GOP senator seeking leadership change (Missouri)

newstribune.com ^ | 5/29/21 | Jason Hancock

[cotton1706]

The simmering division among Republicans over a bill crucial to funding Missouri’s Medicaid program boiled over this week, with the state senator at the center of the debate calling for a change in the chamber’s leadership.

Sen. Paul Wieland, R-Imperial, led the charge to include language banning the use of taxpayer money for certain contraceptives on a bill extending a Medicaid provider tax that generates nearly $2 billion every year.

Wieland’s amendment eventually sank the tax extension’s chances of passing before the session ended — and will force lawmakers to return to Jefferson City to approve it before the tax expires Sept. 30.

This week, Wieland wrote a letter to each of his Senate GOP colleagues excoriating Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden and Senate President Pro Tem David Schatz over how the issue was handled during the final days of the legislative session.

He accused them of “actively working with Democrats to defeat a position we had agreed upon in our caucus,” referring to an alleged deal discussed openly by Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, D-Independence, to approve the tax without the amendment attached.

“I apologize for being foolish enough to keep Sen. Rowden apprised of my every move during the last week, only to have him be the true adversary I was fighting,” Wieland wrote.

He also apologized for nominating and supporting Schatz in his bid for president pro tem in 2019.

“Without a change in leadership, I have zero confidence that next year will be any better,” Wieland wrote. “I see no purpose in caucusing with leaders who have made it clear that appeasing Democrats is more important than working to further the majority caucus’ goals.”