Lawmakers push through final 24 hours of regular legislative session
On the eve of the final day of the regular legislative session, state lawmakers voted through some controversial bills.
“I think from a democratic perspective it’s really about seeing how much bad stuff we can stop,” said House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty. “The last two days are always really challenging for us.”
House members passed through legislation Thursday afternoon that would move the Right to Work issue from the November ballot up to the August primary. SCR 49 was passed by a vote of 96-47.
“The petition clearly stated that the election will be in November and we basically said ‘You don’t matter. We’re going to move it anyway,'” Beatty said. “That’s unfortunate.”
Supporters of Right to Work legislation believe it will help boost the state’s economy. Republican lawmakers have said they would like to see it enacted as soon as possible.
“We’ve had a heck of a year,” said Senate Majority Leader Mike Kehoe. “We’ve moved quite a few pieces of legislation I think have been good for Missourians that promote jobs and the economy.”
Another bill that garnered quite a bit of discussion in the final week of session was HB 1413. Senators spent more than two hours discussing and amending the bill Wednesday night. The House approved it by a 87-62 vote Thursday.
It would require public unions to get permission to withdraw union dues from employees’ paychecks.
“We still call it paycheck deception because that’s what it is,” Beatty said. “I have a number of members that have been union members for quite some time and they are very upset about it.”
Republican supporters argue it will hold public sector unions to the same standards as private sector unions.
“What we want public sector employees to understand is that once they sign up to become part of a bargaining unit, or a union, they do have the option every year to be able to renew that or not,” Kehoe said.
A tax overhaul bill was also passed in the general assembly Thursday evening.
HB 2540, sponsored by Speaker Pro Tem Elijah Haahr, will drop the individual income tax rate from 5.9 percent to 5.5 percent.
“These are common sense, fiscally responsible, bold solutions that will lower the overall tax burden on Missouri families and businesses,” Haahr wrote in a news release Thursday evening. “Witnessing the economic surge following passage of the federal 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the evidence is clear that reducing taxes benefits American families.”
As of 9:30 p.m. Thursday, 96 bills had been truly agreed on and finally passed. Only three have been sent to and signed by Gov. Eric Greitens.
While lawmakers work to pass final pieces of legislation, they are also preparing for the start of the special session that starts at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
