Ruminations on Legislation
As a freshman Senator, I know there’s much I need to learn about the legislative process. One of the first things I’ve realized is that passing laws takes time. There’s a lot of work that must be done before final votes are cast.
Observing the Missouri Senate in action, I’m reminded of a story I once heard about a big city businessman who bought a dairy farm. One day he decided to visit the farm and see how his money was being spent. As he gazed on the lush green field of a Missouri hillside, all he saw was a bunch of cows grazing on grass and chewing their cud.
Incensed that no milk was being made, the absentee owner screamed at the herd, “Get to work, you lazy cows!”
The businessman failed to understand that his cows were actually working. Before any milk could be produced, the livestock had to be fed and nutrients digested. After all, isn’t milk just cleverly processed grass?
In some ways, the Legislature is a bit like that.
There is a specific process the Senate must follow as it approves legislation. Bills are introduced to the record (“first read”), assigned to a committee (“second read”) and fine-tuned (“perfected”) so that a final version can be presented to the Senate for a vote (“third read”).
The first two steps are uneventful. The last step is often a foregone conclusion. The real work happens between second and third reading. This is when ideas are heard in committee and the final language of legislation is hammered out both on the floor and during negotiations between lawmakers. Often a bill is brought up for perfection, only to be “laid on the table” and brought up for discussion again. Just as cows chew their cud, lawmakers may revisit the same legislation several times before they’re satisfied.
Like so many other tasks we take on, whether on the farm or elsewhere, much of our time and effort in the Legislature is devoted to preparation. It can be frustrating as we wait for our legislative cows to enter the milking barn . . . sorry, the Senate chamber . . . but each step is necessary to the process.
This week I presented my first bill for consideration in the Senate chamber. Senate Bill 71 excludes bonuses and employer contributions to individual retirement accounts when calculating workman’s compensation premiums. The bill reflects the view that these payments are not part of an employee’s regular take-home pay and should not be included in the workman’s compensation formula.
Even this relatively simple bill must proceed through each step of the legislative process before it can become law. The few brief minutes I spent presenting this bill in the Senate chamber provided just a small glimpse into that process. If an observer in the Senate gallery knew only what he saw that night, he would understand the legislative process about as well as the businessman who learned about milk production by watching cows graze.
This past week, the Missouri General Assembly returned from spring recess. My colleagues in the Senate tell me that this half-way point in the legislative session signals a significant change in focus and pace of the lawmaking process. From here on, we’ll spend less time learning about legislative proposals in committee hearings and more time debating bills in the Senate chamber. In other words, the cows have been fed and they’re headed to the barn to give milk.
A Day for Veterans
There’s an event coming up at the State Capitol in Jefferson City that should interest generations of U.S. service veterans. On Thursday, April 25, the General Assembly and the Missouri Veteran’s Commission will host a ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. The event will begin at 9 a.m. in the Capitol Rotunda.
All Vietnam War-era veterans and their families are encouraged to attend. The event honors veterans who served on active duty in the U.S. military between November 1955 and May 15, 1975 – regardless of where they served. Veterans who call (573) 522-4228 to RSVP their attendance prior to April 10 will receive individual recognition during the ceremony.
It’s my honor to serve as your senator for the 16th District. If you have questions or need any assistance, please call my office at 573-751-5713 or log onto my webpage at https://www.senate.mo.gov/brown for more information.