The General Assembly is a month into the 2016 legislative session. Because many constituents want to monitor pieces of legislation specific to issues they care about, I am providing a brief overview of the process bills must go through to become law.
Bills can be filed by senators and representatives in their respective chamber, starting about a month before session begins through the beginning of March. Senate bills are referred numerically to a committee by the leader of the Senate, and the chairman of the committee chooses whether to give bills a hearing. After a committee hearing, senators on the committee can approve bills to be heard before the entire Senate. A bill is then debated by the entire Senate body, and must be approved by a majority to pass to the House of Representatives. Amendments to change a bill can be added both in committee and when it is on the floor.
Once moved to the House, the bill goes through a similar process. It is referred, then must be approved by two committees before being voted on by the full House of Representatives. House bills begin in the House and then move to the Senate, following the same process. If both chambers approve the same version of a bill, it is truly agreed and finally passed. It then goes to the governor to be signed or vetoed.
At this point in session, bills are beginning to be debated on the Senate floor and moved to the House chamber. Listed below are the bills the Senate has approved at this point in the session.
- Senate Bill 572 (Sen. Schmitt) – This bill expands reforms made to municipal courts in 2015. It restricts the amount of revenue a municipality can gain from minor ordinance violations. It also requires the courts to allow payment schedules for fines incurred and allows violators to perform community service if they are otherwise unable to pay.
- Senate Bill 585 (Sen. Wasson) – This bill establishes another judicial circuit court in Taney County. The new circuit court will relieve a crippling back log of cases in the area, which costs taxpayers money by delaying trials and keeping suspects in custody longer.
- Senate Bill 591 (Sen. Parson) – This bill brings Missouri’s standards for expert witnesses in civil cases in line with federal standards. The aim of this bill is to promote Missouri’s business climate by better protecting businesses from frivolous lawsuits.
- Senate Bill 765 (Sen. Schmitt) – This bill prohibits municipalities and police departments from requiring an employee or department to meet a quota for traffic citations. The bill is designed to prevent law enforcement from issuing citations for very small infractions in order to fulfill a revenue quota.
- Senate Concurrent Resolution 51, House Concurrent Resolution 58 (Sen. Kraus, Sen. Parson) – These resolutions disapprove the Missouri State Tax Commission’s recommendation to increase property tax on certain agricultural land by 5 percent. Because of the recent devastating flooding and low commodity prices, a tax increase at this time would significantly hurt Missouri farmers. The House version of these identical resolutions was passed by both chambers and does not need the governor’s approval to go into effect.