Democrats shut down Missouri Senate

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Catching Republicans out of the chamber, Democrats closed the Senate for business on Wednesday to temporarily delay final action on controversial legislation that would overhaul Missouri's civil justice system.

However, Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, said the tactic will result in consequences for minority Democrats.

The old Senate customs are "out the window," and Republicans will begin using the power of their 20-14 majority to halt debate and force votes on contentious issues, Kinder said. The procedure is regularly employed in the much larger House of Representatives to keep business moving. By tradition it is rarely invoked in the Senate, where unlimited debate is considered sacrosanct.

Kinder promised forced votes would be called on the tort reform measure, the various bills that make up the state budget and possibly other proposals Democrats attempt to block during the final weeks of the legislative session.

"It is being considered across a wide range of other issues without reservation," Kinder said. "If they want to pull a stunt that makes the Missouri Senate more like the House, then that is their choice."

More than three hours into Wednesday's tort reform debate, state Sen. Joan Bray, D-St. Louis, made a motion to adjourn for the day. Following Senate rules, Democratic Lt. Gov. Joe Maxwell, the chamber's presiding officer, called for a voice vote, which passed.

Only four members -- all Democrats -- were present in the chamber at the time.

In an interview in her Senate office, Bray said she simply took advantage of an opportunity.

"If the other folks don't care enough to be there to talk about it, why should the rest of us be there?" she asked rhetorically, later explaining: "I don't want the bill to pass, it's bad public policy, it's extreme public policy."

Since tort reform is a top priority of Republican lawmakers, Senate Minority Floor Leader Ken Jacob, D-Columbia, said they should have been paying attention.

The bill has already cleared both chambers in different forms. The House approved a compromise version on Monday and a final Senate vote is all that remains to send the measure to Democratic Gov. Bob Holden, who vetoed similar legislation last year and is expected to do so again.

Tort lawsuits include such things as injury, medical malpractice, wrongful death, libel and slander cases.

The legislation would impose new restrictions on the locations where such lawsuits can be tried and the amount of money juries could award for pain and suffering. It also would limit a plaintiff's ability to recover money from wealthy defendants when poorer co-defendants are found to be more at fault but are unable to pay.

Republicans say the measure is needed to rein in a system tilted against plaintiffs, who are hit with exorbitant damage awards that they must pay even if they are only peripherally responsible for an injury. Democrats say the bill protects corporate special interests from being held responsible for their actions and would deny Missourians access to the courts for legitimate complaints.

The Democratic maneuver into adjournment only exacerbated partisan tensions that were aggravated the day before when Jacob led several other Democrats in an 11 1/2-hour filibuster of the state budget. The bulk of the time was spent on the spending bill for public education.

The Senate version of the measure would provide $2.74 billion in direct state aid to local schools -- $130 million more than appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30. The Senate plan is just $14 million less than approved by the Republican-led House and only $3.8 million lower than Holden requested.

In the context of a multibillion-dollar appropriation, those differences are seen as a pittance, making the filibuster puzzling to some Republicans. However, Jacob defended the action, saying another $14 million would enable schools to hire additional teachers.

"The goal is more teachers, smaller class size and improved education," Jacob said. "The House took a position that was more generous in that regard than the Senate."

Kinder said the minority party is simply trying to stall whenever they can to run out the clock on the session and keep the Senate from passing a variety of Republican-priority bills. He said the tactic will backfire as Republicans will redouble efforts on those measures with less inclination toward bipartisanship.

"The ironic result of the action they embarked on today is to hasten the arrival of all of that with less and less of their input," Kinder said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

mpowers@semissourian.com

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