At the time, Senate leader Peter Kinder, a Republican, charged that the district was moved just so House Speaker Jim Kreider, a Democrat, could run for the Senate. Term limits prevent Kreider from running for re-election to the House.
With less than 24 hours before the deadline to send the budget to the governor, House Speaker Jim Kreider and Senate Appropriations Chair John Russell say the two houses will meet this morning to work on the budget.
Gov. Bob Holden, Senate Appropriations Chairman John Russell, House Speaker Jim Kreider and Lt. Gov. Joe Maxwell all agreed that a special session appeared imminent. Holden urged the House to reconsider its vote Friday morning to try to avoid the special session.
Term limits will prevent 73 of the House's 163 representatives and 12 of the Senate's 34 members from returning in January. Included in those casualties are House Speaker Jim Kreider and Senate Majority Leader Bill Kenney. They occupy two of the most powerful leadership positions in the entire legislature.
House Speaker Jim Kreider and Senate Majority Leader Bill Kenney are among 85 lawmakers ineligible to run for re-election. Complicating the issue further is redistricting, which Republicans say gives them a good chance to win control of the House and retain control of the Senate.
With less than 24 hours before a constitutionally mandated deadline to pass all spending bills by 6 p.m. Friday, House Speaker Jim Kreider, Lt. Governor Joe Maxwell and Senate Appropriations Chairman John Russell said the odds favored a special session to deal with the budget crisis.
* The Senate gave final approval to borrowing $120 million from the state's Budget Reserve Fund to plug holes in the current budget. The plan moves next to the House, where Speaker Jim Kreider, a Democrat, said he supports it, but Republican leader Catherine Hanaway said she will oppose it; and
It's uncertain exactly how much lower it would take for full funding under Graham's bill. Earlier estimates were $175 million, but House Speaker Jim Kreider, D-Nixa, said the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education now believes full funding would under Graham's bill would be $150 million. Either estimate is down from the approximately $219 million it would take for full funding under the current formula.
House and Senate representatives began negotiations to try to work out the differences between each body's budget proposals. The committee reached agreement on several items but remained at odds on how much to increase school funding. House Speaker Jim Kreider, D-Nixa, wants a $175 million increase. Senate negotiators support a $100 million increase, saying money is too tight for a larger increase.
House Speaker Jim Kreider, D-Nixa, is pushing for a $175 million increase, while Senate negotiators in the conference committee are proposing a $100 million increase, saying money is too tight to provide a larger sum for schools.
House Speaker Jim Kreider, D-Nixa, said he would not stop the bill from coming to a vote. However, he did say the bill is low on his list of priorities after education, social services and transportation. All of that must happen before legislative session ends May 17.
Hanaway also criticized House Speaker Jim Kreider, D-Nixa, for refusing to appoint Representatives to a House-Senate conference committee to reconcile differences between their versions of the budget.
Sen. John Russell, R-Lebanon, said he chose to cancel a scheduled conference committee meeting Tuesday night because House Speaker Jim Kreider refused to appoint negotiators for the bulk of the budget's 12 appropriation bills.
If the Senate passes it, the House must debate and pass it as well. House Speaker Jim Kreider has said he is waiting for the Senate to pass its bill before the House will debate it. Gov. Bob Holden has pledged his support.
House Speaker Jim Kreider (D-Nixa) has yet to assign conferees to most of the budget bills, while House Minority Leader Catherine Hanaway (R-Warson Woods) still isn't going along with proposals to use money from the Rainy Day Fund.
Lawmakers had mixed reactions to using the reserve fund, which was rejected earlier this session. House Speaker Jim Kreider, D-Nixa, said the state should borrow money to solve the crisis.
While Jacob's proposal has gained the support of Holden and many senators, the idea has not been well received in the House. Both Democratic Speaker Jim Kreider and Republican leader Catherine Hanaway said borrowing from tobacco payments was a bad idea.
"They put in $100 million but it's going to throw us right into the courts by creating an inequity in our education system," said House Speaker Jim Kreider, D-Nixa. "Its going to basically cut in half the investment our state needs to make for the future and that is our children and their education."
House Speaker Jim Kreider, D-Nixa, said there will be a debate and vote on a bill allowing concealed weapons this session, possibly as early as next week. Kreider said carrying concealed weapons is "a basic right and basic freedom" and that he believes there are enough votes for it to pass in the House. He said there has been a change of attitude since the events of Sept. 11 and that the failed proposition in 1999 isn't the "driving point" on the issue.
House Speaker Jim Kreider says he's not going to do that until the Senate passes its version of the bill--and with the Senate working on the budget, that could take some time.
"This is about giving every child an equal and adequate education and that's what the Constitution requires," said House Speaker Jim Kreider, D-Nixa. "Full funding is what keeps judges out of the education system."
Republican leaders in the House and Senate have criticized House Speaker Jim Kreider, D-Nixa, for delaying the budget, but Kreider claims the delay is not unreasonable given the extent of the problems.
"The problem is there are only two Democrats (in the state House who represent) the entire 7th Congressional district, so I end up inheriting a lot of legislation," Hosmer said. The other Democrat in that area is House Speaker Jim Kreider, D-Nixa. That means they work together on a variety of issues, Hosmer said.
Keeping state buildings secure while insuring public access is "a hard balance," said Speaker of the House Jim Kreider, D-Nixa. He said he doesn't want state buildings fortified and encourages the discussion of how civil liberties.
House Speaker Jim Kreider, D-Nixa, issued a challenge this week to his Republican counterparts, asking for their help in formulating a budget. But Catherine Hanaway, Republican floor leader from St. Louis County, said her party would need more time than Kreider wanted to give her.
JEFFERSON CITY - The House Transportation Committee heard testimony on a bill sponsered by House Speaker Jim Kreider that would provide funding for school buildings along with money for transportation.
JEFFERSON CITY - House Speaker Jim Kreider, D-Nixa, said he is not going to support the governor's proposal for a new ballpark for the St. Louis Cardinals, but will not block it from coming to a vote either.
Meanwhile, Koller all but abandoned a proposal to include money for school buildings in the transportation referendum. He said the proposal, a longtime priority of Speaker Jim Kreider, drew sharp criticism from constituents who didn't want to pay for other school districts' buildings.
Bearden and House Minority L eader Rep. Catherine Hanaway, R-Warson Woods, said they are concerned that House Speaker Jim Kreider, D-Nixa, may prevent a vote on the bill by not referring it to a committee.
JEFFERSON CITY - "I think we're going to have one heck of a storm this year," said House Speaker Jim Kreider in describing expectations for the session that begins on Wednesday.
However, the governor does have at least one key ally: House Speaker Jim Kreider who reaffirmed his support for the governor's plan at a Thursday news conference.
The Senate's President Pro Tem, Peter Kinder, charges there was a political purpose to this story -- to help House Speaker Jim Kreider who is prevented by term limits from seeking reelection.
Added on top of pressing fiscal and homeland security issues, Missouri House Speaker Jim Kreider, D-Nixa, said term limits could be an element in creating the "perfect storm" this legislative session.
Wednesday marked the opening day of the 2002 legislative session. In his speech to the Missouri House of Representatives, House Speaker Jim Kreider, D-Nixa, said that fully funding the Foundation Formula for public education is the no. 1 priority.
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