Legislators returned to Jefferson City this week for the annual veto session, where select bills vetoed by the governor are reconsidered and possibly overridden.

The session lasted into the late evening hours, but by the end of it all, lawmakers successfully overrode 10 vetoed pieces of legislation. Unlike regular session, when bills require a simple majority for passage, a two-thirds majority is needed to override a veto. In addition, a vetoed bill must first be overridden in the chamber where it originated, or the bill dies.

House Bill 116, also known as Right-to-Work, failed to achieve a two-thirds majority in the House, so the bill never made it to the Senate and the veto was sustained. This bill would have encouraged job growth and promoted the individual worker’s freedom by giving them a choice whether to participate in a labor organization. I do feel that this topic is gaining momentum and that it will eventually pass through the Legislature. Passage of this bill would have made Missouri the 26th state with a Right-to-Work bill in place

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The 10 vetoed measures that were successfully overridden by the General Assembly were:

• House Bill 150 tying the duration of unemployment benefits to the state’s unemployment rate;

• House Bill 618 regarding the disposition of human remains and the electronic vital records system;

• House Bill 722 prohibiting cities and counties from adopting certain types of ordinances, including minimum wage increases that exceed state standards and bans on plastic shopping bags;

• House Bill 878 relating to the licensing and commissioning of corporate security advisors by the Department of Public Safety;

• House Bill 1022 authorizing a return of premiums paid by insureds;

• House Bill 1098 modifying provisions relating to trust companies;

• Senate Bill 20 creating a tax exemption for materials and utilities used by commercial laundries;

• Senate Bill 142 requiring the Department of Natural Resources to prepare an implementation impact report when submitting certain plans to the Environmental Protection Agency;

• Senate Bill 224 requiring a student to be a United States citizen or permanent resident in order to be eligible to receive reimbursements from the A+ Schools Program; and

• Senate Bill 345 allowing lenders to increase the fee on loans lasting 30 days or longer from $75 to $100;

Now that veto session has concluded, legislators are returning to their districts until the next session of the General Assembly in January 2016.

As always, I encourage my constituents to contact me throughout the year with comments, questions or suggestions by calling my office at (573) 751-5713. To find more information about the bills I sponsor, visit www.senate.mo.gov/brown.

Thank you for reading this and for your participation in state government.