On Wednesday this week (January 8, 2025), the State of Missouri formally began the 2025 legislative session. Hundreds of bills have already been filed in both the House and the Senate, setting the stage for a busy session.
Rep. Jon Patterson (R-Lee’s Summit) took the gavel as the new Speaker of the House, while Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin (R-Shelbina) became the first woman to serve as President Pro Tem of the state Senate. Msgr. Robert Kurwicki, pastor of the Proto-Cathedral of St. Peter, will remain as the chaplain of the Missouri House of Representatives.
Regarding the composition of the General Assembly, partisan alignment will remain unchanged as Republicans have retained their two-thirds supermajority in both chambers: 111 Republicans to 52 Democrats in the House and 24 Republicans to 10 Democrats in the Senate.
While no legislation has been debated, the General Assembly is expected to focus on abortion, tax cuts, and public safety this year. Governor-elect Mike Kehoe is set to be inaugurated on Monday and already has stated that one of his priorities is legislation to place control of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department with an appointed board. The department has been under the control of the mayor’s office since 2013, after Missouri voters approved a ballot item in 2012. Before that vote, the board had been under state control for over 150 years. Kehoe said the move would take “the partisan piece of politics out of the police department.”
More details about other agenda topics for the session can be found here from St. Louis’ NPR affiliate.