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On May 18, as the hands of the two chambers’ big clocks touch six and twelve, the Missouri House of Representatives and State Senate will complete a legislative session. Counting down the weeks, paring down the bills, debating competing philosophies, and invoking dusty rules of procedure, our elected representatives and senators are currently scurrying around Jefferson City finishing up the people's business. Who will be more thrilled when the session ends our elected officials or us, the people they regulate and tax?
Drafting and passing legislation is not only the art of compromise, but also the craft of creative favor exchange.
Otto von Bismarck, for whom a cute little Missouri hamlet is named, once remarked that it is probably better for our digestion not to watch how either sausages or laws are made. If you have had occasion to watch our legislators, both state and federal, as they are button-holed and cajoled by lobbyists and staffers, rushed from hearing room to floor, and forced to cast yes or no votes on 800 pages of fine print or watched Blutwurst being made you have to agree with Otto.
This is not to say that legislatures and their inhabitants are unnecessary. We need the laws they make to protect the health and safety of our citizens; and taxes they impose to pave our streets, provide for public safety, and build schools. So, we owe our legislators thanks for doing a job that we can’t bear to watch, but can’t do without.
This week’s Mini-Poll from MayorSlay.com puts you in a seat in the state senate lobby and gives you the chance to vote Yea, Nay, or Present to several pieces of legislation now being considered in Jefferson City.
Answer this week's mini-poll: vote like a legislator, but please don't raise our taxes!
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