On Wednesday, January 9th, the Missouri General Assembly will begin its 100th convention. After multiple resignations and term limits Missouri now has many new faces along with a multitude of issues on their agenda.
New Faces
More than one-third of Missouri’s House and Senate members are new. Earlier in the year, Governor Mike Parson appointed former Senator Mike Kehoe as lieutenant governor of Missouri. He also appointed former state Treasurer Eric Schmitt to take over as attorney general after Josh Hawley was elected to the U.S. Senate. [1]
For their first day, the Senate and the House plan to meet together in a joint session. This is so they can take a group photo commemorating Missouri’s 100th General Assembly.
What’s on Their Agenda?
Governor Parson has often stated that he wants to work on Missouri’s workforce and it’s infrastructure. Unfortunately for the goal of better infrastructure, Missouri residents voted down an attempt at a gas tax back in November. This would’ve provided hundreds of millions of dollars for Missouri roads and bridges.
Legislative leaders also want to redraw the legislative districts of Missouri. In November Missouri residents also voted and passed a decision to make changes to Amendment 1. This deals with the drawing of state legislative maps and, depending on how the maps are drawn, could give Republicans or Democrats a large advantage in elections.
Missouri lawmakers are also working on the states budget and how to deal with federal and state income tax changes.
Missouri also wants to reduce the opioid crisis. “It’s a huge issue in northwest Missouri and around the state,” Luetkemeyer said, “the opioid epidemic is one of the leading, non-natural preventable causes of death.” [2]
Notes:
- ^By David A. Lieb, Associated Press. “Missouri Legislature convening with new faces in many places.” Alton Telegraph, 9 Jan. 2019, www.thetelegraph.com/news/article/Missouri-Legislature-convening-with-new-faces-in-13519436.php#photo-16745678. (go back ↩)
- ^King, Samuel. “As The 100th Missouri General Assembly Convenes, Key Issues Await Legislators.” 9 Jan. 2019, www.kcur.org/post/100th-missouri-general-assembly-convenes-key-issues-await-legislators#stream/0. (go back ↩)
