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This week...

Divisive and Acrimonious 2024 Session Concludes

After a long and downright frustrating 2024 legislative session, the ����ֱ�� House and Senate closed out a very divisive year despite having supermajorities in both chambers. The acrimony that plagued movement of important policy issues never seemed to wain throughout the entirety of the 20-week session. Members of the Senate Freedom Caucus simply would not relent and seemed to relish the idea of trying to dictate the agenda of both chambers. Senate leadership did exceptional work to try to keep things on the rails and should be commended for the work they performed to handle several critical issues in the midst of the chaos. It is also important to note that the ����ֱ�� House was able to salvage some nice wins and avoided getting sucked into the fray. Credit should be given to House Majority Floor Leader (and Speaker-Elect) Jon Patterson, who maintained a steady hand especially the last few days of session. 

28 Bills Make Their Way to the Governor’s Desk

After the introduction of over 2,500 bills this session, the legislature passed a total of 28 bills (excluding the 18 budget bills). This is an unusually low number of bills that made it to the Governor’s desk. Below is a list of all non-budget bills passed by the legislature this year. The Governor has until July 14 to sign or veto the following: 

(Note: the following is a curated list of bills that will primarily effect higher education and the University of ����ֱ��)

• - Military Affairs ()- *changes provisions that will make Universities the last dollar to the MO National Guard tuition assistance program, we also helped secure another $1M to their tuition assistance program in the budget in HB 8.
• - 340B Contract Pharmacy Protections ()
• SB748 - Renewal of the Federal Reimbursement Allowance (FRA) (read more)

What Did Not Pass?

• - Initiative Petition (IP) Reform dominated discussion in the Senate much of the last two weeks of session. SJR 74 was brought up on the Senate floor Monday afternoon, after the House had added controversial “ballot candy” language (initially removed in the Senate). Ballot candy is a fancy term for crafty language meant to entice voters to support a proposal. Senate Democrats filibustered the modified version of the bill for 50 straight hours until Wednesday afternoon (breaking the record for the longest filibuster in state history), when the bill sponsor Mary Elizabeth Coleman (R-Arnold) made a motion to send the bill to conference committee to hash out the differences between the two chambers. The motion failed. On Thursday the House, left with the option to remove the ballot candy and go back to the original Senate bill, refused to recede, and sent the bill back to the Senate where it eventually died. . 
• - Sports Betting: The legislature has attempted to pass legislation to legalize sports wagering in ����ֱ�� for the last several years, but has always stalled in the Senate due to Senator Denny Hoskins’ (R-Warrensburg) support for VLTs (video lottery terminals) as part of the package. The issue is now expected to go to the voters (assuming they have the requisite number of valid signatures), and a question to legalize sports betting is poised to appear on the November ballot. 
• & - Childcare Tax Credits: Bipartisan legislation to provide incentives to childcare providers and businesses to help cover childcare costs for the employees did not make it across the finish line. 
• - Ban on Child Marriage: Current state law permits 16-year-olds to get married with parental consent. Legislation that would have banned individuals under the age of 18 from obtaining a marriage license did not make it to the calendar in time for final consideration. .
• - St. Louis Police Board Governance: Legislation to modify appointments to the St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners stalled in the ����ֱ�� Senate. The legislation was designed to address declining morale of the police force and the retention and recruitment of officers. .

Dates of Interest

June 30 - Deadline for Governor to sign budget bills and announce any line-item vetoes

July 14 - Deadline for Governor to sign non-budget bills

August 6 - Primary Election

August 28 - Non-appropriation bills go into effect (excluding bills with an emergency clause)

September 11 - Veto Session

November 5 - General Election

January 8, 2025 - First Day of 2025 ����ֱ�� Legislative Session