Governor acts on legislation

By Phil Cobb | July 27, 2016 |

Rep. Allen Andrews

The governor recently finished taking action on the numerous pieces of legislation sent to his desk by the Missouri General Assembly.

The governor had until July 14 to act on each of the measures. When the governor considers the bills sent to him by the Legislature, he has the option of signing a bill into law, vetoing it to prevent it from taking effect, or taking no action on a bill, which allows it to go into law without his approval.

During the 2016 legislative session, House members filed more than 1,600 pieces of legislation, and members of the Senate filed more than 600.

Of those measures, 82 bills and joint resolutions from the House made it across the finish line. The Senate saw 57 pieces of legislation receive final approval from the General Assembly.

The governor then took action by signing 115 bills into law, allowing three bills to take effect without his signature, vetoing 23 measures, and using his line-item vetoes on two budget bills.

The governor’s total includes a House Concurrent Resolution that he signed into effect, and a Senate Concurrent Resolution that he vetoed, but then saw the veto overridden by the legislature during the regular session.

The governor also saw his veto of SBs 586 and 651 to update the funding formula for Missouri’s public schools overridden while the General Assembly was still in session.

Additionally, he vetoed “Paycheck Protection” legislation during the regular session, which the House successfully voted to override. The Senate fell one vote shy in its override attempt.

When the House and Senate return for the General Assembly’s annual veto session in September, members of the two chambers will have 20 vetoed bills and two line-item vetoes in the state operating budget to consider.

A list of some of the issues most likely to take center stage during the veto session includes:- Voter ID (HB 1631)

• Strengthening Second Amendment Rights (SB 656)

• Big Government Get Off My Back Act (HB 1870)

• Collateral Source Reform Legislation (SB 847)

• Expert Witness Legislation (SB 591)

• Protecting Taxpayer Dollars (HB 1432)

• Reducing the Tax Burden on Farmers Recovering from Disaster (SB 641)

• Protecting Livestock Owners from Excessive Liability (SB 844)