JEFFERSON CITY – The General Assembly is entering the final week of its annual session with a blank list of legislative wishes, but it remains to be seen how many will cross the finish line.
Last week, lawmakers adopted an annual budget of $ 49 billion, meeting their constitutional obligation just hours before the deadline to send bills to Governor Mike Parson’s desk. There are no constitutional requirements for passing any other law, but the Republican majority wants it nonetheless after a session in an election year dominated by inter-party disagreements.
As the clock strikes, the number of bills sent to Parson this year could be lower – but those that pass are more likely to contain key priorities.
“This has been a painful journey on certain days and weeks,” Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, a Colombian Republican, said last week. “We’ll probably bring in fewer real bills this year. I guess those bills will be bigger and we’ll do more of these smaller things.”
If the GOP can avoid stalling progress and keep its members happy, the Senate Democrat chief Democrat said, there is still potential for significant legislative progress.
“It’s very much like playing against Michael Jordan in the fourth quarter,” said minority leader John Rizzo of the Independence. “You know what’s coming, you just have to hope he misses it. We’ll see how it goes.”
Here are some issues that could be discussed and possible action in the last five days of the 2022 regular session.
Missouri is changing county, one last time
The redrawing of the Missouri congressional map has partly fueled so many disagreements and a lack of activity at the beginning of the session. But lawmakers appear determined in the final battle to redevelop the area, under threat of several lawsuits seeking court intervention and learning that Show-Me State is the last in the U.S. to bring a ticket.
A new proposal voted by the House of Representatives last week is likely to maintain the current party stance in Congress – six constituency-favored Republicans and two favored Democrats. Its most drastic changes come in the 2nd district on the outskirts of St. Louisa, where regional MPs strongly advocated for the inclusion or exclusion of certain communities and counties. It also divides each Columbia city in central Missouri and Webster County in southwestern Missouri between the two counties.
Reform petitions for elections and initiatives
Republicans are also pushing for a series of changes to the way elections are conducted, ahead of voters going to the polls this fall.
The proposal with the greatest momentum is the 1878 House of Representatives Bill, which requires identification with a photograph to vote on and, among other measures, allows for two weeks of early voting. The Senate debated and finalized it last week; it needs a final vote in the House, after which the House can request a conference to negotiate a compromise or accept the 82-page version of the law in the Senate.
Several proposals that would make it difficult for voters to put a measure to a vote through the initiative petition reform process passed in the House, but saw little action in the Senate. Rowden told reporters last week that it was still not off the table.
Missouri sports betting account
Legalized sports betting could also reach a last-minute compromise and push after previous attempts to pass the bill on the subject have met with resistance.
The latest proposal reached the Senate at nearly 1 a.m. last week as Republican Sen. Denny Hoskins of Warrensburg proposed a new language that legalizes sports betting but excludes language at video lottery terminals, which have proven controversial among other Republicans. He imposed a 15 percent tax on bets, allowed bets and included $ 5 million for gambling addiction measures.
Sports Betting in Missouri:House approves a law that legalizes betting on college, professional teams
Hoskins said the latest language was discussed with professional sports teams in the state, as well as lobbyists in the casino and gaming industry, but eventually withdrew the language. But as a priority for some of the country’s biggest teams and a potential high-income generator, its proponents will seek to enact some form of legalization of sports betting if possible.
Reducing Unemployment and Potentially Medicaid
Republicans also indicated that two laws targeting social security network programs could be a priority in recent days.
Bill House Bill 1860 would allow Missouri to reduce how long unemployment benefits would be available depending on the current state-wide unemployment rate, as much as eight weeks.
A joint House of Representatives resolution 117 would ask voters whether or not MO HealthNet, the Medicaid program in Missouri, could be subject to appropriation by state legislators. The measure could potentially lead to the General Assembly denying funding to a section of the expanding population, which was funded in this year’s budget but was not in last year’s budget due to opposition from a number of Republicans to enlargement.
Both laws have yet to go through a Senate debate and potential amendments before they are passed by the House and seek final approval from the House.
Prohibitions of transgender athletes, hospital restrictions, environmental regulations and more
A number of other laws could experience a final boost this week:
Galen Bacharier covers Missouri politics and government for News-Leader. Contact him at [email protected], (573) 219-7440 or on Twitter @galenbacharier.