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The Week of Jan. 5, 2026

The Legislature convened on Wednesday for the Second Regular Session of the 103rd General Assembly. As many of you know, this is my last year serving as your state senator. It has been an immense honor to represent you in Jefferson City, and I am grateful for your continued support. This session, I will continue to fight for your voice to be heard and work hard to enact positive change in our state. 

As we begin this year’s legislative session, I wanted to share my legislative priorities:

Throughout session, I will provide regular updates about the legislative action on the Senate floor, as well as hearings for the committees I am a member of and when I present my legislation to a committee. 

Other News

House members seek impeachment probe of Missouri Secretary of State

The 2026 legislative session got underway Jan. 7 with some members of the Missouri House of Representatives filing a resolution seeking an impeachment investigation of the secretary of state for unlawful obstruction of a referendum petition that would trigger a statewide vote on a mid-decade congressional redistricting bill passed during in the fall.

House Resolution 3879 alleges the secretary of state’s actions regarding this matter constitute multiple grounds for impeachment under the Missouri Constitution, including misconduct, willful neglect of duty, incompetency and oppression in office.

Last month, opponents of the new congressional districts submitted approximately 305,000 signatures from registered Missouri voters to stop the redistricting measure, House Bill 1 (2025), from taking effect unless voters approve it in the Nov. 3 election. Only about 110,000 signatures are needed to qualify for the statewide ballot.

The secretary of state says about a third of those signatures because they were collected before what I believe is an arbitrary date he chose without legal authority. The secretary is also moving to implement the new congressional districts for the upcoming candidate filing period that opens in late February, even though HB 1 was suspended from taking effect under the state constitution once the referendum petition was submitted. 

Under House rules, the speaker is required to refer the resolution to a legislative committee of his choice. 

Supreme Court hears lawsuit on ballot language, injunctions

The Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments Jan. 7 in a lawsuit challenging the validity of a new state law that limits judicial tinkering with false or misleading language on statewide ballot measures and grants the state attorney general the authority to skip normal procedures and immediately appeal court-issued injunctions.

Senate Bill 22 (2025) was passed last year over objections in response to a pair of issues: judges rewriting deceptive ballot language crafted by either the Legislature or secretary of state’s office and injunctions issued at the early stages of litigation blocking enforcement of state laws.

The bill faced an immediate legal challenge for violating state constitutional procedures requiring a bill to be limited to a single subject that is clearly reflected in its title and isn’t changed from its original purpose. A Cole County circuit judge struck down the provision on injunctions but upheld the new ballot language procedures, prompting both parties in the case to appeal.

Injunctions typically cannot be appealed until the trial court makes a final ruling on all issues in a given case to avoid unnecessary delays in the judicial process. However, SB 22 empowers the attorney general to immediately appeal preliminary injunctions that block enforcement of state laws or constitutional provisions. The judge ruled the provision is unrelated to the bill’s original purpose of changing ballot language procedures and violates the “fundamental right” of equal rights and opportunity under the law because it doesn’t allow other litigants to challenge adverse rulings on injunctions, reserving that authority exclusively for the attorney general.

While the judge upheld the ballot language provisions, the plaintiffs argued on appeal that under Supreme Court precedent in similar cases, he should have struck down the entire bill. In defending the law, the attorney general’s office claimed the plaintiffs lacked legal standing to challenge SB 22. The case is Sean Soendker Nicholson v. State of Missouri.

State revenue up 3.3% through first half of FY 2026

Net state general revenue collections increased 3.3% through the first half of the 2026 fiscal year compared to the same period in FY 2025, going from $6.14 billion last year to $6.34 billion this year, according to revenue data the Missouri Division of Budget and Planning released Jan. 6. Net collections had been up 4.3% through the first five months of the fiscal year.

Net collections during December 2025 decreased 0.5% compared to those for December 2024, going from $1.3 billion last year to $1.29 billion this year. An 18.7% decrease in corporate income tax collections, along with a 12.6% drop in revenue from pass-through entities, contributed to the revenue slowdown for the month.

The consensus revenue estimate on which the FY 2026 state budget was based anticipated net general revenue would grow 1.6% over the course of the fiscal year, which started July 1 and runs through June 30, 2026. That estimate was substantially revised downward last month so that the state now anticipates a 2.1% decline in general revenue for the fiscal year. I believe this is due to a massive tax cut – primarily from eliminating income taxes on the sale of stocks and investment property - the governor signed into law last year.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Thank you for your interest in the legislative process. I look forward to hearing from you on the issues that are important to you this legislative session. If there is anything my office can do for you, please do not hesitate to contact my office at 573-751-3599.