JEFFERSON CITY — As the General Assembly rapidly approached the final hours of debate for this session, bills moved back and forth between the chambers in order to pass beneficial legislation and resolve the priorities Senate leadership put forth at the beginning of the session.

I am pleased that the chambers were able to come together to pass a 2014 operating budget that begins July 1, 2013, for the good of Missouri. An enormous amount of work and time is spent in the Capitol to ensure we stand by our constitution and refuse to deficit spend, thereby keeping our state’s AAA credit rating. The combined efforts of the House and Senate passed the budget bills and sent them to the governor’s desk for his signature a full day before our constitutional deadline.

As the Legislature worked diligently in the last hours of this session, I was happy that legislation with which was I was involved was still moving. On Thursday, with approximately 30 hours left before the end of session, Senate Bill 125 made it through the General Assembly with language from my prefiled measure, Senate Bill 7, removing the two-year waiting period when a school district becomes unaccredited and the lapse of its organizational system, allowing an alternate, provisional board to be appointed by the State Board of Education. Right now, this measure will affect two different St. Louis school districts and the unaccredited Kansas City School District. We have worked for almost two years in an attempt to resolve issues with the Kansas City School District before more time passes. While it might have taken longer than we expected to pass, it was definitely better late than never. I look forward to the future progress this measure will provide.

One bill into which I put much effort this year was Senate Bill 437, the higher education performance funding bill that arose out of last year’s House Bill 1731. While the legislation received the Senate’s approval, it ran out of time in the House. I will continue to meet with more members of the General Assembly and the Joint Committee on Education over the interim and work to get this bill passed next year.

If you would like to see the list of bills that passed the Legislature this session, visit www.senate.mo.gov , go to the “Legislation” tab and click the Truly Agreed Bills link.  

While session has come to a close, the interim, or the time between sessions, is not time off. I will be travelling the district, meeting with old and new friends, as well as spending time in Jefferson City preparing legislation for next session. The 21st District Capitol office will remain open for normal business hours and can take your phone calls and emails, if you have any concerns or topics to discuss.

As always, please feel free to contact me or my staff with any questions or concerns at any time. We look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions and trying to answer any questions you may have. You can reach us by phone at 866-277-0882 (toll-free) or 573-751-2272, or by fax at 573-526-7381.