Legislative Column for the Week of May 12, 2014
Legislative Session Wrap-Up

This year’s legislative session has come to an end. I am proud to say that, although it has been a hectic and demanding time, it has been a productive and successful session as well.

I would like to take the time to thank each and every one of my constituents for their support, ideas, concerns and passion throughout this legislative session. It is always an honor to serve the citizens of the 16th Senatorial District. I take the representation of my constituents’ best interest very seriously. 

The last week of session is always a whirlwind of lawmakers rushing to finalize and pass their bills making their way through the legislative process before the gavel falls for the final time, signifying the end of session. As of the constitutional deadline of 6:00 p.m. on Friday, May 17, nearly 200 bills were Truly Agreed To and Finally Passed by the Senate and the House, and delivered to the governor for his signature.

Each bill goes through a scrupulous and detailed process in order to ensure that nothing is missed and the bill is examined thoroughly. More than 1,800 pieces of legislation were introduced this legislative session, leading to numerous hours of debates, committee hearings, bill readings and voting.  However, I feel that we have been successful and all the hard work was worth it.

Many accomplishments were achieved including, the passing of the fiscally responsible $26.4 billion budget, which provides increased funding for elementary, secondary and higher education, as well as more money for transportation.
Highlights from this year’s budget include:

  • $3.147 billion in funding for Missouri’s K-12 education
  • $948 million for higher education
  • $1.026 billion for health & mental health
  • $18 million for transportation
  • $1.553 billion for social services

For a complete list of Missouri legislation passed this year, visit www.senate.mo.gov and click on the Truly Agreed/Finally Passed link under the Legislation tab.

This year I sponsored many bills ranging from public health issues to agriculture to child welfare. Bills that I sponsored that were Truly Agreed To and Finally Passed include:

  • SB 639 – Requires mammography facilities to provide to patients certain information regarding breast density
  • SB 664 – Modifies provisions relating to natural resources
  • SB 716 – Modifies provisions relating to public health
  • SB 735 – Establishes duty to inform campground guests of campgrounds policies, and establishes causes for which a campground owner can remove a person from a campground and a penalty for failure to leave
  • HB 1510 -  Requires mammography facilities to provide patients certain information regarding dense breast tissue

Often times we add bills we sponsor to other measures. This year several of my bills were adopted as amendments including a provision added to SB 859, which will repeal the sunset provision of the large animal veterinarian student loan program, and SB 973, which will allow the office of the Child Advocate to intervene on behalf of a child during judicial proceedings..

Although this year’s legislative session has come to an end, I will continue to work hard for our district. The office will remain open so that we can address your concerns and issues. Always feel free to contact me throughout the year with any comments, questions, or issues by calling my office at (573) 751-5713 or by visiting my website at www.senate.mo.gov/brown.

Thank you for reading this and for your participation in state government.