The annual veto session has officially come and gone. Missouri lawmakers came into this year’s session with 20 vetoed measures on the table for a possible override. Each vetoed bill must first be taken up in the chamber where it originated, and it takes a two-thirds majority vote in both chambers to override the governor’s veto — that comes out to 23 votes in the Senate and 109 votes in the House. In just 10 hours, the Missouri General Assembly voted to override 13 of the governor’s vetoes.
One override of particular importance to citizens of the 21st Senatorial District is that of Senate Bill 641, which creates an income tax deduction for payments received through one of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s programs that compensate agricultural producers for losses due to disaster or emergency.
In 2012, Missouri’s cattle industry was hit hard by a severe drought. In response, the USDA paid Missouri cattle producers over $300 million for their losses; however, they had to wait until the 2014 farm bill was signed into law two years later to receive those payments. Senate Bill 641 is retroactive to 2014 in order to cover the 2012 disaster relief payments.
In a July 2016 report, Dr. Scott Brown, an extension agricultural economist with the University of Missouri, writes: “The income tax refunds available under SB641 will come at an opportune time for cattle producers and rural Missouri communities who are dealing with lower cattle as well as other agricultural commodity prices.”
He goes on to explain how the tax refund money will improve local economies as cattle farmers will be able to make purchases they might have otherwise delayed. I believe SB 641 is exactly what Missouri’s cattle industry needs at this time, and I was proud to vote in support of the veto override.
In addition to SB 641, we were successful in overriding the governor’s veto of another important piece of agriculture legislation: House Bill 1414. This measure aims to protect the personal identity information of Missouri farmers who voluntarily share their information with state agencies as part of an agricultural program. This includes data for animal disease traceability programs. House Bill 1414 does contain provisions that would release certain information in particular cases, such as a disease outbreak among livestock.
We also overrode the governor’s vetoes of Senate Bill 1025, exempting instructional classes from sales tax; House Bill 1631, requiring a person to submit a specified form of photo identification in order to vote in a public election, with specified exemptions; and Senate Bill 656, expanding and strengthening Missourians’ Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, among others.
A complete list of vetoed bills can be found by visiting www.senate.mo.gov and clicking on “Governor’s Action on Truly Agreed Bills” under the Legislation tab.
As always, please feel free to contact me or my staff with any questions or concerns at any time. We look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions and trying to answer any questions you may have. You can reach us by phone at 866-277-0882 (toll-free) or (573) 751-2272, or by fax at (573) 526-7381.
Senator David Pearce serves Caldwell, Carroll, Howard, Johnson, Lafayette, Livingston, Ray and Saline counties in the 21st State Senatorial District.