A new senate president pro tem pledges to maintain the civility that characterized the first month of the legislative session even though the political power structure has shifted. Republicans and Democrats shared power for the first month until Republicans took two of the three special senate elections held January 24th. That made Peter Kinder of Cape Girardeau senate president pro temp. He says the power sharing eased the transition to Republican control. The Senate has adopted new rules with only a few changes. Two committees, ethics and elections/veterans’ affairs, have been abolished with their functions folded into others.
