Rupp: Fairly Representing the People of Missouri

We are only weeks away from the last day of the First Regular Session of the 96^th General Assembly, and two of my biggest priorities are to focus on redistricting and passing a fair budget for Missouri. As chair of the Senate Select Committee on Redistricting, and vice-chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I have clear responsibilities to represent the citizens of Missouri in a just and accurate manner.

Last week, the Missouri Senate approved a congressional map that was drafted to accurately represent Missouri’s population, based on the results from the 23rd Decennial Census. This approved map was created by the House Special Standing Committee on Redistricting, and is listed under House Bill 193.

When House Bill 193 was brought to the Senate for debate, many senators opposed the legislation, and felt their districts would not be fairly represented in Congress. I offered my Senate substitute that altered the House map to better reflect the Senate map, which is listed under Senate Bill 264. The substitute addressed how Jefferson County would be divided. In the original House map, 100,000 residents in Jefferson County would be placed in the rural 8th Congressional District. My adopted substitute would only affect 42,000 residents in Jefferson County. The split of St. Charles County and the placement of some Southwest Missouri counties were also discussed. On April 13, the map passed in the Missouri Senate, with a vote of 22-11.

The Missouri House did not agree with the Senate’s alterations to the map and are requesting a conference committee to resolve the House and Senate differences regarding the map.

Recently, I met with some of my fellow lawmakers and several members of Congress to discuss the proposed map. I know some congressional members are displeased with the alteration of the districts they represent. It is important to remember, however, that we have to take the approach that we don’t represent the current members of Congress. We represent the people of Missouri. My priority throughout the entire redistricting process has been to listen to the people, to take their concerns into consideration, and to draft a map that would most accurately represent them.

My hope is to have the map finalized by the end of the week, after discussion throughout the next few days. If the map is not finalized, we have until the last day of session, May 13, to have a map sent to the governor. If the proposal is vetoed by the governor and the Legislature is unable to override it, congressional redistricting would be decided by the Missouri Supreme Court.

Also on my mind is Missouri’s budget. I’m happy to announce that the Appropriations Committee recently completed its draft of the state’s operating budget. The 13 House budget bills were taken up on the Senate floor for debate and approved. Now the House has to approve the changes made in each bill by the Senate or they will be sent to a conference committee, where various members will iron out any differences. As vice-chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I plan to be present at the conference committee and serve as one of three senators that will help craft the final budget. The budget must be completed and sent to the governor no later than 6 p.m. on Friday, May 6.

It is my hope that FY 2012 will be a good year for Missouri. It’s estimated that FY 2012 will bring in $7.295 billion in net general revenue collections, which is an estimated 4 percent growth. In our current fiscal year (2011), we are seeing improvement as well. It was announced in Missouri’s March 2011 General Revenue Report that the 2011 fiscal year-to-date net general revenue collections increased 6.5 percent compared to 2010, from $4.68 billion last year to $4.98 billion this year.

It is my pleasure to serve on the Senate Select Committee on Redistricting and the Senate Appropriations Committee and represent you in matters of your government. I take my responsibilities very seriously, and it is my mission to improve your quality of life in our state.

As always, if you have any inquiries regarding this issue or any other matter within state government, please visit my website at www.senate.mo.gov/rupp. Here, you can also subscribe to my RSS feed on the main page of my website; it will keep you up to date on all my columns, press releases, and multimedia postings. Always feel free to e-mail me or call my office toll-free at (866) 271-2844.