- Last Week the Last Week of Session (5/16/16)
- More Bills On the Governor’s Desk (4/28/16)
- A Truly Agreed and Finally Passed 2017 Budget Sent to the Governor (4/22/16)
- Bills Reported to the Senate (4/15/16)
- More House Bills Move Forward (4/8/16)
- Historic Override of the Governor’s Revenue Withholds (3/18/16)
- Missouri’s 2017 Fiscal Year (FY17) Budget Passes the House (3/11/16)
Veto Session Results
Wednesday's Veto Session was long and arduous. The Governor vetoed a total of 47 bills passed during the second regular session of the 97th General Assembly (one, Senate Bill 509, was overridden May 6). Thirteen of those 47 are appropriations (budget) bills. Wednesday the General Assembly considered override motions on 18 non-appropriations House and Senate bills; ten were overridden. Several of the non-budget bills that passed or failed during veto-override attempts were close votes. Below is a couple of the non-budget bills that garnished most of the general public's attention:
House bills 1307 & 1313 http://www.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills141/billpdf/truly/HB1307T.PDF Some very emotional debate (some of which was in the form of personal testimony) took place regarding this bill which extends the wait time for an abortion from the current 24 hours to 72 hours.
I was honored to preside as Speaker of the House during this historic vote. This extended wait-period gives an important life-altering procedure the personal, decision-making due process needed. An abortion affects everyone involved with the life of the aborted child.
Senate Bill 506 http://www.senate.mo.gov/14info/BTS_Web/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&BillID=27723547 This bill contained 10 agricultural provisions. The most public feedback resulting from this bill concerned defining captive deer (cervids) as livestock and allow the sale of captive cervids to be exempt from sales tax, will allow captive cervids to be considered livestock for the purposes of urban agricultural zones, and will subject captive cervids to the Missouri Livestock Disease Control and Eradication law, the Missouri Livestock Marketing Law, and regulation and marketing of agricultural products. My best guess is that its narrow failure had to do with that particular issue.
With respect to the core 13 budget bills (appropriations), there were 160 line-item budget vetoes which were contained within seven different appropriation bills. Of those 160 line-item vetoes by Governor Nixon 55 were taken up by the House for an override and all passed. The Senate took up and passed 47 of the 55.*
I and other of my colleagues hotly contended for several of the budget items and were successful in restoring funding for such important programs as Alzheimer's Association, Meals on Wheels and foster-care.
*The House Communications Department graciously provided the override statistics for this report.
IN RECOGNITION of 9-11: It is my hope that you will pray and support our military personnel as the conflict continues in the Middle East. This struggle against evil militant extremists who kill and destroy life in the wake of the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York must prevail or all is lost. The 9-11 historic attack killed more than the attack on Pearl Harbor and now symbolizes the struggle between a free democracy and hateful tyranny. We as a nation need to humble ourselves before God and seek His face to overcome this great evil.
Respond to this blog
Posting a comment requires a subscription.