With Greitens’ fate uncertain, Missouri lawmakers return to Capitol with much to do

Tax cuts. More charter schools. Curbing lawsuits against businesses. Toughening rules for labor unions. Reworking regulations on utilities. Balancing Missouri’s $28 billion budget.

And possibly even the governor's impeachment.

The House and Senate reconvene Monday afternoon for the second half of the 2018 legislative session, and Republican lawmakers have an ambitious list of goals they hope to complete before they adjourn for the year on May 18.

But hanging over legislative proceedings is the uncertain fate of Gov. Eric Greitens, who is being investigated by at least three government agencies and faces a felony charge of invasion of privacy in St. Louis.

One of the entities investigating Greitens is the House Special Investigative Committee on Oversight. It’s scheduled to complete its work April 8, and depending on its findings, could recommend starting the process of removing Greitens from office.

GOP leaders insist the governor’s legal woes have not been a distraction and aren’t affecting the legislature’s work.

“Based on a lot of the noise going on, the Senate and the House have operated the way they should,” said Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard, a Joplin Republican. “The ship of state is sailing in clear water. We have a clear path forward. We know what we want to do and how we’re going to accomplish it.”

House Speaker Todd Richardson, a Poplar Bluff Republican, echoed those remarks, noting the House has approved 158 bills during the first three months of the 2018 session.

“We are incredibly proud of the work we’ve been able to accomplish in the first part of session,” he said. He later added that the controversy surrounding the governor “hasn’t been a distraction that’s prevented us from doing the things the people of Missouri sent us here to do.”

House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty, a Kansas City Democrat, was not so sure. She said Greitens and the allegations surrounding him are a “constant distraction.”

“I met the consulate general of Canada this week, and (Greitens) was a topic of conversation,” she said, adding: “I would disagree that this is not a distraction.”

Sen. Caleb Rowden, a Columbia Republican, said in a recent radio interview that with the governor focused on fending off a criminal charge and possible impeachment, legislative leaders are now in control.

“We have a governor that is effectively not engaged,” he said. “We are driving the ship. The priorities are falling more to legislative leadership. We’re keeping our head down and working hard.”

Among the highest profile issues that will be debated when lawmakers return to the Capitol on Monday is an effort to further reduce Missouri taxes on individuals and corporations.

The Missouri Senate has spent hours debating a bill that would reduce the top personal income tax rate from 5.9 percent to 5.25 percent and reduce the corporate rate from 6.25 percent to 4.25 percent.

The House is expected to quickly approve its tax cut bill soon after returning from spring break on Monday. Its version would reduce Missouri’s top personal income tax rate from 5.9 percent to 5 percent and the corporate rate from 6.25 percent to 5 percent.

Both bills include efforts to increase state funding for roads and bridges. The Senate version would increase the gas tax; the House’s would index user fees for license plates and registration to the rate of inflation.

Both also include provisions aimed at offsetting the costs of the tax cuts, with the most controversial being the House’s plan to eliminate a property tax credit for low-income seniors who rent their homes.

Richardson said legislation expanding access to charter schools will also be a top priority of lawmakers during the final weeks of the 2018 session.

A bill sponsored by Republican Rep. Rebecca Roeber of Lee’s Summit would expand the number of school districts where a charter school could open.

Charter schools are tuition-free public schools that operate independently from elected school boards. They currently operate only in St. Louis and Kansas City.

Under the House bill, a charter school could operate in a district containing a school that has received an annual performance report score of 60 percent or less for two of the three most recent reports available.

This bill’s proponents say it would allow expansion of charter schools into districts that are underperforming, and that the competition would benefit students. Opponents argue that the bill would dilute the funding available for public schools.

Richard said he’s hopeful the Senate can approve changes to the state’s legal system that have been long-sought by Republicans, including several bills aimed at making it more difficult to file class-action lawsuits.

The Senate could also take up a bill the House approved in January that would ban individual lawmakers from accepting gifts from lobbyists.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Kehoe, a Jefferson City Republican, has said the bill will have to be altered to make it through the Senate. But he expressed confidence that some sort of limit on lobbyist gifts to elected officials will succeed this session.

But the committee investigating the governor will undoubtedly get the most attention during the final weeks of the session.

Rep. Jay Barnes, a Jefferson City Republican, has refused to answer any questions about the committee’s work, which has been conducted completely behind closed doors. He did say, however, that the committee is on pace to complete its work by the April 8 deadline.

At that time, the committee can make one of several recommendations, the most severe being to start impeachment proceedings.

When announcing the committee’s formation, Barnes said its focus would be on Greitens’ felony indictment on a charge of invasion of privacy.

Greitens is accused of taking a nude photo of a woman with whom he was having an affair in 2015. The photo was allegedly taken while the woman's hands were bound and she was blindfolded. In an audio recording released in January by the woman's husband, she says Greitens threatened to release the photo if she ever spoke publicly about their relationship.

But The Star reported earlier this month that the committee’s investigation has expanded to include allegations that Greitens illegally used the resources of a veterans charity to benefit his 2016 campaign for governor.

Greitens has denied any wrongdoing.

This story was originally published March 23, 2018 at 4:29 PM with the headline "With Greitens’ fate uncertain, Missouri lawmakers return to Capitol with much to do."