Laclede County Record logo and header

Rep. Schmidt visits Rotary for legislative update

Posted

One of Laclede’s state representatives, Melissa Schmidt, paid the Lebanon Rotary Club a visit Thursday to share news about her first year in office.
Schmidt is the state representative for District 141 (Laclede, Wright, Webster, Douglas) and a member of the Lebanon Rotary Club. During Thursday’s meeting, she went over the spring’s legislative session, her contribution to various bills and actions as well as the legislative process generally.
“If you already know some of these things, if you already are privy to the details, just indulge me for a moment. But if you don’t, I do love to educate about the process,” Schmidt said. “Because the bulk of the process really does rely on you all knowing that we are your voice at the Capitol, and we can only be that voice if you reach out to us and you let us know concerns that you have.”
In her freshman year at the Missouri House of Representatives, she has served on the Children and Families; Elementary and Secondary Education; and Health and Mental Health Committees. She said she was also interested in veterans’ affairs, aging citizens and small businesses.
She described her process for how she makes her voting decisions: she reads the bill in a legislative reading group; then she talks to those she considers experts, constituents, past office holders, legislators she shares districts with, and other colleagues; she then makes her decision and tries to reach back out to those affected by the bill.
Schmidt was also assigned to two working groups, one on Governor Mike Kehoe’s Executive Order 25-15, which ordered the Office of Childhood within the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to improve regulations for childcare facilities and homes, and one that worked to address Proposition 3 through HJR 17, which puts abortion back on the ballot for voters in 2026.

Schmidt noted the full funding of the foundation formula for public schools as a highlight of the passed state budget.
She also described the legislature’s effort in revising Proposition A, which voters passed last fall and increased minimum wage and required employers to provide paid sick leave, to repeal the sick leave portion. She said the legislature hoped the move would provide relief, especially to small businesses.
Three bills that Schmidt sponsored made it to the governor’s signing table this session: HB 737 which redirects foster care pension funds from the state budget to the pensioner among other items; a bill establishing zero cost adoption fund; and HB 850, which modifies provisions for licensing childcare facilities.
One bill that she co-sponsored and did not make it to the governor’s desk for passage was HB 236, which makes provisions relating to civil liability for publishing or distributing material harmful to minors on the Internet, what she described as an age verification bill. She said she would reintroduce the bill next year.
Schmidt also took questions from Rotarians following her talk. She then handed out documents with contact information for her office and business cards.
“Please do reach out, because I need to hear you all,” Schmidt said. “I can only be your voice if I hear you.”