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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 5, 2025
Contact: Claire Cook-Callen, claire@progressmo.org

Congressman Eric Burlison introduces federal abortion ban months after MO votes to end statewide ban

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Rep. Eric Burlison of Southwest Missouri is turning his back on Missourians in filing H.R. 722, which will effectively institute a federal abortion ban across the United States. This bill comes less than three months after 1.5 million Missouri voters approved Amendment 3 to end the state’s total abortion ban. 

Residents of Burlison’s district, Congressional District 7, are outraged that their Congressman would ignore the will of Missourians. 

“This bill is dangerous and life-threatening to women and those who reproduce,” said Libby Becker, a resident of Springfield. “Banning abortion will not stop abortions. It will only stop safe abortions. I am a queer woman that does not ever want a child and if I were to become pregnant through rape, I would do everything in my power to not go through with that pregnancy. This bill does not protect women.”

Missourians submitted more than 45,000 signatures from CD7 to place Amendment 3 on the ballot, 150% of the required 30,000. 

“As part of the strategy team for Abortion Action Missouri, I knocked over 100 doors in Springfield for Amendment 3.” Becker said. “I spoke to constituents who opposed the abortion ban in Missouri. The people have spoken and we want the government out of our doctors offices.” 

Informally titled the Life at Conception Act, H.R. 722 attempts to radically redefine personhood to the moment of conception, extending constitutional rights to fetuses and embryos.

In addition to ignoring the majority of Missourians, the bill also flies in the face of President Donald Trump’s previously stated stance of leaving abortion to the states. 

This bill is just the latest example of Burlison’s ongoing crusade against abortion and reproductive rights. As a State Senator in 2019, he voted for HB 126,which banned all abortions in Missouri with no exemptions for rape or incest. In 2022 he launched an attack on abortion and reproductive service providers.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2024
Contact: Claire Cook-Callen, claire@progressmo.org
Denise Lieberman, media@movpc.org

Missourians Urge Lawmakers to Protect Majority Rule at Voting Rights Legislative Day

JEFFERSON CITY – Hundreds of Missourians gathered in the Capitol rotunda on Tuesday, January 28 to urge lawmakers to protect majority rule and ditch efforts to alter the initiative petition process. Missourians delivered a clear message: Don’t end majority rule in Missouri.

Majority rule has been law in Missouri for more than 100 years, but now politicians want to rig the rules so that a small minority of Missourians can veto any statewide proposal.

“The principle of ‘one person, one vote’ is key to our freedom to make decisions about policies that will impact us and our families,” said Elizabeth Franklin, resident of Plattsburg. “It doesn’t matter where you live, one person’s vote should not matter more or less than any other vote. Once the voters of Missouri have spoken on a measure, the majority decision must be respected by the lawmakers in Jefferson City.”

Franklin and other concerned citizens gathered for the non-partisan Missouri Voting Rights Legislative Day, organized by the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, to urge lawmakers to reject efforts to undermine Missouri’s citizen initiative petition process. Attendees also spoke to lawmakers in support of protecting election workers from threats and harassment, and restoring voting rights to those on probation and parole.

“Like most Missourians, I work hard,” Alejandro Gallardo of Columbia told the crowd. “I put in long hours as a restaurant worker, and I bust my butt each day. Despite my dedication and hard work, I often found myself in a difficult situation. Calling in sick to care for myself – losing out on a day’s pay or risk getting my coworkers and customers sick while earning the paycheck I need to survive. Now, because of Missouri’s initiative petition process, I no longer have to make those tough decisions. I joined with hundreds of volunteers to take democracy into our own hands and collect signatures and pass a law that we needed and lawmakers in Jefferson City refused to do.”

More than two dozen bills threatening majority rule and proposing changes to the initiative petition process have already been filed. After last year’s historic 50-hour filibuster and record-low number of passed bills, Missourians are eager for lawmakers to focus on issues that matter most rather than trying to trick them into giving up their freedoms.

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Governor Mike Kehoe will make his first state of the state address today. However, there is a stark difference in the picture he paints from the actual state of Missouri. 

The simple truth is that it’s hard to live in Missouri. While the Governor and Legislature are focused on cutting taxes for the richest of Missourians, the rest of the state is left fighting over scraps often leaving us at the bottom. 

