Legislative session underway
Dan Hegeman
The Second Regular Session of the 98th General Assembly is officially underway.
The gavel to open the legislative session fell at noon last Wednesday, marking the official starting point of legislative activities for 2016.
The occasion was marked by a unique circumstance as both the House and Senate are under new leadership.
State Rep. Todd Richardson has assumed the position of Speaker of the House and State Sen. Ron Richard is serving as President Pro Tem of the Senate.
Both new leaders have expressed a desire to begin work right away and have already referred a number of bills to legislative committees and hearings are already being scheduled.
Among the bills already referred to committee were a few that I pre-filed in December.
The most important is SB 635, which would establish the Missouri Palliative Care and Quality of Life Interdisciplinary Council and the Palliative Care Consumer and Professional Information and Education Program.
This is a bill that I filed last year that was near the finish line before the end of session. It should get a hearing soon and I am hopeful that we can move it quickly through the process.
I am anxious to begin the process on that bill and a number of other bills that we were unable to finish at the end of session last year. Additionally, there are a handful of bills that I will be filing in the next few weeks, so I am glad the General Assembly is hitting the ground running to hopefully complete some unfinished business.
Also, within the next 30 days, the Senate will be reviewing the numerous interim appointments the governor has made to the state’s boards and commissions.
The governor made a number of appointments over the summer and fall when the Legislature was not in session and those appointments must have the advice and consent of the Senate before 30 days from the start of session. This is a relatively short time frame, it is critical that the Senate is thoughtful and thorough in reviewing the nominees.
Although the session has just begun, there is much work to be done and I am glad our new leadership set the tone to get to work right away.
