Wrap: President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, who's reaching his term limit in January says the Republicans may be able to pass through more legislation in the coming session, but unifying the party will be their real challenge.
Senate Speaker Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, left Jefferson City early in the afternoon, and was not available for comment. However, he previously said he opposes restrictions on lobbyists becoming legislators and a number of other provisions included in the wide-ranging bill.
Democratic representatives on the committee expressed their concerns with the consolidation plan proposed by Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, which would combine the Higher Education and Elementary and Secondary Education departments.
Senate Speaker Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, said government needs to work better to accomodate term-limits. He said he has pushed for the state to make a number of outlines for long-term growth, and even floated the idea of doing two-year budgets.
The Senate committee, by a 5-0 vote, approved a proposed constitutional amendment that, if passed as is, would abolish all but one of the state departments. But its sponsor, Senate Speaker Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, called it a "shell bill" that will be significantly altered. This shell bill could be an avenue, he said, for combining the two education departments, a move that has been pushed by Gov. Jay Nixon.
In the conference, representatives and senators chosen respectively from the Speaker of the House Ron Richard, R-Joplin, and the President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, would compare the budgets created by both Houses in the General Assembly.
Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, said the two resolutions rely uponon each other, and passing one without the other would complicate the consolidation.
These changes will create millions in cost cuts, but Senator Charlie Shields, a Republican from Buchanan County, says this is not the reason for the bill.
The resolution's sponsor, Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, attempted to address detractors' concerns with assurances that the legislation was a work in progress.
"Right now, the Coordinating Board of Higher Education is the greatest oxymoron in state government," President Pro Temp Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, said.
Most of the day was spent debating potential cuts to education, the state's largest single expenditure.State Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, said because lawmakers have resisted cuts in other areas through the budget process, lawmakers would be faced with "gutting" education funding as the end of the session approaches."We don't have the willpower to make reforms elsewhere," Crowell said. Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, said those in state government..
The committee also tacked on a limit for how much any one person can contribute to a candidate -- an issue rejected by senators and by the chamber's leader, Speaker Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, who sponsored the Senate bill.
Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, said the jobs bill, will be discussed in the Senate this week, as the upper chamber begins budget talks. The bill requires two more votes from the Senate and approval by the House before it can reach Nixon's desk.
Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, said a bill that reinstates campaign contribution limits would not be likely to pass in the Senate.
Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, said the process was a more "informal" method of seeking budget solutions with more of a "give-and-take" between legislators and agency officials than is normally seen in committee hearings.
The Senate version of the resolution was co-sponsored by all but one of the Senate Republicans: President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph. In a flier released by several conservative grassroots groups to attract attendees to the rally, Shields was named as an obstacle to allowing the bill to come before the full Senate for debate. It stated that supporters will not let "one man stand in the way" of the resolution.
Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, said the measure was meant as a shell simply to provide a vehicle for discussing government reorganization.
Lager said he expected the two reports would be combined into one, rather than simply submitted together. Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, said that changes will still be made to the committee's report and it should continue to be viewed as a draft.
Gov. Jay Nixon held a meeting last week with Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, Senate Appropriations Chairman Rob Mayer and Majority Leader Kevin Engler.
Senate leaders acknowledged there is a long way to go, and a lot of reconciliation, before any ethics legislation becomes law. Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, introduced the amendment which would have required a year-long waiting period between leaving the state legislature and taking a lobbying or major state position. It was one of the four amendments he introduced, all of which were rejected by Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, who also introdu..
Bivins said he is "hopeful to get (the bill) through unscathed," but acknowledged that critics - including Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph - fear this is the wrong economic time for such legislation and businesses will suffer as a result.
Addressing the Senate, President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, said, "We must strive for higher ethics standards because ethics violations are unacceptable."
Ethics reform legislation from previous years has been struck done by the Supreme Court, but President Pro Tem Charlie Shields of St. Joseph said he thinks they can come up with a bill that doesn't violate speech rights.
In addition, the lone bill originating in the Senate Rules Committee would establish an independent commission to file and investigate ethics complaints against officials. The bill, filed by Senate Speaker Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, also would require all General Assembly staff members to file yearly income reports the same way legislators and candidates for state office do.
Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, said that the current budget situation requires lawmakers to think about budget options not normally considered.
A tentative campaign finance bill agreement was unveiled that Republicans touted as an answer to the calls for ethics reform, but which Democrats criticized for being a shell.While imposing restrictions on fund transfers between political committees, the proposal would eliminate provisions that had been recommended by the House Ethics Committee and urged by the governor.The conference committee version strips from the bill limits on lobbyist gifts to legislators, limits on how muc..
Democratic representatives on the committee expressed their concerns with the consolidation plan proposed by Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, which would combine the Higher Education and Elementary and Secondary Education departments.
Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, said the process was a more "informal" method of seeking budget solutions, with more of a "give-and-take" between legislators and agency officials than is normally seen in committee hearings.
Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, said the process was a more "informal" method of seeking budget solutions, with more of a "give-and-take" between legislators and agency officials than is normally seen in committee hearings.
Gov. Jay Nixon held a meeting last week with Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, Senate Appropriations Chairman Rob Mayer and Majority Leader Kevin Engler.
Gov. Jay Nixon held a meeting last week with Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, Senate Appropriations Chairman Rob Mayer and Majority Leader Kevin Engler.