Missouri’s Republican House Speaker says in spite of the passage of right-to-work in Michigan, he doesn’t expect to make it a priority in Missouri but will pursue paycheck protection.

House Speaker Tim Jones (R-Eureka)

Speaker Tim Jones (R-Eureka) says he supports right-to-work, which keeps union membership or dues payments from being a condition of employment, but he doesn’t think it would pass in Missouri without the backing of Governor Jay Nixon even with veto-proof Republican majorities in both chambers.

“We have 110 members in the House. That’s more of a number than a reality on every single issue. I understand that I have a lot of members who are very conflicted on a variety of issues. Every district is not the same.”

Jones instead will add to his agenda paycheck protection, which requires unions to get permission annually from its members to use fees or dues for political contributions. Jones thinks that would achieve the same goal as right-to-work, and he believes it can pass.

“Money is extremely important to the labor unions. They are the biggest opponents to us on that level and I look at what happened in this last campaign cycle and most of the Democrats in this state rely on that money which is forced from hard-working workers into those coffers.”

The legislative session begins January 9.