Missouri lawmakers continue debating bills in the closing minutes of the 2012 regular session.
Among the bills passed so far today is one that would require legislative approval before a health care exchange can be created in Missouri. State Rep. Ryan Silvey (R, Kansas City) accused Governor Jay Nixon (D) of trying last year to create an exchange via executive order.
“To violate the separation of powers and to go around the legislature to do something that the people have voted on, and that the people have said ‘we don’t want to do,’ is just plain wrong," Silvey Said. "As far as I’m concerned, this isn’t about the national health care debate, this is about reining in a governor that is out of control.”
The bill will go before Missouri voters in November.
Democrats in the Senate, meanwhile, blocked a bill that would have declared the federal health care law null and void in Missouri and jailed anyone seeking to enforce it.
Other bills passed today would reduce the disparity in prison sentences between crack and powder cocaine, and bar suspects charged with child abuse and neglect from providing child care services. Session ends at 6-PM.
