As of May 16th 2025, Missouri concluded its spring legislative session. MCE (MO Coalition for the Environment) wanted to highlight the hard fought wins and losses. MCE submitted ~65 pieces of testimony either online or in person, we openly tracked and monitored 474 bills (27 of which were high priority bills). We had a few of our supported bills reach the Governor’s desk, but the bulk of our successes involved holding a strong defensive front against some of the most destructive bills the House and Senate had to offer. While we can count these defensive wins as important achievements, these issues will return in future sessions. Our success hinged on member mobilization and coalition-building which must continue and strengthen. Today’s victories require tomorrow’s vigilance and the work to protect our environmental safeguards remains ongoing.
Wins
We supported these bills, and they successfully passed out of the Legislature and are now headed to the Governor!
Water Resources
- SB 82 will aim to protect Missouri’s water resources by regulating the exportation of water outside the state. This bill is essential for ensuring that our water remains available for domestic, agricultural, industrial, and recreational uses within Missouri. Supporting this bill is crucial for safeguarding our water resources and promoting sustainable water management. We supported SB 82 and are happy to announce that it has been Truly Agreed to and Finally Passed.
Hazardous and Cancer-Causing Waste
- HB 516 will improve access to testing for radioactive contamination in Missouri communities affected by nuclear weapons production waste. The bill clearly defines testing criteria and expands who can request testing to include individual property owners, not just local governing bodies. This addresses a critical need for communities suffering from rare cancers and autoimmune diseases linked to contamination from sites in St. Louis and St. Charles counties, where radioactive waste has spread beyond federally recognized boundaries. This bill is not perfect by any means, but it represents a step in the right direction. As such, we are pleased to report that this bill has Passed the House and Senate and is on the Governor’s Desk.
We opposed these bills, and they fortunately did not pass out of the Legislature:
Pesticide Manufacturer Liability
- SB 14 & HB 544 would have provided legal protection to pesticide manufacturers from “failure-to-warn” liability. This legal framework has been critical for pesticide users seeking redress from exposure to glyphosate-based herbicide products such as Roundup as well as other toxic pesticide products. When corporations manufacture products that are dangerous by their very nature, they must be prepared to face potential lawsuits from the harm.
Threats to Democracy
- SJR 47 would have demanded approval in three-quarters of congressional districts for any constitutional amendment to pass. In a state with eight congressional districts, this would mean amendments must pass in at least six districts, giving just three districts the power to block changes supported by the overwhelming majority of Missourians. This bill would have increased barriers for policy reform ideas from members of the public to be considered by the rest of Missouri. The entire idea of this tool is so that members of the public can put forth policy ideas and the General Assembly should not interfere, so we are thrilled this bill did not pass.
- HB 575 would have established unnecessary parameters around gathering signatures for initiative petitions and referendum petitions, including the requirement to use a specific form created by the Secretary of State, a certain font and font size, and have margins not less than an inch. HB 757 would have created restrictions on who can be a signature collector and states that signatures would have to be written in dark ink. It also would have deemed any signatures gathered invalid if collected before the official ballot title is approved or before a court determines the title needs to be significantly altered.
- HB 1442 would have severely impaired the ability of federal agencies to fulfill their statutory responsibilities to protect public lands and natural resources within Missouri. The bill’s provisions would have subordinated federal environmental standards to state management plans, potentially weakening protections for sensitive ecosystems. Further, HB 1442 would have prohibited federal agencies from implementing new regulations without General Assembly consent, creating bureaucratic gridlock that prevents timely response to environmental threats resulting in an adversarial rather than cooperative relationship between state and federal resource managers.
- HJR 8, 10, 11, 16: These bills would have required “initiative petitions proposing amendments to the constitution” to have signatures from “eight percent of the legal voters in each of the congressional districts.” This is an overreach by the legislature to make it more difficult for Missourians to propose policy reforms and have them become law if upon a vote, it is supported by the majority of Missourians
Losses
Bills we opposed that passed out of Legislature:
Threats to Democracy
- SB 221 makes it harder for the experts in government agencies to do their jobs by giving courts more power to second-guess their decisions. The bill mirrors the recent Supreme Court decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo by dramatically reducing court deference to administrative agencies. SB 221 removes courts’ traditional practice of deferring to agency interpretations of laws and regulations, requiring courts to interpret statutes and regulations de novo (from scratch), without giving weight to the advice of experts working for agencies.
