Sunday, September 28, 2025

What’s in This Edition?

• Top Takeaways of the Week
• Quick Links
• Trending Headlines
• Lobbyist Changes
• Campaign Contributions Over $5K

Top Takeaways of the Week

Medicaid Director Moves On

Director Todd Richardson announced that his tenure as Missouri MO HealthNet (Medicaid) Director will end in October. The former Speaker of the House assumed the role during the first year of Governor Parson’s term and will conclude his service nearly one year into Governor Kehoe’s administration. His “best of class” health care program has been recognized nationwide as a model for running a health care system. If ever there were an appropriate use of the phrase “big shoes to fill,” this is such an occasion.

An interim director will be named on October 15, and the list of candidates seeking to replace him is growing quickly. What Director Richardson will do next was not included in the announcement.

Governor Signs New Congressional Map…But Will It Go Into Effect?

“I was proud to officially sign the Missouri First Map into law today ahead of the 2026 midterm election,” said Governor Kehoe. But opponents have other ideas. They are utilizing a very rare procedure to force the legislation onto the ballot, where voters will decide its fate instead of the Governor. Opponents must collect about 150,000 signatures across six of the eight congressional districts to suspend the law until the electorate can vote on it in 2026.

The dispute now is over when the 90-day window actually opens for opponents to begin collecting signatures. The Attorney General says it starts once the bill becomes effective, which required the Governor’s signature today. Opponents argue it began when the legislature passed the bill. All I can say is: Supreme Court, start your engines. The Court will also referee another dispute over what ballot language will describe the abortion measure intended to unwind what voters approved last November.

The new congressional district map attempts to squeeze out one more Republican district in the November 2026 election. This would shift Missouri’s delegation from its current 6-2 Republican advantage in Washington to a 7-1 split. The race to watch is in Kansas City, where Congressman Emmanuel Cleaver (D-KC) currently serves. His district has been pushed deep into rural Missouri in an attempt to overweight it with Republican territory.

Brenda Shields Drops from Senate Race

Rep. Brenda Shields had launched a campaign for the Senate seat once held by her husband 20 years ago, and her race was quickly gaining momentum. However, after the recent discovery of a health issue requiring immediate attention, she has ended her bid and will focus on her recovery.

Shields will continue to serve one more year in the House, where she currently chairs the Rules Committee, but the rigors of a Senate campaign were “not what the doctor ordered.” We will miss her in the race and deeply appreciate her service!

Greater St. Louis Inc. Announces New CEO

The organization in St. Louis that spearheads economic development advocacy announced Missouri native Ron Kitchens as its next CEO following a national search. Kitchens, a nationally recognized economic development leader with more than three decades of experience, will begin in November, succeeding Interim CEO Dustin Allison. Click here for the press release.

Quick Links

• FY2026 Department Requests
• Bills Signed by the Governor
• Emergency Rules
• House & Senate Rosters

• New RFPs
• New Proposed State Regulations
• MEC Ethics Guide 2025
• Legislator Lookup

Trending Headlines

• ‘Border War Truce has not held’: KCMO City Council votes unanimously to repeal State Line agreement (KCTV)
• Missouri voters likely to deliver final verdict on congressional map, initiative changes (Missouri Independent)
• Federal rules force customer rebates for Missouri’s biggest health insurer (Missouri Independent)
• Missouri has spent $26M on private school vouchers so far (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• O’Fallon’s new Safe Haven Baby Box helps save a newborn (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• St. Louis County drops bill to ban unregulated intoxicating cannabis products (Missouri Independent)
• H-1B visa fee hike could hit St. Louis, Missouri firms (St. Louis Business Journal)
• Kehoe signs order declaring drought alert in Missouri (KOMU)
• Missouri Senate prez taps brakes on Capitol renovation plan (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• Missouri First Lady Claudia Kehoe tapped as treasurer for 2026 abortion ban campaign (Missouri Independent)
• Work groups contemplate changing Missouri schools’ need-based funding (Missouri Independent)
• Data center ban not off table amid Armory proposal in St. Louis (St. Louis Public Radio)
• ‘A fundamental right’: Judge strikes down law giving Missouri AG special appeal power (Missouri independent)

Lobbyist Changes

• Angie Schulte added Public School Retirement System of The City of St Louis, Visionary Integration Professionals, Natera, Tyler Technologies; and deleted Spirit of ’76 LLC.
• Craig Sepich deleted National Insurance Crime Bureau.
• Heath Clarkston, Doug Nelson, and Michael Henderson added Agape Care Group.
• Nexus Group deleted McDaniel Hazley Group, BRINC Drones Inc., and Husch Blackwell, LLP.
• Alayna Nicole Forck deleted Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives.
• Alayna Nicole Forck added Missouri Corn Growers Association.
• Strategic Capitol Consulting added Celebrate The Spectrum, and Sensiva Health.
• Patrick Lobejko added AHIP.
• Rebecca London added DraftKings Inc. and its Affiliates.
• Steven Carroll deleted Curo Group LLC.
• David Sweeney added THO Investments LLC.
• Jay Hahn deleted Clark Street Project.
• Tracy King deleted Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, LLC. DBA AT&T Missouri, LLC. and its Affiliates.

Source: Missouri Ethics Commission

Campaign Contributions Over $5,000

Source: Missouri Ethics Commission

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