2022 Missouri Sierra Club Legislative Session Wrap-Up
By Michael Berg, Sierra Club Missouri Chapter Poltical Director
Here is an overview of Sierra Club efforts in the Missouri legislature and the fate of different bills and issues:
1. Weakening of Hazardous Waste Standards and Ending Solid Waste Permitting Requirements for Chemical Modifications to Plastic (House Bill 2485)
This year's legislative session ended very badly. The worst bill pending in the legislature made it to the finish line on the last day of session (Friday, May 13) when the Missouri House truly agreed and finally passed House Bill 2485, which weakens hazardous waste standards and takes away solid waste disposal permitting requirements for pyrolysis and gasification and other chemical modifications to plastic.
After education and pressure from the Sierra Club and other organizations, Senate Democrats had filibustered both issues for a total of over eight hours during two separate occasions. The part of the bill that weakens hazardous waste standards would have likely been either stripped out or improved in a conference committee. But the committee never met because the Senate did not work on Friday, May 13 after passing gerrymandered congressional maps the night before. The portion of the bill dealing with hazardous waste was never mentioned when the bill sponsor introduced the bill for a vote before the body, nor did it receive any discussion on the House floor, nor did it have a hearing in any House committee. House members were wanting to speak on the issue when Republican House leadership cut off debate after three minutes. The bill was passed through profoundly undemocratic means. Please ask Governor Parson to veto this bill which endangers our health and our natural environment.
It's worth reading the article at this link and this twitter feed to learn more about the danger of both changes.
2. Regulatory Sandbox - The "Regulatory Sandbox" (House Bill 2587) has the potential to undermine the impartial rule of law and promote environmentally damaging policies like energy intensive cryptocurrency mining. It was one step away from passing but did not pass. We are the only group in the state to testify in-person against the bill multiple times. We also offered several amendments to make it not as bad, some of which, to the credit of bill sponsor Representative Alex Riley, were added to the bill. Others were not and the changes were not enough to satisfy our concerns. To her great credit, Senator Jill Schupp met with Representative Riley to go over the bill and spent a good deal of time examining the bill and discussing all of its parts during Senate floor debate.
3. Grain Belt Express – The long legislative battle over the Grain Belt Express transmission lines and it’s authorization to utilize eminent domain has ended with the passage of House Bill 2005. The good news is that a deal was reached between Invenergy and the Missouri Farm Bureau to allow the needed transmission line to go forward, so that we will be able to transport much more wind power from Kansas into Missouri homes and points further east. This is also good news for agricultural landowners who in the future will receive greater compensation in some utility eminent domain cases. We do have serious concerns that the deal that was finally reached is unfair to urban and suburban ratepayers, does nothing to address legitimate concerns about eminent domain abuse in our state’s metropolitan areas, and that it could discourage further investment in needed clean energy infrastructure. You can learn more about our concerns with the final product here.
4. Nuclear CWIP (Construction Work in Progress) – This bill (House Bill 1684) would have allowed investor owned utilities to charge ratepayers for work on nuclear power plants as the plants are being built, setting up the potential for a South Carolina style boondoggle. It passed the House, and died in the Senate.
5. Attack on EV Charging Station Mandates – This bill (House Bill 1584) would have limited the ability of counties and municipalities to set policy to create more electric vehicle charging stations. It passed the House and died in the Senate.
6. Attempt to Sell Eleven Point State Park – This bill (House Amendment 3 to House Bill 1597) would have authorized the sale of the entirety of Eleven Point State Park, pending the results of a lawsuit. The bill passed the House and died in the Senate.
7. Funding for the Rock Island Trail - In the final budget for American Rescue Plan Act stimulus money (House Bill 3020), no money was allocated for the Rock Island Trail. This was a mistake to not fund this great project for Missourians.
8. Get the Lead Out Act - In good news a provision of an omnibus education bill (Senate Bill 681&662) sets up the removal of dangerous lead pipes from schools and to replace them with safer pipes. The Sierra Club was part of a large coalition pushing for this needed measure.
9. Subsidies for Large Energy Users and Solar Energy Promotion - The passage of Senate Bill 745 contains good news but also has problems, as large omnibus utility bills often do. The bad news is that the bill will allow electric utilities to use Plant-In Service-Accounting (“PISA”) through 2033. PISA grants additional compensation to electric utilities by allowing them to defer for future recovery 85% of their depreciation expenses and returns from plants and equipment placed in service between rate cases heard by the MO Public Service Commission (“PSC). PISA is controversial; no other state allows such extra rate increases. These extra increases are on top of the normal rates that electric utilities are allowed to charge captive consumers. It also allows much greater discounts (up to 35% for electric utilities) for large industrial businesses and companies that are moving into a utility's service area, which could encourage wasteful energy production. These steep discounts will be subsidized by households and small businesses.
The good news is that it helps advance solar use in Missouri. See the graphic below provided by our friends at Renew Missouri.
You can find our fact sheets here on other bills we were following.
This year we had 15 in-person or zoom meetings between 9 Senators and 6 representatives and their constituents during February and March, with over 130 folks attending. We had a Lobby Day on April 6 with 55 attendees. Multiple Legislative Committee members testified at hearings and over 1000 folks wrote and / or called Senators and Representatives regarding these pressing issues. Thank you everyone who worked to inform and pressure legislators on environmental issues.
Democracy Issues in the 2022 Missouri Legislative Session
By Ashton Kuehnel, Sierra Club Missouri Chapter Democracy Organizer
The Sierra Club is committed to promoting and protecting a strong and vibrant democracy in the Missouri and the rest of the country. We were concerned about attacks on voting rights and a weakening of the Missouri’s initiative petition campaign structure. A bill attacking voting rights passed while attempts to change our initiative petition process failed.
- PASSED: 7 Page Voter ID bill to 80 page omnibus voter sabotage bill passed the legislature, it moves to the Governor's desk.
- Missouri Courts have already found the base of this bill unconstitutional in the past two other times, but the additional provisions added (see screenshot below) would be one of the voter suppression bills in the country, inspiring other states. Several statues are in violation of state and federal election laws, per Denise Lieberman of the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition.
- Next steps: Governor Parson needs to hear from us to VETO this bill. We are working with partners to create action alert language to drive in constituent calls/messages. Our legal partners are analyzing the language to determine our legal strategy for an inevitable lawsuit if not vetoed. If HB 1878 goes into effect, the Sierra Club will engage with allies in deep voter education.
HJR 79 - Initiative Petition (IP) Attack
- DEFEATED: Senators Schupp, Williams, May, Beck, & Roberts filibustered for 4+ hours in the afternoon of Wednesday, May 11 after hearing from many constituents about the need to maintain the IP process. We are happy to have defeated this bill with over 75 organizations as part of a coalition to stand for the will of the people. We know these bills will be coming back in the future.
- South Dakota voters have an election soon with identical language as to what we've seen this year. We are paying close attention and learning from our what happens there.
Together with the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, Missouri Jobs with Justice, and Missouri Healthcare for All, the Sierra Club hosted a Lobby Day on May 3 with over 125 Missourians advocating for voting rights! We talked to and presented thank you cards to our friendly representatives who have been advocating for our right to vote all session. Thank you all who participated.