Last week my opponent listed six bills heading to the Governor’s desk. Here is what those bills actually do to the people of District 61.
April 1st a Medicare program giving seniors free access to hemp-derived CBD through their doctor…up to $500 a year…was launched by President Trump. My opponent voted for a bill that takes that benefit away from Missouri seniors before they ever see it. The federal government will not allow marijuana dispensaries to participate…they are illegal under federal law. Full stop. There is not a single licensed dispensary in District 61 anyway. And for our veterans, buying from a dispensary, under federal law, puts their gun rights at risk. My opponent reported none of this. He called it a routine regulatory update.
HB 2641 — Cannabis and Hemp Regulation
Thirty-five marijuana industry lobbyists wrote this bill. Hemp farmers were not invited. It forces all hemp products to be sold through marijuana dispensaries…and District 61 has zero. It kills the Medicare CBD benefit for our seniors, puts our veterans’ gun rights on the line, and makes selling hemp outside a dispensary a felony with a $5,000 fine per sale. The state agency that wrote the rules makes its money from marijuana licenses. They had a reason to write it this way. I would have voted no.
HB 2934 — Sports Complex Governance
This bill sends up to $4 million a year in state money to St. Louis sports and convention facilities for the next 30 years. District 61 has no sports complex. No convention center. No share of that money. Our tax dollars fund it. I would have voted no.
HB 2423 — Division of Finance Licensing Reform
This bill lets a state director set fees on lenders and credit companies whenever he wants, with no vote from the legislature. The money stays in a private fund he controls. That is the same setup that let the marijuana regulatory agency run roughshod over the hemp industry. Now it moves into consumer lending that affects District 61 families. I would have voted no.
HB 1908 — Dissolution of Marriage
Under current Missouri law a judge can deny a pregnant woman a finalized divorce just because she is pregnant. This bill stops that. The government has no business using a woman’s pregnancy to keep her trapped in a marriage she is trying to leave. I would have voted yes.
HB 2014 — Supplemental Appropriations
This is the mid-year spending bill. It funds roads, schools, veterans services, and disaster relief. It also carves out $86 million specifically for St. Louis City. The money is mostly already spent…voting no changes nothing. I would have voted YES, while saying out loud that must-pass bills are how St. Louis priorities get funded without a real debate.
HB 2273 — Protection of Children
This bill makes grooming a child a standalone crime, raises penalties for sex offenses against minors, cracks down on AI-generated abuse images, and requires trafficking training for first responders. It passed 134 to 2 in the House and unanimously in the Senate. The Governor signed it April 7th. I would have voted yes. Proudly.
Two of these six bills were common sense and passed with almost no opposition. The other four took money from our district, handed our hemp market to out-of-state operators, killed a federal benefit for our seniors, threatened our veterans’ gun rights, and gave a state bureaucrat unchecked power over family lenders. District 61 got nothing. District 61 was not at the table.
My opponent says his time in Jefferson City has value. Value to whom? I know what is at stake because I live it every day.
John Grady, candidate for District 61
