The House passed six bills in 20 minutes on their third day of legislative session. House Speaker Steven Tilley says the House worked as a team – most bills passed with fewer than ten votes against them.As they wrapped up, he thanked Representatives for such a brief debate.
“I think the Senate could learn a few things,” he says.
The Senate stated in their chamber past midnight more than one night this week, and was unable to come to a compromise on the economic development bill. The only bill the House did not take up was Tilley’s version of the economic development bill. He says the House will not debate his, but rather wait for the Senate’s version.
St. Louis Representative Jamila Nasheed was so confident her local control bill would pass, she wrote a eulogy for the policy it would replace.
It did pass, with only a few votes against it. It goes on to the Senate where some Senators have said they won’t vote for it. Tilley says he doesn’t think it will fail in the Senate, now that the police association is on board with the plan.
The bill that saw the most opposition in debate was Representative Ryan Silvey’s bill to pay for disaster funding with the Rainy Day Fund. Some Representatives say it’s pointless to debate or pass the bills because they were not included in the Governor’s call for special session, so they’re not constitutionally valid. When the body recessed for lunch, Silvey did some research and found a similar situation in 1997 when a Governor amended his call after the House passed a bill not included in his special session call.
The bill passed 127 to 22. House Speaker Steven Tilley says this sends a message to the Governor that this is the right thing to do, and he says he thinks the Governor will sign it, but worst case scenario would be a legal battle.
The House returns for veto session next Wednesday, and they’ll continue debate after that, depending on the Senate.