Legislative priorities emerging for parties

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- For years Missouri Republicans boasted they could do a much better job if they were in charge of the Statehouse instead of Democrats.

Now they have to prove it.

When the 92nd General Assembly convenes in January, Republicans will control both chambers for the first time since Missouri icon Harry S. Truman was president. However, just as it was then, the GOP majorities will come with a Democrat in the governor's mansion.

In the wake of the Tuesday elections that handed Republicans control of the House of Representatives and bolstered the existing GOP majority in the Senate, members of both parties made the standard post-election pledges of bipartisan cooperation. Conciliatory rhetoric notwithstanding, it is clear that things will be different in the Capitol.

With advantages of 20-14 in the Senate and 90-73 in the House, Republicans will be able to pass legislation in party-line situations with several votes to spare. However, their numbers, especially in the House, fall well short of being able to override vetoes by Democratic Gov. Bob Holden -- a fact acknowledged by House Speaker-elect Catherine Hanaway, R-Warson Woods.

"I suspect we will continue to have principled disagreements about issues, but we have to work with him," Hanaway said. "Getting a bill passed is a three-legged stool -- the House, the Senate and the governor."

Emerging issues

But issues likely to cause fierce disagreements between Republicans and Democrats are already emerging.

Hanaway said Republicans will press forward with one of their main priorities in recent years -- pulling gambling boat revenue out of the complex formula for equitably distributing state aid to school districts and instead handing out that money to districts on per pupil basis. That plan, to be implemented over five years, ultimately would leave a $200 million hole in the formula that would somehow have to be plugged at a time when revenue is in short supply. The proposal was dead on arrival this year in the Democratic House.

Hanaway didn't say where the money would come from but hinted that it could be from cuts at the Department of Social Services -- the state's most expensive, some say bloated, agency.

Holden, meanwhile, pledged to push for legislation to close corporate tax loopholes and eliminate other tax breaks that don't serve to encourage economic development.

"We need to make sure everyone pays the taxes they owe, and no one gets an unfair advantage," Holden said.

Republicans have been hostile to the plan and aren't likely to let it advance far in the legislative process.

Budget on top

Just as it did this year, the budget promises to be the overriding issue in state government, with a half-billion-dollar shortfall in next year's budget currently predicted.

Speaker Pro Tem-elect Rod Jetton, R-Marble Hill, said a complete overhaul of the budget process is needed. However, he said the state must live within its means without taxes or other "revenue enhancements" suggested by the governor.

"He has taken a little bit of blame unfairly on the budget, but has basically said over the last two years, 'Give us more money,'" Jetton said. "We are saying we've got problems with money, but we are not asking for more."

Incoming Majority Floor Leader Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, said he will allow "full and open debate" on the House floor, including on some Democratic bills. In his role, Crowell will set the debate agenda.

Unlike in the Senate, where members can filibuster, the House majority leader can force a vote to stifle debate. Whenever done by Democratic floor leaders, Republicans routinely cried foul. Crowell acknowledged there could be complaints of hypocrisy but that he wouldn't hesitate to use that power when appropriate.

"There are no ifs, ands or buts about it," Crowell said. "When we adopt legislation in line with Missouri commonsense, conservative values, we won't have any problems doing that."

The current speaker pro tem and soon-to-be minority leader, Mark Abel of Festus, said Democrats in recent years shared power with Republican to a greater degree than had been the practice in the past. Now that the tables are turned, he urged Republicans to show the new minority party the same courtesy.

But while promising to work with Republicans, Abel said Democrats will not simply roll over.

"We will be the loyal opposition in the House," Abel said. "Our party has an agenda that we still want to advance. We have not given up."

In the Senate, where Republicans have been in charge for almost two years, the changes will be less pronounced.

Previously, Senate Republicans held just 18 seats -- the minimum needed to pass legislation. Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, said picking up two additional seats will make things easier for the majority.

"It's hard to quantify, but it gives us more flexibility and room to maneuver," Kinder said.

During his first two years in charge, Kinder said the Senate has produced a record of working with the Democratic senators and the governor.

"But where devotion to principle and constitutional government demands it, we will oppose him with equal vigor," Kinder said.

Kinder's cooperation

Incoming Senate Minority Floor Leader Ken Jacob, D-Columbia, often has been at odds with Kinder over the years but said the pro tem has grown into his role and began cooperating with Democrats on many issues.

"I think you saw a transition on the part of Peter from his first year as pro tem to the second year," Jacob said.

With Jacob's reputation as a partisan pit bull, some Republicans openly questioned whether his selection as Democratic leader was an harbinger that Democrats plan to go into an obstructionist mode. However, Jacob said partisanship need not be acrimonious or vicious and can have positive results by advancing different solutions to problems.

"When I think of partisanship, that doesn't mean hostility between the two parties," Jacob said. "What we want to do is distinguish our ideas from theirs."

mpowers@semissourian.com

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