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There has been interesting bill action (or not) in the Missouri House this week:
FIRST REGULAR SESSION
95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE SKAGGS.
1407L.01I D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To amend chapter 8, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to state buildings.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 8, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be known as section 8.157, to read as follows:
8.157. 1. On and after January 1, 2010, no person shall possess or drink any alcoholic beverage in the state capitol or on the state capitol grounds.
2. The provisions of subsection 1 of this section shall not apply upon the order of the governor of a special event.
[emphasis added]
I wonder if it’ll ever come to a vote?
There are other bills worth noting:
HB 405 Requires equal pay for the same work regardless of gender and establishes a commission to study wage disparities
Sponsor: Low, Beth (39) Proposed Effective Date: 08/28/2009
CoSponsor: Lampe, Sara (138) ……….etal. LR Number: 0626L.01I
Last Action: 01/27/2009 – Read Second Time (H)
HB405
Next Hearing: Hearing not scheduled
Calendar: Bill currently not on a calendar
[emphasis added]
Equal pay for equal work – what a novel concept. It’ll never get on the calendar.
HB 421 Makes the use of an electronic recording device in a polling place an election offense
Sponsor: Viebrock, James (134) Proposed Effective Date: 08/28/2009
CoSponsor: LR Number: 1196L.01I
Last Action: 01/27/2009 – Read Second Time (H)
HB421
Next Hearing: Hearing not scheduled
Calendar: Bill currently not on a calendar
[emphasis added]
Question: Would this make a touchscreen voting machine illegal? Just asking.
“…(12) Using an electronic recording device to record, photograph, copy, or transmit the content of a voted ballot to any person or destination not authorized by this chapter to receive such information….”
Nope. Drat.
If this is enacted into law I suppose voters who took a cell phone photo of their ballot to show proof of how they voted would get in trouble if they admitted it.
HB 426 Establishes the Large Carnivore Act which regulates the ownership, possession, and breeding of large carnivores
Sponsor: Sutherland, Mike (99) Proposed Effective Date: 08/28/2009
CoSponsor: Dixon, Bob (140) ……….etal. LR Number: 1012L.01I
Last Action: 01/28/2009 – Read Second Time (H)
HB426
Next Hearing: Hearing not scheduled
House Calendar HOUSE BILLS FOR SECOND READING
[emphasis added]
When I first saw the description I immediately thought, “Jurassic Park – Missouri is toast…”
Are non-vegan people covered by this bill?
HB 427 Limits the governor to appointing only veterans who have served at least two consecutive years in a veterans organization to the veterans commission and revises the veteran’s survivor grant
Sponsor: Largent, Scott (120) Proposed Effective Date: 08/28/2009
CoSponsor: Day, David (148) ……….etal. LR Number: 1350L.01I
Last Action: 01/28/2009 – Read Second Time (H)
HB427
Next Hearing: Hearing not scheduled
House Calendar HOUSE BILLS FOR SECOND READING
[emphasis added]
Ah, micromanaging the executive branch. Go figure.
HB 434 Changes the laws regarding the consent requirements for obtaining an abortion and creates the crime of coercing an abortion
Sponsor: Pratt, Bryan (55) Proposed Effective Date: 08/28/2009
CoSponsor: LR Number: 1085L.01I
Last Action: 01/28/2009 – Read Second Time (H)
HB434
Next Hearing: Hearing not scheduled
House Calendar HOUSE BILLS FOR SECOND READING
[emphasis added]
The republicans can’t help themselves. It’s in their nature.
HB 452 Authorizes Missouri to enter into the Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote Act
Sponsor: Roorda, Jeff (102) Proposed Effective Date: 08/28/2009
CoSponsor: Casey, Ron (103) ……….etal. LR Number: 0297L.01I
Last Action: 01/28/2009 – Read Second Time (H)
HB452
Next Hearing: Hearing not scheduled
House Calendar HOUSE BILLS FOR SECOND READING
[emphasis added]
This won’t get bipartisan support until a member of the Bush family loses the popular vote in a presidential election. Oh wait…
That’s an interesting one. FWIW, the first time I ever saw a tiger up close was at some guy’s house in rural Louisiana. Every time I hear that Neko Case song, I think back to my childhood.
Also, my grand-uncle is quite wealthy and owns a spread of land in East Texas with ostrich, peacocks, gazelle, and a lion roaming free on the property. Separately, of course.
“no person shall possess or drink any alcoholic beverage in the state capitol or on the state capitol grounds.”
It won’t pass for a few obvious reasons. Although i’m sure someone will prepare a speakeasy or two in the event that the bill accidentally passes into law.
The major shortcoming of the current system of electing the President is that presidential candidates concentrate their attention on a handful of closely divided “battleground” states. 98% of the 2008 campaign events involving a presidential or vice-presidential candidate occurred in just 15 closely divided “battleground” states. Over half (57%) of the events were in just four states (Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania and Virginia). Similarly, 98% of ad spending took place in these 15 “battleground” states. Similarly, in 2004, candidates concentrated over two-thirds of their money and campaign visits in five states and over 99% of their money in 16 states. Two-thirds of the states and people have been merely spectators to the presidential elections. Candidates have no reason to poll, visit, advertise, organize, campaign, or worry about the voter concerns in states where they are safely ahead or hopelessly behind. The reason for this is the winner-take-all rule enacted by 48 states, under which all of a state’s electoral votes are awarded to the candidate who gets the most votes in each separate state.
The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC).
Every vote would be politically relevant and equal in presidential elections.
The bill would take effect only when enacted, in identical form, by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes-that is, enough electoral votes to elect a President (270 of 538). When the bill comes into effect, all the electoral votes from those states would be awarded to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC).
The bill is currently endorsed by 1,246 state legislators – 460 sponsors (in 48 states) and an additional 786 legislators who have cast recorded votes in favor of the bill.
The National Popular Vote bill has been endorsed by the New York Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Hartford Courant, Miami Herald, Sarasota Herald Tribune, Sacramento Bee, The Tennessean, Fayetteville Observer, Anderson Herald Bulletin, Wichita Falls Times, The Columbian, and other newspapers. The bill has been endorsed by Common Cause, Fair Vote, and numerous other organizations.
In Gallup polls since 1944, only about 20% of the public has supported the current system of awarding all of a state’s electoral votes to the presidential candidate who receives the most votes in each separate state (with about 70% opposed and about 10% undecided). The recent Washington Post, Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvard University poll shows 72% support for direct nationwide election of the President. This national result is similar to recent polls in Arkansas (80%), California (70%), Colorado (68%), Connecticut (73%), Delaware (75%), Kentucky (80%), Maine (71%), Massachusetts (73%), Michigan (73%), Mississippi (77%), Missouri (70%), New Hampshire (69%), Nebraska (74%), Nevada (72%), New Mexico (76%), New York (79%), North Carolina (74%), Ohio (70%), Pennsylvania (78%), Rhode Island (74%), Vermont (75%), Virginia (74%), Washington (77%), and Wisconsin (71%).
The National Popular Vote bill has passed 22 state legislative chambers, including one house in Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, and Washington, and both houses in California, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The bill has been enacted by Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, and Maryland. These four states possess 50 electoral votes – 19% of the 270 necessary to bring the law into effect.
See http://www.NationalPopularVote…