lambaste his Democratic opponent for using a private jet to travel the state.

“I say, ‘Look, I’m driving everywhere, why don’t you drive?’ She can’t do it,” Hawley told Politico during the 2018 campaign about then-Sen. Claire McCaskill. “She’s totally addicted to her luxury lifestyle.”

Six years later, as Hawley seeks a second term, the attack is being turned back against him.

Lucas Kunce, the Democratic candidate for Senate, is pouncing on videos being circulated by his campaign of Hawley boarding a Gulfstream IV SP to hopscotch the state last week for rallies with Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker.

The three-stop tour with Butker, Kunce said, was the senator’s first event in Missouri in weeks.

“Missouri’s flyover country for this guy,” Kunce said at a campaign rally in Jefferson City on Saturday. By contrast, Kunce says he’s traveling to campaign events in a minivan with his wife and 16-month-old son.

It’s a familiar knock on Hawley, who even as he was hammering McCaskill in 2018 over private planes still accepted a $6,000 charter jet flight as an in-kind donation from a Jefferson City lobbyist.

But Hawley’s use of chartered jets began to increase last December, according to his most recent disclosure filed with the Federal Elections Commission in July. Hawley’s campaign spent more than $132,000 on chartered flights between mid-December and June. The largest expenses were $23,000 on March 19 and $21,000 on Feb. 6 to Air Charter Advisors.

The next round of campaign disclosure reports are due this week.

Responding to the criticism, Hawley’s campaign pivoted to its attack on an essay Kunce wrote in 2021 making the case that the U.S. needed to end its reliance on fossil fuels for the sake of national security.

“We get it,” Abigail Jackson, Hawley’s spokeswoman, said in an email to The Independent. “Kunce has made it clear he hates all vehicles that run on gas and diesel.”

Hawley and Kunce are entering the final weeks of a contentious fight for Missouri’s U.S. Senate seat.

Every public poll has shown Hawley in the lead, and national Democrats have largely ignored the race. But Kunce has run a populist campaign fueled by millions of small-dollar donations that have allowed him to go toe-to-toe with Hawley in television ad spending.

Since the August primary, Kunce’s campaign has spent more than $6 million on television advertising, according to FEC records analyzed by The Independent.

Hawley’s campaign has spent $3.9 million, while an independent PAC supporting his re-election, Show Me Strong, has spent roughly $1.9 million.

Kunce, a Marine veteran, paints Hawley as an out-of-touch plutocrat that’s he’s dubbed “Posh Josh” who only is running for Senate to benefit himself and his future political aspirations.

“While I spent 13 years in and out of war zones overseas, Josh Hawley and his political buddies were literally waging war on the people I’d signed up to serve right here at home,” Kunce told a rally of supporters at the Marine Corps League in Jefferson City Saturday. “And that’s not a hyperbole.”

Hawley, who served as Missouri attorney general for two years before joining the Senate, has portrayed Kunce as a radical on issues like immigration and LGBTQ rights. And he’s worked to tie Kunce to national Democrats in a state where Republicans have won every statewide election since 2018.

“We have to save our country,” Hawley told a crowd of supporters in Parkville on Thursday. “We are in crisis. This country is in crisis. It’s in chaos. And you and I know why that’s true. It’s in crisis because of the policies of my opponent, Lucas Kunce.”

Hawley’s campaign has repeatedly demanded Kunce state who he supports in the upcoming presidential election, something he has steadfastly refused to do.

“Now will he answer a simple question on the presidential election?” said Jackson, Hawley’s spokeswoman. “Is he voting for Trump or Kamala?”

Kunce says he won’t answer the question because it’s an effort by Hawley to distract voters and nationalize the race.

And he claims Hawley’s motivation is fear.

“He sees us coming for him,” Kunce said. “He knows he’s unlikable and he knows he is on the wrong side of every single issue.”

The Independent’s Anna Spoerre contributed to this story.

Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com. Follow Missouri Independent on Facebook and X.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson drew condemnation from across the political spectrum over the weekend after he reduced the sentence of former Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach Britt Reid for a drunken driving crash that permanently injured a 5-year-old girl.

Reid, the son of Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, was drunk in February 2021 when he crashed his truck into two vehicles on the side of an exit ramp along an interstate near the Chiefs’ practice facility.

