Senate adopts substitute creating task force on missing and murdered African American women and girls

The Missouri Senate adopted a substitute to create a task force on missing and murdered African American women and girls, advancing Senate Bill 40 on the floor.

Senator from the Thirteenth moved a substitute that the sponsor described as a clerical fix to language in section 595.325. The sponsor said the task force is intended to examine why African American women comprise a disproportionate share of missing-and-murdered cases — the sponsor noted that African American women make up “only 11% of the population, but 42% of the missing and murdered are African American women and girls.” He told colleagues the substitute changes a single word in subsection language and otherwise preserves the bill’s substance.

Senators questioned the location of the language change in the substitute and asked for clarifications; the sponsor walked through the substitute’s page and subsection references on the floor. One senator said she had previously opposed narrower task forces but would support this task force as a focused approach while urging that broader missing-and-murdered issues also be studied in future work.

After floor discussion the Senate adopted the substitute and later declared the bill perfected and ordered printed. The transcript shows the sponsor offering to share findings with other senators when the task force convenes and produces results.

Ending: The task force language now moves forward in the legislative process. The sponsor and colleagues said they expect the panel to report findings to the Senate when available.