Category: Weekly Capitol Update
Feb 2 – Weekly Capitol Update
SENATE PASSES DISCRIMINATION BILL AFTER 15 HOURS African-American members of the Senate ended a 15-hour filibuster of legislation weakening Missouri’s anti-discrimination laws after the bill’s Republican sponsor agreed to eliminate a provision of the bill that sought to require judges to rule in favor of employers in most workplace discrimination lawsuits. The Senate granted preliminary [...]
Jan 26 – Weekly Capitol Update
HOUSE COMMITTEE ADVANCES PHOTO VOTER ID BILL The House Elections Committee on Jan. 24 voted 7-3 in favor of legislation that seeks to require voters to show government-issued photo identification at their polling place in order to cast a ballot. At present, however, the General Assembly lacks the constitutional authority to impose such a requirement. [...]
Jan 19 – Weekly Capitol Update
NIXON PROPOSES HALF-BILLION IN STATE BUDGET CUTS In delivering his fourth State of the State address, Gov. Jay Nixon on Jan. 17 proposed $500 million in spending cuts in order to balance a $22.98 billion state operating budget for the 2013 fiscal year without a tax increase. Nixon, a Democrat, also outlined his policy priorities [...]
Jan 12-Weekly Capitol Update
JUDGES SIGNAL PROBLEMS WITH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS The Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments on Jan. 12 in a pair of cases that challenge the constitutionality of the state’s new congressional district boundaries, with several judges indicating the redistricting plan doesn’t comply with the state constitution’s requirement that districts be drawn “as compact … as may be.” [...]
Dec 29 – Weekly Capitol Update
2012 LEGISLATIVE SESSION GETS UNDERWAY JAN. 4 The 2012 regular legislative session of the Missouri General Assembly begins on Jan. 4 with most of the major issues from the 2011 session still awaiting action by lawmakers. Republicans will continue their solid control of both legislative chambers with a 26-8 advantage over Democrats in the Senate [...]
Dec 22 – Weekly Capitol Update
HIGH COURT TAKES CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING CASES The Missouri Supreme Court on Jan. 12 will hear arguments in a pair of lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of a the state’s new congressional redistricting plan, which the Republican-controlled General Assembly enacted earlier this year over a gubernatorial veto. The main claim in both lawsuits is that the redistricting [...]
Dec 15 – Weekly Capitol Update
JUDGES RESCIND AND REPLACE NEW SENATE DISTRICTS The Missouri Appellate Apportionment Commission on Dec. 9 unexpectedly rescinded the new state Senate redistricting plan it had submitted just the week before and replaced it with a revised version that corrects the original’s numerous violations of the general constitutional prohibition against splitting counties among Senate districts. The [...]
Dec 8 – Weekly Capitol Update
LAWSUIT CHALLENGES VALIDITY OF TECH INCENTIVES LAW The Missouri Roundtable for Life and Missouri Right to Life filed a lawsuit in Cole County Circuit Court on Dec. 1 challenging the validity of a new law creating the Missouri Science and Innovation Reinvestment Act. The General Assembly passed the MOSIRA measure, which offers state tax incentive [...]
Dec 1 – Weekly Capitol Update
APPELLATE JUDGES COMPLETE STATEHOUSE REDISTRICTING A panel of state appellate judges finalized new state legislative districts on Nov. 30, producing House districts that group 40 percent of eligible returning incumbent state representatives with fellow incumbents and creating a Senate plan that repeatedly violates the Missouri Constitution’s prohibition against splitting counties among Senate districts. The new [...]
Nov 23 – Weekly Capitol Update
NEW FORMULA DROPS MISSOURI’S GRADUATION RATES Missouri’s high school graduation rate for the 2010-2011 school year dropped by 6.6 percentage points under a new federally imposed formula for calculating such rates. Under the old method, Missouri’s graduation rate for 2011 was 86.4 percent; the recalculated rate is 79.8 percent. The new formula is intended to [...]