Six people were injured, including 5-year-old Ariel Young, who sustained a traumatic brain injury and was in a coma for 11 days. According to her family, Young continues to suffer memory loss and issues with speech and movement.

Reid pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in prison.

But on Friday, with little explanation and without consulting with local prosecutors or the victims’ family, Parson commuted Reid’s sentence — allowing him to serve under house arrest until October 2025.

Parson’s decision drew immediate outrage.

“There simply can be no response that explains away the failure to notify victims of the offender,” Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said in a press release. She later added: “I simply say I am saddened by the self-serving political actions of the governor and the resulting harm that it brings to the system of justice.”

Tom Porto, the attorney for Young’s family, told the Daily Beast that the family “is disgusted, I am disgusted and I believe… that the majority of the people in the state of Missouri are disgusted by the governor’s actions.”

State Rep. Keri Ingle, a Lee’s Summit Democrat, posted on social media that she “really cannot imagine any justification for commuting a drunk driver who severely injured a 5 year old.”

Criticism also came from Parson’s fellow Republicans.

State Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, a Parkville Republican who chairs the Missouri Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, posted on social media that he “cannot imagine the pain this must cause to the family of the victim, an innocent 5-year-old girl whose life is forever changed. This is not justice.”

Luetkemeyer’s sentiment was echoed by state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, a Republican from Arnold running for Congress.

“This isn’t justice,” she wrote on social media.

A convicted drunk driver “should never have their sentence commuted,” state Rep. Adam Schwadron, a Republican from St. Charles who is running for secretary of state, posted on social media. “A convicted drunk driver that injured a child should never be considered to have their sentence commuted.”

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, the GOP frontrunner to replace Parson when he leaves office because of term limits this year, released a statement to the Kansas City Star saying the sentence reduction was “not a good look for the governor and not something I believe I would do.”

“Britt Reid’s reckless decision to drive drunk left Ariel Young with a lifelong traumatic brain injury,” Ashcroft told the Star, “and while the Reid family obviously holds a special place in the hearts of Missourians and Kansas City Chiefs fans, that does not entitle them to special treatment. My heart goes out to the Young family.”

In her statement, Peters Baker noted that Parson refused to use his power to commute the sentences of Kevin Strickland and Lamar Johnson, who both served long prison sentences and were eventually exonerated and set free despite the governor declining to intervene.

“We are reminded that this governor did not use his political power to commute the sentence of Kevin Strickland and Lamar Johnson. He used his political power to free a man with status, privilege and connections,” Peters Baker said. “Both Kevin and Lamar are freed today under the rule of law, but only after difficult battles to gain their freedom.”

Parson is a longtime Chiefs season ticket-holder holder who attended Super Bowl this year and celebrated with the team at its victory parade. Reid’s sentencing reprieve was included among three commutations and 36 pardons announced late Friday afternoon by the governor’s office.

A spokesperson for the governor did not respond to a request for comment on the criticism.

Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com. Follow Missouri Independent on Facebook and Twitter.

So far this year, state Rep. Mazzie Christensen has filed 11 bills, ranging from changes to statewide education and public health policy to narrow legislation designed to help a small county in her district.

State Rep. Adam Schwadron has filed 12 bills, including his top priority to create a state fund to defray costs of security enhancements for nonprofits at elevated risk of terrorist attacks in Missouri.

Up until Thursday, more than a month into the legislative session, Christensen and Schwadron were the only Republican lawmakers who filed legislation this year who had not had any bills referred to committee by House Speaker Dean Plocher.

The pair also share one other thing in common: They were among the loudest voices within the House Republican caucus calling for Plocher to step down from leadership amid a litany of scandals.

With Plocher’s future still uncertain as he remains under investigation by the House Ethics Committee, Christensen believes he’s using his power as speaker to retaliate against those who spoke out.

“I’m absolutely being punished,” Christensen said in an interview last week. “And I think it’s really petty and childish.”

Plocher finally referred one bill each from Christensen and Schwadron to committee on Thursday, as word spread The Independent was asking questions about the the situation.

Schwadron wasn’t interested in speculating about why his bills have been stuck in limbo, saying only that he remains hopeful he can get his legislation across the finish line.

“I’m just happy that we’re moving through the process,” he said.

House rules require the speaker to refer “all bills and resolutions” to a committee, but impose no requirement that it be done in order or at any particular time during the legislative session.

