| Week of Feb. 7, 2022 |
Redistricting Debate Stalls In Missouri Senate
The Missouri Senate spent much of the past week working to address the issue of congressional redistricting. The General Assembly is tasked with redrawing the state’s congressional boundary lines to reflect changes to the state’s population using information from the U.S. census. The districts created should be compact and contagious, represent roughly equal amounts of the state’s population, and try to keep communities of interests together as best as possible.
The proposed congressional map the Senate spent much of the week on was House Bill 2117, which is largely believed to preserve the current partisan makeup of the state’s congressional delegation. Some senators, however, disagreed with this assessment, and launched an over 30-hour filibuster in opposition to the bill. Even after the filibuster ended, continued opposition to the proposed congressional map stalled much of the Senate’s planned legislative activities. As of this writing, the Senate has not been able to move forward with any proposed congressional map. As we look for a path forward on this critical issue, know that my priority is ensuring the people of Jackson County are fairly represented by whatever map moves forward.
Senate Bill 666 Fails in Committee
On Feb. 10, the Senate’s Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee voted 3-4 to defeat Senate Bill 666. This legislation would change state law to allow someone...
A man has filed a lawsuit against his ex-girlfriend, a longtime Detroit police officer, claiming she fabricated stalking charges that landed him in jail before the case was dismissed. In a 24-page,...