In the middle of a heated debate in the middle of the Tuesday on the last week of the legislative session, the power went out at the Capitol.
Rep. Sara Lampe (D-Springfield) was debating with Rep. Shane Schoeller (R-Willard) on the House floor on an education bill went the lights went out and the microphones were cut. The power went out at 12:02pm at the Capitol in Jefferson City. After a bit of confusion, House Speaker Ron Richard (R-Joplin) instructed members to take their seats, told those gathered in the chamber they would have to be quiet and stated, "We’ll try to do this the old-fashioned way."
With that, debate on HCS SS SB 291 did indeed continue on the House floor without the aid of amplification and votes were taken without the electronic message board displaying the totals.
On the other side of the Capitol, the Senate had been debating a resolution when the microphones were cut. The Senate recessed until electricity came back on at 12:57pm.
AmerenUE blames the outage on a black snake that created a short between power cables near the Amtrak station between the Capitol and the Governor’s Mansion. Power has been restored and work resumes on this Tuesday of the last week of session.