JEFFERSON CITY — After weeks of Democratic filibusters in the Senate, a Republican senator vented his frustration that conservative legislation was not being passed quickly enough.

Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, expressed his frustration with Senate Democrats to Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern, D-Kansas City, during debate on Wednesday after she and other senators filibustered for over three hours in an attempt to get Brattin to come onto the Senate floor.

Nurrenbern’s seven-line bill that prompted a filibuster, Senate Bill 1544, would designate a portion of State Highway 9 in Platte County as “Firefighter Paramedic Graham J Hoffman Memorial Highway.”

Nurrenbern said that she had been trying to speak with Brattin all day after she received a letter from his office Wednesday morning explaining that her bill was being taken off the agenda. She was not able to speak with him about the bill until Sen. Steven Roberts, D-St. Louis, formally called for senators to return to the Senate floor.

When Brattin reached the floor, he criticized Nurrenbern for halting Senate action over her bill, stating multiple times that he does not want her to receive a “Willy Wonka golden ticket” to add her bill back on the calendar. Brattin also vented his frustration that Senate Democrats have held up numerous bills every week since the session started through filibusters and extended debate.

“We have a supermajority of Republicans that have been elected to advance conservative policy and day in, day out, week after week after week, we’ve had you and a few members literally torching every single bill that we do,” Brattin said.

At the start of their conversation, Nurrenbern asked if Brattin had read SB 1544 before taking it off the Senate Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee agenda. Brattin responded that he had not read the bill. Rather, he said that his rejection “has to do with the actions and the bigger picture.”

Brattin said he believes that Nurrenbern has been blocking “good conservative policy” and did not want to go forward with her bill.

“I want to protect the unborn. I want to cut taxes. I want to stop the illegals from obtaining all these other measures and do the things people send us here to do,” Brattin said. “But yet you prevented that in every aspect.”

Brattin went on to comment on Nurrenbern’s filibuster Wednesday.

“You think you get to come up here, and again, go on your little temper tantrum, and get your way,” Brattin said, banging on his desk.

Directly following this comment, presiding Sen. Travis Fitzwater, R-Holts Summit, called for “a little bit of decorum” among the two senators and to “respect the chamber.”

The two Senators’ arguments became heated at times, with each talking over the other. At one point, Nurrenbern exclaimed, “For the love of all that’s good in this world, just let me say my piece!”

“You have said your piece for three months on this floor,” Brattin responded.

Brattin went on to admonish Nurrenbern for her filibuster after not supporting Senate Bill 1221, establishing the “Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.” Nurrenburn said that she would be willing to work with any legislation that comes across her desk.

“You want to sit here and talk about, ‘Oh we need to give all this grace to a certain family,’ yet the unborn child on an operating table gets to be slaughtered, and you’re gonna filibuster that and we’re supposed to be OK with it,” Brattin said.

In 2024, Brattin was among four members of the Freedom Caucus who were stripped from their committees due to repeated filibusters directed at Senate leaders. They claimed that Republican legislation was not being passed promptly.

On Wednesday, Brattin again expressed his concern that conservative legislation was not moving fast enough, but this time, Brattin was opposed to those filibustering. Brattin and Nurrenbern argued for over 40 minutes about the filibuster before Brattin left the chamber. The Senate proceeded with its agenda.

“There’s a time for political shenanigans and then there’s a time to do what’s right, Senator,” Nurrenbern said.