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Last Week
A few groups in Missouri voiced their anger on Thursday that the veto override of HBO 253, an income tax cut bill, failed in the Mo. House.
"Want to help get rid of Missouri Rhinos? Donate $15 today to help us oust the #Flimsy," one special interest group, Club for Growth tweeted.
"I tell them that they let down Missourians all across the state who know we need to do something different than we're doing now to stimulate our stagnant economy," Carl Bardeen, the executive director for United for Missouri, said. United for Missouri is a grassroots organization that bases their mission statement on lowering taxes and limiting government spending.
15 Republican representatives defected from their party lines and voted "No" on the tax cut bill Wednesday. Five out of 15 of those Republicans reached for comment said they did what was best for their constituents.
Although lawmakers overrode ten bills, the main and most controversial bills considered for overrides failed.
Marc Powers, minority caucus communications director said the veto session will be historical for other reasons besides the significant number of overrides.
“I think the fact that they failed to override on the unconstitutional gun nullification bill and on the tax giveaway for corporations and the wealthy will be the thing people will most remember from this veto session,” Powers said.
Missouri veto session history plays a major role into the significance of Wednesday’s session. Before 1952, a specific veto session wasn't in place.
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Gov. Jay Nixon announced Thursday he would immediately release withholdings of $215.2 million after his veto of an income tax cut bill was upheld.
In June, Nixon restricted $400 million from the fiscal year 2014 budget in preparation for what he said was a potential $1.2 billion hit to the state budget if the tax cut bill became law.
The release includes funding for K-12 education, higher education, the Department of Mental Health, and programs at the University of Missouri and Missouri State University to train more health care professionals in southwest Missouri.
Of the remaining restricted funds, $175 million would have funded capital improvement projects. This includes construction for Fulton State Hospital and a new state office building.
The remaining $9.8 million is being withheld from childhood reading programs, state government workers, bike and pedestrian bridges, small business groups, tourism, re-entry programs, and various health, senior and social service programs.
"There's enough uncertainty about revenue to withhold the last $9.8 million dollars," state budget director Linda Luebbering said. "The budget assumed we would receive a $130 million tobacco settlement and $51.8 million tax amnesty. The state didn't receive either."
The Missouri House and Senate overturned 10 vetoes, the highest one-year total in 180 years.
The General Assembly also sustained two controversial vetoes involving tax cuts and guns laws.
During a press conference Wednesday evening, Gov. Jay Nixon declared victory after Republicans failed to overturn the income tax bill. He said the legislature was focused too much on partisanship rather than governing.
Missouri could lose out on money from a 1998 settlement with tobacco companies, according to a letter from Attorney General Chris Koster .
In a letter addressed to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, Koster wrote that he state could lose a significant amount of money through a settlement with tobacco companies.
Missouri and several other states reached a $206 billion settlement with tobacco companies in 1998. A three-judge panel ruled that Missouri, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Indiana and Kentucky had inadequately enforced the state's tobacco laws in 2003.
Now the states owe the tobacco companies a refund as a result of the ruling.
Missouri could lose between 21 percent and 100 percent of an estimated $130 million as a result of the refund.
According to Koster, this is a direct result of the General Assembly's inability to pass two pieces of legislation over the last ten years to deal with the issue.
"The Office of the Attorney General advised your predecessors every year for the last decade that their legislative inaction could eventually harm the state," Koster wrote. "I am therefore putting this General Assembly on notice of that possibility."
Lawmakers overrode ten bills Wednesday that will go into effect on Oct. 10. That's 30 days after the veto session, according to legislative staff and a Missouri statute.
State lawmakers passed the statute nearly ten years ago in 2003 and it hasn’t been called into question since. There's some concern if the statute is in conflict with the state's constitution, since there is no mention of effective dates of overridden vetoes in the constitution.
Marc Powers, minority caucus communications director said, “One could argue that the statute is in conflict with the constitution, but who is going to challenge it?"
The Missouri constitution only gives the date for regular session bills. That date is Aug. 28, barring an emergency clause.
Powers said the period of time between when a bill becomes a law and when it takes effect gives people time to be aware of any change in law.
