Missouri Senate Democrats fail in bid to bolster filibusters

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Majority Republicans turned back a Democratic attempt Tuesday to make it harder to shut off filibusters in the Missouri Senate.

Under Senate rules, it takes only a simple majority to halt debate and immediately force a vote on legislation. That means the majority party, if its members stick together, can essentially force a vote on a bill whenever it desires.

Senate Minority Leader Maida Coleman, D-St. Louis, has complained that Republicans have grown too fond of that power in recent years. She proposed Tuesday to raise the threshold for cutting off debate to a three-fifths majority of the Senate.

But her resolution failed on an 18-14 party-line vote, with two Republicans absent.

The effect of Coleman's measure would have been to require 21 votes -- instead of the current 18 -- to halt debate and force an immediate vote on a bill. Because Republicans currently have a 20-14 Senate majority, that would have required them to get the support of at least one Democrat to pass a debate-halting motion.

Senate President Pro Tem Michael Gibbons, the top Republican senator, said he still believes the Senate can have a successful session.

He said Republicans would prefer to study a comprehensive change to Senate rules rather than focusing only on one particular rule about how to shut off debate.

"We're trying to achieve a balance, where a majority -- whoever that is -- can accomplish the things they need to do, and a minority has full voice and opportunity to effect that and make change," said Gibbons, of Kirkwood.