The halls of the Capitol were full this past week, as the General Assembly convened for the constitutionally required veto session as well as for an extraordinary session called by the governor. The Legislature is required to convene veto session to provide an opportunity to consider any override action on the items the governor has vetoed. It takes a 2/3rd majority vote in the House and the Senate to override the vetoes. This year, the governor vetoed three legislative bills, plus twenty-one line-items from the budget, a savings of $12 million (out of a budget of more than $28 billion.) When a governor calls the Legislature into session outside of the regularly scheduled January- mid-May session, it is called an extraordinary session. When the legislature calls itself back in (as was done immediately after session ended to consider impeachment proceedings) it is called special session. Both, as is apparent in their titles, are to be called judiciously, to deal with pressing issues. As you will read below, we passed two of the extraordinary session bills, and did not override any of the governor’s budget vetoes. Overall, it seems we got it backwards. We met in extraordinary session to move forward on two bills that could have waited to be moved forward until our regular legislative session begins in January. At the same time, we left vulnerable people with urgent pressing issues without the help they need, waiting to address those budget issues until January.
Veto Session During Wednesday’s veto session, the House of Representatives successfully overrode the Governor’s veto of four items in the Fiscal Year 2019 budget. Totaling less than $1 million, these line items represent less than 1 percent of the state budget. They were previously passed by both chambers, and would have a significant impact on the lives of many vulnerable Missourians, including abused children.
Veto overrides must begin in the bill’s chamber of origination, so the Missouri Senate only had the opportunity to take action on these four items once the House passed the overrides with a supermajority vote. The House did so, but the Senate Chair of Appropriations made no motion to override. Even if funding to these programs is restored next year, as the Appropriations Chair assured us during floor debate would happen, this inaction inevitably puts the vital needs of Missourians on hold. The programs would have promoted the health and well-being of the most vulnerable: children, people with disabilities, and those in need of urgent health care. Meantime, those items remain on hold for no good reason that I can ascertain. Looking forward, it will be up to legislators to ensure these items are put into a supplemental budget in January.
Extraordinary Session HB 3: Substituting Computer Science Courses for General Education Requirements The original STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) bill was vetoed because it was too narrowly tailored, favoring one company to be selected to create a statewide introduction to the “STEM” program. The extraordinary session version of the bill seeks to broaden the companies which might be awarded the contract. The bill also allows students to substitute one unit of a district-approved computer science course for any required math course while still allowing students to graduate. While I support the development of STEM training, this legislation is concerning for several reasons. Naming this the STEM bill is a bit misleading. After all, it effectively reduces requirements for education in math and science. College readiness is an increasingly significant problem, as Missouri students are graduating without the necessary math skills to be successful in college or the workplace. For students who choose to attend a college or university, perhaps to pursue a computer science degree, being under-prepared for college-level math courses means remedial courses might have to be taken before credits can be counted toward a degree. These remedial classes increase student debt and may result in students having to remain in school longer than would have been otherwise necessary. I fully support computer science education, and I believe we should find ways to increase students’ access to this knowledge and give them opportunities to develop their skills for the jobs of tomorrow, but not at the expense of their general education. Even after the bill was changed, I voted in opposition to the bill for several reasons including an unnecessary section that still allows for undue influence in the competitive bidding process. I also find it concerning that students will be able to graduate from high school while taking fewer than three math classes.
HB 2: Expanding Treatment Courts The original treatment court bill was vetoed because of a Hammerschmidt violation, covering too many subjects in one bill. This new legislation, containing only one subject, gives circuit courts the ability to establish special treatment court divisions to serve as alternatives to incarceration. These special courts are designed to provide alternatives in cases involving alcohol, drugs and other forms of substance abuse. By allowing every circuit court in the state to establish treatment court divisions, local communities have the ability to best decide how to help rehabilitate substance abuse offenders. Statistics indicate that these special court divisions have the ability to lower recidivism rates when compared with both incarceration and probation. This bill passed unanimously through the Missouri Senate and will become law next month. By expanding these successful drug treatment courts, this legislation allows for individuals to receive the treatment they need instead of being incarcerated without treatment in Missouri’s over-crowded and expensive prison system.
Defending Missourians Suffering from Pre-existing Conditions My colleagues in the Democratic Caucus and I filed a resolution this week asking Missouri’s attorney general to withdraw from the lawsuit that was recently filed against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. If this lawsuit is successful, 2.5 million Missourians with pre-existing conditions will lose their health care. More than 330,000 children in Missouri have pre-existing health conditions, and it is both compassionate and fiscally responsible to help them receive the health care services they need to live full, productive and healthy lives.
Clean Missouri Ballot Initiative Appeal A Circuit Court Judge recently ruled to remove the Clean Missouri initiative from the November ballot. An appeal of this ruling is already in progress. We may hear the results of that appeal as early as this Thursday. This news is unsettling to Missourians who have been working diligently to build support for this important ethics reform measure. Although this ruling is a set-back, the message from the people is clear: ethics reform is desperately needed in the Missouri Legislature, and if the Legislature fails to take action, the people will.
On a Personal Note… Happy, Healthy and Peaceful New Year to my Jewish family and friends. |