One of the bills does have an emergency clause which means it could go into effect sooner.
Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones Thursday attacked current Attorney General Chris Koster and said he plans to run for the office in 2016.
"That is my intention," Jones said. "We have not made official announcements yet, but we are definitely exploring that office very carefully."
In the past, Jones has expressed interest in running for attorney general or secretary of state. Jones made the comments while criticizing Koster's performance in office.
"It's really a shame that he's spent most of his time attacking business and attacking jobs here in our state," he said.
He called the attorney general "no comment Koster."
House Minority Leader Jacob Hummel, D-St. Louis City, says the failure to override two key bills was a sign that Missouri isn't as red of a state as House Republicans think.
"They couldn't get a gun bill or a tax cut passed," Hummel said. "That tells me that their platform is not working."
Hummel said that while he's glad the tax cut bill failed his party is open to tax reform that benefits the middle class, not big business.
The tax cut bill failed 94-67 in the House with 15 Republicans and the entire Democratic caucus voting against an override. However the gun bill was passed by the House only to be defeated in the Senate by a one vote.
Hummel said that while he opposed the tax cut bill, his party is willing to work with incoming speaker John Diehl, R-Town and County, on tax reform that benefits the middle class.
The governor applauded lawmakers Wednesday night an attempted veto override of a bill nullifying federal gun laws failed in the state Senate.
The governor released a statement that reads, "As a gun owner and supporter of the Second Amendment, I applaud the bipartisan vote in the Senate to sustain my veto of this unnecessary, unconstitutional and unsafe nullification bill.”
The override received just enough votes to pass through the House, but failed when republican leadership in the Senate voted against the veto override.
All the democratic senators along with Senate Pro-Tem Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles County, and Majority Leader Ron Richard, R-Joplin, voted against the veto override.
The Missouri Senate has rejected an attempt to override Gov. Jay Nixon's veto of gun legislation that gained national attention.
The Senate voted 22-12 in favor of overriding the governor's veto -- one vote shy of the necessary two-thirds majority. The House had voted to enact the measure 109-49 earlier Wednesday.
The Senate's top two Republicans -- President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey and Majority Leader Ron Richard -- joined the chamber's ten Democrats in opposing the override.
The bill would have nullified certain federal gun control laws, criminalized the enforcement of gun control regulations, allowed designated school personnel to carry concealed weapons and prohibited publishing the names of gun owners.
Senate handler -- Sen. Brian Nieves, R-Washington -- blamed a letter from Democratic Attorney General Chris Koster for the measure's demise. Koster wrote that if lawmakers overrode Nixon's veto cooperation between local and federal law enforcement on gun control matters would end.
Supporters argued the measure would protect gun rights from the federal government.
"The bill would push back against the tyranny of the out of control and incompetent federal government,” said bill sponsor Rep. Doug Funderburk, R-St. Peters.
Following a failure to override Gov. Jay Nixon's veto of a massive tax cut, House Speaker Tim Jones, R-Eureka, sent out a statement challenging the governor.
In a statement sent from the Missouri House of Representatives, Jones challenged the governor to call a special session to address the issues within the tax cut bill.
"If he truly believes these pieces of legislation are flawed, we can immediately be called into a special session where we can quickly and efficiently fix any problems that may exist with a minimal cost to taxpayers," said Jones.
Jones called the governor's veto political and said his campaign was based on "half-truths and false logic with no basis in reality."
The Missouri House and Senate voted to override a veto of legislation that would prohibit non-economic damages in certain motor vehicle accidents lawsuits.
The bill would prohibit some damages for drivers in car accidents if they do not have valid car insurance.
The House voted to override Nixon's veto 109-51 on Wednesday. The Senate overturned the veto 26-8.
The Missouri Legislature succeeded in it’s efforts to override Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of a measure that prohibits state and local governments from banning the celebration of any federal holiday in public places.
The override passed the House floor by a 114-45 vote Wednesday and the Senate passed it 24-9 later in the day.
“The intent of this bill is to protect the right of celebration of all holidays,” said bill sponsor Rep. Rick Brattin, R-Cassville.
Democrats that opposed the bill said the language was too restrictive.
