JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The long-awaited veto override of a bill to prohibit public labor organizations from deducting dues from paychecks arrived on the Senate floor Thursday night, but the result was not one that the majority party wanted.
HB 1891, known by its supporters as the paycheck protection bill, failed to garner enough votes to override Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto. After nearly four hours of debate, the tally was 22-10 with Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, D-St. Louis, voting to sustain the veto despite harsh criticism of unions in her speeches on the floor.
Sen. Gina Walsh, D-St. Louis, is viewed by many as the de facto leader on labor issues in the caucus. She was greeted to applause and cheers outside of her office after the the Senate adjourned shortly after the vote was cast.
#paycheck deception fails! Thank you Senators!
— Jacob Hummel (@JacobHummel) May 13, 2016
“It was time to let the votes be cast,” Walsh said. “I didn’t want anybody to have to move to previous question… I think what we did was the right thing.”
Walsh also credited Sen. Ryan Silvey, R-Kansas City, and Sen. Gary Romine, R-Farmington, for respecting their alliances and ties to unions in the face of opposition with their party.
“Sometimes it’s a little harder for them than it is us,” she said. “When you have to go up against your own caucus, it’s pretty tough.”
Other Democratic leaders also celebrated the results. Attorney General and gubernatorial nominee Chris Koster praised the senators who fought against the measure.
“I applaud the men and women who stood up for Missouri’s workers today and helped sustain Governor Nixon’s veto of ‘paycheck deception,'” he said. “Our legislature should be focusing on proposals to grow our economy and create good-quality jobs rather than attacking workers’ constitutional right to organize.
“When I’m governor, we’re going to get back into the business of promoting business in our state.”
While Walsh celebrated the victory, she also took heed to tell union members, leaders and supporters to show greater openness and inclusivity in response to comments made on the floor by Chappelle-Nadal.
Chappelle-Nadal took the floor first, and her speech criticized unions. Despite her claims that her loyalty has always been to unions “100 percent,” she noted that racial disparity within organized labor that she discovered during the Ferguson protests gave her pause in voting against such legislation.
“What I found is that it is not just one group of people who are trying to deprive us of our opportunities to succeed and be productive as the same group of other people,” she said. “If I stayed silent, these issues of racial equality would not be before this chamber or in the media or the conversations would not be had in local unions.
“We have a racial problem.”
Chappelle-Nadal also called out individual union members who had insulted her over social media.
When it came time to vote, she stayed silent until absentees were called. When her name was called for a second time, she took a long pause, before eventually voting no.
That vote ended up keeping paycheck protection out of Missouri’s statutes.
For Walsh and the rest of the union movement, the victory marks yet another for organized labor in the state. Last year, Senate Democrats managed to sustain Nixon’s veto on the much more impactful right-to-work law. But Walsh was quick not to vilify the opposition, adding that Friday she planned on finishing the session among friends on both sides of the aisle.
“Nights like this are because we philosophically disagree, not because we’re the good guys and they’re the bad guys,” Walsh said.
However, those who supported the measure swallowed a tougher pill Friday morning.
The author of the bill, Rep. Holly Rehder, R-Sikeston, thanked Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard and Majority Floor Leader Mike Kehoe for trying to garner the votes necessary to override, even though they ended up not ultimately being successful.
“Last night, when we started the debate, I wasn’t sure which way it would go,” she said. “I knew it was going to be close… I’m disappointed, but nothing in this building comes easy.”
Rehder also stressed that she would continue trying to get the legislation passed for state worked that had come to her dissatisfied with the state of their unions.
Rachel Payton, the deputy state director of Americans for Prosperity of Missouri, called the failure to override “disheartening.”
“Our organization has worked tirelessly to make sure our activist base made their voices heard in support of paycheck protection,” she said in a statement. “It’s sad to see when state senators don’t listen to their constituents and vote against their interests. We will continue to hold officials accountable for their votes and our grassroots army will be informed about how their legislators voted.”
Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard and other majority leaders did not immediately comment after session.
UPDATED – 9:40 a.m. May 13, 2016: Added comments from Rehder and Payton.
UPDATED – 10:50 a.m. May 13, 2016: Added comments from Koster.
