Legislative Session Begins Soon

From the desk of Senator David Pearce

The Second Regular Session of the 96th General Assembly will officially convene on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012, and is scheduled to run until May 13, 2012. Many lawmakers from both the House and the Senate have already turned in bills to receive numbers. Prefiling legislation ensures that these measures will be presented on the floor on the first day of the new session.

Currently, I have prefiled three measures related to education. Education has been and continues to be one of my top priorities. Senate Bill 454 will modify the foundation formula to ensure that hold-harmless school districts do not gain at the expense of formula districts. The foundation formula is the primary method of distributing money to our state’s public schools.

I prefiled SB 455 dealing with higher education policies regarding retention, remediation, and course transfer from community colleges to public four-year institutions. The third bill I prefiled, SB 456, will provide a legislative fix for students whose school district becomes unaccredited.

Although these are just the first bills I have prefiled for the upcoming session, there will be additional legislation drafted for consideration, as well as House measures I will handle on the Senate floor. For additional information on my sponsored and co-sponsored legislation, you can visit my Senate website at www.senate.mo.gov/pearce.

I am excited to get back to Jefferson City with my colleagues and continue work we have started. Even though it feels as if the special session just ended, the beginning of a new session is always full of anticipation and excitement as we take up the mantles of our responsibilities in the Capitol. I look forward to the many opportunities ahead and to sharing our many successes with the 31st Senatorial District.

If you would like to learn more about the upcoming legislative session, or see a list of all prefiled Senate bills, please visit the Senate website at www.senate.mo.gov.

As always, please feel free to contact me or my staff with any questions or concerns at any time. We look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions and trying to answer any questions you may have. You can reach us by phone at 866-277-0882 (toll-free) or 573-751-2272, or by fax at 573-526-7381.

Senator David Pearce serves Bates, Cass, Johnson and Vernon counties in the 31st State Senatorial District.