“By using the word restrict, any requirements are restrictions ... the problem is that words here matter,” said Rep. Gina Mitten, D-St.Louis.
Gov. Jay Nixon suggested he would release withheld state funding after lawmakers failed to override his veto of an income tax cut bill.
In June, Nixon withheld $400 million of state spending and vowed not to release it if lawmakers allowed tax-cut legslation to become law.
Some Republican lawmakers accused the governor of playing politics with public money, as the legislature had appropriated the funds.
Nixon said he will meet with State Budget Director Linda Luebbering to release some of the withholds after he said Missourians saw a victory on the tax measure.
"I will move expeditiously and quickly the dollars we can get out into the community, Nixon said. "A substantial tranche of those are in the education and mental health sectors and I will get those out in a very expeditious manner."
The income tax cut measure received 15 fewer Republican votes in the House in the Sept. 11 veto session.
A veto override attempt of a measure that would have make it harder for fired employees to receive unemployment benefits failed in the Missouri House.
The bill would have bolstered the definition of workplace "misconduct." Under current law, former employees cannot receive unemployment insurance if an employer argues successfully that they were fired for misconduct.
The Senate successfully overturned Gov. Jay Nixon's veto of a similar bill earlier Wednesday. But the House was unable to override the Democratic governor on its version of the legislation.
The override attempt failed on a 107-54 vote. Lawmakers needed 109 votes to make the bill a law.
The Missouri Legislative veto session gathered more media attention than it has in previous years.
Reporters from all over the state of Missouri, along with some national news outlets, convened to see Missouri Lawmakers vote on overrides of Governor Nixon's vetoes.
Two of the largest news outlets that had correspondents present were the New York Times and Al Jazeera America.
Both correspondents agreed the most newsworthy bill up for override was the federal gun law nullification bill.
Jonathan Martin, correspondent for Al Jazeera America said he was covering the veto session primarily to see what happens with this bill. Martin says if the bill passes, other states may follow. This is what makes it national news.
"This veto session is a little bit different, you know, then some other nullification efforts we've seen across the country. Particularly this is, I believe, the first state to come forward with a gun bill like this where there would be criminal penalties enacted for federal agents coming trying to enforce the laws."
The Missouri House has voted to override Gov. Jay Nixon's veto of legislation that would nullify federal gun laws in Missouri.
The Republican-controlled House voted 109-49 -- the exact number required for an override -- to overrule the Democratic governor. It now heads to the Senate, where 23 senators need to vote for an override for the measure to take effect.
The bill would declare federal gun control laws "unenforceable" and would criminalize the enforcement of those laws. It would also allow designated school personnel to carry concealed weapons and prohibits newspapers from publishing the names of gun owners.
The measure's sponsor Rep. Doug Funderburk, R-St. Peters, said the federal government is not able to handle gun regulation .
"The bill would push back against the tyranny of the out of control and incompetent federal government,” Funderburk said.
Opponents argued the measure would make it harder for law enforcement officials to do their job and would protect criminals from being publicly identified.
"It turns law enforcement into criminals, and criminals into victims,” said Rep. Jill Schupp, D-St. Louis.
The House vote was mostly along party lines, but two Republicans opposed the measure while two Democrats voted for the veto override.
Republican lawmakers failed to override Gov. Jay Nixon's veto of a massive tax cut bill Wednesday and Gov. Jay Nixon is applauding legislators for sustaining his objections.
"I applaud the legislators from both parties who came together to sustain my veto of the fiscally irresponsible bill, which would have defunded our schools and weakened our economy," Nixon said in a written statement.
The vote on the bill failed 94-67 in front of a standing-room only crowd.
Supporters said the tax cut would have jump started growth in a sluggish private sector. Nixon and other opponents raised concerns that the measure would deprive the state of revenue.
With a vote of 23-10, the Missouri Senate overrides the governor's veto on a bill that mandates that any court ruling will be unenforceable if it is based on a foreign law which is "repugnant or inconsistent" with the Missouri and U.S. Constitutions.
Sen. Brian Nieves, R-Washington, said the bill had nothing to Sharia law, the moral code and religious laws of the Islamic religion. He looked to the media, saying it is their fault for labeling the legislation this way.
