Overview of Legislative Process

Missouri General Assembly

The Missouri General Assembly is the legislative branch of Missouri government. The General Assembly is made up of the Missouri House of Representatives and the Missouri Senate. For its House of Representatives, the state of Missouri is made up of 163 districts, with one representative from each district, and currently has 162 representatives (district 162 has a vacancy). Representatives are elected to two year terms and are elected every general election.

For its Senate, the state of Missouri is made up of 34 districts, with one senator from each district. The Senators are elected to four year terms, with the elections staggered. Senators from odd-numbered districts are elected at the time of the presidential election and Senators from even-numbered districts are elected two years after the presidential election.

In 1992, the Missouri Constitution was amended to only allow a person to serve eight total years in the Missouri House and eight total years in the Missouri Senate. These restrictions are regularly referred to as "term limits".

The General Assembly convenes on the first Wednesday of January every year, and adjourns on May 30. No bill may be considered after 6:00 pm on the first Friday following the second Monday in May and no appropriation bill may be considered after 6:00 PM on the first Friday after the first Monday in May. The Governor may reconvene the General Assembly in special session from a maximum of sixty calendar days at any time. During that special session, only legislation recommended by the governor may be considered. The members of the Senate or House may call a 30-day special session upon agreement of three-fourths of their respective members. If the Governor vetoes a bill the House and Senate are automatically reconvened for a period of ten days to consider the vetoed bill.

At each annual session the members elect the house leaders by majority vote. The current speaker of the house, the highest officer in the house, is Catherine Hanaway, a republican from District 87. The speaker then determines the total number of members for each committee and appoints the majority members to serve on those committees and appoints a chair for each committee. The minority floor leader picks the minority members of the committees, but the speaker has final approval of these appointments. The committee's political composition is to reflect the overall political proportions of the house. The house committees may meet with 24 hours notice, and the notice is made on the bulletin board outside of the speaker's office.

The Senate President is the Lieutenant Governor, who acts as the presiding officer of the Senate. In the Lieutenant Governor's absence, the President Pro Tem, who is elected by a majority of the Senators, presides. The current President Pro Tem is Peter Kinder, a republican from District 27. The President Pro Tem picks the majority members to serve on the various committees and the minority party caucuses pick the minority members of the committees.

Missouri Legislative Process

A bill may be "introduced" in either the House or the Senate. The bill is filed by a member and then it is read twice. Hearings are held by the Committee assigned the bill and the Committee gives a recommendation. The bill is then brought up for perfection, in which the bill is debated, possibly amended, and voted on by the members present. Next, the bill has a third reading and is put to a vote. If the majority votes to pass the bill, it goes to the other legislative body and there it goes through the same process again. If the bill has been fortunate enough to pass both the House and the Senate with identical language, it is sent to the governor for signature or veto. If the House and Senate have voted on different amended language of a bill, the bill is sent to a conference committee composed of members of each body to try to work out a compromise. If a compromise cannot be reached the bill is at an end. If a compromise is reached the bill goes back to each body for a vote and if passed on to the Governor.

In both the House and the Senate, Committees play an important part in reviewing a bill. Also, because of the time pressures of a session of the general assembly, a committee may have the power to "kill" a bill by having it get tied up in committee and never voted upon. Both the House and the Senate have small business committees, which are discussed next.

Effective Dates of New Laws and Publication

New laws generally take effect on August 28 of the year they are enacted. If a bill has an emergency clause, it takes effect upon signature by the Governor. Also, bills may state a specific effective date, but this date must be at least 90 days after the end of the regular session (after August 28 for the regular session, which ends May 30).

Laws are published in a book entitled Laws of Missouri and in the Revised Statutes of Missouri. Here is a link to the Revised Statutes of Missouri: http://www.moga.state.mo.us/homestat.asp