Kelley: Discussions During Session's First Full Week

This marked my first full week as a member of the Missouri House of Representatives. While the orientation we attended after the election was packed with information, it was almost information overload. Now we are trying to put what we learned to practical use.

The House meets every morning at 10:00 a.m. This time of year we have not been staying in the chamber very long as most of the work is being done at this time in committees. When a bill is introduced, the Speaker of the House assigns it to a committee. The committee holds a hearing during which proponents and opponents present their position on the legislation.

Sometime following the meeting the committee chair makes a decision on whether the bill should be voted on by the members. If a vote is taken and it passes, the bill then goes to the House floor for consideration by the full membership. Because we are so early in the session, most bills have not advanced past the committee process.

We did discuss the rules by which we will be operating under for the next two years. Each General Assembly adopts its own set of rules following an election. They range in content from a dress code on the floor of the House to the number of committees, to decorum during debate. While many of the rules do not change from year to year, some of them do to reflect the views of the new membership. One former member who is now on legislative staff told me remembers when a long and intense debate was help twenty years ago on whether the House Chamber should be a smoke-free area. It is difficult for me to imagine a time when smoking was allowed in the Chamber.

One issue which is gaining much attention is the legislation [HB94] to fix the worst provisions of Proposition B. The President and CEO of the Humane Society from Washington D.C. was in the Capitol to lobby against any changes to the new law. Many of us are committed to making sure our honest businesspeople, who are following the laws and regulations, do not have their operations and livelihoods destroyed by out of state interests and money. At the same time, we must also honor the intent of the initiative process by which the law was passed. Considering the the discussions we have had, I am hopeful a resolution will be reached this session.