Nieves said the bill deals with how courts handle contractual disputes with foreign countries.
Democrats that opposed the bill said that it may hinder international adoptions and send a message that Missouri is not open for international business.
Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis City, is a Muslim and said this measure is an attack on the Islamic religion.
"Now people in this country are able to see the extremism in this chamber" Nasheed said. "This situation is an embarrassment to this state."
The House must still vote on the veto override.
The Missouri House failed to override Gov. Jay Nixon's veto of a measure that would have gradually reduced income tax rates over the next decade.
Despite holding a two-thirds majority in the chamber, the Republican-controlled House could not muster the votes to override the Democratic governor. Republicans needed all of their 109 members to enact the measure, but the attempt failed on a 94-67 vote.
In front of a standing-room only crowd in the House galleries, lawmakers debated whether the bill would help the state's economy or if it would deprive the state of necessary revenue.
"We have a problem in Missouri. We are growing at a much slower rate than our peer," said bill sponsor Rep. T. J. Berry, R-Kearney.
Democrats countered that the measure would hurt state revenues and not help the middle class.
"It is a big tax giveaway for corporations and businesses but gives nothing to individual," said Rep. Jon Carpenter, D-Kansas City.
For individual income taxes, the measure would have reduced the rate for taxpayers with over $8,000 in income by one-twentieth of a percentage point annually over a ten-year period. The annual reduction would only have taken effect if state revenues increased by at least $100 million over the highest revenue point of the previous three years.
The bill would also have reduced corporate income tax rates by three-tenths of a percentage point annually over 10 years. As long as state revenues increased annually by at least $100 million, the new corporate rate would have been set at 3.25 percent after a 10 year-period.
Nixon vetoed the bill in June over concerns that it would hurt education funding. He spent the past several months traveling the state to make his case and over 100 school boards passed resolutions supporting his veto. The governor also withheld about $400 million from this year's budget because of the tax-cut bill
After less than an hour of debate, a veto override on a bill that would change how certain public employee unions can collect fees was defeated.
An override would have required public sector union workers to authorize how much of their dues went toward political contributions. It also would have required union members to annual authorize automatic union-fee deductions from their paychecks.
Unions representing "first responders" would have been exempt.
The override attempt failed by one vote -- 22-11. Sen. Wayne Wallingford, R-Cape Girardeau, joined the Senate's ten Democrats in voting against the override, which multiple Democrats said would fail in the House or be thrown out by the courts.
Bill Sponsor Sen. Dan Brown, R-Rolla, spoke in support of the bill.
"Employees won't be forced to support lobbying efforts and advertisements they don't believe in," Brown said.
John Coomer is suing the Kansas City Royals Corporation over an eye injury he received after being struck in the face by a hot dog at a game in 2009.
Coomer's attorney Robert W. Tormohlen argues that the hot dog toss is not an inherent risk at a baseball game and that Slugger, the teams mascot, was negligent.
"Most courts all across the country limit the risks to those inherent of a baseball game. Nobody has gone to the mascot," Tormohlen said.
Tormohlen contends the Royals failed to prove to the jury that Coomer was at fault because he did not act unreasonably after being hit by the hot dog.
"There is a difference between this and a t-shirt. These hot dogs were wrapped in foil. They were four and a half ounces, and they were essentially projectiles," Tormohlen said.
Kansas City Royals Baseball Corporation attorney Scott D. Hofer said the trial court correctly responded to Coomer's claims. He said Coomer acknowledged that he saw the motion of the throw, people cheering in his section and looked away.
"In this day and age, the 21st century, there's no way you don't know that these types of activities were taking place," Hofer said.
In its first veto override Wednesday, the Missouri House and Senate overruled Gov. Jay Nixon's line-item budget veto of $1 million for reconstruction at Pike-Lincoln Technical School.
Nixon's fellow Democrat Rep. Chris Kelly, of Columbia, made the motion in the House to fund the reconstruction project despite the governor's objection.
The House voted 112-47 to enact the $1 million construction project and the Senate later voted 28-5 to do the same.
