Independence Political News

The Independence City Council swore in new Mayor Rory Rowland and At-Large Councilman Jared Fears on Monday night.  Departing the Council was Mayor Eileen Weir and At-Large Councilman Mike Huff.  Councilwoman Karen DeLuccie, who passed last week, was also recognized for her years of service to the city on both the planning and zoning commission as well as the City Council for the last 8 years.  DeLuccie seat will remain unfilled for the time being but the new Council did have the first reading of a bill that would call for a special election to fill the seat.  The lawsuit by Councilman Mike Huff also is continuing and could impact a special election if a judge rules on the case prior to the August election.

Hear Mayor Rowland’s tribute to Councilwoman Karen DeLuccie

In other news, the outgoing Council voted to approve the creation of a Charter Review Committee.  The charter has minor revisions with the last being 20 years ago but it has been over 30 years since a committee has been appointed to do a review.  The charter review was a priority of the Chamber of Commerce 2022 legislative agenda.

The new Council also had the first reading of a comprehensive plan change, rezoning requests, and a developer agreement with Northpoint Development for the creation of the Eastgate Commerce Center in the Little Blue Valley.  The Chamber has endorsed the project and is asking members and the community to express their support via the site actnowindependence.com which sends a support email to all members of the Council.

The City Council will have a study session on Monday, April 25th beginning at 6:00 pm.  See the full agenda

News from Jefferson City

It was a productive week for the Missouri Senate.  On Wednesday night, the budget committee completed their work and unanimously passed out all the bills.  Senate debate is scheduled for next week.  Differences will be worked out with the House with a May 8th deadline for passage. One portion of the budget relates to public school transportation which was included in the Chamber’s 2022 legislative agenda.  For the first time in 20 years, transportation would be fully funded which is 75% of the total cost for school districts.  Read more

In the Missouri House, the tax rebate legislation being proposed that would provide $500 for individuals and $1,000 for couples was perfected and approved on Thursday.  The rebate has a 1 billion dollar price tag but comes during a time when state revenues are nearly 2 billion over expenses.  It nows head to the Senate for consideration.

The group Legal Missouri 2022 has gathered the required number of signatures to force a referendum vote on the use of recreational marijuana.  The petition will be submitted to the Missouri Secretary of State’s office for certification to assure the required number of registered voters have legally signed.