If you were following the #moleg on Tuesday, you may have noticed that lawmakers ended up completing work on some issues that have been long sought — but have never made it to the finish line.
Perhaps the biggest news was the House passed a gas tax increase, which has been a major priority for @DaveSchatz26 and other GOP leaders. Missouri's 17-cent per gallon tax will go up 2.5 cents for the next five years: news.stlpublicradio.org/government-pol…
. @GovParsonMO will likely sign the measure. While it received support from some rural lawmakers and House Democrats, it had to withstand blistering criticism from GOP legislators before finally passing: news.stlpublicradio.org/government-pol…
. @DaveSchatz26 says the state needs a larger, consistent funding stream to keep up with billions of dollars worth of transportation projects. But detractors say the bill will hurt the poor the most, since the drive older cars that get worse gas mileage: news.stlpublicradio.org/government-pol…
This was a rare instance where something passed through the House that Speaker @RobVescovo opposed. But after the Senate passed a education scholarship tax credit last week, many #moleg observers assumed the gas tax would get a vote: news.stlpublicradio.org/government-pol…
Earlier in the day, the House passed a prescription drug monitoring program. It's a plan that @hrehder has been trying to get passed for nearly a decade, and it's aimed at stopping people from abusing opioids: news.stlpublicradio.org/government-pol…
. @hrehder though doesn't think her election to the Missouri Senate was the reason it passed this year: “It’s the fact that you have so many of our counties already in this program, and it’s the fact that everyone knows someone struggling.” news.stlpublicradio.org/government-pol…
. @GovParsonMO has been an advocate for a prescription drug monitoring program for awhile, so he will likely sign @hrehder's bill. Most of the state is already plugged into St. Louis County's PDMP: news.stlpublicradio.org/government-pol…
But lawmakers are struggling to pass a comprehensive law enforcement bill because a conference committee can't agree on removing a provision upping the penalities for committing perjury before the General Assembly: news.stlpublicradio.org/government-pol…
. @GovParsonMO has been adamant that he'll veto any bill with that provision in there. But House members say they won't sign a conference committee report without it. It's a major priority for @RobVescovo: news.stlpublicradio.org/government-pol…
The bill features a number of proposals that have been introduced since a police officer shot and killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, including a use of force database and better tracking of police officers with problematic records: news.stlpublicradio.org/government-pol…
There's only three more days left of the legislative session, and lawmakers still have a lot of work left unfinished on COVID-19 liability curbs, a photo ID requirement, and raising threshold for constitutional amendments to pass: news.stlpublicradio.org/government-pol…
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