Kelly said the school needs the additional funding because a building recently caught fire. Nixon had vetoed the funding and said in his veto letter that the funds used for the project should be allocated to K-12 schools.
Pike-Lincoln Technical School is in Eolia, Mo.
Legislators and gun rights supporters gathered outside the front steps of the state Capitol Wednesday morning, just three hours before the start of the veto session.
Lawmakers spoke at the rally in support of a veto override of a bill aimed at protecting 2nd amendment rights.
The bill would make some federal gun laws unenforceable in the state.
Bill sponsor, Doug Funderburk, R-St. Peters, spoke at the event, assuring supporters the override would be successful and become law by the end of the veto session.
Sen. Brian Nieves, R-Washington, however, warned supporters about the possibility of an override. He claimed it was in jeopardy, and blamed Attorney General Chris Koster's politics.
Koster released a statement a week earlier, voicing his concerns over the bill. Nieves said the statement was full of lies, and was released for political gain.
"He's a bad attorney general, he'll be an even worse governor, but he is an awesome, awesome politician," Nieves said.
Republicans weren't the only ones at the rally. Democratic Rep. Ed Schieffer also spoke at the rally, and said he would vote to override the veto.
Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles, said Tuesday the Senate GOP caucus decided to cut seven bills from consideration ahead of the Wednesday veto session.
Gov. Nixon vetoed 19 bills from the Senate in all.
Dempsey said the dropped bills could be revisited during the 2013 legislative session after conversations with the governor.
He said he is confident the Senate has the right amount of votes to move the remaining 12 to the House.
Here's the list of bills Dempsey cited: SB 43, SB 51, SB 60, SB 182, SB 240, SB 342, SB 350
Republican lawmakers are set to test their veto-proof majorities Wednesday after discussing strategy in their caucuses Tuesday.
Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed a multitude of laws passed by the Republican-led legislature, but Republicans hold a narrow, veto-proof majority in both the House and Senate.
Two vetoed bills have taken center stage. One would slash the state's income tax. Republicans argue this will help foster business within the state, but Nixon has said the cut would leave the state unable to fund vital programs.
The other major issue is a bill Republicans have dubbed the "Second Amendment Preservation Act." The bill would declare several federal gun control laws void in Missouri and make it illegal to publish the name of any gun owner.
Republican lawmakers like Speaker Tim Jones, R-Eureka, have touted the strength of the party's veto-proof majority since the legislative session began in January. Now it is time to see if the talk translates to action in a showdown against Gov. Nixon's veto pen.
Jones said following his chamber's Tuesday evening GOP caucus he is still unsure of the fate of both the income tax bill as well as the gun bill.
Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles, said he believes the Senate has the votes to override the tax overhaul. Dempsey said the Republican Caucus is still debating the gun law nullification bill due to legal concerns.
The Joint Committee on Education heard testimony today on the state's tenure laws.
St.Louis City Senator Jamilah Nasheed says that the state needs to go further in changing the state's tenure law to get lazy teachers out of the classrooms.
Nasheed was the sponsor of legislation that passed which gave St. Louis City schools the ability to fire teachers regardless of tenure.
A legislative committee heard testimony on whether state government should combat a disease that's only infected 11 deer in Missouri, but infected hundreds in other states.
Half a dozen Missouri deer breeders urged lawmakers to keep their hands off private property.
Others said government restrictions are the only way to ensure the fatal disease doesn't spread.
A gun rights measure that has attracted national attention has a top Republican Leader changing his mind.
Ron Richard supported the bill that would make it illegal to enforce any federal gun control laws in May. Now, he supports Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto. He says any override proponents are taking the legislation too far and need to read the constitution.
He says he suspects a vote to still take place from the considerable amount of lobbying and continued bipartisan support from legislators in fear of being labeled as unsupportive of gun rights.
Missouri State Auditor Tom Schweich says the Department of Revenue violated state law by requiring license center clerks to keep electronic records of applicant's identifying information.
In an audit report released on Sept. 9, Schweich's office said the Department of Revenue broke state law by requiring the photocopying of personal documents without first publishing a formal rule change.
However, according to the analysis, even with the publishing of a rule change the Department of Revenue would still have broke state law under the REAL ID Act of 2005.
