Every year, lawmakers pass legislation that we feel is in the best interest of the people we serve. The work required to get a bill through to the governor’s desk is a long and arduous process. Many hours are spent drafting the bill’s language, discussing it both in committee and in the legislative chambers, and perfecting and amending it until it reaches its final version.
It can be quite discouraging when all that work comes to a standstill due to a veto. Fortunately, these bills are given a second chance at passing when we reconvene in September to review and override the vetoes handed down by the governor.
Governor Jay Nixon will go down in history as the most overridden governor of all time. Over the course of his eight years in office, the legislature has successfully overridden 93 of his vetoes, almost four times the number of all past governors combined. I’m very proud of my colleagues for standing up for our citizens and supporting the bills passed in the House and Senate.
Some of the highlights of the veto session includes House Bill 1631, also known as the voter ID bill. Voters will now need to submit a specified form of ID at their polling place to cast their votes in a public election. This legislation will go into effect upon the approval of Missouri voters in November. With confidence in Missouri’s election process wavering due to ballot shortages in St. Louis County, as well as evidence of possible absentee ballot fraud, this bill will help restore trust and confidence in the election system.
In addition, the legislature also overrode Senate Bill 656, which frees every law-abiding Missourian to use their constitutional right to stand their ground and defend themselves and their families in public.
Other bills overridden by the Legislature:
- Senate Bill 608 – modifying provisions relating to health care
- Senate Bill 844 – modifying provisions relating to livestock trespass liability
- Senate Bill 994 – modifying provisions relating to alcohol
- Senate Bill 1025 – exempting instructional classes from sales tax
- House Bill 1414 – exempting data collected by state agencies under the federal Animal Disease Traceability Program from disclosure under Missouri’s sunshine law
- House Bill 1432 – requiring a hearing to be held within 60 days if a state employee is placed on administrative leave
- House Bill 1713 – requiring the Department of Natural Resources to provide information regarding advanced technologies to upgrade existing lagoon-based wastewater systems to meet any new or existing discharge requirements
- House Bill 1763 – changing the laws regarding workers’ compensation large deductible policies issued by an insurer
- House Bill 1976 – changes the laws regarding service contracts
- House Bill 2030 – authorizing a tax deduction equal to fifty percent of the capital gain resulting from the sale of employer securities to a certain Missouri stock ownership plans
As always, I encourage my constituents to contact me throughout the year with comments, questions or suggestions by calling my office at (573) 751-5713. To find more information about the bills I sponsor, visit www.senate.mo.gov/brown. Thank you for reading this and for your participation in state government.