Senate, House at odds on transgender health care

Senate Republican leaders pushed back strongly Thursday against a House-passed version of a bill banning gender transition health care that did not include Senate compromises.
"We've already passed legislation on this issue," Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden said. "We would expect the House to appreciate how hard and difficult it was, and to take up our bill and pass it."
"We don't get second chances on huge, huge issues like that very often," he added.
The House gave final approval to its bill on a 103-52 vote Thursday, with one member voting present.
"I think first we ask the Senate to take a good look at the House proposal. That's where we are at this point," said Republican Floor Leader Rep. Jonathan Patterson, R-Lee's Summit.
Under Senate compromises, the ban on hormone therapies will expire in four years, and there is a grandfather clause allowing those already on hormone therapies to continue. 
"We didn't believe that there needed to be a sunset provision and we didn't believe there needed to be a grandfather clause," said Speaker of the House Dean Plocher, R-St. Louis County.
Sen. Doug Beck, D-St.Louis County called a bill without the compromises a "non-starter" for Senate Democrats.
Majority Floor Leader Sen. Cindy O'Laughlin, R-Shelbina, didn't go that far. Instead, she laid out different priorities for the last few weeks of the session — initiative petition reform, crime bills, the budget and open enrollment — which she expects to see the most floor time. 
Later Thursday, the Senate sports and medical transgender bills were voted out of House committee with the Senate compromises still intact. 
Plocher said he expects to put the bills on the House calendar for floor debate, but when that will happen depends on what kind of action the Senate takes with the House bills.
Two House Republicans voted against the bill, Patterson was one of the 'no' votes. However, his justifications are not similar to those of the Democrats. 
"The hard part when you're a legislator is that you only get to push yes or no. I wish there was an orange button," he said. "That could tell you a degree because I agree with what representatives Hudson and Boyd and Sparks have done; I think they're doing the right thing." 
"I think the one area that we differ is whether it's a ban or you have it in instances that are exceedingly rare, narrowly tailored and thoroughly studied ... I think there ought to be a chance for that," Patterson said. 
Patterson is a physician and practiced general surgery in Jackson County for 11 years until last year.
Plocher said his intention is to have the House pass its transgender sports bill on Monday. The Senate passed a similar bill as part of the compromise on the health care bill.
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