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2024 Missouri legislative session

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2024 Missouri legislative session
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General information
Scheduled session start:    Jan. 3, 2024

Scheduled session end:    May 17, 2024

Leadership
Senate President
Mike Kehoe (R)

House Speaker
Dean Plocher (R)
Majority Leader
Senate: Cindy O'Laughlin (R)
House: Jon Patterson (R)
Minority Leader
Senate: John Rizzo (D)
House: Crystal Quade (D)

Elections
Next Election:    November 5, 2024

Last Election:    November 8, 2022

Previous legislative sessions
2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018
Other 2024 legislative sessions


In 2024, the Missouri General Assembly was scheduled to convene on January 3 and adjourn on May 17.

The legislators serving in this session took office following the 2022 elections. Republicans won a 24-10 majority in the Senate and a 111-52 majority in the House. The party also controlled the governorship, creating a Republican state government trifecta. At the start of the 2024 session, Missouri was one of 20 state legislatures where Republicans had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers.

At the beginning of the 2024 legislative session:
  • Republicans held a majority in the Missouri state House and state Senate.
  • Missouri was one of 23 Republican state government trifectas.
  • Missouri's governor was Republican Mike Parson.

    • Leadership in 2024

    Missouri State Senate

    Missouri House of Representatives

    Partisan control in 2024

    See also: State government trifectas

    Missouri was one of 23 Republican state government trifectas at the start of 2024 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.

    Missouri was also one of 20 state legislatures where Republicans had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.

    The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the Missouri General Assembly in the 2024 legislative session.

    Missouri State Senate

    Party As of January 2024
         Democratic Party 10
         Republican Party 24
    Total 34

    Missouri House of Representatives

    Party As of January 2024
         Democratic Party 51
         Republican Party 111
         Vacancies 1
    Total 163

    Standing legislative committees

    See also: Standing committee and List of committees in Missouri state government


    A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.

    At the beginning of the 2024 legislative session, there were 62 standing committees in Missouri's state government, including 12 joint legislative committees, 17 state Senate committees, and 33 state House committees.

    Joint legislative committees

    • Joint Committee on Agriculture
    • Joint Committee on Administrative Rules
    • Joint Committee on Capitol Security
    • Joint Committee on Education
    • Joint Committee on Government Accountability
    • Joint Committee on Legislative Research
    • Joint Committee on Public Assistance
    • Joint Committee on Public Employee Retirement
    • Joint Committee on Tax Policy
    • Joint Committee on Transportation Oversight
    • Joint Committee on the Justice System
    • Joint Committee on the Life Sciences

    Senate committees

    • Administration Committee
    • Agriculture, Food Production and Outdoor Resources Committee
    • Appropriations Committee
    • Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy and the Environment Committee
    • Economic Development and Tax Policy Committee
    • Education and Workforce Development Committee
    • Emerging Issues Committee
    • Governmental Accountability Committee
    • Gubernatorial Appointments Committee
    • Health and Welfare Committee
    • Insurance and Banking Committee
    • Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee
    • Local Government and Elections Committee
    • Progress and Development Committee
    • Rules, Joint Rules, Resolutions and Ethics Committee
    • Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee
    • Veterans, Military Affairs and Pensions Committee

    House committees

    • Administration and Accounts Committee
    • Administrative Oversight Committee
    • Agriculture Policy Committee
    • Budget Committee
    • Children and Families Committee
    • Consent and House Procedure Committee
    • Conservation and Natural Resources Committee
    • Corrections and Public Institutions Committee
    • Crime Prevention and Public Safety Committee
    • General Laws Committee
    • Government Efficiency and Downsizing Committee
    • Economic Development Committee
    • Elections and Elected Officials Committee
    • Elementary and Secondary Education Committee
    • Emerging Issues Committee
    • Ethics Committee
    • Financial Institutions Committee
    • Fiscal Review Committee
    • Health and Mental Health Policy Committee
    • Higher Education Committee
    • Insurance Policy Committee
    • Judiciary Committee
    • Legislative Oversight Committee
    • Legislative Review Committee
    • Local Government Committee
    • Pensions Committee
    • Professional Registration and Licensing Committee
    • Rural Community Development Committee
    • Transportation Accountability Committee
    • Utilities Committee
    • Veterans Committee
    • Ways and Means Committee
    • Workforce and Infrastructure Development Committee

    Legislation

    Enacted legislation

    The list below shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2024 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation met these criteria in 2024. This information is provided by BillTrack50.

    Election administration legislation

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    State election laws are changing. Keeping track of the latest developments in all 50 states can seem like an impossible job. Here's the solution: Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker.

