Missouri governor vows state takeover of St. Louis police in State of the State address

Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe doubled down on his support for a state takeover of the St. Louis Police Department on Tuesday, telling lawmakers during his first State of the State address that crime in the city is “unacceptable.”

He also waded carefully into the debate over abortion, stopping short of suggesting any rollback of reproductive rights that were enshrined by voters into the state constitution and instead proposing additional funding for alternatives to the procedure. 

“Let’s work together,” Kehoe told a joint session of the General Assembly, “to support Missouri women so abortion doesn’t even have to be considered an option.”

Moments after he was sworn in as governor earlier this month, Kehoe signed six executive orders he said were designed to combat crime in Missouri. The orders created task forces to arrest people with outstanding warrants and immigration enforcement training programs for the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

In his address Tuesday, Kehoe pledged to back legislation to bolster a scholarship program for law enforcement basic training and create a new scholarship for law enforcement to access postsecondary education outside of basic training. 

“These steps are critical,” he said, “to making Missouri the best state in the nation to be a law enforcement officer.”

He also expressed support for increasing penalties for rioting or fleeing in a vehicle, as well as a crackdown on stunt driving and street racing. Drug dealers who sell fentanyl that kills a Missourian should be charged with first-degree murder, Kehoe said.

But the most controversial proposal is Kehoe’s support for a state takeover of St. Louis’ police department. 

“As the economic powerhouse of our state,” Kehoe said, “we cannot continue to let crime kill growth in the region and drive businesses and families to move outside of our state’s borders.”

Kansas City is currently the only major city in the country where the elected local leaders don’t control the police department — a state-appointed police board does.

Up until 2013, St. Louis was in the same boat. But the city gained local control of its police department after a 2012 statewide referendum.

St. Louis leaders have pointed to a drop in overall crime in the city, including a decrease in the number of murders. St. Louis Police Chief Robert Tracy, who was name checked in Kehoe’s speech as “one of the nation’s top police chiefs,” travelled to Jefferson City earlier this month to testify in opposition to a state takeover of the city’s police force. 

But GOP lawmakers question the statistics showing a drop in crime and note that the city continues to lose population. Kehoe echoed those concerns in his speech Tuesday, saying the days of “political and subjective statistics are done under my administration.”

“The polling data I care about,” he said, “is whether or not a business feels safe enough to invest in our cities. That’s the barometer. Period.”

House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, a Kansas City Democrat, said Kehoe’s agenda puts too much emphasis on “what happens after the crime is committed, and not enough on preventing that crime from ever taking place.

“Denying St Louis taxpayers of control over their local police,” she said, “won’t do a thing to reduce crime, as our experience with the state run Kansas City Police Department has taught us.”

Abortion

Voters narrowly approved a constitutional amendment in November overturning Missouri’s abortion ban. Since then, Republicans have vowed to respond but have yet to coalesce around a plan. Meanwhile, Democrats have vowed to beat back any attempt to overturn the November vote. 

Kehoe provided little guidance on the issue in his speech on Tuesday, acknowledging that plotting a path forward “won’t be easy.” 

“The politics of today’s world tells us that we can’t work together,” he said, “and that consensus is just not possible. But I have built a life and a career on doing just that, without sacrificing my core, Christian, conservative beliefs.”

Republican state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, one of the architects of Missouri’s now overturned abortion ban, said she was “disappointed that he didn’t take a stronger position on undoing Amendment 3.”

The governor restated his campaign pledge to eliminate Missouri’s income tax, suggesting lawmakers phase it out instead of doing a one-time cut. 

“It won’t be easy,” he said. “It will take time, but I have directed the Missouri Department of Revenue to work with my staff on a sustainable and comprehensive plan to eliminate the individual income tax once and for all.”

Kehoe also hinted that the state could support new or improved stadiums to house the Chiefs and Royals and prevent the teams from moving to Kansas.  

Kansas City voters in April defeated a sales tax extension that would have supported plans for new stadiums and Kansas has enacted legislation offering big incentives if the teams hop the state line.

Kehoe didn’t mention the teams by name, but in a section of the speech on economic development, included sports teams among the businesses he believes could benefit from the creation of a deal-closing fund.

“We’re going to work hard to retain and recruit businesses here in Missouri,” he said. “From manufacturers, to retailers, to Missouri’s sports teams, these businesses, who provide jobs and opportunities to Missourians, are an important part of our state’s economic success.”