Sen. Ron Richard
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Senate Majority Leader Ron Richard said despite last week’s vote by the House of Representatives to pass “right-to-work,” he sees a tough road ahead in the upper chamber.
For the first time in the state’s history, the policy – long-sought by conservatives – passed the House by a vote of 91 to 64. While that is further than the bill has gone before, it was far short of the 110 votes required to override a likely veto by Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat.
“I’m kind of disappointed by the number votes there with such an overwhelming majority of Republicans,” said Richard, R-Joplin. “There’s such a big majority over there. I don’t know what message that sends to some of my senators on the edge.”
Richard noted the fact that the bill would first have to pass through a Senate committee before it could be heard by the entire body. Whether that is even possible, he said, is not clear. If the bill does pass out of a committee, Richard said it would be an “uphill battle” for him to get the 18 votes required to pass it and even more challenging for the chamber to secure the 24 votes required to override the governor.
“I don’t now if there’s a burning desire at this point or not with a Democratic governor,” he said. “It’d be easier to pass if we have a Republican governor.”
The policy, which was sponsored in the House by Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Springfield, would disallow labor unions from charging representation fees to non-members working in union shops.
Richard, one of the most powerful legislators in Jefferson City, said he would be happier to focus on a measure like the so-called “paycheck protection” bills, backed by Rep. Bill Lant, R-Pineville, that would prohibit automatic deduction of union dues from a public employee’s paycheck.
“I think most of my concern is the public unions,” he said. “With SEIU,” the Service Employees International Union, “trying to unionize food and health care workers, that’s over the top.”
Elizabeth Travis, a home care worker from Columbia, said in a statement provided by AFSCME that she opposed efforts to lessen the influence of unions in state workplaces.
“As a home care worker, I work long hours just to make a wage that’s near poverty-level,” she said. “If Sen. Richard thinks organizing for better wages and benefits is really ‘over-the-top,’ I invite him to come spend a day in my shoes. We need our elected officials to focus on creating jobs, not attacking Missouri’s workers.