Last week, the Missouri General Assembly reconvened for their annual legislative session, and several big issues are on the docket.

State Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, is charging forward with his Columbia Daily Tribune endorsed, bipartisan bond issue.  The $700 million bond will allocate money for higher education capital projects and other public works.  The Tribune’s editor, Hank Waters, says the bond is “The only idea that makes sense to stimulate the economy and move forward.”  Hopefully both parties will work quickly to pass this bill.

Another bipartisan bill sponsored by Rep. Jason Kander, D-Kansas City, and Tim Flook, R-Liberty, will deal with ethics reform.  Recently there have been a number of pay-to-play scandals and ethical questions surrounding the issue of members politically consulting other members while the General Assembly is in session.  There is also a movement to again set donation limits on political contributions.  Hopefully this legislation will set clear guidelines for political consulting and also curb the exorbitant amount of money spent on elections.  Read more about the bill in this Columbia Daily Tribune article.

DWI laws will also be tightened this session as Governor Jay Nixon has proposed “requiring repeat DWI offenders, drivers with a blood-alcohol level of 0.15 or more, and drivers who refuse to submit to a blood-alcohol test, to be charged in a state court; cracking down on first-time offenders with a BAC of 0.15 or more; and expanding ignition interlock system use,” as reported by stjoenews.net.

Stay tuned to this website for more updates throughout the legislative session as we will be posting more frequently in the coming months!