Missouri Senate Bill 105, sponsored by Senator Bernskoetter, aims to halt the sale of five invasive plants in Missouri. The bill requires that all nurseries and nursery dealers in Missouri submit to the Missouri Department of Agriculture an affidavit that they will not intentionally import, export, buy, sell, transport, distribute, or propagate any plants or seeds of climbing euonymus (Euonymus fortunei; also known as wintercreeper), Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), or sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata) on or after January 1, 2027; or burning bush (Euonymus alatus) or Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana) on or after January 1, 2029.
A public hearing for SB 105 will be held in the Missouri State Capitol on Thursday, Feb. 6 at 8:30 a.m. in Senate Committee Room 1 on the first floor of the Missouri State Capitol. See this map of the first floor.
If you wish to testify in person, you will need to fill out this form. Copies of the form will be available in the hearing room, or, you can print and fill one out and and bring it with you to the hearing. (The Missouri Senate does not allow written testimony to be submitted at hearings.)
If you can not attend the hearing, MoIP encourages you to call or email members of the Senate Agriculture, Food Production, and Outdoor Resources Committee before the hearing and voice your support for SB 105. MoIP also encourages you to contact these committee members after the hearing as well, to reiterate your support, and help address any questions they may have:
Jason.Bean@senate.mo.gov, Committee Chair
Jamie.Burger@senate.mo.gov, Committee Vice Chair
mike.bernskoetter@senate.mo.gov, SB 105 sponsor
sandy.crawford@senate.mo.gov
kurtis.gregory@senate.mo.gov
tracy.mccreery@senate.mo.gov
barbara.washington@senate.mo.gov
You may wish to consult these talking points about SB 105:
• Senate Bill 105 requires plant nurseries and plant nursery dealers to submit an affidavit to the Missouri Department of Agriculture an affidavit that the nursery dealer shall not knowingly and intentionally import, export, buy, sell, transport, distribute, or propagate any viable plant portion honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), or sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata) on or after January 1, 2027; or burning bush (Euonymus alatus) or Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana) on or after January 1, 2029.
• A concern voiced by some elected officials about similar bills in the last Missouri legislative session was that they were infringements on personal freedoms, yet as we all know, there are many non-invasive alternatives to purchase instead of invasive species. And, invasive plants that spread give homeowners less freedom to grow what they want on their own properties—invasive plants are definitely an infringement on personal freedoms, expensive to control, and a threat to livestock, forest-product, and outdoor-recreation industries.
• This bill is not intended to put any plant grower or seller out of business. During testimony on one of the bills last year, one nursery grower stated that the combination of all 142 plants known to be invasive in the state comprised only 7% of his entire stock. This bill deals with only 5 of the worst of those species. Moreover, the bill includes grace periods to allow plant growers/sellers sufficient time to sell any inventory of the 5 species they may have and switch to growing/stocking non-invasive plants. There are many, many other plants available in the horticulture trade that are not invasive and can be sold and purchased.
• Some legislators stated that the bills last year did not address making Internet sales of invasive plants illegal. This is correct. This 2025 bill is not a silver bullet—it will not address all invasive plant problems in Missouri. Yes, anyone could buy almost anything on the internet, but this bill would eliminate the vast majority of active sales of these plants into the Missouri landscape.
In the Missouri House, Representative Sassmann has introduced House Bill 60, which mirrors the Senate bill, but it has not yet been scheduled for a hearing.
