The Republican-led Missouri legislature is leaving for its mid-session break with a long list of to-dos for when it returns.
It includes passage of the annual budget, which will be a heavier lift than in years past because there's less revenue available.
However, lawmakers also leave having already passed some priorities, including several of Gov. Mike Kehoe's.
The House on Thursday approved a wide-ranging criminal and juvenile justice bill, which included policies Kehoe wanted completed this session.
The legislation would make it easier to try minors as adults and require inmates to serve longer portions of their sentences.
The legislature also sent a bill removing legal barriers for pregnant women who want a divorce. Kehoe called for that bill in his annual State of the State speech.
House Speaker Jon Patterson, R-Lee's Summit, said his chamber is on track to pass a record number of bills this legislative session – possibly more than 100.
"I don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing, based on what you think of our legislation," Patterson joked.
House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, D-Kansas City, said that while House Democrats have had the opportunity to vote on good bipartisan legislation, they have also dealt with more contentious bills.
"The other side to that is hyperpartisanship, and that is most of what we have to spend our time on in this building, which is unfortunate, and it does a huge disservice to the average Missourian," Aune said.
Bills to eliminate the state income tax and implement an A-F grading system to evaluate Missouri schools were among the priorities Patterson highlighted as having successfully passed his chamber in the first three months.
Both pieces of legislation have yet to be taken up by the Senate, where lawmakers have moved much slower.
Still, Patterson said the Senate has exceeded his expectations.
"It seems like the acrimony from last year's ending has gone down a little bit," Patterson said, referring to the tensions between Democratic and Republican senators after Republicans cut off debate on several key bills last year.
Aside from finalizing next year's budget, "most of the energy will be directed to working with the Senate on passing the bills that we've sent them," Patterson said.
Negotiations on the budget are also a priority in the Senate.
Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern, D-Kansas City, said her party's concerns include cuts to public education, child care, disability services and mental health treatment programs.
"To us, that is unacceptable," Nurrenbern said. "We believe that we have to have the revenue to take care of those things, while at the same time, we believe that it's important that working families have real relief."
Republicans and Democrats disagree on a push to eliminate the state income tax. House members passed a resolution Thursday that asks voters for the authority to expand sales and use taxes in order to eliminate income taxes.
Majority Floor Leader Tony Luetkemeyer, R-Parkville, said the Senate intentionally held back on advancing its own income tax plan.
"At the very beginning of session, we sort of figured the House would probably go first and we would see what they would come up with," Luetkemeyer said.
Aune said the resolution will lead to major hikes on sales and use taxes.
"As I look around the building, my colleagues, all the Republican supermajority, what I can tell you is there aren't too many of them that are really excited about raising people's taxes very often, or at least will admit to it," Aune said. "But what they are doing in this piece of legislation, in this resolution, is absolutely giving power to a future General Assembly to raise sales taxes."
The parties are aligned in their belief that Missourians deserve property tax relief. The House already passed bipartisan legislation that aims to lower property taxes.
"I think that's a place where our caucus has certainly been for a long time – recognizing that no person should be taxed out of their home," Nurrenbern said.
Luetkemeyer highlighted the Senate's confirmation of Kehoe's gubernatorial appointments, including to the St. Louis police board, and the General Assembly's approval of the supplemental budget.
Still, he acknowledged that last session's bitter ending meant the Senate was off to a slower start than normal.
"That was to be expected. I don't think anybody was particularly surprised by that," Luetkemeyer said. "I think actually we're at a pretty normal pace now."
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