Andrew Bailey (politician)

Andrew Bailey (born 1981) is an American attorney and politician who currently serves as the Missouri Attorney General, an office he assumed by appointment in January 2023.

Education

Bailey earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Missouri and a Juris Doctor from the University of Missouri School of Law.

Career

After earning his bachelor's degree, Bailey joined the United States Army as an officer. During his military career, he was deployed to Iraq. After graduating from law school, Bailey served as an assistant prosecuting attorney in the Warren County Prosecuting Attorney's Office and as general counsel of the Missouri Department of Corrections.

Bailey joined the office of Governor Mike Parson as deputy general counsel in 2019 and became general counsel in 2021. In November 2022, Governor Parson appointed Bailey as the 44th attorney general of Missouri. He is a Republican candidate for a full term in the 2024 Missouri Attorney General election.

Bailey's campaign is supported by the Life and Liberty PAC whose biggest donors are Pauline MacMillan Keinath of the Cargill family, and the family and associates of Michael Ketchmark.

Abortion

Bailey opposes abortion. In 2023 it was reported that he requested the state auditor's office to change anticipated costs related to an initiative petition from the original estimate of “no costs or savings” to "in the billions." The initiative petition is one of several submitted with the AG office to protect abortion in Missouri following a state ban. Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick told reporters that while he personally opposes abortion, there is no evidence that it would cost the state money.

Firearms

On March 7, 2023, federal judge Brian C. Wimes found a state law, signed by Parson, regulating cooperation with federal authorities on firearms issues, to be unconstitutional as a violation of the Supremacy Clause. Bailey said he would challenge the decision and Republican congressman Eric Burlison denigrated the decision as being understandable supposedly because Wimes was an appointee of President Barack Obama. Disappointed with Bailey's action, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said that Missouri officials had hoped, comparing Bailey to former attorney general, now-U.S. Senator, Eric Schmitt, that Bailey "...would approach the office like a grown-up."

Gambling

Lawyers under Bailey's attorney general's office withdrew from a lawsuit related to unregulated slot machines. The plaintiffs, Torch Electronics and Warrenton Oil, have contributed to Bailey's 2024 Missouri Attorney General election campaign. In 2021, former attorney general Eric Schmitt returned contributions from Torch Electronics when conflict of interest concerns were raised, choosing to continue work on the case. Bailey's spokesperson Madeline Sieren did not respond to questions as to why Bailey's office chose to accept the money rather than withdraw from the case.

Student debt relief

Bailey supports the lawsuit filed by former AG Eric Schmitt against the Biden student debt relief plan on behalf of MOHELA, a company contracted to handle student loan accounts. A federal judge in Missouri initially threw out the suit saying that the company was too far removed from the state of Missouri for the case to have standing, however federal appeals sent the case to the Supreme Court and froze student debt relief indefinitely. When asked about MOHELA's unpaid contributions to state higher aid funds since 2008, Bailey responded the issue is for the Supreme Court "to sort out." Advocates for student debt relief have argued that MOHELA's revenues would increase should the plan go through.

Transgender care bans

In April 2023, Bailey released an emergency rule requiring health care providers to screen individuals before providing gender-affirming health care to transgender people. The rule is believed would be the first such ban in the nation as it would apply to adults, rather than just children. The rule would've taken effect April 27 and expired in February 2024. Bailey justified the rule claiming that the medical procedures were "experimental" and required "substantial guardrails." This political intervention in medical care aligned with bills filed in other states, however Bailey escalated the process through his office's authority in Missouri Merchandising Practices Act.

The rule required healthcare providers to document gender dysphoria for a period of three years before prescribing puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones or gender-affirming surgery. Transgender individuals would be required to undergo 15 sessions with a psychologist or psychiatrist over at least 18 months before receiving care. The rule required providers to ensure "mental health comorbidities" have been "treated and resolved." The rule required providers to document that the patient has been screened for autism and social contagion and, for minors, social media addiction.

The rule was suspended while the ACLU, Lambda Legal, service providers, and community members challenged the rule in court. Bailey withdrew the rule in May, following the passage of a bill in Missouri legislature restricting care for transgender youth. Bailey announced intention to take legal action against Kansas City Police Department should they not enforce restrictions, however the police chief clarified that the matter was outside their jurisdiction since the provisions do not relate to criminal conduct.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Andrew
Living people
Missouri Attorneys General
Missouri lawyers
Missouri Republicans
United States Army officers
Military personnel from Missouri
University of Missouri School of Law alumni
1981 births
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American lawyers
21st-century American military personnel