Christmas Tree – a bill before the Missouri General Assembly utilized as a vehicle to pass legislation which has not progressed or might not otherwise progress in the legislative process by hanging that legislation in the form of an amendment, like a Christmas tree ornament, on the original bill. The process can and does escalate. There is a point when enough amendments have been added that the bill is generally described as “a Christmas Tree”.

Yesterday in the Missouri General Assembly:

HB 271 – Modifies provisions relating to expenditures of local governments

Available Senate Amendments

Amendment Status Date Offered
0195S.04F 4/27/2021 – Withdrawn 4/27/2021 – SS for SCS S offered (Crawford)–(0195S.04F)
0195S04.12S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 1 to SS for SCS S offered (Onder)–(0195S04.12S)
0195S04.13S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 1 to SA 1 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (Rowden)–(0195S04.13S)
0195S04.10S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 2 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (O’Laughlin)–(0195S04.10S)
0195S04.17S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 3 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (Hegeman)–(0195S04.17S)
0195S04.06S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 4 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (White)–(0195S04.06S)
0195S04.23S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 5 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (Schatz)–(0195S04.23S)
0195S04.03S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 6 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (Schupp)–(0195S04.03S)
0195S04.01S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 7 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (Brattin)–(0195S04.01S)
0195S04.11S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 8 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (Cierpiot)–(0195S04.11S)
0195S04.08S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 9 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (Luetkemeyer)–(0195S04.08S)
0195S04.29S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 10 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (May)–(0195S04.29S)
0195S04.25S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 11 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (Roberts)–(0195S04.25S)
0195S04.27S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 12 to SS for SCS S offered (Moon)–(0195S04.27S)
0195S04.36S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 1 to SA 12 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (Onder)–(0195S04.36S)
0195S04.28S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 13 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (Brown)–(0195S04.28S)
0195S04.37S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 14 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (Razer)–(0195S04.37S)
0195S04.22S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 15 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (Bernskoetter)–(0195S04.22S)
0195S04.21S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 16 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (Burlison)–(0195S04.21S)
0195S04.35S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 17 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (Luetkemeyer)–(0195S04.35S)
0195S04.14S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 18 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (Eigel)–(0195S04.14S)
0195S04.32S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 19 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (Eigel)–(0195S04.32S)
0195S04.15S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 20 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (Wieland)–(0195S04.15S)
0195S04.26S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 21 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (Rowden)–(0195S04.26S)
0195S04.31S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 22 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (Schatz)–(0195S04.31S)
0195S04.41S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 23 to SS for SCS S offered (May)–(0195S04.41S)
0195S04.43S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 1 to SA 23 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (Riddle)–(0195S04.43S)
0195S04.42S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 24 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (Luetkemeyer)–(0195S04.42S)
0195S04.20S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 25 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (Wieland)–(0195S04.20S)
0195S04.39S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 26 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (Hough)–(0195S04.39S)
0195S04.44S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 27 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (Roberts)–(0195S04.44S)
0195S04.45S 4/27/2021 – Moot 4/27/2021 – SA 28 to SS for SCS S offered & adopted (Brattin)–(0195S04.45S)
0195S.06F 4/27/2021 – Adopted, as amended 4/27/2021 – SS#2 for SCS S offered (Crawford)–(0195S.06F)
0195S06.01S 4/27/2021 – Adopted 4/27/2021 – SA 1 to SS#2 for SCS S offered & adopted (Wieland)–(0195S06.01S)

As HB 271 now appears on the House side:

HB 271
Establishes the “Missouri Local Government Expenditure Database”
Sponsor: Wiemann, John (103)
Proposed Effective Date: 8/28/2021
LR Number: 0195S.03C
Last Action: 04/27/2021 – Placed on Informal Calendar – SA1 to SA 1, SA 1 as amended, SA 2, SA 3, SA 4, SA 5, SA 6, SA 7, SA 8, SA 9, SA 10, SA 11, SA 1 to SA 12, SA 12 as amended, SA 13, SA 14, SA 15, SA 16, SA 17, SA 18, SA 19, SA 20, SA 21, SA 22, SA 1 to SA 23, SA 23 as amended, SA 24, SA 25, SA 26, SA 27 and SA 28, pending
Bill String: SCS HCS HB 271
Next House Hearing: Hearing not scheduled
Calendar: Bill currently not on a House calendar
[….]

If enough legislators have a vested interest in an ornament or two on the tree the likelihood of the bill passing, as amended, increases.

The original bill summary (as introduced):

HB 271 — LOCAL GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE DATABASE
SPONSOR: Wiemann

This bill establishes the “Missouri Local Government Expenditure Database”, to be maintained by the Office of Administration. For each fiscal year beginning after December 31, 2022, the database must include extensive information about a given municipality’s or county’s expenditures and the vendors to whom payments were made. The database must be accessible by the public without charge and have multiple ways to search and filter the information. A municipality or county may voluntarily participate in the database, or may be required to participate if a petition process used by its residents is used to require participation as specified in the bill. A link to the database on a municipal or county website is required.

The Office of Administration may stipulate a format for information and will provide a template for municipalities and counties to use in sending information. Other duties and responsibilities of the Office of Administration regarding the database are detailed in the bill. Financial reimbursement to municipalities and counties for costs associated with the database is authorized.

This bill is the same as HB 1933 (2020).

Transparency, you say? How ironic.