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The fall of 2023 will be the 50th anniversary of the legislative birth of Missouri’s Sunshine Law that provides the public with sweeping rights to documents, voting records and meetings of …
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By Phill Brooks, Contributing Columnist
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1/11/23
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This column is written in the aftermath of two recent fatal shootings in mid-Missouri. One was two deaths in Jefferson City and the other in Columbia.
Those incidents renewed questions I’ve …
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By Phill Brooks, Contributing Columnist
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12/14/22
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The recent party caucuses of Missouri’s legislature provide an example for the U.S. Congress of a more civil and productive approach to dealing with changes after a general …
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By Phill Brooks, Contributing Columnist
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11/23/22
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Missouri’s legislative special session dealing with tax cuts is a reminder of how often in past decades tax-cut bills have become food fights for getting tax burdens reduced for a variety of …
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By Phill Brooks, Contributing Columnist
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10/5/22
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One of the major aspects of Missouri’s recent primary was the number of races for which there actually was no contest.
In more than half of the 180 state legislative districts on the ballot, …
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By Phill Brooks, Contributing Columnist
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8/17/22
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This column was inspired by a discussion with Missouri Independent reporter Rudi Keller the day after the 2022 legislative session adjourned.
We reminisced about earlier years when there seemed to …
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By Phill Brooks, Contributing Columnist
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5/25/22
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The 2022 regular session of the Missouri General Assembly was the most dysfunctional I can remember in more than 50 years covering the statehouse.
Endless Senate filibusters stalled action for …
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By Phill Brooks, Contributing Columnist
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5/18/22
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Missouri’s legislature enters its final days of the 2022 legislative session facing an unusually large pile of partisan and ideological divisive issues.
In an election year, it is not …
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By Phill Brooks, Contributing Columnist
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5/4/22
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After so many decades covering the legislative process, I’ve gained an appreciation about Senate filibusters.
So many times, I’ve seen benefits from the power of a senator or two to …
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By Phill Brooks, Contributing Columnist
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4/20/22
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This year’s process to redraw Missouri’s legislative districts represents the danger of handing that responsibility to partisan politicians.
Every 10 years following the national …
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By Phill Brooks, Contributing Columnist
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4/6/22
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The Russian invasion of Ukraine promises to be a fascinating issue for Missouri law makers in the session’s closing weeks.
Already measures have been filed to prohibit state and local …
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By Phill Brooks, Contributing Columnist
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3/23/22
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Missouri’s governmental and political discourse on several major issues has descended from words of inspiration into hateful partisan and ideological rhetoric that leaves little room for …
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By Phill Brooks, Contributing Columnist
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3/9/22
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The extended Missouri Senate filibusters about congressional redistricting is a reminder about how bitter and divisive this issue can be.
This year it has involved an historically long Senate …
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By Phill Brooks, Contributing Columnist
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2/23/22
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The decision of Missouri’s legislative leaders to send members home because of the impending snow storm reminded me the last time a winter storm of such magnitude disrupted the …
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By Phill Brooks, Contributing Columnist
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2/16/22
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The decision of Missouri’s legislative leaders to send members home because of the impending snow storm reminded me the last time a winter storm of such magnitude disrupted the …
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By Phill Brooks, Contributing Columnist
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2/9/22
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This column is prompted by a question from a long-time statehouse observer as to why Missouri’s legislature has become so divided.
My answer involved the number of changes in the statehouse …
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By Phill Brooks, Contributing Columnist
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1/26/22
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The criminal case for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia had a personal impact on me.
Like Arbery, I often walk briskly in nearby neighborhoods. Although I must confess that at my advanced …
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By Phill Brooks, Contributing Columnist
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12/8/21
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I begin this column with a confession.
We journalists are reluctant to report about ourselves because under journalism ethics, a reporter should avoid covering something in which the reporter has …
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By Phill Brooks, Contributing Columnist
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12/8/21
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The 10 deaths at a packed Houston, Texas, concert crowd raised powerful and haunting memories for me from an episode of an old TV series more than four decades ago — “WKRP in …
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By Phill Brooks, Contributing Columnist
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12/1/21
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A recent New York Times article about U.S. Supreme Court edits of wording mistakes reminded me about how Missouri’s Supreme Court has dealt with legislative mistakes.
The New York Times …
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By Phill Brooks, Contributing Columnist
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11/24/21
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