- SB 22 prohibits courts from rewriting ballot measure summaries when a court determines the originally proposed ballot summary language is misleading or otherwise insufficient to inform voters of the purpose of the ballot measure. Courts are intended to be neutral parties that are not swayed by political ideologies and therefore are better suited to rewrite ballot summaries to be transparent and clear than elected officers.
Dangerous Energy Production
- SB 4 favors the continued operation of and opening of new fossil fuel plants through future test year rate setting and construction work in progress. This endangers Missourians’ physical wellbeing and allows corporations to profit further from this harm. Select provisions of the bill seek to counteract these adverse effects, but on the whole the bill will still endanger Missourians and their environment.
- We supported these bills and they did not successfully pass out of the Legislature
We supported these bills, and unfortunately, they did not successfully pass out of the Legislature:
Food Access
- HB 1468 & 1520 are bills we helped write. These bills tried to expand food access initiatives through two tax credit programs: one that increases funding for urban farms from $200,000 to $1.5 million annually while creating equal funding for small-scale specialty crop farms in rural food deserts, and another that establishes up to $22 million annually in tax credits for full-service grocery stores in food deserts, covering 50% of eligible expenses above minimum thresholds ($1M urban, $500K rural). The bills would have required grocery stores to operate for at least 10 years to retain credits, with both programs including sunset provisions to ensure periodic legislative review.
Water and Soil Health
- SB 569 is a bill we helped write. This bill would have reinstated the requirement that four of the seven seats of the Clean Water Commission be occupied by members of the public. SB 569 also seeks to ensure conflicts of interest do not lead to the approval of proposed permits or rules that would not be approved otherwise
- HB 585 is a bill we helped write. This bill would have expanded the State Soil and Water Districts Commission’s role to improve watershed health, quality, drought resilience, and crop security. The bill also seeks to implement vital soil health remediation techniques such as conservation tillage, cover-cropping, managed grazing, and integrated crop-livestock systems. It also ensures that knowledgeable farmers with expertise in healthy soil practices are part of the Commission.
- SB 400 would have allowed county commissions and health boards to pass and support new rules and regulations that impact the agricultural industry. This bill attempted to undo legislation from 2019 taking away local control. If SB 400 had passed, local governing bodies would have been better able to protect the health and security of their constituents by, for example, preventing industrial farms and meat plants from being close to homes or waterways, threatening leaching chemicals into local bodies of water.
Hazardous and Cancer-Causing Waste
- HB 876 is a bill we helped write. This bill would have required the disclosure of radioactive exposure from hazardous contamination for current tenants and government notice requirements to current residents. Currently, the law only requires notice to prospective tenants (or buyers) when the owner knows there is or has been hazardous contamination. If the owner learns of contamination after a tenant is already residing in their property, currently the owner has no requirement to inform the current tenant. Tenants deserve to be informed of radioactive exposure to protect their health and safety, and the government needs to ensure this notice is given to tenants.
- HB 184 is a bill we helped write. This bill would have required a notice of intent to excavate to DNR to check whether the excavation is in a site contaminated with hazardous waste. Tell the committee: DNR needs to be aware of excavation sites and remediation efforts taking place to prevent disturbance of contaminated soil and water.
- HB 1466 & HB 1208 are bills we helped write. These bills would have required DNR to establish rules regulating the manufacture, use, storage, and remediation of firefighting or fire-suppressing foam containing added Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a “forever chemical.”
While some of the worst bills stalled out in session, a large number of these bills will be filed once more with different bill numbers in the future. Be sure to keep an eye out for some of the key words and terms above that will likely show up time and time again in subsequent sessions. By recognizing repeated language and rhetoric used by policymakers you can stay up to date on these crucial environmental issues. In December, we will publish our 2026 bill tracker, where you can stay even more up to date on bill progress and crucial opportunities for submitting testimony or constituent opinion.
Thank you for taking the time to read, and for your continued support in the fight for a clean and healthy Missouri!
