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(Jefferson City, MO) — A whirlwind of last-ditch dealing left lawmakers debating contentious issues within minutes of Friday’s mandated 6 p.m. adjournment for the 2011 General Assembly.here is the last minute scholarships for application in2011

But as the dust settled on a session where tornadoes, floods and congressional redistricting added to the drama, legislators still hadn’t come to terms on an economic development and tax credit reform package or achieved the necessary lawmaker support for financing terms for a new nuclear power site permit.

Still, lawmakers and Gov. Jay Nixon identified several areas of accomplishment.

House Speaker Steven Tilley, R-Perryville, celebrated bills that require welfare recipients to pass drug tests, toughen human trafficking laws and punishments, and reduce the number of lawsuits against farms as key victories during the legislative session. Pride points for Senate President Pro Tem Robert Mayer, R-Dexter, included increasing higher education funds beyond the governor’s original proposal and working through a long filibuster to pass extended unemployment benefits.

The governor also celebrated extended unemployment assistance and aid for the prescription needs of the elderly and people with disabilities, a level K-12 education budget, and the passage of funding increases for job training, nursing education and specialized scholarships. Other accomplishments Nixon appreciated include $1.1 million of additional oversight for dog breeding facilities, maintaining the state’s water inspection program, which had been at risk of transferring to federal control, and the death of the state’s corporate franchise tax.

Still, Nixon noted, the budget lawmakers passed leaves him to grapple with an estimated $90 million gap. Earlier administration projections pegged the gap at $30 million, as the state is facing about $25 million in flood response expense. The gap grew when lawmakers included in their budget proceeds from a planned $34 million tax amnesty program, but failed to pass legislation enabling the program, Nixon said.

Business left unfinished

For the last several days, negotiators from the House and Senate met behind closed doors trying to salvage a compromise piece of legislation that would satisfy the top priority of both chambers and the governor: the need to create jobs.

The package included cuts to tax credit programs, but tax incentives for economic development projects; a warehouse and business hub around Lambert St. Louis Airport and reinvestment of profits from high tech industries to spur growth in other similar businesses.

But the balance of tax credit cuts and tax incentives caused some key senators to balk at the economic development package, and the bill never came up on the Senate floor.

“We came up with what we thought was a reasonable proposal…and I can tell you an overwhelming majority of the Senators would have approved that language,” Tilley said moments after the session ended. “But, they let one or two senators put a stop to it and that’s their prerogative, that’s the way the Senate is run, but it’s not how the House runs.”

Still, Mayer and Senate Majority Floor Leader Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles, heaped praise on their colleagues for passing their version of the bill in the first place, calling it “a delicate balancing act” within the chamber.

House Minority Leader Mike Talboy, D-Kansas City, expressed disappointment that the House and Senate were not able to come to an agreement on economic development issues, but said it was no surprise.

“They (House and Senate Republicans) fight all the time, and it only seems to get worse every year,” Talboy said. “Right now, I can say this is probably the worst I’ve seen the House and Senate Republicans get along since I’ve been here, and I don’t know if that’s just personalities, or ideologies, I think it’s just really hurting the people of the state.”

Similarly, Mayer said his chamber’s working relationship with the House became much more strained in the wake of congressional redistricting talks. He blamed failures to pass the economic development package and local control of St. Louis’ police force on the House’s refusal to cooperate.

“Certainly redistricting created a lot of acrimony between the two bodies,” Mayer said.

Nuclear Meltdown

On the Senate side, the most controversial bill of the day was dropped on senators’ desks just 45 minutes before the end of the session, and it sparked the most heated debate of the day.

A deal that would have allowed energy companies an expedited rate hike to finance the early site permit for a second nuclear power plant in Callaway County was criticized by senators from both parties who felt the legislation was rushed.

“I feel almost set up by the situation,” said Senate Minority Floor Leader Victor Callahan, D-Independence. “These special interests tee something up for this little 34-member house…that we’re supposed to pass something under orders from them that they worked out in the last two hours is absolutely outrageous.”

The proposal, which had been introduced in various forms by members of both chambers earlier in the session, would have allowed a consortium of energy companies led by Ameren Missouri to raise rates on utility customers up to $45 million to finance the construction of the Callaway II plant. The proposal raised concerns throughout the session, as it would erode a long-standing, voter-approved statute that forbids utility companies to raise rates to finance construction before a plant is operational. Several consumer protections were written into the proposal, including up to $3 million annually for the consumer watchdog Office of Public Council, but it was not enough to win over skeptical senators who doubted the level of input ratepayers had in the negotiations.

“We know what the folks in the halls think about this, they’ve agreed to it,” said Sen. Dan Brown, R-Rolla. “But I don’t know what my constituents think about this.”

The bill was ultimately withdrawn from debate without coming up for a vote.

Nixon said he is still interested in an energy portfolio for Missouri that includes expanded nuclear production, but that he does not feel the same sense of urgency that he did with the potential loss of jobs at the Claycomo Ford plant, which inspired last year’s special session.

In addition, he noted the last few months had brought less certainty of the federal funding mechanisms, such as loan guarantees, that would be necessary to enable a Callaway II project.

“I don’t want to in anyway shape or form signal that I think we shouldn’t continue to move forward on this option, but absent having a funding source there…the (federal) movement back of that over the last 3-4 months has perhaps lessened the pressure a little bit,” Nixon said.

(Missouri News Horizon)

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