UPDATE: A huge thank you to everyone who emailed Senate Committee members regarding Senate Bill 1586. This bill could have cut vital funding from City Sewing Room, but thanks to strong constituent communication, the committee did not vote to move it forward.

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The Fight for our Environment has moved to the Senate. In January 2026, our community successfully spoke up against HB 2761. However, the threat to our local recycling programs is back as Senate Bill 1586.

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Why This Matters to City Sewing Room

Every single week, City Sewing Room diverts 2,600 pounds of material from local landfills. This is made possible through funding from the St. Louis-Jefferson Solid Waste Management District. SB 1586 would abolish these districts entirely, shifting local landfill fees to a state bureaucracy and putting our mission and the work of hundreds of other Missouri organizations at risk.

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🛑 ACTION NEEDED BY THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19 @ 8:45 AM

The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food Production, and Outdoor Resources is meeting Thursday morning, February 19 at 8:45 AM. We need you to email the committee members today to tell them to vote NO on SB 1586.

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Step 1: Copy the Template

Subject: Please Oppose SB 1586 – Protect Our Local Recycling

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Dear Senator,

I am writing to urge you to oppose SB 1586.

As a supporter of City Sewing Room in St. Louis, I have seen firsthand how local solid waste management funding keeps 2,600 pounds of material out of our landfills every single week. This bill would abolish the local districts that make this work possible and put our community’s environmental progress at risk.

Please keep landfill fees local and support the organizations that are effectively reducing waste in our district.

Sincerely, [Your Name] [Your Zip Code]

 

Step 2: Email the Committee Members

• Sen. Tracy McCreery – St. Louis County tracy.mccreery@senate.mo.gov

• Sen. Jason Bean – Southeast Missouri jason.bean@senate.mo.gov

• Sen. Jamie Burger – Cape Girardeau Region jamie.burger@senate.mo.gov

• Sen. Mike Bernskoetter – Jefferson City Area mike.bernskoetter@senate.mo.gov

• Sen. Sandy Crawford – Southwest Missouri sandy.crawford@senate.mo.gov

• Sen. Kurtis Gregory – West-Central Missouri kurtis.gregory@senate.mo.gov

• Sen. Barbara Anne Washington – Kansas City Area barbara.washington@senate.mo.gov

 

We Stand with earthday365 in Opposing SB 1586:

• This bill would abolish all state solid waste management districts and give control of landfill diversion funds, which come from local landfill fees (not taxes), to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. This would lead to millions of tons of additional waste going into landfills, increase public and environmental health risks, and cause setbacks for local economies.

• Solid waste management districts are demonstrating their effectiveness by diverting millions of tons of waste from landfills each year without expanding state bureaucracy. 

• Landfill fees should be kept local and administered locally. Local organizations and businesses that receive funding from SWMDs are best equipped and knowledgeable to divert waste in their specific areas.

• Solid waste management districts create local jobs across the state, such as those of earthday365’s Recycling On the Go team, and keep local economies alive. Hundreds of Missourian jobs would be lost if this bill passes. 

• The bill mentions using the funding for landfill cleanup, which we share concerns about. However, cleaning up landfills will cost much more than what will be raised by these fees, and must be funded federally. Making a small dent in this effort is not worth all of the negative impacts to our state listed above.