Missouri currently ranks:

• 48th in public school students experiencing homelessness
• 43rd in broadband access
• 40th in women’s healthcare 
• 43rd in women dying by firearms
• 49th in early education systems 
• 44th in quality of life
• 48th in children living in households with smokers

“Despite spending over $16 billion on health care, maternal and infant care in Missouri is in crisis,” said Kyra Betts, Manager of Policy and Advocacy at Generate Health STL. “Black women are up to three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. In 2022 alone, 467 infants in Missouri died before their first birthday, with Black infants facing nearly double the mortality rate of their white counterparts. These devastating statistics highlight systemic inequities that continue to endanger the lives of Black mothers and babies.”

Gov. Kehoe and leadership in the Missouri House and Senate need to be more concerned with the declining economic growth in rural parts of our state rather than party in-fighting and attacks on direct democracy. 

“I want the freedom to be myself and earn a good living,” said Ash Judd, Amazon STL8 worker and Missouri Workers Center member. “But racist, conservative lawmakers in Jefferson City are trying to pass laws to divide us and make it harder for us to thrive. They limit our futures while letting corporate donors gouge prices and refuse to guarantee the fair wages and safe working conditions we deserve.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025
Contact: Claire Cook-Callen, Claire@ProgressMO.org

Rep. Eric Burlison puts Missourians’ jobs and health at risk by sponsoring a repeal to the Inflation Reduction Act

Rep. Burlison has signed on as a co-sponsor of H.R.191 which would repeal the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

Rep. Eric Burlison of Southwest Missouri has co-sponsored H.R. 191 to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The IRA marked a turning point for many Missourians by bringing millions of dollars in infrastructure projects, clean energy jobs, and drastically reducing the price of prescription medications and healthcare costs. 

In the last two years, the IRA has brought $75 million to Missouri in energy rebates to lower energy costs in homes, $156 Million for Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund’s Solar For All program, and has capped the cost of insulin at $35 impacting more than half a million Missourians living with diabetes. 

Nationally the IRA has brought over $265 billion in clean energy investments with an estimated $6.6 billion coming to Missouri by 2030.

“The Inflation Reduction Act brought thousands of good-paying union jobs to Missouri,” said Brandon Flinn, Business Manager, Missouri-Kansas Laborers District Council. “Because of this legislation, our members are working on numerous renewable energy projects, earning family-supporting wages and employing new apprentices who are the next generation for our state’s workforce.”

According to the 2025 MIssouri Diabetes Report by the Department of Health & Senior Services, Missouri adults living in low-income households are more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes. For many in Burlison’s district, the reduction in healthcare costs and capped insulin cost from the IRA has been lifesaving. 

“As a constituent of Rep. Burlison, I am very disappointed in his decision to co-sponsor this bill,” said David Trippe, Springfield resident. “I am one of many people in District 7 who are on Medicare and have seen the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act. As someone who relies on insulin, the $35 cap has been a huge relief to my family. For years, my prescriptions have been more than $2,000 a years, but because of this bill that’s now the maximum that I will have to pay for the medication that helps me live. I wish Rep. Burlison would have taken seniors and other Medicare recipients into consideration before co-sponsoring this bill.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 6, 2024
Contact: Claire Cook-Callen, claire@claireprogressmo.org

Voters passed Amendment 3 and Proposition A on Tuesday, and they now prepare to defend the will of the people against radical politicians

Jefferson City, MO – In Missouri, voters from Maryville to St. Charles to Cape Girardeau made their voices heard in record numbers. Over 2.9 million Missourians cast their ballots, showing that nothing will stop us from exercising our fundamental right to vote.

Missourians value our freedoms. That’s why Missourians collected signatures to place measures on the ballot that allowed voters to decide their own futures. On Tuesday, Missourians united across race and place to end Missouri’s total ban on abortion and overwhelmingly passed Proposition A to raise Missouri’s minimum wage and require earned paid sick leave. 

Voters must now come together to protect the will of the people. While Missourians approved Amendment 3, ending the total ban on abortion in our state, leaders in both the Missouri House and Senate said they intend to “soften” or even wholly overturn voters’ decision on ending the abortion ban. 

“State senators hold enormous power in ensuring that when amendments pass at the ballot box they are enacted and go into effect,” said Erin Hill, St. Louis resident and volunteer with Abortion Action Missouri. “We have seen time and time again examples where what we voted for was delayed or dismantled and flat out rejected by state lawmakers.”

Missourians deserve leaders who respect their freedoms: from their freedom to decide if and when they grow our families, to their freedom to vote, to their freedom to earn a good living and have a good life. 

