Archive for June 2021

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.

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This is Part II of a two-part 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!

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Photos by David Kovaluk

State Rep. Jason Chipman is the latest guest on Politically Speaking, where he joined St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jonathan Ahl to talk about the 2021 legislative session — and what’s to come when lawmakers return for at least two special sessions.

Chipman, R-Steelville, who represents Missouri’s 120th District. That takes in portions of Phelps and Crawford counties, including the cities of Cuba, Steelville, Bourbon and St. James. He was elected to the House in 2014 and will be ineligible to run again after 2022 due to term limits.

Here’s what Chipman talked about on the program:

• His unsuccessful effort to require a gas tax hike that passed through the legislature to be put up for a statewide vote.
• Efforts from the group Americans for Prosperity to gather enough signatures to place the proposal, which would raise the gas tax 12.5 cents per gallon over five years, before voters.
• The two special sessions that Gov. Mike Parson is guaranteed to call in the coming weeks on a medical provider tax to pay for Medicaid and congressional redistricting.
• Whether there could be more special sessions on election-related issues and efforts to prevent municipalities from reducing funding for law enforcement.

Chipman is a Navy veteran who worked for Brewer Science in Rolla before being elected to the House. Chipman is chairman of the House Administration and Accounts Committee, which handles internal administrative issues.

Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum

Follow Jonathan Ahl on Twitter: @jonathanahl

Follow Jason Chipman on Twitter: @JChipmanMO120th