    Ballotpedia's Election Administration Tracker sets the industry standard for ease of use, flexibility, and raw power. Ballotpedia's election experts provide daily updates on bills and other relevant political developments, translate complex bill text into easy-to-understand summaries written in everyday language, and, because it's from Ballotpedia, our Tracker is guaranteed to be neutral, unbiased, and nonpartisan.

    The table below lists 2024 election-related legislation in Missouri. The following information is included for each bill:

    • Bill number
    • Official name or caption
    • Most recent action date
    • Legislative status
    • Topics dealt with by the bill

    Bills are organized by bill number. The table displays up to 100 results by default. To view additional results, use the arrows in the upper-right corner of the table. For more information about a particular bill, simply click the bill number. This will open a separate page with additional information.


    Legislatively referred constitutional amendments

    In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.

    The methods by which the Missouri Constitution can be amended:

    See also: Article XII of the Missouri Constitution and Laws governing the initiative process in Missouri

    The Missouri Constitution can be amended via three different paths—a citizen-initiated process, a legislative process, and a state constitutional convention.

    Initiative

    See also: Initiated constitutional amendment

    An initiated constitutional amendment is a citizen-initiated ballot measure that amends a state's constitution. Eighteen (18) states allow citizens to initiate constitutional amendments.

    In Missouri, the number of signatures required for an initiated constitutional amendment is based on the number of votes cast for governor in the state's most recent gubernatorial election. In two-thirds of Missouri's congressional districts, proponents must collect signatures equal to 8% of the gubernatorial vote for initiated constitutional amendments. A simple majority vote is required for voter approval.

    Legislature

    See also: Legislatively referred constitutional amendment

    A simple majority vote is required during one legislative session for the Missouri General Assembly to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 82 votes in the Missouri House of Representatives and 18 votes in the Missouri State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

    Convention

    See also: Convention-referred constitutional amendment

    According to Section 3a of Article XII of the Missouri Constitution, a question about whether to hold a state constitutional convention is to automatically appear on the state's ballot every 20 years starting in 1942. Missouri is one of 14 states that provides for an automatic constitutional convention question.

    The table below shows the last and next constitutional convention question election years:

    State Interval Last question on the ballot Next question on the ballot
    Missouri 20 years 2022 2042


    Historical partisan control

    The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of Missouri.

    Missouri Party Control: 1992-2025
    Eight years of Democratic trifectas  •  Thirteen years of Republican trifectas
    Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

    Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
    Governor R D D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R
    Senate D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
    House D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R

    Historical Senate control

    Republicans won control of the Missouri State Senate in 2002. In 2022, they won a 24-10 majority.

    The table below shows the partisan history of the Missouri Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2022. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Missouri State Senate election results: 1992-2022

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18 '20 '22
    Democrats 20[1] 19 19 18 17* 14 11 13 11 8 10 9 9 10 10 10
    Republicans 13 15 15 16 17 20 23 21 23 26 24 25 25 24 24 24
    Other 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

    *Since no party had majority control, leadership of the chamber was split between the two parties.

    Historical House control

    Republicans won control of the Missouri House of Representatives in 2002. In 2022, they won a 111-52 majority.

    The table below shows the partisan history of the Missouri House following every general election from 1992 to 2022. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Missouri House of Representatives election results: 1992-2022

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18 '20 '22
    Democrats 100 87 88 86 87 73 66 71 74 57 53 46 46 47 49 52
    Republicans 62 76 75 76 76 90 97 92 89 106 110 117 117 116 114 111
    Other 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

    Noteworthy Event

    Senate Democrats break filibuster record (2024)

    On May 15, 2024, Missouri Senate Democrats broke the record for longest filibuster in the chamber’s history. The filibuster was in response to a proposed bill to add a ballot measure to the November 5 ballot on whether to raise the threshold required to add amendments to the state constitution.[2]

    Currently, amendments only need a majority vote statewide. This measure would have required that amendments also receive a majority vote in at least five of the state’s eight congressional districts.[2] According to The Kansas City Star, Senate Democrats “vowed to block the measure until Republicans agree to strip deceptive language attached to the measure.”[2]

    The filibuster ended on May 15 when the Senate voted 18-13 to send the bill back to the House to negotiate the language used in the bill.[3] The filibuster lasted 50 hours, beating the previous 41-hour record. The House refused to change the language, and the Senate adjourned on May 17 without acting on the bill.[3][4]

    See also

    Elections Missouri State Government State Legislatures State Politics
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    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ In 1992, one seat was held by a member from a minor party.
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Kansas City Star, "Missouri Senate Democrats break record for longest filibuster as end of session nears," May 15, 2024
    3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Missouri Independent, "50-hour filibuster forces more negotiations on GOP-backed initiative petition changes," May 15, 2024
    4. ↑ The Associated Press, "GOP fighting, 50-hour Democratic filibuster kill push to make amending Missouri Constitution harder," May 17, 2024
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