Missouri GOP legislators take aim at unemployment benefits, local minimum wage, in veto session

Republican lawmakers will return to the Capitol on Wednesday determined to cut unemployment benefits, prevent cities from setting their own minimum wage and ban college scholarships for immigrants in the country without legal permission.

Yet despite holding supermajorities in both the Missouri House and Senate, Republicans are expected to fall short on their high-profile efforts to make Missouri a “right-to-work” state and change the controversial student transfer law.

Each of these measures cleared the General Assembly earlier this year but was among the 18 victims of Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto pen. Now GOP leaders are working to muster two-thirds majorities in both chambers to override the governor.

“The Republican legislature is on the offense, and the governor is playing defense,” said Dave Robertson, a political science professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Nixon, he said, “will stop a couple of these bills from becoming law, but the Republicans will end up enacting most of their agenda.”

Vetoes likely to fall

The last two veto sessions made history, with Republicans voting to override the governor 10 times in both 2014 and 2013. Since Missouri began requiring a two-thirds majority for veto overrides in 1875, the previous single-year high mark was three overrides set in 2003.

That means Nixon is the most overridden governor in Missouri history. And Republicans already voted to override two of his vetoes earlier this year during the regular session, including a measure that will cut thousands of low-income Missourians off of a federal welfare program.

Republicans are eyeing another record-breaking year.

Among the most highly anticipated votes will be on a bill that would prohibit local governments from increasing the minimum wage above the state level, now set at $7.65 an hour.

The Kansas City Council voted in July to gradually increase the local minimum wage to $13 an hour by 2020. Proponents of a $15 minimum wage collected enough signatures to put the question to local voters in November, and opponents of the idea submitted signatures for a ballot measure rescinding the $13 wage law.

Last month, the St. Louis City Council voted to hike its minimum wage to $11 an hour.

In May, GOP lawmakers passed a bill that would prohibit cities from boosting the minimum wage or mandating benefits on employers such as vacation or sick leave. The bill would also outlaw any local restrictions on plastic grocery bags.

Nixon vetoed it, calling the bill “a clear example of unwarranted government intrusion” and “the abandonment of the principle of local control.”

By passing this bill, Nixon said, “the General Assembly is telling local voters that legislators in Jefferson City — not they — know best how to address the local issues that their local communities face.”

But GOP lawmakers disagree, and they believe they have the votes needed to override the governor’s veto.

The bill passed the House with 105 votes, four short of the two-thirds needed for an override. But seven Republicans were absent and didn’t cast a vote. In the Senate, where 23 votes constitute a two-thirds majority, the bill passed with 24 Republicans in support.

Republicans are also confident they’ll be able to override Nixon’s veto of a bill banning immigrants in the country without legal permission from receiving the state-funded A+ Scholarship.

The scholarship provides two years of tuition at a community college.

Supporters of the bill say it’s unfair for students who are in the country illegally to receive the scholarship when money for the program is tight.

Opponents say these students were brought to the U.S. as young children and are in the country illegally through no fault of their own. The students in question kept their grades up, volunteered in their community and stayed out of trouble, advocates say, most while learning English as a second language.

But Rep. Scott Fitzpatrick, a Shell Knob Republican who sponsored the bill, said those who break the law shouldn’t be rewarded.

The bill passed the House 108-38 and the Senate 25-8.

Another bill, which would cut unemployment benefits for out-of-work Missourians, is already a source of constitutional controversy.

It would tie the length someone could receive jobless benefits to the state’s unemployment rate — ranging from 13 weeks when unemployment is below 6 percent to 20 weeks when higher than 9 percent.

Nixon vetoed the measure, saying unemployment benefits “not only provide a safety net for workers, they also provide an important boost when the economy is struggling, as those workers buy food, clothing and other essentials.”

The House voted to override in May, but the Senate never brought the veto up for a vote. Nixon contends the constitution required the Senate to take action during the regular session, and that they no longer have the authority to override his veto.

The bill’s sponsor, Republican Sen. Mike Kehoe of Jefferson City, disagrees. He told the Columbia Tribune that he plans to call for an override vote Wednesday.

“The attorneys that advise the Senate believe we have the law on our side,” Kehoe said.

The bill passed the Senate with 21 votes, but four Republican senators were absent and didn’t cast a vote.

Wins for the governor

On two controversial issues, Nixon’s vetoes are widely expected to stand.

The first is the so-called “right to work” bill, which would make it a misdemeanor for anyone to be required to become a union member or to pay dues to a labor organization as a condition of employment.

Right to work — the subject of disputes played out in state legislatures across the nation — fell 17 votes short of the two-thirds majority in the Missouri House, with 23 Republicans voting “no.” It fell two votes shy in the Senate, with four Republicans voting against.

GOP leaders, aided by conservative advocacy organizations like Americans for Prosperity, have scrambled all summer to convince enough Republicans to flip their votes to override the governor’s veto.

Labor unions have also poured resources into the fight, hoping to deny Republicans their two-thirds majority.

Neither side of the issue is sure how the vote will play out.

Legislative leaders also face an uphill battle trying to override the governor’s veto of a bill aimed at the controversial student transfer law.

Under the existing law, families in unaccredited school districts can transfer their children to nearby accredited districts, with tuition and transportation costs covered by the unaccredited district.

The unaccredited Normandy Schools Collaborative, now under state control, and the Riverview Gardens School District have struggled to bear the costs, jeopardizing the education of the thousands of students remaining in the districts.

The vetoed bill recommended limits on the tuition that receiving districts charge and, in return, gave the receiving districts the ability to control class sizes and restrict the number of transfers schools receive. It also expanded opportunities for public charter schools and virtual schools throughout Jackson and St. Louis counties.

When it passed the House, it fell 25 votes shy of the 109 needed for an override, making it highly unlikely Nixon’s veto will be overridden.

The veto session will begin at noon on Wednesday. Lawmakers expect to finish their work that day.

This story was originally published September 14, 2015 at 4:54 PM with the headline "Missouri GOP legislators take aim at unemployment benefits, local minimum wage, in veto session."