Recently, legislators gathered at the Capitol to review measures that received the governor’s veto and determine which, if any, of the nearly 30 vetoed bills deserved consideration for veto override. The General Assembly made history this year by overturning a record 10 of the governor’s vetoes. Of the more than 190 bills passed this session, a total of 29 bills received the governor’s veto.

I was proud to sponsor Senate Bill 9 during the regular session and was disappointed the governor chose to highlight a minor portion of the bill as his main factor for vetoing the legislation. During the veto session, I brought the measure up for reconsideration by my colleagues. With a 23-10 vote in the Senate and a 111-50 vote in the House, the veto was overturned and the legislation was delivered to the Secretary of State in order to take its place as state law.

Senate Bill 9 is an agricultural bill with different provisions regarding both education and livestock protection issues. This measure narrows the definition of animal trespass violations from any animal on the loose to a more specific definition of failure to provide adequate control of an animal for 12 hours or more. This new terminology is a Class C misdemeanor and brings with it a $200 fine for the first infraction and a $500 fine for the second. This new language provides better, stronger protections for livestock producers.

Another topic SB 9 addresses is the crime of livestock theft, or cattle rustling. Cattle rustling has become almost epidemic in many areas of the Show-Me State, especially the southwest. Senate Bill 9 increases the punishment for livestock theft to a Class B felony, meaning no less than five years and no more than 15 years in jail. With this punishment, hopefully would-be cattle rustlers will have second thoughts before taking someone else’s livestock.

In terms of education, SB 9 grants University of Missouri extension councils the right to create districts in order to better organize and utilize resources and to better provide for the surrounding areas.

Another important bill that received an override by the Missouri Legislature was House Bill 339, also called the “No Pay, No Play” bill. This legislation creates a standard that if an uninsured motorist is involved in an accident with an insured driver, the uninsured party will not be eligible to file claims for compensation for pain and suffering. They are, however, still entitled to medical claims. This type of law is also in place in neighboring states Iowa, Oklahoma and Kansas.

Veto session is mandated by the Missouri Constitution and can last up to 10 days. It was due to the hard work and efforts put forth by both chambers that we managed to override the 10 bills we did. Other measures were simply not considered for a veto override motion or did not receive the necessary two-thirds majority vote from both the House and Senate. Many of those bills will come up again for consideration in revised forms during the next session, and I look forward to working on these issues again. For a list of all the legislation that passed the Missouri General Assembly and the governor’s action on each bill, visit www.senate.mo.gov, and go the “Governor’s Action on Truly Agreed To and Finally Passed Bills” link under the Legislation tab.

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.