Plocher, through a spokesman, denied taking any punitive action against anyone who called for him to resign.

“While the speaker has referred a record amount of bills to committees at this point in session, not every bill will be referred, and not every referral occurs on the first day of session,” Plocher’s spokesman said in a statement. “Bills will continue to be filed through the end of this month. Bills will continue to be referred throughout the session.”

‘He should resign’

In September, public records obtained by The Independent showed nonpartisan staff raising concerns about Plocher’s push for the House to award a lucrative contract to a private company.

Plocher allegedly threatened the job of the chief clerk of the House over her criticism of the potential contract. In emails to other staff and a Republican legislator, the clerk expressed “growing concerns of unethical and perhaps unlawful conduct” by the speaker.

A month later, The Independent reported that Plocher had on numerous occasions over the last five years illegally sought taxpayer reimbursement from the legislature for airfare, hotels and other travel costs already paid for by his campaign.

In each instance, Plocher was required to sign a sworn statement declaring that the payments were made with “personal funds, for which I have not been reimbursed.”

Adding to Plocher’s headaches were revelations that the Missouri House spent $60,000 of taxpayer money renovating his office — including $29,000 on new furniture. As part of the renovation, Plocher turned another legislator’s office into what he’s referred to as his “butler’s pantry,” stocked with liquor, beer, wine and soda to complement the supply in his office.

And more recently, the Kansas City Star reported Plocher twice sought and received exemptions from House travel policies, allowing him to spend more than allowed to upgrade a flight to Utah and get reimbursed for a flight to a conference in Hawaii.

Those are the only two written requests for exemptions or waivers of House policies on travel expenses made over the past three years.

Amid the swirling scandals, Plocher also fired his chief of staff and legislative director. His chief legal counsel resigned in November.

Christensen was among the first members of the House GOP caucus to speak out, releasing a statement in late October calling on Plocher to step down as speaker over “alleged unethical behavior that is deeply concerning.”

“I believe we need a new leader with integrity,” she said at the time, “to help House Republicans move this state forward.”

In an interview last week, Christensen stood behind her statement.

“He should resign,” she said. “I still believe that. I didn’t say he should resign from the legislature. But he shouldn’t be in leadership.”

Schwadron, who is running for Missouri secretary of state, wrote a letter to his GOP colleagues in early November highlighting what he called Plocher’s “misuse of taxpayer funds and other potential scandals.”

“I am formally asking that our friend, Speaker Dean Plocher, put aside his pride and personal ambitions and immediately resign his speakership for the good of our Republican caucus and our Missouri Republican Party,” he wrote.

Schwadron said last week that he still believes Plocher should resign. But the majority of the GOP caucus wants to wait until the ethics committee releases its report before passing judgment, he said, “and I will respect the position of the caucus.”

It’s unclear when the ethics investigation will be complete. The committee has not met since Dec. 6. Proceedings of the committee are confidential, and none of the discussions, testimony or evidence gathered is public until a report is issued.

‘Different ways of representing my district’

Through his spokesman, Plocher said other representatives who “expressed similar sentiments prior to session commencing have had their bills referred,” noting that 1,330 bills have been filed in the House so far this session and 519 were referred to committees.

The first Republican House member to call for Plocher to resign was state Rep. Chris Sander of Lone Jack. He’s had one bill referred to committee so far this year — legislation that would do away with Daylight Savings Time.

He couldn’t be reached Friday for comment.

State Rep. Doug Richey, an Excelsior Springs Republican, also publicly called for Plocher’s resignation. A month into session, Richey finally got three bills referred to committee.

Richey said he spoke with the speaker’s office about his bills, though neither side made any promises or cut any deals.

And while Richey stands behind his call for Plocher to resign, like Schwadron, he said he will abide by the will of the GOP caucus and wait for the ethics report before formally deciding the speaker’s fate.

Christensen said she’s not concerned about being in the doghouse with the speaker’s office. She’ll find ways to be effective even if her bills never get any traction, she said, and has found other lawmakers willing to add her ideas to their bills.

“I’m just gonna have to figure out different ways of representing my district,” she said. “But I know my district didn’t just send me here to pass bills. They sent me here to be honest and truthful and stand up for what I believe in, and I’m not going to back down from that.”

Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com. Follow Missouri Independent on Facebook and Twitter.