House prepares for veto session
Rep. Allen Andrews
As mandated by the Missouri Constitution, the General Assembly will meet Sept. 16 to consider bills that were passed by the House and Senate but vetoed by the governor.
The annual veto session gives legislators a final opportunity to enact their ideas into law despite the governor’s objections.
In both chambers, a two-thirds vote is required to override a veto.
In the House, that amounts to 109 votes.
Twenty-three votes are needed in the Senate to successfully complete an override motion.
In 2015, the governor vetoed 12 House bills, six Senate bills, and had one line-item veto in an appropriations bill.
During the upcoming veto session, the Legislature will likely move to override the governor’s veto on several important bills, including:
• HB 63 — Exempts certain political races from provisions specifying how candidates must be nominated.
• HB116 — Right To Work, which gives workers in Missouri the right to decide whether to join a union.
• HB 326 — Specifies that each defined benefit pension plan must establish a board member education program.
• HB 618 — Changes the laws regarding the disposition of human remains.
• HB 629 — Changes the laws regarding public retirement systems.
• HB 799 — Moves the 12th Division of the 16th Judicial Circuit Court from the City of Kansas City to the City of Independence.
• HB 878 — Specifies that the Department of Public Safety must have the authority to commission corporate security advisors and establishes procedures to do so.
• HB 1022 — Authorizes a return of premiums paid by insureds.
• HB 1098 — Changes the laws regarding trust companies.
• SB 20 — Creates a sales and use tax exemption for materials and utilities used by commercial laundries.
• SB 142 — Requires the Department of Natural Resources to take certain actions when submitting plans the Environmental Protection Agency.
• SB 224 — Ensures scholarship benefits through the state’s A+ Schools Program are received only by young people who are legal residents of the United States.
The bill would require a student to be a United States citizen or a permanent resident in order to receive benefits.
