Lant: Lessons Learned Even On Final Day Of Session

Whew! The week is finally over and with it went the 2011 Legislative Session. The Session officially ended Friday the 13th. at 6:00 P.M. We had our final vote at 5:58 P.M. which I find, is not all that unusual. The last week turns into a frenzied activity of hearing bills, voting, sending bills back with amendments, getting back refused bills, assigning conference committees, voting once again and finally passing the bill (or not). Reality starts to sink in when you see a Legislator in his seventh year with a huge smile, bragging that he passed a bill that he has only been working on for six years! This has truly been a learning experience for me.

This has, however, been a monumental year for Missourians'. Our leadership team changed the culture of Jefferson City for the better by including the minority in every way. We appointed a number of Democrats to chair substantive committees. This instantly improved the tone between the parties and we were able to accomplish things a lot quicker and without nearly as much useless debate. The co-chairman of the Budget Committee was once the Budget Chair for the Democrats years ago before term limits and he brought invaluable insights to the process. We passed a balanced budget overwhelmingly and did not increase the tax burden on already economically strapped citizens. The most impressive thing I found in this budget was our ability to hold the funding for K-12 schools at 2011 levels while providing an increase for transportation.

We took steps to clean up election fraud by requiring a photo ID [SJR2] and required welfare recipients to submit to drug testing [HB73]. We increased transparency in healthcare costs to recipients and toughened penalties for human trafficking.

We overwhelmingly passed by 117 to 30 a right to life bill [HB213] that bans certain types of late term abortions and protected our seniors with an extension of the Missouri Rx plan for 200,000 older Missourians.

We were not afraid of the tough issues. We worked with every Missouri stakeholder and crafted a "fix" to Prop.B [SB161] EVERY Missouri animal rights group and EVERY Missouri agricultural and dog breeding group ALL supported the final legislative solution. The Governor signed this effort and dogs will be MUCH better protected, not just at licensed breeding facilities, but at all locations, while good, law abiding breeders will be allowed to stay in business.

We made Missouri history by overturning a veto by the Governor that would have put
Congressional redistricting in the hands of unelected judges instead of the representatives of the people. We now have a fair map [HB193] that is approved by all the Congressmen and Women as well as all the General Assembly.

On the jobs front, we passed numerous pieces of legislation designed to improve our ability to compete for jobs. Elimination of the Corporate Franchise Tax [SB19] was certainly a step in the right direction and HB45 provides additional incentives for employers to provide health benefits to new employees and to create new jobs. Some of the more aggressive reforms passed by the House didn't make it through the Senate, but we are already preparing for next Session.

In the coming weeks my reports will contain the reports on bills signed into law by the Governor. I am also planning to give you some insight on the inner workings of the Missouri Legislature as seen from the eyes of a Freshman. Jane and I plan to attend as many functions in the district as possible this summer and I look forward to seeing you then. Meanwhile, my L.A., Beverly, is in the Jefferson City office and I can be reached at (417) 437-8223, or by E-mail at lantsfeed{at}netins{dot}net Meanwhile, I am, and remain, in your service,
Bill Lant