JEFFERSON CITY • The Missouri House has failed to override Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of legislation that would cut state income taxes for the first time in nearly a century.
The vote, which happened after more than an hour and a half of debate near the start of the state Legislature’s annual veto session today, signaled a key victory for Nixon, who has spent the summer advocating against the tax legislation, which he often characterized as poorly drafted.
“This (legislation) is bad tax policy and bad public policy,” state Rep. Jill Schupp, a Creve Coeur Democrat who spoke out against the override attempt.
Republicans went into today’s vote with a very slim chance of overruling Nixon.
Override attempts need 109 votes in the House, where Republicans hold exactly 109 seats. Several GOP members had already spoken out against the bill, which Nixon argued would raise the prices of college textbooks and prescription drugs while leading to a drop in state funding for education and other services. The final House vote was 94-67. Without two-thirds of the chamber in favor, no vote will be taken in the Senate.
Advocates in favor of the tax legislation filled the House chamber for much of today’s debate.
“We want to help the people of Missouri grow,” said Rep. TJ Berry, a Republican from Kearney who sponsored the bill.
Lawmakers still have an opportunity to override several of Nixon’s other vetoes from this year’s legislative session.
Early on, both chambers managed to override a partial veto of a budget bill, freeing up $1 million for the reconstruction of a main building at the Pike-Lincoln Technical Center that was destroyed in a 2011 fire.
In addition to the unsuccessful override attempt, a key priority for the GOP-controlled legislature is a vetoed bill that would nullify some federal gun laws.
About 100 gun rights advocates rallied at the Capitol this morning in favor of the gun legislation, while the national Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence in a news release said it was prepared to file a federal lawsuit against the state if the override attempt is successful.
Lawmakers are continuing to work through bills and are expected to finish up later this evening or early Thursday.
Any successful override will need at least 109 votes in the House and 23 votes in the Senate, and they must start in the bill’s originating chamber. Republicans hold 109 seats in the House and 24 seats in the Senate.
Other legislation that could come up today include bills that would exempt the Doe Run Company from punitive damages in civil lawsuits in some cases and otherwise cap punitive damages at $2.5 million per suit and a bill that would bar state and local governments from attempting to implement policies related to the United Nation’s non-binding 1992 Agenda 21 resolution on sustainable development.
The GOP-controlled House led off its action today with the election of Rep. Denny Hoskins, R-Warrensburg, to the speaker pro tem post – the second highest rank in the chamber.
Hoskins replaces former state Rep. Jason Smith, who was elected to Missouri’s 8th District Congressional seat earlier this year.
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