2021 Missouri legislative session

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2021 Missouri legislative session
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General information
Session start:    January 6, 2021

Session end:    May 14, 2021

Leadership
Senate President
TBD

House Speaker
Rob Vescovo (R)
Majority Leader
Senate: TBD
House: Dean Plocher (R)
Minority Leader
Senate: TBD
House: Crystal Quade (D)

Elections
Next Election:    November 8, 2022

Last Election:    November 3, 2020

Previous legislative sessions
2020 • 2019 • 2018
Other 2021 legislative sessions


In 2021, the Missouri State Legislature was scheduled to convene on January 6 and adjourn on May 14.

The legislators serving in this session took office following the 2020 elections. Republicans won a 24-10 majority in the Senate and a 114-49 majority in the House. The party also controlled the governorship, creating a Republican state government trifecta. At the start of the 2021 session, Missouri was one of 22 state legislatures where one party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers.

Redistricting is the process by which states draw new Congressional and state legislative districts following the U.S. Census. Officials sent data from the 2020 U.S. Census to states in early 2021 to begin the process of redistricting. As of the 2020 census, congressional district boundaries in Missouri were drawn by the state legislature, while two separate politician commissions enacted state Senate and House district lines.

At the beginning of the 2021 legislative session:
  • Republicans held a majority in the Missouri state House and state Senate.
  • Missouri was one of 22 Republican state government trifectas.
  • Missouri's governor was Republican Mike Parson.

    • Leadership in 2021

    Missouri State Senate

    • Senate president: TBD
    • Majority leader: TBD
    • Minority leader: TBD

    Missouri House of Representatives

    Partisan control in 2021

    See also: State government trifectas

    Missouri was one of 22 Republican state government trifectas at the start of 2021 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.

    Missouri was also one of 22 state legislatures where one party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.

    The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the Missouri State Legislature in the 2021 legislative session.

    Missouri State Senate

    Party As of January 2021
         Democratic Party 10
         Republican Party 24
    Total 34

    Missouri House of Representatives

    Party As of January 2021
         Democratic Party 49
         Republican Party 114
    Total 120

    Regular session

    The following widget shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2021 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation met these criteria in 2021. This information is provided by BillTrack50.

    Redistricting

    See also: Redistricting in Missouri after the 2020 census

    Missouri's eight United States representatives and 197 state legislators are all elected from political divisions called districts. District lines are redrawn every 10 years following completion of the United States census. Federal law stipulates that districts must have nearly equal populations and must not discriminate on the basis of race or ethnicity.

    Congressional districts
    Mid-decade redistricting in Missouri ahead of the 2026 elections is ongoing.

    Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) signed new congressional district boundaries into law on September 28, 2025. The districts take effect for the 2026 elections.[1] The Missouri Senate approved new congressional district boundaries by a 21-11 vote on September 12, 2025.[2] The Missouri House approved the map by a 90-65 vote on September 9, 2025.[3] The map aimed to net one additional Republican U.S. House district by drawing parts of Kansas City into surrounding rural districts.[4][5] Heading into the redistricting effort, Republicans represented six of Missouri's congressional districts, and Democrats represented two. Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) called the special legislative session for congressional redistricting on August 29, 2025.[4] The special session began on September 3, 2025.[6]

    Click here for more information about the congressional maps enacted in Missouri after the 2020 census.

    Legislative districts
    State legislative redistricting in Missouri after the 2020 census has concluded.

    Missouri completed its legislative redistricting on March 15, 2022, when the state’s Judicial Redistricting Commission filed new state Senate district boundaries with the secretary of state.[7] Missouri was the 43rd state to complete legislative redistricting. The House Independent Bipartisan Citizens Commission unanimously approved the state House’s district boundaries on Jan. 21.[8] These maps took effect for Missouri’s 2022 legislative elections.

    Click here for more information about the state legislative maps enacted in Missouri after the 2020 census.

    To learn more about the redistricting process in Missouri after the 2020 census, click here.


    Standing legislative committees

    See also: Standing committee and List of committees in Missouri state government


    A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.

    At the beginning of the 2021 legislative session, there were 89 standing committees in Missouri's state government, including 20 joint legislative committees, 18 state Senate committees, and 43 state House committees.

    Joint legislative committees

    Joint Committee on Legislative Research - Oversight Subcommittee

    Senate committees

    House committees

    Legislatively referred constitutional amendments

    In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.

    The methods by which the Missouri Constitution can be amended:

    See also: Article XII of the Missouri Constitution and Laws governing the initiative process in Missouri

    The Missouri Constitution can be amended via three different paths—a citizen-initiated process, a legislative process, and a state constitutional convention.

    Initiative

    See also: Initiated constitutional amendment

    An initiated constitutional amendment is a citizen-initiated ballot measure that amends a state's constitution. Eighteen (18) states allow citizens to initiate constitutional amendments.

