Senator Elaine Gannon’s Capitol Report for May 3, 2024

First of the Lasts

The first week of May was paired with a few bittersweet last moments for me. With the 2024 legislative session coming to a close on May 17 and time running out for legislation to advance, the Senate conducted the final public hearings of the session this week. Several committees have postponed their final executive session meetings to vote on pending legislation until next week. This will free our schedules and give us more floor time to balance the fiscal year 2025 state operating budget and send as many proposals as possible to the governor.

Since the convening of the 102nd General Assembly in January of 2022, I have been honored to chair the Senate Local Government and Elections Committee. When I pounded the gavel on April 29 to adjourn the public hearing for the last time, the finality and brevity of my time in Jefferson City really set in. This committee has heard more bills and opinions about how to resolve local issues and strengthen the security of our elections than I can count. While I have thoroughly enjoyed serving in this capacity and listening to the stories and concerns of passionate Missourians, I look forward to the “demotion” from Madam Chair to full-time grandmother in the coming weeks.

I remain optimistic about discussing two more of my proposals on the floor and hearing “the bill is declared perfected and ordered printed” one last time. Both of these measures were placed on the Senate formal calendar for perfection on April 30. Senate Bill 1260 will increase access to prenatal screenings for contagious diseases for consenting pregnant women and authorize the expectant mother’s appropriate treatment options. Senate Bill 1374 will create “Bentley and Mason’s Law,” requiring a person who drove while intoxicated and was in a vehicular crash that caused a parent or guardian’s death to pay monthly restitution to the surviving child until he or she reaches 18. One of the witnesses who testified in favor of the legislation during the hearing is the grandmother, and now full-time caretaker, of Bentley and Mason, the sole survivors of a deadly crash that took the lives of her son, daughter-in-law and baby grandson. Similar laws have been introduced or enacted in 22 other states, so I’m hopeful Missouri joins that list soon.

I’ll close with the details of what I hope and pray will be my last full-blown Senate filibuster. On April 30, several senators held the floor to stall debate on the federal reimbursement allowance (FRA). Their goal was to make sure the initiative petition reform proposed in Senate Joint Resolution 74 and modified by the Missouri House of Representatives was passed first. Ironically, this resolution was filibustered by a different group of senators in February before it was amended and sent to the Missouri House of Representatives for consideration! While the filibuster serves as an important negotiating tool in the Senate, 41 hours was a lot of time to squander in my opinion, especially since we have to have the budget balanced, finalized and sent to the governor by next Friday, May 10.