Five big issues facing the Legislature in its final week

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Missouri lawmakers return to work at 3 p.m. today for a heavy final week of session.

What’s on their plates?

1. TESLA: Sen. Jay Wasson hid a huge Easter egg in House Bill 1124 last week, causing some late-session drama in a year that was not expected to end in a bang. His bill directly targets the electric automotive company Tesla and its direct-sales model. In order to pass the bill, it will likely have to cleanly pass the House. Otherwise, some wary Senators could block the bill entirely, which more broadly deals with changing the state’s ATV laws.

2. LABOR POLICY: ‘Right-to-work’ is dead while ‘Paycheck Protection’ may be alive. House Majority Floor Leader John Diehl, R-St. Louis, said explicitly Thursday he does not believe Republicans the votes to send ‘right-to-work’ to the Senate. The bill was a chief priority of the conservative wing of the House Republican Caucus, including House Speaker Tim Jones. Instead, labor eyes are turned to the Senate, where lawmakers are expected to return to the ‘paycheck protection’ bill. The legislation would require annual authorization for public labor unions to use dues and fees to make political contributions, and consent for withholding earnings from paychecks.

3. VOTER BILLS: The Senate will likely take up two separate bills dealing with voting rights this week. One would amend the constitution to require Voter ID, the other would allow for an early voting period. Both measures would send the bill on to the voters later this year.

4. ABORTION: PQ or no PQ on the 72-hour waiting period? Senate Majority Floor Leader Ron Richard, R-Joplin, has held off a final vote on legislation that would triple the state’s mandatory waiting period for abortion until the final week, and has publicly mulled the idea of using a rarely utilized procedural tool in the Senate to end a Democratic filibuster. Sen. David Sater, the bill’s Senate handler, has been whipping other Senators seeing if he has the votes to end debate in the final week. Additionally, a bill sponsored by Sen. Wayne Wallingford that would require annual inspections of abortion facilities and prioritize family planning in state spending is currently on the House Third Read calendar.

5. EDUCATION: Senate Bill 493 will make its way out of conference committee as soon as today. It’s broadly seen as one of the most important bills being considered by the legislature this year, aiming to address the school transfers crisis in urban St. Louis. The bill has been controversial because of the so-called “private option,” with which students could use local tax dollars to transfer to private, non-sectarian schools. Still, the original bill passed both chambers with big margins.

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