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On the Trail, an occasional column by St. Louis Public Radio political reporter Jason Rosenbaum, takes an analytical look at politics and policy across Missouri.

On the trail: Checking the score on Missouri legislature at half time

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon: The Missouri General Assembly is at half time, but that doesn’t mean lawmakers are getting treated to a musical extravaganza from Beyonce.

Instead lawmakers are prepping for what could be a busy second half of the  session. Not only do lawmakers have to complete work on next year’s budget, but they must also tackle some substantial bills that – perhaps surprisingly – advanced in the first part of the session.

Of course, it’s still relatively early. For the most part, finality doesn't arrive until the frantic rush of the session's last few weeks. But this session's quickened pace contrasts with the past few years, when big bills had trouble getting traction.

Lawmakers go back to work today -- a good time to review five questions posed at the onset of the session, queries that focused heavily on relationships within the GOP majority and between the two major political parties:

Can Republicans get along with each other?

The past two legislative sessions were characterized by constant conflict between the fast-paced Missouri House and the more deliberate Missouri Senate. Clashes between strong personalities often sank big initiatives, which is why Republicans entered the 2013 session with such an ambitious agenda.

For the most part, the two chambers have played nice. One small example of the thaw: The two bodies managed to send tax credit legislation to Gov. Jay Nixon relatively quickly. Last year, reauthorization of so-called “benevolent” tax credits faltered in the last few days of session.

Another sign of good feeling? House Speaker Tim Jones, R-Eureka, and Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles, held a joint press conference earlier this month -- a noticeable departure from the norm.

Indeed, one big surprise is that the Missouri Senate moved weighty bills forward at a quicker pace than usual. That includes wholesale changes to the state’s tax code, an overhaul of the beleaguered Second Injury Fund and asales tax increase to fund the state’s road system.

Dempsey said earlier this year that senators got to work earlier than usual, holding a pre-session retreat in November instead of December and swiftly assigning bills to committees. And the change-up of the Senate’s membership also contributed to how the body operated.

But that doesn’t mean the House and Senate have been in lockstep on everything. The two bodies passed substantially different versions of a bill restricting how union dues are collected. And it remains to be seen how bills overhauling tax credits or the Second Injury Fund will fare in the House.

In any case, the Senate’s quicker-than-usual pace could give lawmakers more time to haggle over differences in conference committees. And as Dempsey said earlier this winter, “it’ll be how we finish that people will remember.”

What roles will Democrats play?

It’s perhaps not surprising that the Republican majority hasn’t adopted core Democratic priorities. GOP lawmakers in both chambers voted down bills in committee to expand Medicaid under the auspices of the Affordable Care Act. And a campaign finance overhaul championed by Democrats hasn’t gotten any traction.

But that doesn’t mean Democrats have been completely shunted to the sidelines. They’ve embraced a philosophy espoused last year by Senate Minority Leader Jolie Justus: Either make controversial bills less objectionable or stop them altogether.

To that end, Democrats played some role in altering controversial legislation – most notably a bill to reconfigure the Second Injury Fund. They also contributed to changing bills overhauling the tax code and mandating gun safety programs at schools.

And despite their small membership, the 10 members of the Democratic caucus turned out to be the decisive force in advancing a sales tax increase to fund transportation projects. Without their unanimous support, state Sen. Mike Kehoe’s proposal wouldn’t have passed.

As for House Democrats, they might not have much of a role to play until the legislature convenes later this year for its veto session. If caucus members stand united and can get a handful of Republicans on their side, they could prevent particularly controversial bills that arouse Nixon’s ire from becoming law.

What impact will a potential lt. governor’s vacancy play?

The potential departure of Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder was a major concern when the legislature convened in January. But a feared statewide shuffle turned out to be a false alarm.

The three-term statewide officer sought the GOP nomination in the 8th congressional district, and state law is somewhat unclear about what would happen in case of a vacancy.

In the end, House Speaker Pro Tem Jason Smith, R-Salem, won the GOP nomination in the southeast Missouri-based district. And frantic efforts to change statewide vacancy laws noticeably slowed.

As fun as it would have been to come up with nearly endless lists on who would become Nixon’s new number two, such a parlor game is on hold for the foreseeable future.

How many Republicans will be in the Missouri House?

This one’s easy: 109.

That number is notable because it’s the exact tally needed to override a gubernatorial veto. If one House Republican defects and the Democratic caucus stands strong, Nixon’s objections could be sustained.

Whether the Republicans get more breathing space will depend on whether Republican Mike Moon can dispatch former Democratic state Rep. Charles Dake in an April 2 election for a Lawrence County House seat. While that district leans Republican, Dake pulled off a huge upset in 2006 by winning a special election in a similar district.

The GOP’s tally in the Missouri House could go back down to 109 after the session’s end if Smith manages to defeat fellow state Rep. Steve Hodges, D-East Prairie, in the 8th District contest.

That could affect the party’s prospects of overriding vetoes since it’s unlikely that Nixon will call for a special election to fill Smith’s seat before the September veto session.

Will Nixon and the GOP be adversarial?

One of the biggest questions was how forceful Nixon would be in pushing his agenda since the second-term governor has only a finite amount of time to push his agenda.

Nixon has traveled to nearly every corner of the state to advocate for the expansion of Medicaid, which the Republican leadership explicitly rejected.His public events on the subject have become so common that at least one GOP lawmaker quipped that he was pushing the issue on his trip to Taiwan.

He also put out aforceful denunciation of state Sen. Will Kraus’ bill to make major changes to the state’s tax code. That indicates that the legislation will have to be substantially revised if Republicans want to avoid a veto.

In some ways, the true barometer of Nixon’s influence over the legislature may not come until after the session ends in May. That’s when Republicans may use their super-majorities to disregard Nixon’s vetoes. But as noted before, GOP lawmakers will have to stick together, considering they don’t have much margin for error.

And any confrontation between Republican legislators and Nixon will depend on whether particularly controversial bills make it to the governor’s desk. The next few months of legislative maneuvering should answer that question.

On the Trail, a weekly column, weaves together some of the intriguing threads from the world of Missouri politics.

Jason is the politics correspondent for St. Louis Public Radio.