1 min read
Posted on 05.12.06
  • 1 min read
  • Posted on 05.12.06


Political strategist Karl Rove will not be getting a key to the City.

The national partisan mandate to force passage of the voter photo ID in Missouri before the November US Senate election — a Rove-ian touch — means that several important and carefully crafted pieces of generally non-controversial legislation, supported by members of both political parties, died when the Missouri Senate shut down in acrimony earlier today.

Not passed because of the State Senate dispute over the photo ID bill:

•Authorization for a sales tax for more crime fighting

•Dedicated funding for removing lead from schools, day care centers, and recreation centers

•A pension bill that would have maintained benefits while reduced our costs by $3.8-million per year

Nevertheless, some important legislation passed before the State Senate locked up:

•Reform of the eminent domain law

•Funding for a new prisoner re-entry program

•Police Board will negotiate pay raises

•Greater state reimbursement for the costs of holding state prisoners

•Requirement that state social workers intervene in families in which a City student has missed more than 15 days of school in a semester (thanks to a savvy legislative staffer for noticing this one!)