Many Republicans in the state legislature hope that 2017 will be the year that right-to-work legislation passes in Missouri. Democrats in the General Assembly will lose their ally in the fight when Governor Jay Nixon (D) leaves office in January.

The Missouri State Capitol (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

The Missouri State Capitol (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Republican Governor-elect Eric Greitens advisor, Austin Chambers, says making Missouri a right-to-work state is key. Right-to-work laws would bar unions from requiring workers to pay dues as a condition for employment.

“It is certainly a priority and something that will be a part of the agenda,” says Chambers.

Republicans will continue to hold a supermajority in both chambers of the Missouri legislature in 2017. Some of the legislature’s top Republicans plan to meet soon with Greitens to visit about their priorities for 2017, including right-to-work.

State Representative Holly Rehder (R-Sikeston) plans to file a right-to-work bill for next year. Now that Republicans won’t have Nixon standing in their way with his veto pen, the House will only need 82 votes in favor of such a measure and the Senate will only need 18. All other years that Nixon has served as governor, the House had to have 109 votes and the Senate was required to have 23 in order to override a veto.

Senate minority leader Gina Walsh (D- Bellefontaine Neighbors) tells Missourinet that Democrats will argue against such legislation for as long as they can during debate.