JEFFERSON CITY — Last week, the Missouri General Assembly met in a constitutionally required veto session to review and consider bills passed in the 2014 session that were vetoed by the governor. Typically, veto session is a quiet day, but in the last two years the governor has vetoed a large number of bills. This year, he vetoed 33 bills, and well over 100 line items in the budget.  The Legislature had already overridden one bill during session, Senate Bill 509, which will reduce taxes beginning in 2017.

Of the 32 bills remaining, only 18 bills were brought up in either body for an override. Thirteen Senate bills were brought up and all were overridden in the Senate. Only 12 of those bills were then brought up in the House, and the override motion passed on eight of them. Five bills were brought up in the House, and four were overridden there. Only two of those bills were overridden in the Senate. In all, 10 of the governor’s vetoes on legislative bills were overridden.

The governor vetoed four of my bills this year. The tax reform bill was overridden and became law during session. Two of the other three bills that were vetoed were overridden last week with bi-partisan support. I appreciate working with legislators on both sides of the aisle to pass this important legislation.

Here are the bills where the General Assembly overrode the governor’s vetoes. They will become law 30 days after the day of the override.

SB 523 - Prohibits school districts from requiring a student to use an identification device that uses radio frequency identification technology to transmit certain information.

SB 593 - Modifies provisions relating to nonpartisan elections.

SB 656 - Modifies provisions relating to firearms and corporate security advisors.

SB 727 - Modifies provisions relating to farmers' markets and SNAP benefits.

SB 731 - Modifies provisions relating to nuisance ordinances and actions.

SB 829 - Modifies provisions relating to burden of proof in tax liability cases.

SB 841 - Modifies provisions relating to alternative nicotine or vapor products.

SB 866 - Preempts local laws that would modify current law governing the manner in which traditional installment loan lenders are allowed to make loans.

HB 1132 - Modifies provisions relating to certain benevolent tax credits.

HB 1307 - Amends the current waiting period for having an abortion from 24 hours to 72 hours.

In addition to those bills, the Legislature attempted to override the governor’s vetoes of 55 budget line items. The items were chosen by the House Budget Chair and Senate Appropriations Chair. For the most part, the line items were for new programs which would directly benefit needy Missourians: autism care, funds for sexually abused children, education programs like Bright Futures and tutoring programs, sheltered workshops, and community health access programs. These were programs the governor held hostage to try and force the legislature to sustain other vetoes. All were worthwhile programs, and 47 of the 55 items were overridden. Unfortunately, the governor immediately withheld many of these same funds for these same programs the day after veto session.

Please feel free to contact me 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 (573) 751-1464, or e-mail at will.kraus@senate.mo.gov.