MOScout Daily Update: The Start of the End: Final Week of Session…
The Final Week
Here we are! The final week of session. The Senate will convene a bit earlier – 2PM – to get a jump on these last five days. The House rolls in at the usual time, 4PM.
That makes some sense because the House can move legislation at lightning speed when the majority party is motivated.
The Senate is hard to predict. Sometimes it can chug through piece after piece with little disturbance. But sometimes, there’s a nagging provision or definition that raises a concern and the chamber slows down to the pace of that senator.
In this final week, Senate floor time is the limiting factor. So if a bill is raising too many questions and concerns, Floor Leader Tony Luetkemeyer has to calculate whether waiting out the debate is worth the opportunity cost of other bills sitting on the calendar.
Every session is different. And this one is no exception. It’s been a very long time since we’ve entered a final week like this one: there’s no big looming issue.
Usually there are still one or two high-priority issues that the governor’s office or legislative leaders are insistent that must get passed over some resistant minority.
And while there are lots of little issues in the mix for sure (VLTs, prior authorization, economic development, healthcare omnibus to name a few), the absence of an overriding issue – with the possibility of a PQ coming – means that this year appears to be one without the drama of previous sessions.
The oft-heard phrase at the end of session to explain why something didn’t pass is “we ran out of time.” The truth is with five full days and no big roadblocks, if something doesn’t get done, you’ll be able to pinpoint who to blame. It’ll be someone in House or Senate leadership who didn’t want to bring it up for final passage. Or some senators who stood on the floor eating time to the point of forcing the body to move on.
Good luck everyone!
Chamber’s Top 5 for Final Week
From Missouri Chamber’s website: As the Missouri General Assembly enters its final week of session, the stakes are high for Missouri employers and job creators… Here are the top five issues we are fighting for in the final days of session:
1. Expanding Affordable Health Coverage Options for Employers. One of the Missouri Chamber’s top priorities this session is HB 2596 (Rep. McGaugh), legislation that would expand access to Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements (MEWAs), including the Chamber Benefit Plan. The bill is now in conference committee…
2. Attracting Investment to Spur Community Revitalization and Innovation. HB 3231 (Rep. Christ) would establish several economic development tools designed to support innovation, encourage private investment and revitalize Missouri communities…
3. Legal Reform to Improve Business Certainty. The Missouri Chamber is continuing to push for HB 1664 (Rep. Seitz, Rep. Mackey, Rep. Billington, Rep. Overcast), legislation aimed at creating a more fair legal environment for Missouri employers…
4. Increasing Access to High-Quality, Affordable Child Care. The Missouri Chamber has long supported an innovative legislative package, HB 2409 (Rep. Shields) which would increase the capacity of child care providers and help businesses offer child care benefits to support the retention and recruitment of employees.
5. Fighting Efforts to Expand Illegal Slot Machines. During the final days of session, lawmakers may attempt to revive efforts to legalize video lottery terminals (VLTs) by attaching the language to unrelated legislation.
Hancock for Senate Live Streaming
Writing in the Missouri Independent this weekend, Editor Jason Hancock joins Sen. Mike Moon and others saying it’s time for cameras in the Senate.
There’s no good reason for the Missouri Senate not to provide a video livestream of its proceedings… The honest reason — we don’t want voters to see how the sausage gets made — at least has the virtue of candor… There is nothing radical about a camera pointed at a public chamber during a public debate. The House does it. Most of the country does it. Local governments do it with worse lighting and smaller budgets.
eMailbag: 340B
The 340b issue has been quite an issue for a few years, and 99.9% of the controversy seems to be around the hospitals - that is why the 340b language moving through the House and Senate this year has absolutely nothing to do with hospitals, they are excluded from the bill.
Help Wanted
Missouri Alliance for Animal Legislation seeks Executive Director. The Executive Director (ED) serves as the chief operating officer of MAAL and reports to the Board of Directors. This role leads legislative advocacy, operations, fundraising, public awareness initiatives, and community engagement in alignment with MAAL’s mission. The ED is the organization’s primary representative and must demonstrate leadership, integrity, initiative, and a deep passion for animal welfare. This role is best suited for a leader who is equally comfortable in policy discussions, relationship-building, public speaking, and organizational management… $85,000 - $110,000 a year.
Lobbyist Registrations
Trent Watson added Redivus Health.
Happy Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Greg Razer, Leslie Korte, and Jerryl Christmas.