Legislative Column for the Week of March 2, 2026

The Missouri Senate continued advancing legislation and working through budget matters this week as the legislative session moves forward.

On Thursday, the Senate third read and passed my Senate Bill 975, altering some of the requirements around ambulance districts, which now moves to the House for further consideration. The Senate also gave final approval to House Bill 2014, the supplemental appropriations bill. This legislation provides adjustments to the current fiscal year budget to ensure state programs and services remain properly funded.

Committee work remained active throughout the week. The Senate Local Government, Elections and Pensions Committee held a hearing on two of my pieces of legislation. Senate Bill 1054 updates provisions related to the state retirement system, while Senate Bill 1551 would allow cities with a city manager, like Marceline, to seek voter approval for a transient guest tax that could support tourism and local economic development.

In the Senate Appropriations Committee, we continued reviewing funding requests from departments. This week, the committee heard presentations from the Missouri Department of Transportation and the Missouri Department of Social Services as we evaluate priorities and ensure responsible use of taxpayer dollars.

The Capitol was busy this week with visitors from across Northwest Missouri. Students representing the Missouri Athletic Trainers’ Association were at the Capitol advocating for their profession on Tuesday, and we were pleased to welcome teachers from across Northwest Missouri who stopped by the office while visiting Jefferson City on their advocacy day on Wednesday. It is great to see constituents and visit with them about issues important to their communities.

As always, I appreciate hearing from the residents of the 12th Senatorial District. If you have questions, concerns or plans to visit the Capitol, please feel free to contact my office.

###