    In Missouri, the number of signatures required for an initiated constitutional amendment is based on the number of votes cast for governor in the state's most recent gubernatorial election. In two-thirds of Missouri's congressional districts, proponents must collect signatures equal to 8% of the gubernatorial vote for initiated constitutional amendments. A simple majority vote is required for voter approval.

    Legislature

    See also: Legislatively referred constitutional amendment

    A simple majority vote is required during one legislative session for the Missouri General Assembly to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 82 votes in the Missouri House of Representatives and 18 votes in the Missouri State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

    Convention

    See also: Convention-referred constitutional amendment

    According to Section 3a of Article XII of the Missouri Constitution, a question about whether to hold a state constitutional convention is to automatically appear on the state's ballot every 20 years starting in 1942. Missouri is one of 14 states that provides for an automatic constitutional convention question.

    The table below shows the last and next constitutional convention question election years:

    State Interval Last question on the ballot Next question on the ballot
    Missouri 20 years 2022 2042


    Historical partisan control

    The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of Missouri.

    Missouri Party Control: 1992-2025
    Eight years of Democratic trifectas  •  Thirteen years of Republican trifectas
    Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

    Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
    Governor R D D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R
    Senate D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
    House D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R

    Historical Senate control

    Between 1992 and 2020, the Missouri State Senate was controlled for periods of time by both the Democratic and Republican parties. The table below shows the partisan history of the Missouri State Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2020. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Missouri State Senate election results: 1992-2020

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18 '20
    Democrats 20[9] 19 19 18 17* 14 11 13 11 8 10 9 9 10 10
    Republicans 13 15 15 16 17 20 23 21 23 26 24 25 25 24 24
    Other 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

    *Since no party had majority control, leadership of the chamber was split between the two parties.

    From 1992 to 1998, the Democratic Party held majorities, the largest being from 1992 to 1994 when Democrats had a seven-member majority. The Democrats majority in the state Senate decreased between 1992 and 2000. In 2001, Republicans established a majority in the chamber after Republicans won special elections in January of that year. Before the special elections in 2001, the chamber was tied at 17-17 with chamber leadership split between the two major parties.[10]

    Republicans increased their majority in elections between 2002 and 2020. Republicans held their largest majority following the 2010 elections with an 18-seat advantage. From 2008 to 2020, Senate Republicans held a supermajority that allowed the chamber to override gubernatorial vetoes. The Republican gains from 2010 to 2014 were in line with a national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D). From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats altogether.

    Historical House control

    Between 1992 and 2020, the Missouri House of Representatives was controlled for periods of time by both the Democratic and Republican parties. Democrats controlled the state House from 1992 to 2000 and Republicans controlled it from 2002 to 2020. The table below shows the partisan history of the Missouri House of Representatives following every general election from 1992 to 2020. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Missouri House of Representatives election results: 1992-2020

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18 '20
    Democrats 100 87 88 86 87 73 66 71 74 57 53 46 46 47 49
    Republicans 62 76 75 76 76 90 97 92 89 106 110 117 117 116 114
    Other 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

    From 1992 to 2000, House Democrats held majorities in the chamber, the largest being from 1992 to 1994 when Democrats had a 38-member majority. House Democrats maintained their majority between 1994 and 2000 with little change in the chamber's partisan balance.

    Republicans took control of the chamber in 2002 with a 17-seat advantage. The Republican majority has increased since 2002. Republicans held their largest majority following the 2014 elections with a 71-seat advantage. House Republicans gained a supermajority in 2012, which allowed them to override gubernatorial vetoes. The Republican gains from 2010 to 2016 were in line with a national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D). From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats altogether.

    See also

    Elections Missouri State Government State Legislatures State Politics
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    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Associated Press, "Missouri governor signs Trump-backed plan aimed at helping Republicans win another US House seat," September 28, 2025
    2. ↑ CNN, "Missouri lawmakers give final approval to map targeting a Democratic House seat," September 12, 2025
    3. ↑ Fox2Now, "Missouri House passes redistricting, ballot question reforms," September 9, 2025
    4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 KCUR, "Missouri governor begins redistricting process after Trump pressure. Kansas City is the target," August 29, 2025
    5. ↑ Governor of Missouri, "Missouri First Map," accessed September 4, 2025
    6. ↑ STLPR, "Missouri legislators kick off special session on redistricting and limiting ballot amendments," September 3, 2025
    7. ↑ Missouri Secretary of State, "Final Senate Statewide Judicial Redistricting Commission Letter; March 15, 2022," accessed March 22, 2022
    8. ↑ Missouri Secretary of State, "Final House Apportionment; January 20, 2022," accessed March 22, 2022
    9. ↑ In 1992, one seat was held by a member from a third party.
    10. ↑ Bethany Republican-Clipper, "Legislators display a spirit of cooperation," October 5, 2016
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