Pre-filing begins for the 2017 legislative session
Dan Hegeman
In one month, the First Regular Session of the 99th General Assembly will begin. In addition to enjoying the holidays and the last few weeks at home in their districts, Missouri lawmakers are hard at work preparing for the upcoming session. Part of that preparation includes the pre-filing of legislation, which marks the unofficial start of session.
Under Senate rules, pre-filed bills are assigned a number and made publicly available beginning on December 1st. The pre-filing period lasts throughout the month of December and allows Senators to file legislation in advance of the legislative session. Pre-filed legislation is the first legislation to begin the fiscal note process and when the session convenes in January and committee assignments begin, bills are referred to respective committees in the order in which they were filed.
Pre-filing these bills lets the public and those interested in public policy get a sense of what the legislature may be focusing on in the upcoming session. Pre-filed legislation is typically a mix of new high priority legislation supported by the caucus or individual members or legislation that was filed in previous sessions that simply didn’t make it across the finish line. For the first days of pre-filing for the upcoming legislative session, State Senators have pre-filed 183 regular bills and 11 joint resolutions. The number of pre-filed bills will continue to grow throughout the pre-filing period.
Accordingly, I have filed four bills. These bills are previous measures I have carried relating to road worker safety, the College and University Retirement Plan, Career and Technical Education coursework, the bonding requirements of public administrators. I have also filed a joint resolution that, if approved by the voters, would modify the non-partisan court plan to potentially expand the number of applicants the governor may consider for a judicial appointment. These are good bills and I look forward to advancing them through the legislative process.
The full text for all bills pre-filed and filed during 2017 Legislative Session will be uploaded to the senate webpage, www.senate.mo.gov and the house webpage, www.house.mo.gov.
