JEFFERSON CITY — After the general election in November, senators and senators-elect traveled to the State Capitol to select leaders for the 96th General Assembly, which begins in early January.  Members met in their respective caucuses to elect several leadership positions, including majority and minority caucus floor leaders, assistant floor leaders, chairmen and secretaries. 

The Senate Majority Caucus endorsed Sen. Robert N. Mayer (R-Dexter) to serve as president pro tem, a position currently held by term-limited Sen. Charlie Shields (R-St. Joseph).  Among other duties, as pro tem, Sen. Mayer would be responsible for appointing committee members, assigning legislation to committees, and ruling on points of order raised during debate in the Senate Chamber.  Before Sen. Mayer can take over as pro tem, he must be voted on by the full Senate, which will take place on the first day of session.

Senator Tom Dempsey (R-St. Charles) was also selected to serve as the Majority Floor Leader, currently held by Sen. Kevin Engler (R-Farmington).  In this role, Sen. Dempsey is responsible for setting the schedule of bills up for consideration by the full Senate, allocating time for floor debate on legislation, and scheduling the meeting times and dates of the Missouri Senate. 

Returning to his position as Assistant Majority Floor Leader is Sen. Jack Goodman (R-Mt. Vernon), who will take over for the Senate Majority Floor Leader when he is unavailable to attend debate in the Senate Chamber.

Currently the Missouri State Representative for the 133rd District, Sen.-elect Mike Parson (R-Bolivar) was chosen to serve as the Majority Caucus Whip, a position found in the U.S. Congress that traditionally ensures that the members of their caucus are in attendance when votes are taken.

Other Senate Majority Caucus positions recently filled include Sen. Bill Stouffer (R-Napton), who was re-elected to the role of Majority Caucus Chairman, and Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Glendale) who was selected to serve as the Majority Caucus Secretary.

Members from the Senate Minority Caucus also selected their leadership for the 96th General Assembly.  Senator Victor Callahan (D-Independence) will remain the Senate Minority Floor Leader; Sen. Jolie Justus (D-Kansas City) was selected to fill the Assistant Minority Floor Leader position, vacated by term-limited Sen. Rita Heard-Days (D-St. Louis); Sen. Timothy Green (D-Spanish Lake) will serve as Minority Caucus Chair; and Sen. Robin Wright-Jones (D-St. Louis) will fill the position of Minority Caucus Secretary.  Unlike the Majority Caucus, the Minority Caucus does not have the whip leadership position. 

All leadership positions will take effect beginning the first day of the 2011 legislative session.  The Missouri Senate’s current breakdown is 23 Republicans and 11 Democrats.  After certification by the Missouri Secretary of State’s office and the 2011 legislative session begins, the ratio in the Missouri Senate will change to 26-8. 

Click here to listen to the This Week in the Missouri Senate for the week of Nov. 8, 2010.  This audio program features Sen. Mayer and Sen. Callahan discussing the some of their priories for the upcoming legislative session.

Lawmakers are also focusing the work of their respective committees for 2010.  Several legislative panels created in 2009 known as “2020 committees” met to review their recommendations before the groups terminate on Dec. 31, 2010.

The Senate Educated Citizenry 2020 Committee met on Nov. 10 to consider its recommendations to the Missouri General Assembly.  The committee is charged with developing a long-term strategy and plan for an education system that ensures every Missouri child access to quality education and support for stay-at-home parents; studying the development of the state’s elementary, secondary, and higher education system and designing a system to better prepare graduates for global competition; and examining other aspects of education that the committee deems appropriate for creating an educated citizenry in Missouri.

Committee members include committee Chairman Sen. David Pearce (R-Warrensburg), Sen. Jane Cunningham (R-Chesterfield), Sen. Joseph Keaveny (D-St. Louis), Sen. Kurt Schaefer (R-Columbia), Sen. Wes Shoemyer (D-Clarence), and Sen. Wright-Jones.

From the ideas offered through public testimony and the priorities shared by committee members, some of the panels’ recommendations are offered under five main themes:

• access - allow all students the opportunity to attend a fully accredited public school;
• accountability - hold all schools accountable to high academic standards to support their ability to provide quality educational opportunities for students;
• teacher quality - develop a statewide system for evaluating teacher effectiveness to be used in performance-based compensation;
• school readiness - provide parents and early childhood educators with the information they need to see that all children enter kindergarten on par with their peers and ready to learn; and
• governance - require that a seminar on the K-12 foundation formula be mandatory for every newly elected legislator and available to any legislator at any time, among other recommendations.

Click here to listen to the This Week in the Missouri Senate for the week of Oct. 25, 2010.  This audio program features Sen. Pearce and Sen. Wright-Jones discussing the progress made by the Missouri Senate Educated Citizenry 2020 Committee.

The Healthy Missourians 2020 Committee also met on Nov. 10 to consider its final recommendations to the Legislature.  The panel is responsible for developing a long-term strategy and plan to provide health insurance coverage for Missourians who do not currently have access or cannot afford coverage, and studying the development of a rational health care system in Missouri for employers, hospitals, physicians, insurance companies, and the federal government while creating market incentives for participation in the system.

Chairman Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Glendale), Sen. Frank Barnitz (D-Lake Spring), Sen. Dempsey, Sen. Justus, Sen. Brad Lager (R-Savannah), and Sen. Shoemyer all serve on the panel, which has shared some of its recommendations.

The committee’s proposed recommendations to address the issue of overall health in Missouri include improving the health status of Missourians by reducing health care costs and providing access to health care through the use of health care technology, empowering consumers with information regarding cost and quality data, and reducing the rate of chronic conditions such as high blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes, and smoking rates.

Click here to listen to the The Senate Minute for Nov. 30, 2010.  This audio program features Sen. Schmitt and Sen. Justus, Healthly Missourians 2020 Committee members who are charged with creating a blueprint of where Missouri should be in terms of health care by the year 2020.

The third and final 2020 committee, the Senate Job Creation 2020 Committee , is also working on a list of final recommendations.  Those serving on the panel include Chairman Sen. Dempsey, Sen. Lager, Sen. Jim Lembke (R-St. Louis), Sen. Ryan McKenna (D-Crystal City), Sen. Scott T. Rupp (R-Wentzville), Sen. Schmitt, and Sen. Wright-Jones.

The committee is charged with developing a long-term strategy and plan for increasing the economic prosperity and opportunities for Missourians; establishing to tools help create new jobs and attract new businesses to the state; and ensuring that Missouri has a responsible regulatory environment that does not drive jobs out of the state.

Click here to listen to the This Week in the Missouri Senate for the week of Nov. 1, 2010.  This audio program features Sen. Schmitt, Sen. Lemke, and Sen. Wright-Jones’ discussion on creating a strategic plan for where Missouri should be by the year 2020 in terms of job creation in the state.

Once each panel submits its final report, all “2020 Committee” recommendations will be posted on the Missouri Senate website at www.senate.mo.gov/2020Committees .

While lawmakers wrap up their committee work for 2010, many members are preparing to prefile their measures for the 2011 legislative session.  Prefiling begins Dec. 1, 2010 and may continue up to, but not including, the first day of session, which begins Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011.

This update is written monthly during the interim. To follow these and other issues facing the Missouri Senate, visit www.senate.mo.gov. Visitors can track legislation as it passes through the General Assembly, learn more about their district, or, when the Legislature is in session, listen to streaming audio of legislative debate as it happens. For more legislative news, please visit the Senate Newsroom. There you will find various audio and video programs and other services, such as:

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