Blunt threatens to call special session

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Matt Blunt pledged Wednesday to call a special session if lawmakers adjourn Friday without passing bills cracking down on illegal immigration and limiting property tax increases.

Senators completed work Wednesday on a broad bill targeting illegal immigrants, but stopped just short of a vote because of questions about its cost and jockeying over an unrelated measure.

The House and Senate each has passed different versions of the property tax legislation. Negotiators are expected to try to craft a final version of the plan that would drop the property tax rate when property assessments increase by more than inflation.

A spokeswoman for Blunt said she doesn't know when the governor would want lawmakers to return for a special session.

"Now is not the time to back away from our efforts to fight illegal immigration in our state," Blunt said in a written statement. "It is time for us to work together to enact my directives into law and strengthen our statutes to curb illegal immigration in Missouri."

Sponsors for the illegal immigration legislation in the House and Senate have urged Blunt to call for a special session if no immigration bill passes by the 6 p.m. Friday conclusion of the legislative session.

House Immigration Committee Chairman Jerry Nolte said the advantage of a special session is that lawmakers can discuss only the issues laid out by the governor. Nolte, R-Gladstone, said that could help lawmakers to focus and pass at least some legislation.

As Blunt warned lawmakers to expect a special session, Sen. Jack Goodman was holding up a final Senate vote on the immigration legislation by stalling it in a committee that reviews the financial estimates of bills. Goodman twice delayed committee votes on the measure and joined in a Senate filibuster of other House-passed bills.

Goodman, R-Mount Vernon, said he is taking a particularly long look at House legislation. That's because House leaders last year added a provision that allows property owners in unincorporated areas to petition to become their own village, and Goodman wants to undo that. A Senate-passed bill to reverse the 2007 law passed the House on Wednesday, but only after being paired with a provision imposing new restrictions on sexually oriented businesses.

Even if the immigration bill gets to a Senate vote, it has a provision that House and Senate sponsors said could prove troublesome. That provision is an amendment that creates penalties for businesses that misclassify their workers as "contractors" instead of employees and grants authority for the attorney general to investigate. Employers would face fines of $50 per worker per day for a maximum of $50,000.

The bill also would require people to prove they are U.S. citizens or legally in the country when applying for food stamps, housing and other public benefits; penalize businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants; and order the Missouri State Highway Patrol to seek special federal immigration training.

Nolte said the misclassification provision is a problem for fellow House members, and he is concerned about whether lawmakers will be able to pass any immigration legislation in a session that started with the governor and legislative leaders calling for laws cracking down on illegal immigration.

"Every hour means that we have less time," said Nolte, who watched several hours of debate from the Senate chamber.

The property tax bill is aimed at local governments that, under current law, have avoided rolling back tax rates after assessed property values spiked because they had set their tax rates below the maximum amount approved by voters. The bill would require those tax rate reductions, even if local governments have set their tax rates below the voter-approved ceiling.

The legislation also would require assessors to notify people by June 15 of increases in assessed value of their properties and the corresponding projected increase in their taxes. House members left out of the bill a Senate provision that would have increased a state income tax break for low-income seniors and the disabled.

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Immigration bill is HB1549

Property tax is SB711

On the Net:

Legislature: http://www.moga.mo.gov

Blunt: http://www.gov.mo.gov