Legislation was passed in 2011 to further safety precautions for athletes with possible brain injuries.
A report on the number of brain injuries from high school sports is now required to be filed yearly. The report for 2013 will be released in late September or early October .
Missouri State High School Activities Association director, Harvey Richards, helped write the legislation in 2011 and says that results won't be able to be evaluated for a number of years.
He worries that the numbers of injuries may actually increase this year. This could be misleading and cause the public to think that the legislation has increased the amount of injuries. Yet, Richards says this possible increase is because athletes and coaches are now required to report injuries, where before they were being ignored.
Two bills vetoed by Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon have drawn national attention to Missouri. One would cut income taxes and another would nullify federal gun laws in the state.
But Nixon vetoed 29 bills passed by lawmakers in the 2013 session. That’s the most Nixon has vetoed in a single session.
The vetoed bills range from one seeking to remove some names from the online sex offender registry to a measure banning local governments from restricting the celebration of federal holidays.
And while the Republican party has a veto-proof majority in both chambers of the Missouri General Assembly, that’s no guarantee of success. Recent public statements by several Republican representatives indicate support for the income tax cut bill may not be enough to override Nixon’s veto. Only two Republican representatives or two Republican senators would need to defect from the party to dash the hopes of a party-line override vote.
There have been only eight veto overrides since Missouri’s 1945 constitution requiring a two-thirds majority of both chambers went into effect. Nixon’s veto has been blocked twice – once in 2011 to create a new congressional district map and in 2012 on a bill expanding exemptions for health insurance coverage of abortion, contraception and sterilization.
Some lawmakers plan to try again if veto override efforts are unsuccessful.
Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, who supported an effort to alter the state’s sex offender registry, said he wants to see another bill next session if the veto cannot be overridden.
The co-sponsor of a bill banning any restrictions on federal holidays by public entities, Rep. Bill White, R-Joplin, said it would be revised and reintroduced if the override doesn’t happen.
The veto session begins Sept. 11 and can last no longer than 10 days. They’ve never lasted that long.
In an audit released by State Auditor Tom Schweich, he found the St. Louis public schools are not meeting grade level standards and bypassing state regulations.
In Schweich's audit, he stated, "the district promoted 88 percent of 3rd and 4th graders who were reading more than one grade level below current grade."
According to the audit, a district official claimed the district does not have the resources to hold back all students below the required grade level because keeping the students would create a financial problem for the district.
The audit also showed the district does not have a formal process to carefully watch Missouri Assessment Program testing irregularities. He said currently it is the responsibility of each individual school to keep track of testing data.
The St. Louis public schools superintendent was not available for comment.
Missouri Congress members are debating whether or not they'll vote to authorize a U.S. military campgain in Syria.
Missouri residents have mixed reactions. St. Louis chapter president of the Syrian-American Alliance Sarah Kuziez said the United States should get involved. But political science professor Brian Kessel in Columbia said U.S. intervention should be limited and won't end civil war.
Bill co-sponsor Rep. Bill White, R-Joplin, said the importance of protecting public entities from lawsuits for celebrating federal holidays ensures the bill will be brought up again.
Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed the bill in July. Nixon said in his veto letter the bill had public safety and health concerns.
"Local governments would be hampered in their efforts to enforce existing fireworks ordinances around July 4th," Nixon said in his veto letter.
White said the practice of holidays, July 4 in specific, isn't directly related to lighting off fireworks. He also said the bill doesn't restrict local and state governments from regulating the use of fireworks.
This bill and other vetoed bills will be the topic in the legislative veto session beginning Sept. 11.
House Speaker Tim Jones, R-Eureka, released a statement denouncing Attorney General Chris Koster's opposition of a bill nullifying federal gun laws.
If lawmakers override the veto, enforcing federal gun laws would become invalid in Missouri, specially appointed teachers could carry guns in school, and publishing the names of gun owners or any identifying information would result in a class A misdemeanor.
In Koster's statement he released Tuesday he wrote though he agrees with some issues the bill addresses, he can't support the bill because it puts too much tension between state and federal law enforcement officers.
