– Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder penned a letter Thursday to the 78 Republicans who voted to give first-round approval to the legislature’s ‘right-to-work’ bill.

“Your endorsement of the bill is the first step towards placing this measure before the people, where it will receive the audience it deserves. Once the provisions of HB 1770 become law, I firmly believe Missouri will propel itself into the same class as states like Texas, Arizona, Utah and especially our neighboring Right-To-Work states that continually outpace us for jobs, income growth, and economic opportunity,” the Republican wrote.

Kinder added, “Right-To-Work legislation has never advanced in the General Assembly as far as it has this session. It is my understanding it has never received so much as a cursory discussion on the floor of the Missouri House. What you accomplished yesterday is history, and I hope that fact is not last on you.”

The legislation sponsored by Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Springfield, would require voter approval before being enacted.

To get there, Burlison and his supporters would need to pull four more lawmakers in favor to get to the magic number of 82 to send the issue to voters. Those votes could possibly come out of the pot of 11 Republicans who either skipped the vote or voted present during perfection. In order to move out of the Senate where Democrats would almost certainly filibuster, Republicans would likely need the votes to use the rarely used previous question motion.