“Progress MO will continue to hold elected officials accountable and protect the will of the people,” said Claire Cook-Callen, Director of Campaigns with Progress MO. “In the 2024 Legislative Session, a large bipartisan coalition defeated attempts to end majority rule and attack the initiative petition process. We are prepared to combat all attempts to undermine or mislead Missouri voters.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024
Contact: Claire Cook-Callen, Claire@ProgressMO.org​

Residents and voters in western St. Louis County speak out on the importance of the upcoming election for State Senate

Voters from Senate District 15 in western St. Louis County urged their neighbors and communities to vote for a candidate this November who will uphold the will of the people. 

While no votes have yet been counted, candidates for the Missouri Senate are already promising voters they will overturn the election results on Amendment 3 and any other outcome they don’t support. In recent years, the Missouri Legislature has taken it upon themselves to overturn measures passed by a majority of voters when politicians disagreed with the outcome including regulations on puppy mills, a citizen-led end to gerrymandering, and refusing to fund the expanded Medicaid program. 

The will of the people should be the final say, not that of greedy politicians who like to play political games. 

“It is on us to elect politicians who will uphold the will of Missourians,” said Erin Hill, voter in Senate District 15. “State senators hold enormous power in ensuring that amendments when they pass at the ballot box are enacted and go into effect. We have seen time and time again examples where what we voted for was delayed or dismantled and flat out rejected by state lawmakers.”

Candidates vying to represent Senate District 15 are Democrat Joe Pereles and Republican David Gregory. Pereles is a businessman and 40-year volunteer and Global Leader with the Red Cross. Gregory is an attorney, accountant, and former state representative. Gregory voted to overturn voter-approved redistricting reform known as Clean Missouri in 2020, and he sponsored and passed Missouri’s total abortion ban. 

“Too often these days, it seems our state legislators are up to something underhanded,” said Mary Ann Perkins, lifelong Ellisville resident and volunteer with Abortion Action Missouri. “Meanwhile, Missouri voters and Missouri families have gotten the short end of the stick. Again and again, we find that our elected officials in Jefferson City have crossed the line — instead of doing their jobs, they’re pouring time, attention and money into unpopular legislation. No matter who wins in November, our elected officials owe it to us to serve us, to represent us and to be accountable to uphold the will of the people – not dismantle it.” 

“The candidates I’ll be voting for understand that it is us, the people, who have political power,” continued Hill. “It is us, the people, who are voting and making our voices known. I’ll be voting for candidates who I can trust to raise our voices and fight for the issues that matter to us.”

“​​Even though Amendment 3 has my personal vote, I know my vote will not be protected by the current Missouri Legislature,” Nancy O’Brien told those gathered. “The Missouri Legislature has a history of ignoring the voice of people. They have been actively telling voters, ‘We don’t want to hear what you have to say. We know what is best for you.’ But it’s time for us to vote out those who won’t listen to what we the voters decide. We need candidates who will respect our will.”

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Sen. Hawley voted repeatedly against U.S. disaster support while whining about government response

As natural disasters continue to strike the U.S., Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley’s cold and calculated votes against FEMA funding prove he’s once again playing politics with people’s lives and putting party over the needs of everyday people.

As Hurricane Milton bears down on the southern U.S., not even two weeks removed from the damage wrought by Hurricane Helene, Hawley has found company among senators attempting to break the government to demonstrate that it doesn’t work in his desperation to get reelected.

Hawley was one of just 18 senators who voted against a bipartisan bill funding FEMA on Sept. 25, 2024, and he also previously voted against funding the disaster response agency.

Hawley recognizes the value that FEMA provides to the U.S., as he co-sponsored the bipartisan Federal Disaster Response Act in 2020 to remove the one-year FEMA worker deployment cap. He also tweeted about the importance of a strong response to disasters by FEMA following flooding in Missouri in 2022.

However, as polls show Hawley’s lead dwindling in Missouri’s U.S. Senate race and former allies like former Republican U.S. Senator Jack Danforth say they don’t want to see him get reelected, Hawley has joined forces with other extremists.

The purposeful spread of lies and misinformation by Hawley and others like him have created such a dangerous situation for the people living in affected areas that FEMA had to create a response website to debunk their falsehoods.

Hawley will continue to do and say anything he can to be reelected, regardless of how harmful it is to real people trying to survive dangerous conditions.