JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — With only five weeks left in the legislative session, lawmakers are now in a race against the clock to move individual and caucus priorities to Gov. Jay Nixon’s desk before the end of session on May 16. In these final weeks, some of the biggest issues for the state will be squarely placed before legislature.
Labor issues, like “Right-to-Work” have been a priority for Speaker Tim Jones, R-Eureka. Failing to secure the 82 votes needed to advance the measure to the notoriously unpredictable Senate — Jones has been forced to move the goalposts and declare a win, now pivoting to more solidly conservative issues like tax cuts.
“We were able to advance this measure forward farther than it has been in decades,” Jones told reporters. “And as members begin to see the economic benefits of this policy and that union membership is increasing in Right-to-Work states, I believe we can find those votes.”
Jones said the first-round approval of RTW, even though it lacked votes it would need to pass out of the House, was an historic win. He correctly noted that a majority of his own caucus supported the measure, but the 19 Republican defections were enough to stall the bill, which Jones told reporters this week would not come up for a final vote unless leadership was confident it secured 82 votes.
Lawmakers in both chambers are likely to spend even more time this week on other priorities. Missouri’s criminal code, which hasn’t been updated in more than three decades, is in its fifth year of a massive overhaul, and members in both chambers said this is the year it is likely to reach Nixon’s desk. The House and Senate both approved their versions of the rewrite and a conference committee is expected early this week. The bill’s biggest opponent is size — at one point topping out at over 1,000 pages — and the ticking clock of the legislative calendar. Nixon already expressed concerns about length, along with members of both chambers. But sponsors on both sides were able to carve down the bill and are now hoping to reconcile differences in conference.
Eyes will turn to education and tax cuts once the criminal code enters conference. An omnibus education bill addresses the disastrous school transfer and accreditation crisis in some failing schools. Now in the House, stakeholders hope to keep it from being butchered beyond reconciliation with the Senate. Among the main issues are provisions allowing students to attend non-religious private schools with public funds and stricter residency requirements for transferring students.
Both chambers have advanced gun measures that nullify federal regulations and establish penalties for law enforcement agents enforcing them. Both versions include advanced measures to allow school districts to designate and arm a “safety officer.”
Both chambers have also dealt with abortion-related issues, like extending mandatory waiting periods and expanding requirements of parental notification.
Tax cuts haven’t arrived at Nixon’s desk yet, in part because Republicans may not be able to agree on the best strategy for passage. Sen. Will Kraus, R-Lee’s Summit, worked with Nixon’s office to sponsor a compromise tax cut package, which included provisions to slash tax credit programs and increase education funds. There appears to be little support within the majority party for the package. Some Republicans are rejecting the compromise as both too small a cut and too much of a “win” for the Democratic governor.
