Missouri Legislative Report #1 For 2008
Dear Brother & Sister Carpenters,
The 2008 Session started January 9th
and will adjourn per constitution May 30, 2008.
This is my eighth year as a registered
lobbyist working on behalf of the Carpenter’s District Council of Kansas City
and the Carpenter’s District Council of Greater St. Louis. I will be keeping
you informed by way of your newsletters, meetings or the web page in Kansas
City:
www.carpenters-kc.org plus the Cutting Edge in St Louis.
As of this date 1,075 bills have been filed
and read for the first time on the Senate and House floor. Fourteen of these
bills concern Illegal Immigrants, but only half of them actually need our
testimony and help to become a good bill. As of now I have picked out a total
of 75 bills to watch that covers issues that concerns Carpenters and labor men
and women. Representative Steve Hunter filed two critical bills that
must be defeated. HB 1811 establishes certain employee rights concerning Open
Shop and Right to Work Language, plus HB 1872 prohibits employers from
deducting payments from employee’s paychecks for political purposes.
This month has been special with the
announcement of Governor Blunt that he will not seek re-election. The Capitol
was bussing Tuesday and still is concerning who is going to run now for Governor
and the other offices left open by the reshuffling of the candidates. I will
have more on this later. It is too early to tell who will be on the final
slates in each party.
Tuesday I was honored to be the driver for
President elect John Edwards to attend a rally at the Eagles Club in Jefferson
City. It was sad to hear his announcement the next day that he was suspending
his campaign. I can promise you that it was nothing I said or did to promote
his decision; he was a great candidate for the worker and the union members.
I also attended the Press Conference of Jay
Nixon held at the Capitol. He did a good job explaining why he is running for
Governor and what it means to the working men and women, to the disabled, to the
uninsured and to the less fortunate to have a friend in the highest office in
the State of Missouri. We are facing one of the most important elections of our
life this year so please check with your Council and Local Union about helping
out and electing the best for our union.
Tuesday of each week labor lobbyist meet to
share views and positions on upcoming legislation. This is a very informative
meeting that gives insight on the concerns of the other unions and a chance to
help each other with legislation.
My job will be again to monitor legislative
and regulatory developments. I will be building coalitions with allies on
common legislative and political interest as well as promoting the positive
image of the UBC among state legislators, regulators and staff
If you would like to review pending legislation
and bills, try Google and type in the Missouri General Assembly. If you have
any other concerns or other ideas, please let your voice be heard. My address
is 1930 North Circle Drive, Jefferson City, MO 65109
Maurice Schulte
Legislative Consultant for the State of
Missouri
TEL: 573-635-5859
FAX: 573-635-3086
schulte0@earthlink.net
