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2026 Legislative Agenda

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry has a number of legislative priorities to improve the business community and move our state forward.

overview

Because we know that size equals strength when it comes to lobbying, we use our power to advocate for policies that improve the lives of employees and their employers.

Because we know that size equals strength when it comes to lobbying, we use our power to advocate for policies that improve the lives of employees and their employers.

DOWNLOAD THE 2026 AGENDA

agenda topics

Here are the topics we’re focusing on in the 2026 legislative agenda.

  • Increase transparency in asbestos litigation by requiring trust claim disclosure
  • Establish statute of repose
  • Update statute of limitations in certain civil cases
  • Ensure the selection of Missouri judges is open and fair
  • Strengthen Missouri’s employment arbitration climate
  • Eliminate joint and several liability
  • Curtail litigation lending
  • Update the expert witness evidence rule
  • Reform Missouri’s seatbelt law
  • Clarify collateral source rule
  • Protect innovators from unfairly imposed liability
  • Provide scheduling and filing deadline certainty
  • Modernize recovery of medical damages to reflect actual economic loss
  • Reduce website-access litigation abuse and protect legitimate digital commerce
  • Encourage entrepreneurial and small business development
  • Encourage corporate growth and attraction
  • Promote tourism programs and protect tourism funding
  • Promote rural development
  • Support efforts to reshore manufacturing in Missouri
  • Streamline broadband deployment to spur statewide growth
  • Strengthen public-private partnerships in digital infrastructure
  • Clarify residential property classification for rental housing
  • Adequately fund all levels of education
  • Support a comprehensive workforce development approach
  • Maximize business engagement
  • Support adequate infrastructure funding
  • Support broad-based public education reform
  • Address the child care crisis to help grow the workforce
  • Promote a pilot on-the-job co-op program for students
  • E​​nsure Missouri has reliable, resilient and affordably-priced energy and water
  • Promote a balanced and modernized approach to regulation
  • Support pipeline utilization
  • Implement responsible water quality standards and support Missouri-based solutions
  • Use reasonable renewable energy standards
  • Support reasonable and consistent taxation of utilities
  • Protect Missouri’s environment by supporting state regulation of coal combustion residuals (CCR)
  • Support reasonable and consistent taxation of utilities
  • Improve access to quality health care for all Missourians
  • Ensure our health care system is prepared for times of crisis
  • Embrace innovation and meaningful transparency initiatives
  • Maximize health care funding
  • Evaluate and refine mandates on health care coverage to mitigate burdens on employers
  • Support reauthorization of the federal reimbursement allowance (FRA) program
  • Support health care workforce development and recognize employer-provided benefits as a key retention tool
  • Support targeted rural health care funding initiatives
  • Protect and strengthen workers’ compensation reforms
  • Reform the workers’ compensation administrative law judge (ALJ) selection process
  • Provide state-level safeguards for joint employers
  • Strengthen employers’ property rights
  • Implement right-to-work
  • Clarify the treatment of arbitration clauses in employment contracts
  • Reform Missouri’s prevailing wage law
  • Bring clarity to independent contractor agreements
  • Protect employers from new liabilities and unfair standards
  • Pass unemployment insurance reform
  • Implement paycheck protection
  • Oppose governmental mandates on workplace policies
  • Support workplace marijuana policies 

     

  • Deploy evidence-based and hot spot approaches to crime reduction
  • Increase and protect tools to support policing
  • Address substance misuse and mental health
  • Reduce recidivism
  • Improve training and employment opportunities for incarcerated individuals
  • Increase public safety staffing
  • Increase prosecutorial consistency and transparency
  • Strengthen behavioral health systems to protect workplace safety
     

     
     
