Rep. Steven Roberts of St. Louis was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 2016 as a member of the nearly half Democratic Missouri Legislative Black Caucus. As a member of the caucus' executive board, he advised colleagues on bills and helped draft press releases and talking points. One of his biggest challenges was opposing Senate Bill 43, which would have made it very difficult to win discrimination lawsuits in Missouri; through town halls and press conferences with NAACP, he helped raise awareness of how the bill would impact citizens. His goal is to continue advocating for neglected and vulnerable groups as an elected official from St. Louis.

1. Rep. Steven Roberts -
Accomplishments as a Young Politician
from St. Louis

2. When Rep. Steven Robertsof St.
Louiswas elected to the
Missouri House of
Representatives in 2016, the
Missouri Legislative Black
Caucus made up nearly half of
the Democratic members of the
MO House.

3. With his education and
experience, Rep. Roberts’s
fellow legislators selected
him to serve on the
executive
board of the caucus,
which gave him the opportunity to advise his colleagues of the legal
ramifications of various bills affecting the citizens of Missouri.

4. State Rep. Steven Roberts,
a St. Louis native, had the
opportunity to draft press
releases and talking points
for his colleagues as they
advocated for or against
bills debated on the House
floor.

5. "One of the greatest
challenges we faced was
against Senate Bill 43," recalls
Rep. Roberts.
"This bill came through my
committee twice and would
make Missouri one of the
most difficult states to prevail
in a discrimination lawsuit in
the country.

6. Rather than address a culture of
intolerance, the senator who
sponsored Senate Bill 43, used his
position to change Missouri's laws
and force these lawsuits into
Federal court.”
Rep. Steven Roberts participated
in press conferences and town
halls and coordinated with the
NAACP to raise national
awareness of what was happening
in Missouri.

7. "My Republican colleagues believed that the bill merely brought
Missouri in line with federal standards – from their worldview, too
many frivolous lawsuits were making their way through our judicial
system," writes Rep. Roberts.
However, he felt vindicated when the federal government announced
that Missouri would lose over $500,000 in federal funding for going
beyond minimal federal standards.

8. When asked about what else
he would like to accomplish as
an elected official from St.
Louis, Rep. Steven Roberts
states that he "hopes to
continue to be a voice for the
neglected and society’s most
vulnerable citizens."