Special Session

Over three months after Rob Mayer and Steve Tilley stood up and said they had a deal, the special session ends not with a bang but a whimper.

“We adjourned sine die because obviously, the House and Senate are miles apart on the different versions of the economic development bill, and it would be fruitless to continue onward and waste the taxpayers’ money,” said Senate President Pro Tem Rob Mayer a Republican.

This notably unproductive special session is costing tax payers a decent chunk of change. 

A Missouri special legislative session has rung up a bill of $279,737.59, the Jefferson City News Tribune reports.

Progress in the session had stalled, despite early indications that lawmakers had reached key agreements before it started on Sept. 6. The core job-creation bill — which included benefits aimed at keeping Kansas City-area jobs from hopping the state line to Kansas — ended up at a standoff between the differing House and Senate versions.

Former Republican State Rep. Kevin Wilson sums up the disappoint this special session has been so far. 

So the Missouri General Assembly has been in special session now for several weeks and what do they have to show for it? Well, not much. If you were to look up the words “special” and “extraordinary” in a thesaurus you would find alternatives like “strange,” “unusual,” “bizarre” and “weird” to name a few. I think that those would be pretty fitting to describe what has gone on in Jefferson City over the past month or so.

The General Assembly was called into special session with high hopes that the state of Missouri would show the rest of the country that we were serious about job creation. Instead, we have given the nation a lesson in how not to get things done.

Legislation reducing pension expenditures for future state employees passed the House this morning by a 84-53-2 vote, and passed the Senate by a 25-5 vote this afternoon.

You may now resume your non-Special Session activities.

Legislation with tax incentives for Ford and other manufacturers survived a Chuck Purgason filibuster to pass 20-7 in the Senate, and passed the House by a 101-40 vote.  It now heads to the desk of Gov. Jay Nixon.

Sen. Chuck Purgason is reading The Frontiersmen and personal emails as part of his filibuster of the special session's tax incentive legislation.  Click here for Senate debate/storytime.

Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields removed Sen. Chuck Purgason as chairman of the body's government accountability committee, where Purgason had held up the special session's tax incentive legislation.

Missourinet's Bob Priddy: "House and Senate leaders seem to agree the pension bill and the Ford bill can be passed. Roadblocks either have been removed or can be driven around or over. They’ll come back on Tuesday and could be gone on Wednesday afternoon."

The Most Powerful Man in Missouri said the Special Session would be wrapped up in one week.

Since he's more powerful than the Governor and anyone in the Senate, maybe he could speed things up a bit? 

Missourinet: "The so-called Ford bill has hit a roadblock in the person of Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee Chairman Chuck Purgason, who says the state has no business offering tax incentives to a profitable company at a time when it faces a severe budget shortfall and potential layoffs of thousands more state employees."

Missourinet has posted audio of Purgason speaking to reporters this morning. Listen:

The Post-Dispatch has more.

As the governor, legislators and other leaders are working on an agreement regarding a special session that could save jobs at the Claycomo Ford plant and help Missouri produce the next generation of automobiles, lobbyist Andy Blunt and his team are working vigorously to oppose it.

Blunt's work to block a special session is especially interesting, given his ongoing responsibilities as the campaign manager for Roy Blunt's senate campaign. In fact, the Elder Blunt reportedly made calls to legislators during the last week of the session in favor of the Ford bill. 

Theories are floating around about which Andy Blunt client is trying to kill the session, but we honestly don't know what to make of them. 

We don’t always have the answers at Fired Up!, but know that our readers often do.  Do you know why Andy Blunt and his associates are working against the proposal to help Missouri’s economy? If so, please drop us a note on the tip line.

Speaking with his hometown paper, Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields (R-St. Joseph) is publicly raising the idea of a special legislative session to extend and expand unemployment benefits for struggling families.  Unfortunately, the US Department of Labor this week declined to accept the compromise proposal put forward by the state to draw down $133 million for the extended benefits. 

In response to the feds' decision, Shields says the legislature may need a special session. 

"We’re probably going to have to go back and revisit the issue," said Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph. "It may be one of the issues that raises to the level of a special session."