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Lee's Summit committee hears lobbyist update on bills affecting utilities, solid waste and an income‑tax ballot measure
Summary
Lobbyists from Versa Governmental Strategies briefed the Lee's Summit Legislative & Intergovernmental Relations Committee on multiple Missouri bills, including a solid‑waste bill that would shift district authority to the Department of Natural Resources, a utility relocation reimbursement measure capped at 2% of project cost, and HJR 173 to put an income‑tax phase‑out question to voters.
John Hensley, a lobbyist with Versa Governmental Strategies, told the City of Lee's Summit Legislative and Intergovernmental Relations Committee on March 23 that 3,153 bills had been filed so far in the Missouri legislature — 1,939 in the House and 1,214 in the Senate — and reviewed a set of items the city is tracking.
Hensley described House Bill 2761, Representative Banderman's solid‑waste measure, as arising from a highly local property dispute and warned it would change the Department of Natural Resources' role, adjust tipping fees and eliminate existing solid‑waste management districts and the solid‑waste management advisory committee. He said the bill had a ‘‘rough ride’’ in the House committee and appeared stalled there, while a Senate companion, Senate Bill 1586, had cleared committee and was on the Senate perfection calendar.
On utility relocations, Hensley and Zach Pow summarized Senate Bill 1065 (Sen. Ben Brown) and House Bill 2155 (Rep. Josh Herbert). The bills have been amended to limit reimbursements to labor costs and to cap that reimbursement at roughly 2% of the total project cost, Hensley said; as an example, he said a $1 million road project would cap relocation labor reimbursement at about $20,000. He and Pow reported a ‘‘huge turnout of opposition’’ at hearings from municipalities across the state and said Lee's Summit lobbyists had testified in opposition.
Hensley emphasized that if SB 1065 begins to move on the Senate floor, the committee should consider outreach to its state delegation. "Let's keep watching 1065. If it gets out of the Senate, you got to really bombard your reps," Hensley said, and he offered to supply talking points and project impact data if the council wanted to contact senators.
The lobbyists also briefed the panel on other tracked measures: SB 1087 (changes to driving‑privilege suspensions for repeated failures to appear/pay), SB 927 (regulation and labeling of kratom products), HB 2641 (a comprehensive cannabis regulation bill described as creating an "Intoxicating Cannabinoid Control Act" and addressing dispensary rules), and two House bills on public labor negotiations (HB 3283 and HB 3306). Hensley said those bills' prospects varied by committee progress and that the firm would continue to monitor and report back.
Hensley closed by underscoring HJR 173 — a proposed constitutional question that would ask voters to phase out the state's individual income tax based on state revenue growth — as a governor‑backed, high‑stakes item likely to generate intense debate in the final weeks of session and complementary proposals to expand sales taxes.
The committee did not take a formal advocacy vote on any bill; Hensley and Pow said they would notify the council if items accelerated and supply materials for outreach if requested.
