Kelley: Short But Productive Week

I hope everyone had the opportunity to enjoy Easter weekend with their loved ones. What a blessed time of year this is.

This week was short but productive as several issues advanced in the legislature. Following a decades old practice of taking the Monday after Easter off, we did not convene until Tuesday afternoon. Last week we stayed an extra day and worked Friday to address the issue of congressional redistricting. This is something we have been wrestling with the entire session. It has been complicated by the loss of a congressional seat, taking us from nine districts to eight. This meant every district had to absorb a significant number of voters in order to reach the new optimum population number.

Since this process occurs every ten years, no current members of the General Assembly were in office the last time this happened. I am told that in the past much of the negotiations took place between incumbent members of Congress even though the Missouri Constitution specifically charges the legislature with drawing the districts. While all members of Congress provided input, negotiations between the House and Senate sometimes reached intense levels.

Thursday of last week it looked like we were close to coming up with a map that would pass both the House and Senate. Negotiations continued into the night until they fell apart in the early hours of Friday. We went back into session on Friday and passed a map, attaching it to an existing senate bill [SB264].

On Wednesday it began to look as though a compromise map was within reach. By afternoon, a compromise map [HB193] was passed in the House and sent to the Senate. Following a short debate, the Senate also passed the map, so it now heads to the governor’s desk.

There is considerable speculation as to whether he will sign or veto the map. I suspect the two congressional Democrats will urge him to sign it into law. At this point, it is difficult to say if there would be enough votes to override a veto during the September session.

Locally, the most significant change is the fact that all of Polk County being contained in the Seventh District. Jasper County will remain in the Seventh District while Barton and Dade stay in the Fourth District.

HB199, my bill to clarify the definition of a community service day, was voted out of committee placed on the Senate calendar for debate. I am hopeful they will take it up sometime next week.