Burlison: Congressional Maps & Budgeting

The 2011 legislative session is winding down and this past week has been the most momentous so far. While we have worked hard on amending and passing many bills that have piled up from both the House and Senate, the two most important have been the budget for the upcoming year and reapportionment of congressional districts.

After lengthy negotiations, the House and Senate finally agreed on a map for redistricting over a week ago and sent that proposal to the governor for his signature. The governor replied to all of our hard work and negotiations with a veto. By getting approval of 2/3 of both the House and Senate, though, we were able to override the governor's veto and the new congressional districts are now law. You can see the map in detail at http://house.mo.gov/largemap.aspx?map=3.

The override of the governor's veto was a historic occasion and you could feel the suspense in the House chamber as the vote took place. This is the first time the legislature has overridden a gubernatorial veto since 2003 and there have been fewer than ten veto overrides since the Constitution first required a 2/3 majority in the 1800s.

At right: Eric discussing a bill with Rep. Zerr on the House floor.

After passing the map into law, we finished this week by passing a $23 billion balanced budget for Missouri's next fiscal year. With the slow economy and having less tax revenue to work with, we had to make some tough decisions, but unlike the federal government we here in Missouri are not taking on more debt. We are also making sure not to raise taxes on Missourians.

With the two largest focuses of this legislative session finally passed, we'll spend the final week finishing work on many other bills to send to the governor that will hopefully make Missouri a better place to live and work.

If you ever have any questions or issues you believe need addressed or want to comment on a bill we're working on, please contact my office by email at eric{dot}burlison{at}house{dot}mo{dot}gov or at 573-751-0136. You may also call 417-597-3635 that forwards to my Jeff City office to avoid long distance charges.