Legislating Obedience

The pre-file season is upon us...

I admit that I haven’t looked at many of the pre-filed bills that Missouri lawmakers have submitted in the last few weeks. The reason? They have pre-filed over 1,000 pieces of legislation in a state that often passes under 50 bills each year.

Missouri State Senator Nick Schroer has filed 56 bills, which lets me know the donors and handlers are about to have a heyday in my state. There is no way in hell Sen Schroer wrote 56 bills — they were written and passed along to him by ALEC. I know this because Schroer posted photos on social media with a made-up award and a silly trophy from ALEC. He is also the “State Chair” for ALEC.

Talk about being bought and paid for…

At any rate, I don’t have the time or the energy to read through the most ridiculous bills— that’s asking for a headache and a bout of heartburn.

My posts should be sponsored by Ibuprofen and Pepto at this point…

Previous Missouri pre-filed bills have called to legalize everything from brass knuckles to the open carry of long guns for children to murder charges for doctors who provide abortions.

Pre-filed bills are often a collection of the worst wish lists from the worst legislators.

I recently had an email in my inbox from a Reddit thread about Missouri. I let it set for a few days for obvious reasons…it’s the holidays, and I hate thinking about what Republicans have in store for us in a few weeks when they come back to Jefferson City.

I dread the beginning of session each year. Anyone who pays attention would be anxious every January.

There is little to look forward to under a GOP supermajority, and I already know the focus this session is on sending even more taxpayer money to private religious schools and doing away with the income tax, which will close schools in my area.

My Republican governor called for the end of capital gains and now has his sights set on the income tax, which provides two-thirds of our state revenue.

This will be a reenactment of the Brownback years that Kansas suffered through, but unlike Kansas, Missouri can’t easily right the situation by electing Democrats to undo the damage. We have something called The Hancock Amendment.

The amendment basically states that lawmakers can’t levy a tax increase without voter approval, meaning that once the income tax is repealed, it will be very difficult to restore it. It will take another several-million-dollar push to educate voters on what the GOP is actually doing.

Watching in horror as our lawmakers shoot us in the foot, while no one is allowed to stop the bleeding.

But back to Reddit. The title of the thread was “We don’t need MO HB 2548.” I was not familiar with the bill number, so I looked it up.

HB 2548 establishes a provision for covenant marriages.

Some text of the bill:

We solemnly declare that we believe that marriage is a covenant between one man and one woman who agree to live together as husband and wife for as long as they both live. We have chosen each other carefully and have received premarital counseling on the nature, purposes, and responsibilities of marriage. We understand that a Covenant Marriage is for life…

With full knowledge of what this commitment means, we do declare that our marriage will be bound by Missouri law on covenant marriage and we promise to love, honor, and care for one another as husband and wife for the rest of our lives.

Unlike standard marriages in Missouri, which allow for a no-fault divorce, covenant marriages restrict the legal grounds for divorce. A covenant marriage requires proof of abuse or infidelity to divorce and it also requires a couple to pay for counseling before divorce proceedings.

The Missouri version of a covenant marriage would also require a two-year separation before a divorce proceeding, making a child support order difficult and forcing an abused partner to be in contact with her abuser.

Restrict divorce. Make a divorce more difficult, more expensive, and more dangerous.

This is especially handy for keeping women in bad marriages…especially stay-at-home moms who may not have access to their own money. Especially young women who enter into this type of marriage with an older man.

*You know, Missouri banned child marriage in 2025, but pregnant women still can’t finalize a divorce in the state.

Currently, covenant marriages only exist in Arizona, Arkansas, and Louisiana, but have been proposed in Oklahoma and now Missouri.

Speaker Mike Johnson is in a covenant marriage. I am sure you’re surprised.

You may be wondering who would want to carry a bill into the Statehouse to make divorce more difficult, even impossible in some cases. His name is Representative Mitch Boggs (R) and he owns a construction company, a cattle farm, and a car wash.

Boggs is also a preacher who often sports a MAGA hat and matching MAGA boots.

I watched a few social media videos from pastors like Boggs praising covenant marriages, but one pastor stopped me in my tracks when he said a covenant marriage just means a bride and groom need to lower their expectations.

How romantic.

The covenant marriage Boggs is trying to expand into Missouri is another convenient layer of submission for women like those who attend his Apostolic Pentecostal church.

Missouri Republicans, like Representative Boggs, are working overtime to control every aspect of our lives and especially the lives of Missouri women. They have attacked reproductive rights and now they are attacking the right to leave a marriage.

Government control from the same lawmakers who champion “small government.”

Few of these pre-filed bills are about helping people or strengthening our communities. They seem to be about power and obedience and keeping women in line.

The GOP wants to legislate obedience. Our job is to organize resistance.

~Jess