. | Big-time lobbyists ignore parking restrictions at Missouri's statehouse. (05/21/02) |
With only a $5 per day ticket, violation can be cheaper than leasing parking space.
. | Cousins End Their General Assembly Run (05/17/02) |
Term limits prevent Koller, who plans to run for the Senate in two years, and Staples from running for re-election. During their careers both men played key roles in transportation issues.
. | Term Limits Opens Up Leadership Spots (05/17/02) |
House Speaker Jim Kreider and Senate Majority Leader Bill Kenney are among 85 lawmakers ineligible to run for re-election. Complicating the issue further is redistricting, which Republicans say gives them a good chance to win control of the House and retain control of the Senate.
. | Last Day: Transportation Tax Passes, 2003 Budget Fixed, Stadiums Fail, but No Special Session (05/17/02) |
The legislature approved:
But perhaps the sweetest news to most lawmakers was Gov. Bob Holden's failure to call a special session.
. | Last Day of Session Begins (05/17/02) |
The major issues lawmakers will deal with today include:
* putting a $511 million transportation tax increase before voters
* raising $112 million in revenue by raising taxes on some businesses
* final action on a $644 million stadium and economic development package.
Today may be even more complicated as term limits mandates that nearly half of the House and a third of the Senate will serve their final day of regular session. The threat of a special session to deal with the budget that once appeared imminent now looks much less likely.
. | Tentative Agreements Reached on Revenue, Transportation Tax (05/16/02) |
The transportation tax issue would raise the state's general sales tax by a half-cent and the motor fuel tax by 4 cents. If it passes the full House and Senate Friday, it will go before voters this fall.
. | Stadium Bill Dead (05/17/02) |
The bill suffered a major setback in a House committee Thursday, when the committee's chairman, Rep. Kate Hollingsworth, took the bill and left the hearing room without allowing a vote to adjourn. The committee voted the bill out after she had left, but it is still Hollingsworth's decision to report the bill back to House Speaker Jim Kreider.
Hollingsworth said Thursday she was not likely to report the bill out, but late last night she met with Gov. Bob Holden, a supporter of the bill. Her delay on the bill means there is probably not enough time for the full House to approve it as well as a House-Senate conference committee to reach a compromise, and then for both the full House and Senate to approve it again, Kinder said.
. | Clergy Made To Report Child Abuse (05/16/02) |
The requirement was only added to the bill this morning, in a rush to get the issue brought before the House.
. | Missouri Legislature Passes Pledge of Allegiance Bill (05/15/02) |
Children will not be forced to say the pledge.
The bill does not have an enforcement clause; each school will regulate itself.
. | Butterfly Ballots Can Remain, Says House (05/15/02) |
Representative May Scheve of St. Louis County proposed the amendment to a Senate Bill.
. | House Speaker Blocks Action on Stadium Bill (05/14/02) |
The bill, which includes state funds for a new baseball stadium in St. Louis, was approved by a House committee last week. But it has yet to be reported to the full House for debate.
As speaker, Kreider has near absolute power to block House action on legislation.
. | Negotiators Fall Short of Balancing Budget (05/14/02) |
Through a mix of new taxes, elimination of tax bonuses and accounting shifts, lawmakers agreed to draft a plan that would raise $106 million. However, with three days to go and opposition to various parts of the proposal, the threat of a special session loomed large over the Capitol.
. | Concealed Weapons Bill Weakened in Senate (05/14/02) |
St. Louis city, St. Louis County, Jackson County and Greene County were all taken out in an amendment offered by Sen. Doyle Childers, R-Reeds Spring. All other counties would then vote on the question of whether or not to allow concealed weapons.
The amendment passed by a 15-14 vote, with an unusual teaming of senators from urban and rural areas. Childers said he didn't think the bill was dead, but Senate Floor Leader Bill Kenney said he was not sure if the bill would come up again before session ends Friday.
. | House Bill Extends Children's Health Insurance (05/13/02) |
The House passed a bill Monday that extends the State Children's Health Insurance Program to July 1, 2007. The program offers health insurance coverage to uninsured children.
. | Opponents and Proponents of Cardinals Stadium Rally at Statehouse (05/13/02) |
The proposal has cleared the Senate and a House committee, but has been stalled by the House speaker who refuses to allow House action until a funding increase for education is guaranteed.
. | Lawmakers Continue Program to Finance Child Health (05/13/02) |
The program, adopted under the administration of the late Gov. Mel Carnahan, had been attacked at the time as being a major expansion of welfare.