Missouri District 30 Republican Senator Lincoln Hough, whose term will end soon, and former Missouri House minority leader Crystal Quade, a Democrat, shared insights into the legislative process at a forum this week. It was hosted by the Informed Voter Coalition, which Ozarks Public Broadcasting is part of.
They both shared things happening in Jefferson City that they feel need to be changed, and they talked about things that are going well.
Hough lost his role as chair of the Senate appropriations Committee after he voted no to mid-decade redistricting and changes to the state’s initiative petition process in the summer of 2024. He said that gave him time in the past session to be involved in a lot of policy discussions happening on the floor, “much to the bane of the existence of mostly my own caucus. But I would do that with purpose, and I would do that with reason. And I would walk out on the Senate floor, and I would just ask questions. Very simple, usually very simple questions. And the shocking thing about that is, when the bill's sponsor can't answer the simple questions, you've got to start wondering what's going on. And the sad thing is that right now, and really in the last handful of years, in my opinion, it's gotten worse, not better.”
Hough doesn’t believe the direction of the state is always led by one party or another. Often, it’s led by very specific financial interests. And he said several bills filed each session come from national organizations. Lawmakers sponsor the so-called model legislation because they are told it’s good, he said, but many likely don’t understand the implications of the bill.
“So, people go to a conference, and they go to a dinner, and somebody says, you know, it would be neat is if you filed this bill in Missouri, because we have this compact between other states that's being filed in 15 other states right now. And they say, well, that sounds neat. And that was a pretty good dinner. And I guess I'll go sponsor that bill,” he said.
They both agree that the term limits in place in Missouri now – eight years for both House and Senate – impede the legislative process. Quade believes Missouri’s term limits give lobbyists all the power.
“What that means is, just as Lincoln said, they’re showing up with pre-drafted bills,” she said. “Nobody knows what’s in them, I mean…people are presenting their bills to committees, and we ask questions, and they turn around and ask the lobbyists what’s the answers to the questions and are just conduits for these guys.”
Not all lobbyists are bad, she pointed out, and they’re necessary for the legislative process that’s in place, “but because of these factors like term limits and the money and the this and the that, we are not having lawmakers who are truly digging in and investing and doing the research.”
She also added that state government staff are “vastly underpaid.” That means that lawyers who double check facts for lawmakers often leave for higher-paying jobs.
Term limits
Hough said he believes the term limits in place now in Missouri are “a bad thing,” and he added that that opinion isn’t coming from someone who wants to serve in the state legislature forever.
“Term limits have turbulence, have hurt the institution, and they’ve hurt the people that we are sending to Jefferson City,” he said, “because it’s such a short-sighted business now that people are there constantly looking for the next thing, and they’re forced to look for the next thing.”
Quade’s term started and ended during a time when the Republicans were a super majority – as they still are. She remembers being approached by Republican lawmakers after a debate who would say they agreed with her, but they couldn’t vote for the legislation she supported.
“If it was Medicaid, it was because of Obamacare. If it was abortion, it was because I'll get primary. If it is, I'm not allowing for charter school expansion, I'm going to get kicked off my committee. You know, I'm up next to be the next chairman of this committee, and if I make the speaker mad, I won't get it. Or I'm running to be the next whip, and I have to keep everybody happy to get them to vote for me,” said Quade.
She and Hough both said the public needs to learn more about the state legislative process and get involved. For instance, Quade wants people to know that the speaker and the leadership of the majority party are who determine what gets prioritized. That makes it difficult, she said, when you have priorities and your constituents have priorities they want you to focus on, and you may never get the chance.
But she wants people to know that, despite what appears to be a very divided legislature, there are things that get done with bipartisan support. Ultimately, it’s about relationships.
“When you work across the aisle and are okay with, you know, fighting with somebody tooth and nail, literally tears and screaming on the floor,” she said, “and then 20 minutes later, you’re working together to try to pass something that you both agree on.”
Both Quade and Hough said, despite the disagreements between the parties, 80% of what goes on in Jefferson City is everyone working together to get things done.
Infrastructure, workforce development and economic development are things that most can agree are important, said Hough, regardless of party affiliation.
Education
Where the divide is deeper than many realize, he said, is in education. Hough pointed out that when he was in the House, education reform that allowed for private school vouchers and charter school expansion was opposed by many rural lawmakers who didn’t feel like it was good for their communities. Now, he said, the recently-passed Missouri budget has $60 million of general revenue going into a voucher program.
“When we underfund our public schools foundation formula by $190 million right off the bat, but I’m going to go ahead and argue with Senate Bill 727 it’s probably more like $340 to $380 million after next year, so that issue has gotten so far out of whack,” said Hough.
He added that education is the best economic development incentive there is. "It is the single most important thing that we can do to get this economy ready and get the workforce ready for the next steps," he said.
Quade said there didn’t used to be a partisan divide when it came to public education like there is now.
She's concerned that the way things are going and especially if the legislature is allowed to phase out the state's income tax will lead to schools having to make tough decisions. For example, rural schools might have to consolidate.
She praised Hough for having “the guts to say, I don’t agree with you and do it publicly.” She said more lawmakers need to follow suit.
“There were so many times that I had folks on the other side say to me, ‘you’re right, but we can’t.’ And imagine if we as a collective did things that we could and how much better, you know, talking about those big issues that deeply impact us if they just had the guts to say yes, how this could change, which would just be monumental for our state,” said Quade.
