By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Members of the Missouri Senate have been told they don’t need to show up next week in Jefferson City.
The Senate leader has announced the chamber will not be in session next week, the week before the annual legislative spring break.
State Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer of Parkville says Senate Republicans met in private Wednesday evening and decided it was best to shut down for a week, rather than risk anyone contracting the coronavirus.
“This is a public building that sees a lot of traffic through it,” Luetkemeyer tells St. Joseph Post. We have hundreds, thousands of visitors that come through the Capitol doors every day.”
Luetkemeyer says taking the week off prior to the week-long spring break gives Senate leaders time to further assess the situation.
“The idea is, let’s shut everything down for a couple of weeks, see how things are at that point and then we’re going to make a decision on whether we’re going to come back in a couple of weeks,” Luetkemeyer says.
House leaders haven’t made a decision on whether the House will be in session. The week prior to the spring break is the traditional week that the House works on the state budget prior to sending it over to the Senate.
Luetkemeyer says though much legislation is pending at this time in the legislation session, nothing is essential except for the state budget. The House is expected to debate the $30.9 billion budget next week, so it can be sent to the Senate in time for them to take it up after spring break.
The Missouri Constitution mandates the General Assembly adjourn at 6 o’clock on Friday, May 15th. The constitution also requires the legislature to approve the state budget the Friday before the session ends.