Missouri House committee hears wide-ranging bill to remove sunsets from scores of programs, sparking sharp debate over process and two contentious provisions

The Missouri House committee reviewed Senate substitute No. 2 for Senate Bill 10, an omnibus measure that would remove sunset provisions from a broad set of statutes and programs, during a hearing that stretched more than five hours.

Senator Lincoln Huff, who presented the measure to the committee, said the bill began as "a sunset removal on the ... design build legislation" and expanded to cover tax credits and other programs that have previously contained sunsets. "What we tried to do was really just keep this to programs that had been passed and authorized by the legislature that had sunsets on them that ... individuals in our chamber obviously wanted to see those sunsets removed and those programs continue," Huff said.

Why it matters: The package touches a wide range of state policy and budget lines, including federal reimbursement allowance (FRA) taxes that help fund MoHealthNet, provider-related FRAs for hospitals, nursing homes and ambulances, a set of agricultural and ethanol-related credits, the Show Me film incentive, a diaper-bank tax credit, the rolling-stock credit used by rail repair yards, and procurement authority for "design build" and construction-manager-at-risk projects. Two sections drew the most public attention: the Missouri Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act (language affecting gender-affirming care for minors) and the Save Women's Sports/athletics participation provisions.

Committee debate focused less on the merits of each underlying program than on process and precedent. Several representatives said sunsets serve as a legislative…