Archive for June 2021

Throughout this season, we have introduced you to urban farmers, people working on the ground to change their environment, politicians working to pass environmental legislation, and more. But there are also many environmental scholars working to provide a space for Black environmentalists to thrive. That’s why we are introducing you to Dr. Dorceta Taylor, an author and professor at the Yale School for the Environment. In this episode, we hear about Dr. Taylor’s work in environmental studies, the contributions Black folks have made to the environmental justice movement, and the power community leaders have to transform the environments where they live.

House Majority Leader Dean Plocher joins the latest episode of Politically Speaking to talk about what ended up making it across the legislative finish line in 2021 — and what issues could be the subject of special sessions this year.

Plocher, R-Des Peres, represents Missouri’s 89th District. That takes in parts of Town & Country, Huntleigh, Des Peres and Country Life Acres. Plocher, an attorney, became House majority leader earlier this year and is responsible for bringing bills to the floor for debate.

Here’s what Plocher talked about during the program:

• How the legislature completed work on some long-standing issues, including a prescription drug monitoring program, a law enforcement and criminal justice package and a gas tax hike for transportation.
• Why the gas tax plan, which he supported, tended to split the GOP caucus — and whether there will end up being a statewide vote on a measure that would raise the fuel tax 12.5 cents per gallon over five years.
• How House Republicans will handle special sessions to renew a medical provider tax that pays for Missouri’s Medicaid program and to draw the state’s congressional map.
• Whether there will be other special sessions on election-related items, eminent domain regulations and efforts to prevent municipalities from lowering police department budgets.

Plocher had planned to run for the 89th District seat in 2016 with then-House Speaker John Diehl being forced to leave office due to term limits.

But Diehl resigned earlier than expected in 2015 amid scandal, and Plocher beat out two other candidates to secure the Republican nomination in a special election. He defeated Democrat Al Gerber by 20 percentage points and has subsequently won reelection with ease.

Plocher announced recently he’ll be running to be House speaker beginning in the 2023 legislative session. If he succeeds, he’ll be the third person this century from his district to take that post — as Diehl and Catherine Hanaway have represented the general area of the 89th District.

Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum

Follow Dean Plocher on Twitter: @deanplocher

This is Part II of a series on how tenants are organizing to hold problem landlords accountable, and what happens when large companies and the state need to be held accountable too. If you haven’t listened to Part I: Tenant Rights and Resistance, listen to it now!

We wanted to share a follow-up conversation with Myisha Johnson, one of the three working members of State Street Tenant Resistance and the founder of Community First Plus, a new housing and environmental justice organization. She’s been connecting the dots between health problems and pollution from facilities like Kinder Morgan for over a decade. In this episode, we hear how Myisha felt when residents like her were asked to sign onto an administrative complaint to the EPA about the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Then, attorneys Sarah Rubenstein and Bob Menees of Great Rivers Environmental Law Center will share about what happened when they filed the administrative complaint to the EPA on behalf of the Missouri and St. Louis City NAACP and Dutchtown South Community Corporation.

This is Part II of a series on how tenants are organizing to hold problem landlords accountable, and what happens when large companies and the state need to be held accountable too. If you haven’t listened to Part I: Tenant Rights and Resistance, listen to it now!

We wanted to share a follow-up conversation with Myisha Johnson, one of the three working members of State Street Tenant Resistance and the founder of Community First Plus, a new housing and environmental justice organization. She’s been connecting the dots between health problems and pollution from facilities like Kinder Morgan for over a decade. In this episode, we hear how Myisha felt when residents like her were asked to sign onto an administrative complaint to the EPA about the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Then, attorneys Sarah Rubenstein and Bob Menees of Great Rivers Environmental Law Center will share about what happened when they filed the administrative complaint to the EPA on behalf of the Missouri and St. Louis City NAACP and Dutchtown South Community Corporation.

This is Part II of a series on how tenants are organizing to hold problem landlords accountable, and what happens when large companies and the state need to be held accountable too. If you haven’t listened to Part I: Tenant Rights and Resistance, listen to it now!

We wanted to share a follow-up conversation with Myisha Johnson, one of the three working members of State Street Tenant Resistance and the founder of Community First Plus, a new housing and environmental justice organization. She’s been connecting the dots between health problems and pollution from facilities like Kinder Morgan for over a decade. In this episode, we hear how Myisha felt when residents like her were asked to sign onto an administrative complaint to the EPA about the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Then, attorneys Sarah Rubenstein and Bob Menees of Great Rivers Environmental Law Center will share about what happened when they filed the administrative complaint to the EPA on behalf of the Missouri and St. Louis City NAACP and Dutchtown South Community Corporation.