Berry: Not A Normal Year In Missouri

2011 Extraordinary Special Session

Jefferson City in the fall is a beautiful place to visit. I did not for see getting to experience so much of central Missouri this year. The fact is in a “normal” year the legislature is not in session. This year on September 7th we entered into Special Session. We were to talk and pass bills dealing with economic development in the hopes of creating jobs in Missouri.

This past week, the House continued our efforts to come up with a Jobs Package that would be negotiable with the Senate. We overwhelmingly approved a motion to continue efforts to reach a compromise on an economic development bill and send SB8 to conference where selected members from both sides would work together to find common ground. While we have concerns about some of the provisions in the Senate version that prevent us from passing the bill, we are willing to sit down together with our Senate colleagues to work out our differences. I feel the citizens are becoming frustrated with the long process this is taking but I wouldn’t want to rush legislation that would result in a poor outcome. This particular bills effect on the state of Missouri is one that is going to last for many years to come. And I personally would rather pass no legislation at all than pass a piece of bad legislation.

Tracking Legislation

If you would like to track legislation you may log on to www.house.mo.gov and select “Bill Information” and then select Bill Tracking. You may search by topic or bill number. If you want to track the bills that I have either sponsored or co-sponsored, just enter my last name and you will be able to look at each of those also.