MASL Legislative Update

• What's New in Legislation
• Legislative Dates of Interest
• Legislative Spotlight
• Bill Tracking
• MASL Legislative Committee Members

• The House passed $50.3 billion in operating budget bills this past week. The constitutionally mandated deadline to pass the state budget is 6:00 PM on Thursday, May 8.
• House version on the budget has over $4.2 billion for the K-12 foundation formula and over $360 million in school transportation. Neither areas were fully funded.

• Easter Holiday: April 16
• Last Day of Session: May 15

• Bill introduced in House or Senate. Bills can be prefiled as early as Dec. 1 and can be filed 60 days into legislative session
• 1st Reading: Only Bill Title & Number Read
• 2nd Reading: Read, Added to Calendar & assigned to a committee
  • Public Hearing before the Committee
  • Committee Votes "do pass" or no recommendation
• Perfection of Bill: Debate on House or Senate floor
• 3rd Reading: Vote for final passage
• Sent to second chamber for 1st & 2nd readings, committee referral, public hearing and vote
• Sent to Governor

This bill is a piece of proactive legislation that creates a clear, transparent process for addressing concerns raised by parents and guardians while also protecting school libraries from reconsideration requests that come from outside of the school community. This also strengthens polices already in place by requiring that individuals making requests for reconsideration have read the entire work and that they have a student enrolled in the district (or reside in the public library district) in which the challenge is occurring.

This bill is on the House Perfection Calendar and will likely be debated this week. So far there is no vocal opposition to this bill.

This bill defines media literacy to include an individual's ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and participate in all forms of media, including print news and social media content, and recognize bias and stereotypes in media, as well as internet safety. It will create a pilot program for 5-7 school districts to address media literacy, develop strategies for student learning, and demonstrate various literacy strategies used.

MASL will testify for the bills in bold.

• HB1792 (Murphy): Establishes the “Media Literacy and Critical Thinking Act” (Reported Do Pass 3/26/2026)
• HB2872 (Loy): Creates, repeals, and modifies provisions relating to literacy of elementary school students (Passed House; Senate Read First Time 3/19/2026)
• HB3077 (Schmidt): Requires school districts to develop a curriculum regarding the responsible use of social media (Voted Do Pass as Substituted 3/10/2026)
• SB1442 (Hudson): Creates, repeals, and modifies provisions relating to literacy of elementary school students (Ready for Senate Perfection 3/30/2026)

• HB1767 (Lewis): Enacts the Missouri Educators and Parental Empowerment and Rights Act (Voted Do Pass 3/12/2026)
• HB2274 (Lewis): Adopt the "Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact" (Passed House; Referred to Senate Committee 3/12/2026)
• HB2396 (Bromley): Modifies provisions relating to teacher retirement (Public Hearing Completed 2/25/2026)
• HB2710 (Diehl): Modifies provisions governing accountability measures for elementary and secondary schools (Passed House; Senate Committee Hearing Scheduled 3/31/2026)
• HB2878 (Gragg): Modifies provisions governing the School Calendar (Referred to Committee 2/5/2026)
• HB2913 (Irwin): Establishes provisions providing teachers with immunity if the teacher intervenes in incidents involving violence. (Voted Do Pass 3/10/2026)
• SB1085 (Nicola): Prohibits public school staff members from encouraging students in their social transition to being perceived as a member of the opposite biological sex (Voted Do Pass as Substituted 2/17/2026)
• SB1483 (Henderson): Creates, repeals, and modifies provisions relating to elementary and secondary schools (Referred to Committee 2/5/2026)
• SB1496 (Gregory): Creates, repeals, and modifies provisions relating to elementary and secondary education (Referred to Committee 2/5/2026)
• SB1710 (McCreery): Requires public high schools to begin mandated instruction no earlier than 8:30 a.m. and establishes the "Missouri Sleep and Education Advisory Task Force." (Introduced and Read First Time 2/23/2026)

• HB1839 (Gallick): Establishes provisions relating to civil liability for publishing or distributing material harmful to minors on the internet (Passed House; Referred to Senate Committee 3/23/2026)
• HB1887 (Hausman): Creates the offense of and civil penalties for disclosure of intimate digital depictions (Voted Do Pass 3/27/2026)
• HB2230 (Byrnes): Limits the use of technology for student learning practices in elementary schools (Perfected 3/25/2026)
• HB2392 (Murray): Establishes the "Missouri Social Media Safety for Minors Act" (Public Hearing Completed 3/23/2026)
• SB1733 (Gregory): Establishes "Alyssa's Law" and requires local educational agencies to implement wearable panic alert technology and critical incident response mapping (Read Second Time 2/25/2026)

• HB2426 (Keathley): Establishes provisions related to parental rights (Voted Do Pass 3/26/2026)
• HB3005 (Justus): Establishes provisions relating to the reconsideration of materials in a public library or public school library (Voted Do Pass 3/10/2026)
• SB1280 (Coleman): Creates and modifies provisions related to pornographic materials (Committee Hearing Conducted 3/3/2026)

Sarah Colbert (Committee Chair)

Rebecca Marcum Parker (Committee Past Chair)

Stephanie Hayes

Kendra Helsel

Jonathan Mansfield

Nathan Miller

Jenn Baldwin (MASL President)

Hope Hunter (MASL 1st Vice-President)

Elizabeth Hoskins (MASL 2nd Vice-President)

Andrea Sumy (MASL AASL Delegate)

Matt King (MASL Past President)

Email: info@maslonline.org