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The Missouri House of Representatives Committee on Emerging Issues held a hearing on Monday where a proposed bill — HB 2061 — to address and prohibit antisemitic discrimination in the state’s public K-12 schools and institutions of higher education was presented.
The bill — sponsored by State Representative George Hruza — defines antisemitism using the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism, including its 11 contemporary examples, which was endorsed in an executive proclamation by then-Governor Michael Parson in 2023. A companion Senate bill — SB 1051 — has been introduced by State Senator Curtis Trent.
The legislation mandates the integration of the definition into student, faculty, and employee codes of conduct, and facilitates stricter enforcement of Title VI of the U.S. Civil Rights Act by directing the Missouri State Board of Education and the Coordinating Board for Higher Education to each designate a Title VI coordinator to monitor, report, and investigate antisemitic discrimination in public K-12 and post-secondary schools.
The full text of HB 2061 is available HERE.
A similar bill was approved by the Missouri House of Representatives by a 108-10 margin last April, but did not come up for a full Senate vote before the 2025 legislative session ended.
“Jewish students should be able to go to school without fear for their safety,” State Representative Hruza, the son of a Holocaust survivor, said at Monday’s hearing at the State Capitol in Jefferson City. “They should be able to focus on their studies and go about their lives without fear, just like their non-Jewish peers.”
The legislation is backed by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), and CAM Director of State Engagement David Soffer testified before the committee on Monday.
In his remarks, Soffer detailed a spate of antisemitic occurrences in Missouri in recent years, including swastika graffiti cases, examples of professors comparing Israel with Nazi Germany and praising the October 7th massacre, and the vandalization of the home of an American IDF veteran, among other incidents.
“This bill is timely and critical, as it will help prevent further antisemitic incidents in Missouri’s K-20 public schools,” Soffer said. “Passing HB 2061 will send a powerful message that Missouri is taking proactive steps to protect its Jewish community. Missouri will also demonstrate to the rest of the nation its commitment to combating hatred in all its forms and to ensuring the safety and dignity of all students, faculty, and staff.”
Over the past year, CAM has led an organized effort to engage and educate state legislators across the U.S. on antisemitism-related issues and potential policy remedies, such as the Missouri bill.
Legislative initiatives have also been put forth in Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Wisconsin, and six of these states — Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Nevada, Oklahoma, and Tennessee — have seen new laws enacted since the start of last April.
At the end of June, lawmakers and executive officials from 17 states convened in Kansas City, Missouri, for the first-ever CAM-organized State Leadership Summit on Antisemitism.
Read a joint op-ed on the Missouri legislation by State Representative George Hruza and State Senator Curtis Trent — Standing Against Hate: Why Missouri Must Adopt the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism and Keep Jewish Students Safe
