You might think that legislators have it easy when the General Assembly is not in session. The truth is, even though we are only in session from early January until mid-May, your representatives and senators are at work year-round taking calls and suggestions about important issues, attending hearings, talking to groups and preparing legislation for the coming year. I take my job very seriously and consider it an honor to serve in this manner with all of my distinguished colleagues.

This week marks the start of another legislative session for Missouri lawmakers. The building is alive with visitors, constituents, guests, students and yes, lobbyists. More than 200 measures have already been introduced in the Senate, with more than 50 making their way to their respective committees. Everyone seems to be in a positive frame of mind to make this a successful and interesting session.

The first couple of weeks include many committee hearings, with citizens, groups and organizations sharing their thoughts about the new bills and committee members voting on whether they should move on to the full Senate for debate.

After that, the bills are debated in their respective chambers, and passed between the House and Senate until they either pass or fail, sometimes up until the last moments of session.

Usually, education, agriculture, tax reform, job creation and health care are topics of consideration for a great number of legislative measures. It appears that this session will most likely follow that trend.

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.