"I am disappointed that our Attorney General has again opted to regurgitate the governor’s talking points rather than stand with a bipartisan supermajority in the House and Senate in defense of the Second Amendment rights of all law-abiding Missourians," Jones wrote in his statement.
Jones said Koster failed to mention how the bill "seeks to affirm our rights as a state by pushing back against a federal government that has far exceeded the authority it was intended to have by our founding fathers."
Jones also wrote he and his staff would further analyze the issues Koster brought up
Lawmakers have a chance to override Gov. Jay Nixon's decision on that bill in the veto session, starting Sept. 11.
Members of the press could face prosecution if state lawmakers override Gov. Jay Nixon's veto of a gun law nullification bill next week.
Wednesday an attorney for the Missouri Press Association sent a warning out to members, telling them to prepare for what could happen if legislators override the veto.
In the bill, anyone who publishes a person's name or identifying information of a gun owner could be prosecuted for a Class A misdemeanor.
The attorney Jean Maneke wrote journalists should be concerned.
"We don't know what is going to happen in terms of prosecuting offenders of this new law. If you are a gun owner, and you write a story that carries your byline, will you be prosecuted? If you publish a story about a member of your community who owns a gun, will you be prosecuted?" Maneke wrote.
This bill also makes it illegal to enforce federal gun laws in the state of Missouri. In this bill's veto message, Nixon said the bill was unconstitutional.
Supporters of the bill said it protects their second amendment right to bear arms.
Lawmakers have the chance to override the veto of this law next Wednesday Sept. 11.
The Mo. Supreme Court heard five cases Tuesday centered around if state government has the authority to impose extra penalties for crimes after a person has already been convicted.
The cases include sex-offender convictions and people convicted of illegal substance possession or distribution.
The state claims the statute prohibiting retrospective laws applies only to civil rights and remedies, not criminal offenses.
Assistant public defender Lauren Standlee said the Missouri Supreme Court historically takes the broad constitutional prohibition on retrospective laws seriously.
Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, said Tuesday he would vote to override a vetoed bill that allows certain juvenile sex offenders to be removed from the sex offender registry.
Democratic Governor Jay Nixon vetoed the bill in July. Nixon said the law was too vague and would reduce public safety.
“This language is considerably over broad because it would grant this relief to juvenile sex offenders regardless of the sexual offense for which they were convicted,” Nixon said in his veto letter.
In the same letter, Nixon said that the bill would prevent victims from formally objecting to the removal. The governor also said that the bill did not strike the right balance between providing relief and protecting the public.
Attorney General Chris Koster sent a letter to the entire Missouri General Assembly Tuesday stating his stance against a bill that would prevent the enforcement of certain federal gun laws in Missouri.
House Bill 436 states any federal acts, "whether past, present, or future, which infringe on the people's right to keep and bear arms as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution" will not be recognized by the state of Missouri. Koster said while he agrees with some of the issues the bill addresses, he ultimately cannot support a bill that puts so much tension between state and federal law enforcement officers.
Two of the more controversial acts included are the Federal Gun Control Acts of 1934 and 1968. The bill would not only nullify these laws and prohibit their enforcement by state officials, but it would label any enforcement by state or federal officials a Class A Misdemeanor.
The federal Gun Control Act of 1934 currently requires machine guns, sawed off rifles and sawed off shotguns to be taxed and registered with the U.S. Department of Treasury. If HB 436 passed, these requirements would no longer apply in Missouri.
Attorney General Koster's letter states, "When a police officer in the City of St. Louis recovers a fully automatic machine gun from a drug dealer's car, should the matter no longer be sent to the U.S Attorney's Office because the federal Gun Control Act of 1934 outlawed the weapon."
House Speaker Tim Jones, R-Eureka, released a statement Tuesday denouncing Koster's letter.
"“I am disappointed that our Attorney General has again opted to regurgitate the governor’s talking points rather than stand with a bipartisan supermajority in the House and Senate in defense of the Second Amendment rights of all law-abiding Missourians," Jones' statement reads.
The General Assembly passed the bill, but Gov. Nixon vetoed it this July. The Missouri House and Senate passed the bill during session with veto-proof majorities. The legislative veto-session begins Sept. 11.