JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri lawmakers will return Wednesday to the Capitol for the 2017 legislative session, this year with Republican supermajorities in both chambers and a newly elected Republican governor who could help smooth the path for more GOP priorities to become law.
Republicans have held commanding majorities of the House and Senate for years. But they’ve been checked by outgoing Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon, who has used gubernatorial veto powers to block right-to-work bills and other GOP-favored policies.
That will change when Gov.-elect Eric Greitens assumes office Jan. 9. He shares top policy priorities with House Speaker Todd Richardson and Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard, including right to work.
Here are some of the policies likely to be addressed this session:
Right to work
Missouri’s Republican legislative leaders for years have attempted to pass a right-to-work law banning mandatory union fees. Nixon in 2015 vetoed such a proposal and supporters were unable to muster enough votes to override him. But Greitens has said he’ll sign such a measure into law, which Richardson and Richard both say is a top priority. Without the worry of a potential veto, supporters also will need only a simple majority of lawmakers to vote for right to work for it to become law.
Ethics
Lawmakers adjourned in 2016 without passing a ban on lobbyist gifts to elected officials, a component of a package of ethics bills pushed by Richardson. The speaker, who has focused on tightening ethics laws since his predecessor resigned in 2015, has said the bill’s failure was a personal disappointment to him. It will be a main goal in the upcoming session and lawmakers have said support from Greitens could help propel such proposals forward. Greitens campaigned heavily on ethics reform and endorses a total gift ban. He also wants to make elected officials wait longer before becoming lobbyists. Lawmakers in 2016 enacted a six-month ban on elected officials lobbying after their terms end. Greitens wants officials to wait a year before lobbying for every year served in office. Lawmakers so far are proposing extending the waiting period to two years or longer.
Tort reform and regulatory reform
Greitens, Richard and Richardson have also placed emphasis on changing the legal climate for businesses in Missouri. Nixon in 2016 and previous years vetoed measures passed by the Legislature to restrict liability lawsuits, so his departure likely will mean a clearer path forward to changing current laws. So-called tort reform measures that failed in the last legislative session include proposals to tighten guidelines for expert testimony and to change how medical costs are handled in court. Greitens also wants regulatory reform, which senior adviser Austin Chambers described to The Associated Press as reducing government regulations on businesses.
Abortion
Several Republican-backed regulations or restrictions on abortion failed to pass in 2016 but likely will come up again this session. Proposals include banning fetal tissue donation from abortions, requiring abortion clinics to track fetal tissue from surgery to its destruction and annual inspections of abortion clinics. One lawmaker wants to ban physicians from performing abortions based solely on indications of Down Syndrome or the race or sex of the fetus.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.