Missouri legislature finishes chaotic session amid paralyzed Senate

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KFVS) – Missouri saw a chaotic end to the 2024 legislative session Friday after a stalled Senate skipped the final day of work.

The hotly-debated resolution to make constitutional amendments more difficult to pass on the ballot upended debate and became a “hot potato” between the House and Senate. Each chamber repeatedly referred the measure to the other, the Senate asking for a conference committee to work out the differences and the House refusing to recede from its position.

Senate leaders on Friday said this session revealed a vast difference between lawmakers who want to find compromises with colleagues and those who want to battle to impose their political will.

In the end, Democrats and the majority of Republicans sent a message that the Missouri General Assembly, particularly the Senate, must remain a place of compromise, where lawmakers find a way to work together.”

“My theory is, if you treat people with respect, you’re willing to listen to them, and you’re willing to work with them, that you can get done the things you need to get done,” said Senate Majority Floor Leader Cindy O’Laughlin.

The five-member “Freedom Caucus” faction of Republicans, led by Harrisonville senator Rick Brattin, called their party’s leaders “cowardly.”

“The Republican party has turned into feckless, spineless, ambassadors of nothing, and not fighting for what’s right,” Brattin said.

Outgoing Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, D-Independence, said decency and democracy ultimately overcame division and distrust.

“I think that decorum won, I think the bullies lost,” Rizzo said. “I don’t think that matters if you have a ‘D’ or an ‘R’ by your name. I think the [Senate] pushed back on being pushed around all year in the last throes of session.”

With the senate adjourned, the Missouri House spent Friday finishing several bills including a major public safety omnibus package.

That bill includes tougher penalties for hurting or killing a law enforcement dog, making it a felony to run from police, and outlawing celebratory gunfire.

But some major bipartisan bills failed to pass including open enrollment in public schools, a ban on child marriage, and Governor Parson’s top priority of new child care tax credits.

“Just because we didn’t pass legislation doesn’t mean that the issue has gone away,” said State Sen. Lauren Arthur, D-Kansas City. “If anything, it’s going to get worse, because there hasn’t been legislative action taken.”

Governor Parson declined to say whether he’ll call lawmakers back for a special session this summer, though many lawmakers predict he will do so for the general assembly to craft a supplemental budget.

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