By Miica Patterson
(MDN News) -- Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night could keep Missouri lawmakers from passing their bills this week.
After leaving the state Capitol early two weeks ago, state lawmakers remained in the building for a full week of work last week, despite continuing snowfall. Missouri experienced a major winter storm with heavy snowfall, sleet and freezing rain with some areas in the state getting as much as a foot of snow on Thursday, Feb. 21, according to the National Weather Service.
Both the House and Senate adjourned early Wednesday, Feb. 20, so legislators could return home to their districts before the storm hit.
Sen. Dan Brown, R-Rolla, said the winter storm did put Senate committee meetings behind schedule but they made it up this week.
Referring to an extended debate over a bill that would make deep cuts to the state's tax credit programs, Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles, said some senators were here into the early morning hours of Wednesday, Feb. 27, to get worked finished in the chamber.
Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, said House committees also worked longer hours to make up for lost time because of the storm. He said the extra time spent in House committees varied but the storm didn't slow down progress too much.
"It was a very minor disruption," Kelly said. "It wasn't significant in any way."
In 2011, Rep. Wanda Brown, R-Lincoln, was hospitalized after getting in a car accident in Camden County during that year's blizzard. Brown injured her neck and back during the accident.
While Brown since recovered and is still a member of the House, leaders in both chambers are much more cautious now about working through snowstorms when members have to get home.
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