Legislature Wraps Up 2014 Veto Session

    Working late into the night, the Missouri Legislature finished the 2014 Veto Session by overriding eight Senate bills, two House bills, and 47 budgetary line-item vetoes.  The Governor can still withhold the money from the line-items, but by overriding the vetoes, the possibility now exists that the money could still become available.  Programs that could be restored due to the line item overrides include: rape exams for children, defibrillators for Water Patrol boats, and funding for dual credit college hours for low income students.  Most of the line-item overrides passed by large bipartisan margins.

     Vetoed bills that became law included: SB656 which increases school security options and requires any teacher designated to carry a weapon to have required training, SB523 which prohibits schools from mandating students to wear radio frequency equipment for the purposes of tracking their location or transmitting information about the student, SB593 which expands the instances in which holding an election can be waived when none of the candidates on the ballot have opposition, SB841 which prohibits the sale of e-cigarettes to persons under the age of 18, SB829 which puts the burden of proof on the Department of Revenue in cases of taxpayer disputes, SB727 which will help food stamp recipients purchase products from some of the larger farmers markets, HB1132 which would increase tax credits for pregnancy resource centers and maternity homes, and HB1307 which increases the waiting period for having an abortion.

     One bill that was not overridden was the Agriculture bill (SB506) that contained language that would have moved regulation of deer farming from the Department of Conservation to the Department of Agriculture.  The Senate voted to override the veto but the vote fell one short in the House when a member switched his vote at the last second as the voting board was being closed.

     I had hoped to bring up SB693 for an override attempt.  This was my bill that would have eliminated the sales tax on vehicles ten years old and older with a selling price of $15,000 or less.  I believe this measure would have put targeted tax relief where it is most needed, but intense lobbying by those opposed to the bill ensured the votes would not be there for a successful attempt.  Many times it takes more than one attempt to pass good legislation.  This is one of those times, and I will be back to try again in the 2015 Session.