THE EGGLESTON REPORT – PRE-FILING BEGINS
The next legislative session does not begin until Wednesday, January 6th. But the date for legislators to “pre-file” bills to be taken up started on December 1. As of December 10th, Missouri House members have pre-filed 405 House Bills and 25 House Joint Resolutions. If a House Bill passes, it would change law. If a House Joint Resolution passes, it would put an amendment to the Missouri Constitution on the ballot for voters to consider. There are 163 House members, so this works out to about 2 to 3 bills per member.
In the Senate, senators have pre-filed 287 Senate Bills and 22 Senate Joint Resolutions. There are 34 senators, so this works out to about 9 bills per member. The pre-filing period ends January 5th, but members can continue filing bills through February 28th. The session will end in mid-May.
I have no doubt a lot more bills will be filed for the 2021 session. Last year, House and Senate members filed 2247 bills. Because getting a bill passed is not easy and last session was shortened due to Covid, only 56 policy bills passed.
I plan on pre-filing several bills, including bills to create a fairer tax system so average Missourians can keep more of their hard-earned money while still adequately funding government programs, and to modify the initiative petition process to protect our Missouri Constitution from the out-of-state special interests that have targeted us in recent years.
At least 81 of the pre-filed bills pertain to taxes, 19 pertain to elections, and a handful pertain to Covid. A few of the more interesting bills pre-filed would make it a crime to hurt someone with a laser pointer, enact special penalties for assaulting an umpire or referee, and create a holiday for random acts of kindness. To see all of the legislature’s bills, visit house.mo.gov and senate.mo.gov and click on Legislation.
Until next time, health, happiness and prosperity to you and your family.
