This Week’s Legislative Column from Senator Mike Cunningham

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Approaching the Governor’s Veto Deadline

Next Wednesday, July 13, will mark two months since the adjournment of the Second Regular Session of the 98th General Assembly. During this past session, I introduced 12 bills, two of which ended up successfully passing on to the governor. Of those two pieces of legislation, one has been signed into law and one is still awaiting his signature.

The road a bill travels to become law is a multilayered one with many “checkpoints” the bill must pass before reaching its final destination. That final stop signifies the governor’s signature or veto, and this year’s deadline for the governor to take action on a bill is Friday, July 15. Any pieces of legislation that were truly agreed and finally passed by the Senate and House that the governor does not sign or veto by next Friday’s deadline will automatically become law.

During the 2016 Session, the Senate introduced 653 pieces of legislation, and the House 1,637 – totaling almost 2,300. The General Assembly truly agreed and finally passed 149 of those pieces of legislation on to the governor’s desk – 63 from the Senate and 86 from the House. The governor has since signed 102 of those bills into law, and has fully or partially vetoed only 17 pieces of legislation so far.

My two pieces of legislation, which were agreed and passed by the General Assembly, are Senate Bill 613 and Senate Bill 932.

Senate Bill 613 permits volunteer fire protection agencies to apply for workers’ compensation insurance grants through the state fire marshal’s office. The grants would be disbursed based on the number of volunteer firefighters filing workers’ compensation benefits from the previous year. This bill, which will help the brave men and women who volunteer for our families’ and communities’ safety, is still awaiting approval from the governor.

Senate Bill 932, which was signed into law on July 1, modifies several provisions relating to bonded entities such as federal credit union verification requirements, home loan bank collateral handling and certain regulations for public notaries.

One more successful piece of legislation passed this session was Senate Resolution 2216. This establishes the Senate Interim Committee on Long-Term Care Facilities, for which I was appointed chairman. The Committee’s goal is to study and make recommendations on improving Missourians’ access to the long-term care industry, and to present a report on recommendations to the General Assembly by Dec. 31, 2016. The committee will begin its investigations in September.

For the few bills I was able to successfully pass and have signed into law, there were even more that died in the Senate and House before ever reaching the governor’s desk. Three pieces of legislation died during their time in the House, either because of a lack of adequate time for debate, or because the bills became too heavily amended and died under their own weight. I dropped two because the constituents requesting them asked me to no longer pursue their passage, and the remaining four I introduced this session I dropped under the threat of extensive filibuster from the opposition, which would have wasted precious time spent on other bills.

As I said before, the lawmaking process is complex, fast-paced and requires the government to synchronize many moving parts and keep each part in check. I am proud of the work my fellow senators and I were able to accomplish this session. I now look forward to reconvening for veto session beginning Sept. 14, where the General Assembly comes together to reassess legislation vetoed by the governor to either change or drop the bill.

As always, I appreciate it when groups from around Missouri and from our community back home come to visit me at the Capitol. If you would like to arrange a time to come and visit me in Jefferson City, or if you ever have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact my Capitol office at (573) 751-1882.