By BRENT MARTINSt. Joseph PostIt passed the Missouri Senate early in the legislative
session, got derailed by COVID-19, then got back on track and passed the
legislature on the last day of the session.<a href="https://www.house.mo.gov/Bill.aspx?bill=SB600&amp;year=2020&amp;code=R">Senate Bill 600</a>, the anti-crime measure sponsored by Sen. Tony
Luetkemeyer now awaits the decision of Gov. Mike Parson.The bill has three main provisions. One would enhance the
crime of Armed Criminal Action, which is attached to charges files against
anyone using a firearm to commit a felony. Another provision would make it much
tougher for someone committing a serious felony to be placed on probation
rather than sent to prison.“What the change in Senate Bill 600 does is it says very
simply if you commit homicide, if you commit a dangerous felony using a gun or
other weapon or you’re a repeat dangerous felon, you have to spend time in prison,”
Luetkemeyer tells St. Joseph Post. “You don’t get to go out on probation.”The third main provision makes changes to the state RICO and
conspiracy statutes to give prosecutors additional tools to crack down on gang
violence.Though the bill passed the Senate early, it got bogged down in
a legislative process derailed for nearly seven weeks by the coronavirus pandemic.
Luetkemeyer worried about its chances and looked for other vehicles which
seemed to have an easier path through the session. He attached its main
provisions to House Bill 1450.&nbsp; That
bill, though, began to take on amendments which ruined its prospects of passage.With days dwindling in the session, Luetkemeyer had to change
strategies once again.“I had a conversation with the Majority Floor Leader of the
House and we decided that it was very important for us to get something done on
crime and public safety this session and that the easiest path forward to do
that was to simply strip back the original Senate bill to its original version
that passed out of the Senate and to send it directly to the governor and that’s
what we ended up doing,” according to Luetkemeyer.Luetkemeyer says he’s just glad is passed.“Given that we had an already abbreviated session, because of
COVID-19, it was a tough year,” Luetkemeyer says. “This year, I think, we
passed about 14, maybe 15, pieces of legislation that were not budget-related
that went to the governor’s desk. By frame of reference, in a normal year we
would probably pass 60 or more statutes. This year, we’re talking about 14 or 15
bills actually making it to the governor’s desk.”A recent survey ranked St. Louis, Kansas City, and Springfield
high on a list of most violent cities in the nation. St. Joseph, once prominent
on the list, has since improved.

Anti-crime legislation makes it through session with no time to spare