JEFFERSON CITY — The leader of the Missouri Senate has tapped the brakes on a long-running plan to expand and renovate the state Capitol building, potentially putting the future of the work in jeopardy.
In emails obtained by the Post-Dispatch, Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin, who has been president of the Senate since January, said she has felt left out of the process and wants more answers before agreeing to support the $600 million project.
“My concern throughout this process has been the enormous amount of money being spent at a time when the outlook for the budget is decidedly bleak at this time,” the Shelbina Republican wrote in a Sept. 7 email.
On Tuesday, a subcommittee of the Missouri State Capitol Commission met in her office to discuss her demands for more information, marking the latest roadblock in the decade-long push for renovations.
“I’m not against the project,” O’Laughlin told members of the panel. “It’s an immense amount of money.”
After years of false starts and indecision, the commission secured $600 million in funding from the Legislature in May and has been poised for a year to select one of three proposals for a massive renovation job that could include new space for visitors, additional parking and upgrades to the building’s aging interior.
Much of the work will be in areas not viewed by the more than 450,000 visitors who tour the building annually, including electrical, plumbing and fire safety upgrades.
“We’re trying to bring everything up to code,” said House Clerk Joe Engler, a member of the committee.
In a Sept. 17 email, O’Laughlin outlined eight questions about the potential bidders she wants answered, including previous work the companies have done and whether they have faced lawsuits connected to their work.
“These would be my beginning questions. It is one thing to provide an architectural drawing and quite another to actually build it,” she wrote.
The delay orchestrated by O’Laughlin triggered confusion among members of the commission, including Kurt Witzel, who was appointed to the board by former Gov. Mike Parson.
“I’m trying to figure out what I’ve done for the last year because it sort of sounds like we’re starting over,” he said.
On Tuesday, O’Laughlin announced she had asked an outside engineering firm to visit the Capitol Oct. 6 to provide an unbiased report on what kinds of work must be done on the building. The visit will come at no cost to taxpayers, she said.
“I felt like they’d be an expert opinion,” she said.
O’Laughlin’s concern about state finances comes as Kehoe’s budget office has ordered state agencies to run scenarios for up to 20% cuts in their budgets in the next fiscal year to account for a drop in revenues due to Republican-engineered tax cuts and a decrease in federal aid under President Donald Trump.
The specter of spending money for a major renovation project amid a budget crunch prompted O’Laughlin to suggest a slimmed down set of upgrades could be in the offing.
“I am not opposed to the Capitol being restored in areas it requires and I am not opposed to addressing critical needs such as parking,” she wrote in an email that also was forwarded to her political advisor, lobbyist Jewell Patek.
Among questions being sent to the potential bidders are what could be completed if the project budget were cut in half to $300 million.
Companies vying for the renovation contract include a major donor to Gov. Mike Kehoe.
Robert Brinkmann, the retired founder of a self-named Chesterfield real estate development company, was a late addition to the renovation sweepstakes and his plan includes a controversial purchase of the Missouri Department of Transportation headquarters to the east of the Capitol building for use as overflow office space.
During the 2024 election cycle, Brinkmann contributed $202,000 to Kehoe’s “American Dream” political action committee.
Prior to O’Laughlin’s move to slow the project, Kehoe, then serving as lieutenant governor, called for a delay in 2023 that brought progress to a halt for more than a year, primarily over concerns about including the MoDOT building in the project.
Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox!
Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.
* I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Kurt Erickson | Post-Dispatch
Jefferson City reporter
Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily!
Your notification has been saved.
There was a problem saving your notification.
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Followed notifications
Please log in to use this feature
Log In
Don’t have an account? Sign Up Today