Missouri House debates act barring discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity

The state House has for the first time debated the Missouri Nondiscrimination Act (MONA), which would prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in housing or employment.

Representative Kevin Engler (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Representative Kevin Engler (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Missouri law already prevents discrimination for other factors, such as race or religion.  MONA would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the law’s definition of “discrimination.”

The proposal has been heard in House committee hearings and debated in the state Senate, but this was the first time it was debated on the House Floor.

Farmington Republican Kevin Engler offered MONA.

“We’re one of the few states, Mr. Speaker, that you can fire somebody for just cause if you find out they’re gay.  For just cause.  For just cause.  I think that’s sick.  We should be disgusted that we have that policy in this state,” said Engler.  “We need to, as this body, take a stand that hate has no place in Missouri.”

Kansas City representative Randy Dunn (D), who is openly gay, said he has experienced discrimination and Missouri needs MONA.

“One part of me as a black man, I do have those protections [against discrimination] under current statute but as a gay man I don’t, so there’s a duality there,” said Dunn.  “This is a real issue.  People are discriminated against every day because of who they are, who they love, who people think that they are, and that is absolutely not right and that is not what Missouri stands for.”

Frankford Republican Jim Hansen said he supports MONA in spite of some of the tenants of his faith.

“The Bible says it’s a sin.  I agree with the gentleman from Cass on that.  I don’t believe in gay marriage, but I don’t control that.  That’s their choice.  Somebody else will judge that.  But I also don’t think that a preacher should marry maybe a person that’s been married five times either.  That’s a sin in the Bible.  So who are we going to pick and choose of how to handle and how to discriminate against?” asked Hansen.  “This is overdue.  I mean, we’re living in the dark ages and we’re standing up here still fighting this.”

Representative Randy Dunn (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Representative Randy Dunn (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Some Republicans spoke in opposition to the amendment, but most representatives who chose to speak on it were supportive.  It did not come to a vote.  Engler withdrew it saying he wanted to have the debate, but he believed its passage would result in the failure of the bill it would have been attached to, and because many representatives would have voted against it using their support of the underlying bill as an excuse to vote no.

He asked Republican leadership to bring the issue back next year, which will be his last in the legislature due to term limits.

“In the Senate … if you did the full boat and you served your 16-years [in the legislature] it was a tradition to let you at least debate a bill of your choice on the floor.  Mister Speaker I hope that you would honor that next year, and the bill that I’m going to ask for is this bill.  I would like it debated on the floor on its own merits and I would like it voted on.”

Another, similar amendment was voted down after Engler and other supporters of the underlying bill said the amendment’s passage would cause the bill to fail.

Missouri House proposes giving Missourians choice of whether to get Real ID-compliant licenses

The state House has proposed a bill that would allow Missourians to choose whether to get a state ID that complies with the federal Real ID Act of 2005, so they can use it to do things like enter military bases and board planes.

Representative Kevin Corlew said House Bill 151 will give Missourians a  choice on whether to get a state-issued ID that complies with the federal Real ID Act of 2005.  (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Representative Kevin Corlew said House Bill 151 will give Missourians a choice on whether to get a state-issued ID that complies with the federal Real ID Act of 2005. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Bill 151 is sponsored by Representative Kevin Corlew (R-Kansas City), who called it a compromise, allowing Missourians to keep non-compliant IDs if they wish.  His Republican caucus was divided over the legislation, though, with some saying the Real ID Act threatens individuals’ privacy and personal information.

The Act was passed as part of the federal government’s response to the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.  In 2009 the Missouri legislature and then-Governor Jay Nixon (D), citing privacy concerns, adopted a law barring the state from issuing compliant IDs.  After January 2018, however, those without non-compliant IDs will not be able to get through airport security, and some federal facilities already enforce such a restriction.

It is that deadline that prompted Corlew’s legislation.

“We need to allow our citizens to choose a Real ID-compliant license so that they’ll be able to get on an airplane to fly across the United States or to fly to another state without having to go to the expense and time and burden of getting a passport, or passport card, or producing additional identification,” said Corlew.  “We need to be able to do that so that our businesses who service our military basis, also our family members who have military families throughout the country, that they can go and visit their loved ones, to see their graduations, to be a part of those ceremonies.”

Representative Steve Lynch’s (R-Waynesville) district includes Fort Leonard Wood, which quit accepting non-compliant IDs last year.  He said he has seen, as much as anyone in the House, how the issue is impacting Missourians.

“Everywhere I go, every weekend, I run across people that stop me and tell me we need to fix this issue.  People are angry.  They are frustrated,” said Lynch.

Opponents of the bill include Representative Robert Ross (R-Yukon), who called the choice proponents say the bill presents a “total joke.”

Representative Robert Ross was one of 35 Republicans that voted against the Real ID bill.  (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Representative Robert Ross was one of 35 Republicans that voted against the Real ID bill. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Ross said the state is being “coerced” to adopt Real ID compliance by being told, “Your citizens are not going to be able to fly, they’re not going to be able to step onto a nuclear facility, we’re not going to let you into a military installation – which is completely false too.  If you’ve got a Missouri ID and a social security card, birth certificate, any other piece of identification, you can go in.”

Representative Rick Brattin (R-Harrisonville) said he is concerned the personal documents and information used to get a compliant ID will land in a government database.

“Everybody may think that this is a black helicopter mentality, but I do not think that this sort of information on a database, especially when it becomes completely nationwide, in the hands of a government, will ever be used for good,” said Brattin.

Others, like Representative Kevin Engler (R-Farmington), said voting against HB 151 would be denying constituents the ability to get a state-issued ID they can use to exercise their rights.

“I would suggest this:  If you look up and you see a ceiling, vote ‘Yes.’  If you look up and you see what might be the bottom of an alien spacecraft that’s coming down, and will beam us up to probe us, then vote, ‘No,’” said Engler.

The bill was passed with bipartisan support, 99-40, and now goes to the state Senate.