Missouri Rep. Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, says low attendance and frustration are adversely affecting the latest special session called by Gov. Eric Greitens.
Quade, who represents 37,000 Springfieldians in District 132, spoke this morning for Springfield Business Journal’s 12 People You Need to Know live interview series. Following the breakfast event, she headed back to Jefferson City, where she said the temperature of legislators is “not good.” During the first special session on May 24, for instance, 24 of the 160 House members were absent, according to
House.Mo.gov.
“There are a lot of folks — I would say, even more so on the other side of the aisle — who are not very happy right now,” she said. “The frustration going on right now is not partisan.”
Quade referenced Greitens’ comment in May when he called legislators back, saying he was "canceling their summer vacations” for the first special session. That comment, Quade said, has angered those who were expected to return to their full-time jobs after the regular session because they couldn’t take more time off work.
Another point of frustration is the cost of the special sessions — $125,000 a week, Quade said — and debate about whether the issues raised warrant the increased expenses, especially when the state is facing a budget shortfall.
“We’re $450 million upside down in our state budget right now, but we’re more than happy to spend … on things that may or may not be emergencies,” she said.
In Jefferson City today, Quade said three bills are under discussion, including budgetary issues and women’s rights issues.
“This special session is being dubbed an abortion conversation, but it really isn’t,” she said.
At issue is a St. Louis ordinance barring employers from firing, refusing to hire or disciplining women for having an abortion, taking contraceptives or using artificial inception while not married. Greitens has said the current ordinance makes St. Louis “an abortion sanctuary city,” according to
The Associated Press.
Concerning the regular General Assembly session this year, freshman Rep. Quade voiced disappointment in some areas but said conversations were started that could bear fruit, including those involving poverty.
Referencing her place in a super minority party in a state government dominated by Republicans, she said the fact some of the
18 bills she sponsored or co-sponsored were even heard on the floor was a victory.
Three of the bills passed the House of Representatives — including the Narcotics Control Act for a statewide prescription drug monitoring program — but none were signed into law.
“For me, it wasn’t a swing and a miss,” she said of the handful of bills, specifically related to low-income working families she represents in Springfield’s Zone 1 district. “We need more folks to understand the issues behind poverty. We created a conversation.”
