Legislative Update - 2026, Week 16

By Otto Fajen
MNEA Director of Legislative Policy

CAPITOL ACTION DAYS

Capitol Action Days are part of the Association's plan to promote positive policy for public education. MNEA's Capitol Action Days occur regularly on Wednesdays during legislative session and continued April 29. Participating members will meet at the MNEA HQ and then come to the Capitol to get a briefing and meet with their legislators. For more information and to register for your Capitol Action Day, please visit https://www.mnea.org/CAD.

BUDGET

The House and Senate appointed conferees for next year's budget bills. A conference committee meeting is scheduled for May 4. The budget bills must be approved by both chambers in final form by 6 p.m. on May 8.

For the bills pertaining to both K-12 education and higher education, the House conferees will be Reps. Dirk Deaton, Bishop Davidson, Darin Chappell, Betsy Fogle, and Kathy Steinhoff. The Senate conferees will be Senators Rusty Black, Brad Hudson, Mike Henderson, Karla May, and Maggie Nurrenbern.

For the bill that includes the state's school voucher program under the State Treasurer's Office, the House conferees will be Reps. Dirk Deaton, Bishop Davidson, John Voss, Betsy Fogle, and Marlene Terry. The Senate conferees will be Senators Rusty Black, Brad Hudson, Mike Cierpiot, Doug Beck, and Maggie Nurrenbern.

PARENTAL RIGHTS BILL DEFEATED

The House defeated HCS/HB 2426 (Ben Keathley) on April 30 by a vote of 70-60. The bill failed to get the 82 votes required to pass a bill in the House. The bill would enact new law regarding parental rights in the upbringing, education, health care, and mental health of their children. The Association is concerned that the bill includes new authority to file private lawsuits against schools over alleged violations of these new provisions. The Association recommends adopting the language of HB 1787 (Ed Lewis) regarding parental and educator rights.

The House also approved an amendment to the bill to add HB 2304 (Phillip Oehlerking). This amendment requires parental consent for substantive changes to the services or placement of a student with a disability. The Association supports the amendment.

PROPERTY TAXES

The Senate approved SS/SCS/SB 1410 (Sandy Crawford) on April 30 by a vote of 31-2. A key provision in the bill requires reassessment rollback by property class. The bill also revises ballot language for school district bond issues and requirements for reporting debt service levy increases to the State Auditor.

The Senate adopted several amendments, including language to allow a taxpayer participating in the senior property tax credit program to remain in the program without having to reapply annually. The Senate also adopted an amendment to create a program for state assistance to finance eligible school district academic facilities. A newly created commission would oversee the program, set criteria, and select eligible projects based on basic parameters specified in the bill.

STATE OVERSIGHT OF HIGH SCHOOL ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATION

The House approved SS#2/SB 863 (Jason Bean) on April 30. This bill is now truly agreed to and will be delivered to the Governor for his approval. The bill creates a new oversight commission appointed by the Governor and housed within DESE. The oversight commission will review appeals relating to eligibility of transferring students and appeals relating to contests and contest procedures. The bill also requires MSHSAA to prepare an annual report and present the report to relevant committees in the House and the Senate.

SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS

The House Children and Families Committee will hear SS/SB 1002 (Adam Schnelting) on May 4. The original bill would move school board elections to the November general election and change all school board terms to four years. The substitute limits the bill to only school districts in St. Charles County. The Association opposes the bill.

Electing school board members at municipal election allows voters to focus on these local candidates and local school issues outside of the November election cycle when the time and attention of voters is taken up by partisan election campaigns and statewide issues.

SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE

The committee voted to include the language of SB 1029 (Rick Brattin) to require monthly school financial ledger reports into the SCS versions adopted for each of these six bills:

1) SCS/HCS/HBs 2230 & 2978 (Tricia Byrnes). The bill requires board policies that specify applicable limits on the use of technology for student learning practices in elementary schools, leaving the specific provisions of the policies under local control. The Association appreciates the concern and recognition of the impact of screen use on learning and child development and supports the bill.

2) SCS/HCS/HB 2748 (Bishop Davidson). The bill would increase requirements for physical education in schools. Schools would be required to have a period of daily physical education for elementary students.

3) SCS/HCS/HB 2872 (Cathy Jo Loy). The bill revises the law regarding reading instruction. The bill increases oversight and reporting on literacy instruction in educator preparation programs. The bill also mandates retention in third grade for students with low scores on state-approved reading assessments unless the student is exempted for "good cause". The bill further requires reading success plans for students scoring at the equivalent of "basic" on MAP tests. The Association remains concerned that the changes regarding assessment and retention may disrupt the progress on implementation of the existing reading law enacted in 2022.

4) SCS/SB 1207 (Kurtis Gregory) to require the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA) to file its annual financial report with the Joint Committee on Education.

5) SCS/HCS/HBs 2120 & 1698 (John Black) relating to school antibullying policies. The bill addresses restrictions on consequences for victims of bullying and requires consideration of student statements regarding self-defense when a student responds to an act of violence against the student. The bill also includes requirements for incident and investigation reports.

6) SCS/HB 2896 (Chris Brown) to revise requirements for appointments of higher education governing boards.

The committee voted to include: 1) a requirement that high school students participate annually in the Presidential physical fitness challenge and 2) the language of SB 1558 (Mike Henderson) to provide that private schools shall not be civilly liable for establishing single-sex restrooms and changing rooms, into the SCS versions adopted for each of these three bills:

1) SCS/HCS/HB 2682 (Darin Chappell) regarding student political and ideological expression. The bill would expand current law protections pertaining to student religious liberties to also apply to all student political and ideological expressions. The Association is concerned that the inclusion of authority to file private lawsuits over political and ideological expression will divert school resources to costly and time-consuming lawsuits and make it harder to attract and retain educators. The Association opposes the bill.

2) SCS/HCS/HBs 2913 & 3228 (Bill Irwin) regarding teacher immunity. The bill would grant limited immunity if a teacher intervened in an incident involving violence at school. The Association supports the bill.

3) SCS/HCS/HB 2335 (Ann Kelley) to modify laws governing school employee training requirements. The bill allows more local control of the annual training schedule for employees with more than three years of experience. The HCS extends local control over newly enacted training requirements from last session. The Association supports the bill.

The committee also heard HCS/HBs 1663, 1607 & 1973 (Brian Seitz) to remove the current sunset provision and permanently override MSHSAA and higher education institution policies on transgender athletic participation. Since the legislature enacted the current law three years ago, international and national sport associations have adopted more restrictive policies regarding transgender athlete participation, rendering the state law symbolic. The Association believes that educators should continue to establish the policies and procedures that govern the activities of Missouri students who participate in school activities.

LOCAL SALES TAXES FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

The House Ways and Means Committee approved HCS/HB 2379 (Cecelie Williams) on April 27. The bill would revise the distribution of local sales taxes for early childhood education to redirect those funds from the county general revenue fund to a dedicated county fund for early childhood education services that shall be under the direction of an appointed board for community children's services.