Missouri bills from sports betting to redistricting still on the table – News-Leader

JEFFERSON CITY The General Assembly enters the final week of its annual session with a laundry list of legislative wishes, but it remains to be seen how many will get across the finish line.

Last week, lawmakers passed a $49 billion annual budget, fulfilling their constitutional obligation mere hours before the deadline to get the bills to Gov. Mike Parson's desk. There aren't constitutional requirements to pass any other legislation, but the Republican majorities are aiming to regardless after an election-year session that has been dominated by inter-party disagreements.

With the clock ticking down, the number of bills sent to Parson this year could be smaller but those that do pass are more likely to contain key priorities.

"This has been a painful path on certain days and weeks," said Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, a Columbia Republican, last week. "We will presumably pass fewer actual bills this year.I would assume those bills will be larger and we'll get more of these smaller things done."

If the GOP can avoid halting progress and keep members satisfied, the lead Senate Democrat said, there's still the potential for significant legislative movement.

"It's very much like playing against Michael Jordan in the fourth quarter," said Minority Leader John Rizzo of Independence. "You know what's coming, you just got to hope he misses it. We'll see how it goes."

Here are a few issues that could see debate and possible action in the final five days of the 2022 regular session.

Redrawing Missouri's congressional map is in part what spurred so much disagreement and a lack of action early on in the session. But state lawmakers seem determined to make one last run at redistricting, under the threat of several lawsuits seeking court intervention and with the knowledge that the Show-Me State is the last in the U.S. to pass a map.

A new proposal passed out of a House committee last week would likely retain the current partisan alignment in Congress six Republican-favored districts and two Democrat-favored districts. Its most drastic changes come in the 2nd district in suburban St. Louis, where regional lawmakers have pushed hard for certain communities and counties to be included or excluded. It also splits each of the city of Columbia in mid-Missouri and Webster County in southwest Missouri between two districts.

Republicans are also seeking to pass a litany of changes to how elections are run, ahead of voters heading to the polls this fall.

The proposal with the most momentum is House Bill 1878, which requires photo ID to vote and allows for two weeks of early voting, among other measures. It was debated and finalized by the Senate last week; it needs a final vote in the chamber, after which the House can request a conference to negotiate a compromise or accept the Senate's version of the 82-page bill.

Several proposals to make it more difficult for voters to put a measure on the ballot through the initiative petition reform process have made it through the House but have seen little action in the Senate. Rowden told reporters last week it still wasn't off the table.

Legalized sports betting could also see a last minute compromise and push after previous attempts to pass bills on the subject ran into resistance.

The latest proposal came in the Senate at almost 1 a.m. last week, as Republican Sen. Denny Hoskins of Warrensburg proposed new language legalizing sports betting but excluding language on video lottery terminals, which have proved to be controversial among other Republicans. It imposed a 15 percent tax on wagers, allowed for parlay bets and included $5 million for measures relating to gambling addiction.

Sports betting in Missouri: House approves bill legalizing betting on college, pro teams

Hoskins said that latest language had been discussed with professional sports teams in the state as well as lobbyists with the casino and gaming industries, but eventually withdrew the language. But as a priority for some of the state's biggest teams and a potential generator of big revenue, its proponents will aim to pass some form of sports betting legalization if possible.

Republicans have also indicated that two bills targeting social safety net programs could be priorities in the final days.

House Bill 1860 would allow Missouri to reduce how long unemployment benefits would be available depending on the current statewide unemployment rate, going as low as eight weeks.

House Joint Resolution 117 would ask voters whether or not MO HealthNet, Missouri's Medicaid program, could be subject to appropriation by state lawmakers. The measure could potentially lead to the General Assembly stripping out funding for parts of the expansion population, which is funded in this year's budget but was not in last year's budget due to many Republicans' opposition to expansion.

Both bills still needto make it through Senate debate and potential amendments before being voted on by the chamber and seeking final approval from the House.

A number of other pieces of legislation could see a final push this week:

Galen Bacharier covers Missouri politics & government for the News-Leader. Contact him at gbacharier@news-leader.com,(573) 219-7440 or on Twitter @galenbacharier.

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Missouri bills from sports betting to redistricting still on the table - News-Leader