The changes to Missouri’s student transfer law proposed by the legislature probably won’t be brought up for a possible veto override this week, but some lawmakers might use them as a chance to sound off.
Representative David Wood (courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
The bill was vetoed after Governor Jay Nixon (D) announced that schools in the St. Louis region had agreed to support the failing Normandy and Riverview Gardens districts. Opponents of the bill said those districts answered the transfer concerns themselves, but backers said that was a ploy to make way for the veto.
Backers don’t have the House votes to override the veto, but Republicans might bring the bill up to voice their opinion that there is no agreement.
Bill sponsor David Wood (R-Versailles) told Missourinet in August, “House Bill 42 did have some solutions in it, even though they denied it, but now they’re claiming that this has solutions to it when there really is none. There’s not even a written agreement.”
Wood said if the bill jolted St. Louis-area schools to support Normandy and Riverview Gardens, that would be a good thing, but he says there was no “historic agreement,” as Nixon’s office called it.
“I think that was a nice little spin to alleviate some of the angst of vetoing House Bill 42,” said Wood.
The bill only received 84 House votes in the regular session. 109 are needed to overturn a veto.
The veto session begins at noon on Wednesday.
