Local lawmakers react to governor’s special session on violent crime

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Lawmakers across the state have mixed reactions about the special session the governor is calling to address violent crime in Missouri.

During a press conference Wednesday, the governor called legislators back to Jefferson City for the session which is scheduled to start July 27. He included it will be narrowly focussed on violent crime.

State Sen. Mike Bernskoetter, a Republican, said while he believes this is geared more towards bigger cities, there is violent crime everywhere.

"It's a Missouri problem, It's not just a Kansas City and St. Louis problem," Bernskoetter said.

While he supports the items the governor wants to address during the special session, funding for some of the ideas may be tough, namely the witness protection fund.

"We're going to have to allocate money to that fund, and we are cutting funds from all across the board right now," Bernskoetter said. "It's going to be an interesting conversation to see where the money would come from."

State Rep. Chuck Basye, a Republican, said he believes this is the first of a few special sessions, because of the impact COVID-19 had on the legislative session.

Basye supports this special session, saying he has spoken with several law enforcement officers in his region about the need for more witness protections.

"Unfortunately we will live in a sometimes violent culture, that's just the very unfortunate part," Basye said.

Lawmakers on the other side of the aisle say this special session has come too late, after Democrats asked for a special session last year.

Auditor Nicole Galloway, who is a Democrat and running again Gov. Mike Parson for governor, said in a statement she believes the governor should have called a special session on the topic last year instead of one about tax.

"It’s well past time that Governor Parson got serious about violence in Missouri," Galloway said.

Minority Leader of the House Crystal Quade, of Springfield, said the governor not calling a special session last year lead to more deaths from gun violence in the state.

“We had hoped the governor’s special session call would be motivated by a desire to save lives," Quade said in a statement. "Instead, he only seeks to distract from his bungled response to the pandemic, and the generational economic devastation resulting from it, with misinformed tough-on-crime rhetoric that will solve nothing."

Basye said crime has gone up since last year, and believes now is a good time to address the issue.

"We need to do everything we can to try and nip that in the bud and try and lower that," Basye said. "We'll see what happens, there are a lot of moving pieces."

ABC 17 News reached out to both democratic representatives in Columbia. State Rep. Kip Kendrick was unavailable for a comment and State Rep. Martha Stevens did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Watch ABC17 News at 9 and 10 for a full report.