JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – In a Facebook video Thursday morning, Gov. Eric Greitens announced he would finally sign Rep. Don Rone’s HB 1 from the first extraordinary session, which took place in May.
“The people of Missouri don’t want welfare. People want to work,” Greitens said. “So we’re working to bring back American jobs. It is an honor to be working with you and fighting for you every single day.”
The first special session was called specifically to address the prospect of bringing that steel mill to the state of Missouri. However, Greitens’ call also sought for broader changes to ratemaking for utilities, though they eventually abandoned that prospect of the call.
Several senators over the past week have maligned the governor for not having signed what was advertised as a time-sensitive bill before he called a second extraordinary session. However, the economic development bill was widely agreed upon whenever the ratemaking language fell off, by Republicans and Democrats. Should the legislative gambit work, it would likely bring hundreds of jobs to Southeast Missouri.