  • Reform tax policy, including providing revenue neutrality, eliminating/avoiding double taxation, minimizing the shift of the ultimate tax burden, providing horizontal equity, providing administrative simplicity, providing a broad base, and eliminating multiple fees and surcharges
  • Reform tax administration
  • Phase in full deduction for the federal income tax
  • Expand state sales tax exemptions
  • Prohibit corporate tax information disclosures
  • Maintain appropriate state tax add-back list
  • Adjust property taxes
  • Equalize local tax treatment
  • Allow single remittance of local taxes and fees
  • Support tax modernization that sustains essential services and strengthens Missouri’s competitiveness
  • Maximize Missouri’s emerging tech hub position with strategic assets
  • Expand and strengthen Missouri’s long-term tech talent pipeline
  • Encourage activation of Missouri’s cybersecurity advisory capacity
  • Support investment opportunities
  • Promote broadband investment to support technological competitiveness
  • Leverage high-tech manufacturing advantage to bolster national security
  • Oppose patchwork privacy standards
  • Increase access to STEM education
  • Modernize public sector IT systems
  • Support smart infrastructure projects
  • Encourage the development and implementation of AI technology
  • Educate and advocate for the future of transportation in Missouri, including continued and improved funding, as well as support for highways, ports and rivers, rail, air, site redevelopment, infrastructure workforce, drones and future recommendations
  • Support primary seat belt law
  • Child care is a pivotal statewide workforce and economic development issue. Parents’ entry or re-entry into the workforce is often hindered by childcare provider shortages. Missouri should increase the accessibility, availability, and affordability of high-quality childcare.
  • We support a broad-spectrum approach to upskilling and right-skilling our state’s workforce to address labor shortages and help businesses’ growth. This includes adequately funding our existing workforce development programs, like Fast Track, MoExcels Workforce Initiative, Missouri One Start Upskill Credential Training Program, and other job training programs. It is also important to advocate for new policies that are responsive and flexible to businesses’ needs to recruit and retain skilled workers today while anticipating employment needs of the future. Additionally, we support increasing resources for programs that assist justice-involved individuals who are seeking to re-enter the workforce.
  • We strongly support a system of free enterprise and oppose efforts by the government to intervene in business decisions. The government should let businesses decide how to run its own workplace(s). We oppose out-of-state interests and anti-business entities who use the ballot initiative process to create burdensome business mandates.
  • A strong education system is key to Missouri’s long-term economic strength and competitiveness. We support efforts to adequately fund all levels of education. This includes early childhood education, K-12, higher education, apprenticeships, and short-term post-secondary training programs.
  • Economic development drives growth, creates new job opportunities, and facilitates an improved quality of life. Missouri should embrace an all-of-the-above approach in utilizing and offering innovative economic development tools and tax incentives to help its local communities and businesses thrive. We advocate for less burdensome regulations, easy-to-understand agency resources, fiscal responsibility from the state government, and similar initiatives to help retain and support existing businesses. We support continued statewide efforts to improve access to broadband, as it is vital for Missouri’s economic growth.
  • Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. Therefore, Missouri should increase access to funding and other resources for small businesses, start-ups, and entrepreneurs to help them confidently start, grow, or expand. Local communities should have a voice when new statewide regulations are being considered, as the interests of Missouri’s diverse small business community are a priority for localities.
  • Business owners recognize that accessible and affordable housing options and public transit resources are crucial to attracting and retaining a skilled workforce. We support growing access to affordable housing and transit options through increased state appropriations for key housing and community development programs as well as other state and federal incentive programs for the creation of affordable housing and transit.
  • State investment in tourism supports economic growth, job creation, and tax revenue. We support increasing funding of tourism promotion and other tourism-related programs, as it would positively impact many communities and have a positive ripple effect across the entire state.
  • We support comprehensive efforts to maximize Missouri’s position as an emerging technology and advanced manufacturing hub. By enacting innovative policies, increasing investment, and training our workforce for high-tech jobs, our state can grow its global tech, innovation, and manufacturing footprint. Supporting a friendly regulatory environment for e-commerce is another essential part of creating a thriving technology environment in Missouri as the world moves into the digital age. Supporting Missouri businesses’ ability to buy, sell, or trade goods and services efficiently, free of burdensome government regulations, not only supports growth of Missouri’s business community, but also demonstrates the state’s commitment to embracing the digital age and leading from the front as a technology hub. We also support fostering an AI-friendly and automation-friendly regulatory environment in the state to help fill in the gaps where skilled workers may be scarce.
  • We support civil justice reforms that discourage frivolous lawsuits which burden Missouri’s judicial system and harm the state’s business climate. We advocate for legislation that protects businesses from costly, unfounded legal claims by strengthening standards for filing civil suits and we support policies that reduce legal uncertainty and ensure fair, efficient resolution of disputes to foster a more competitive economic environment.
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