JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Wednesday became a whirlwind day of emotions for supporters of the one percent sales tax for transportation infrastructure projects that would go on the ballot.
Senate Joint Resolution 16 passed the House by a 100-57 vote with bipartisan support during the morning session, only to head to the Senate in the afternoon – where it was met by a filibuster led by Sen. John Lamping, R-Creve Coeur, with help from senators Rob Schaaf and Ed Emery.
The bill is supported by the Missouri Highway Commission, among other groups. Missouri Department of Transportation Director Dave Nichols was just outside of the House chamber during the debate Wednesday afternoon, waiting to hear the outcome.
“This bill is the result of hundreds of meetings and is truly representative of what he people of the state want, and we feel they should have the opportunity to vote on it,” Nichols said.
Bill McKenna, a former state senator and spokesman for the Missouri Transportation Alliance, said the resolution would create thousands of jobs across Missouri and improve safety, calling the bill a “necessity.”
“I want to thank the legislature for sending this proposal to the voters and I am confident that Missourians want to improve our roads and economy,” Mckenna said.
As recently as two weeks ago, House leaders were pessimistic about the chances of the measure making it to the floor, but after very limited debate in the House, the bill was brought to a vote after two amendments were placed on the bill.
“We have to find a way to fund our transportation needs, and this bill simply give the voters of the state a choice in how they want to fund those needs,” Rep. Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, said.
While the bill easily passed the House, many prominent Republicans voted against it including Rep. Mike Cierpiot, R-Lee Summit, Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Springfield, Rep. Robert Cornejo, R-St. Peters, Rep. Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, Rep. Shelley Keeney, R-Marble Hill, Rep. Caleb Jones, R-California, Rep. Todd Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff, and most notably, House Speaker Tim Jones, R-Eureka.
“We brought this bill to a vote after less than a half hour of debate,” Rep. John Carpenter, D-Kansas City, said. “We debated whether or not the Governor can buy a plane for longer than the largest tax increase in state history that will hit working families the hardest.”
The Speaker said he brought the bill to the floor — irregardless of his lack of support — because it is consistent with his philosophy he followed with education issues earlier in the session.
“I believe that if a majority of the caucus supports a bill then I make every effort to bring it to the floor,” he said. “With education I supported it, as did the majority of our caucus. The transportation bill was the same I just didn’t support it, but the majority of our caucus did so we brought it to the floor.”
The bill was reported to the Senate, passed with amendments just before noon on Tuesday, and was brought up for discussion during the evening session.
Then, Sens. Lamping, Schaaf, and Emery began a filibuster that ended with the bill being laid over just before 1 a.m. on Wednesday.
“I just have a different view of the role of government that some others in the body,” Lamping said. “If I have to speak for the next 51 hours to save the taxpayers billions of dollars then I am going to do my best.”
Supporters of the bill reacted harshly to the filibuster.
“It’s sad that four senators will not allow the citizens to vote on this plan,” said Sen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, the bill’s sponsor. “This is not just some plan the legislature dreamed up. For the last four years there have been hundreds of meetings with thousands of Missourians asking them what they wanted and now after large majorities of Republicans and Democrats in both chambers passed the proposal we have a few individuals keeping voters from having their say on something that will improve our economy and save lives.”
Schatz said he thinks Lamping’s filibuster was an “attempt to block the people from making their own choice,” and said that was “dead wrong.”
With two days left in the legislative session, the filibuster is only likely to come to a negotiated end instead of breaking it, as it does have large support.
To contact Scott Faughn, email scott@themissouritimes.com, or via Twitter at @scottfaughn.
