By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Not much got done in Jefferson City this year.
The Missouri legislature did approve a $51 billion state budget, the only real requirement of any legislative session. But not much else. Only 28 non-budget bills passed, a historically low number.
State Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, a Republican from Parkville, laments the fact that Republicans failed to address one of their priorities during the just-concluded legislation session.
Though Republicans hold firm majorities in both the Missouri House and Senate, they failed to approve changes to the initiative petition process used to change the state constitution.
Luetkemeyer calls it a casualty of a legislative session.
“That was a major priority of the Republican Caucus,” Luetkemeyer tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “Really what we’re wanting to do is to make sure that Missouri’s constitution is what it’s intended to be and that is a fundamental governing document. I mean, that’s what constitutions are intended to be.”
Luetkemeyer says it fell victim to Republican infighting at the state Capitol.
Luetkemeyer actually got two of the 28 non-budget bills through. He succeeded in making adjustments to a provision passed last year that gives counties the option to freeze property tax valuations for senior citizens. The measure approved this legislative session extends the property tax breaks to those not receiving Social Security payments such as teachers and public employees.
Luetkemeyer also revised an anti-crime measure approved by the General Assembly last year, but vetoed by Gov. Mike Parson. The bill contained Max’s Law, which would increase the penalty for killing a police dog or any police animal. That portion of the bill is named in honor of St. Joseph’s K-9 Max, the police dog shot and killed by a fleeing suspect in the summer of 2021. It also contains Blair’s Law which would ban celebratory gunfire as well as Valentine’s Law, which would increase the penalty for fleeing from police.
Parson vetoed the measure on matters unrelated to either Max’s Law or Blair’s Law. Luetkemeyer says he attempted to address the governor’s objections in the bill the legislature approved this session.
“We feel very confident that we have put together a package that represents most all the major components from the vetoed bill last year that addresses all the objections in the governor’s veto letter and that bill should by all accounts be signed this year,” Luetkemeyer says.
As for the difficulties of the session, Luetkemeyer acknowledges Republican infighting as its root, especially stemming from an ultra-conservative wing of Senate Republicans which calls itself the Freedom Caucus. Luetkemeyer expects that problem to be resolved by next year.
“I feel pretty optimistic next session both with new House leadership as well as new members coming into the Senate and some old members terming out that we’re going to really see a new chapter on the Missouri legislature,” Luetkemeyer says.
While the legislative session might not have been as productive as some might wish, it did produce wins for St. Joseph, especially in the $51 billion state budget. It includes substantial money for upgrades to Rosecrans Memorial Airport seen as crucial in the efforts of the Air National Guard 139th Airlift Wing’s to land the new C-130 cargo planes. It also provided money for capital improvements at Missouri Western State University.
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