Rep. Chrissy Sommer's Weekly Capitol Connection - August 5, 2016

Click here to read entire Capitol Newsletter

Legislature Likely to Revisit Unemployment Reform Issue

It was during the 2015 session that the Missouri General Assembly approved legislation to reform the state’s system of unemployment. The legislation was intended to bring financial stability to the system, which went insolvent after the 2008 economic downturn. Its primary provisions acted to link unemployment benefits to the rate of unemployment, and ensure the state keeps more money in the unemployment trust fund.

It was a change House members supported in order to end Missouri’s trend of borrowing money from the federal government to pay for unemployment benefits. Shortly after the legislature acted, the governor vetoed the legislation to prevent it from becoming law. House members then quickly responded by overriding the governor’s veto and sending the bill to the Senate to complete the override. However, Senate members did not act during the regular session, but instead completed the veto override motion during the annual Veto Session in September.

The bill then went into effect as law and Missouri reformed its system of unemployment as the legislature intended. These reforms were recently struck down when the Missouri Supreme Court decided the veto override completed by the legislature was invalid. Specifically, the court decided the Senate violated the constitution by overriding the veto during the annual Veto Session, which the court said is reserved for bills vetoed only during the final week of the regular session or later. In the opinion of the court, because the bill was vetoed by the governor more than a week before session ended, the Senate needed to complete the override motion during the regular session rather than the Veto Session.

The decision drew immediate criticism from legislative leaders. House Speaker Todd Richardson said, “We are now in unprecedented and unsettling territory with the Supreme Court’s decision to overstep its authority and create new limits on the legislature’s veto override power. The truth is that our constitution provides both legislative bodies with the authority to determine the rules of their own proceedings, and our proceedings clearly complied with our own requirements and the language of the constitution. To see the court overreach in this way in order to invalidate a piece of legislation that received the support of super majorities in both chambers should raise concerns for all Missourians who believe in fair and balanced branches of government.”

Senate leaders pledged to revisit the issue when the legislature convenes for the 2017 session in January. Members from both chambers have pointed out that the state will have a new governor when the legislature meets again, and many are hopeful the state will have a leader who will work with House and Senate members to fix the state’s system of unemployment so that it can remain solvent.

Click here to read entire Capitol Newsletter