General Assembly overrides Nixon's congressional redistricting veto

The months-long political process of redrawing Missouri's congressional districts is finally over after legislators in the Missouri General Assembly voted to override the governor's veto of the redistricting proposal Wednesday.

In the House, four black Democrats, two from St. Louis and two from Kansas City, joined every Republican in approving the override in a 109-44 vote that then sent the bill to the Senate. House Republicans needed to pick up at least four Democrats to reach the two-thirds majority they needed to override Nixon's veto.

Rep. Michael Brown, D-Kansas City, who voted with the Republicans, said he was concerned with the response from his party but said he voted to override the veto to protect his congressman -- black Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver.

"From the western side of the state, my congressman was signaling that this might be a map that he could work with and that if it went to the courts he may not get the kind of map that was suitable for him," Brown said.

Democratic Floor Leader Rep. Mike Talboy, D-Jackson County, said the map was designed by Republicans to target Carnahan and blamed the result on a "partisan redistricting process."

"You have folks who got calls because in the end people needed to defend their own districts and make sure those things are taken care of," Talboy said. "The question becomes, and this is why people are upset, are you going to vote as a Democrat to keep Democrats in Congress or are you going to vote to let somebody be eliminated and have less Democrats in the state and have a 6-2 map."

Rep. Tishaura Jones, D-St. Louis City, said she voted against the override to defend Carnahan and keep his seat from getting eliminated.

"I'm one of few African-Americans in this assembly that is represented by Carnahan ... so I'm here to stand up for my congressman who is getting drawn out of this map," Jones said. "I think that Missouri is a state where people should have a fighting chance, and this map does not give my congressman a fighting chance."

Rep. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis City, said the four Democratic votes, all of which came from black members of the caucus, should come as a sign that black Democrats deserve more recognition from their party. Nasheed's district is represented by the other black Democratic U.S. representative, Lacy Clay.

"For years, African-Americans have been taken for granted within the Democratic party, and at some point African-Americans should understand that their vote counts and they deserve more from the Democratic party," Nasheed said. "At the end of the day we are in lock-step with them, we vote 99.9 percent Democrat, but there is no return on the vote."

Both Brown and Nasheed said that their caucus did not have enough members to afford kicking out any member. Brown also said the Democratic party might have to adjust to more conservative members, just as Republicans had to deal with the emergence of the tea party.

Talboy said the party is going to discuss how the four defecting Democrats voted and the potential consequences of their actions. One of these consequences could result Democratic members being forced out of their caucus.

"If anything is decided one way or the other, if we think it needs to be discussed outside the family, then we will do so at that time, but for now all of those discussions will stay inside of the family because, quite frankly, it is an emotional issue and people have opinions about it," Talboy said. "I can't speak for all my caucus members and what's in their head right now, but we will have a discussion."

Speaker of the House Steve Tilley, R-Perryville, said the Democratic caucus should be embarrassed for discussing the possibility of kicking out members for voting against the party.

"There's no one vote that I would kick any member of our caucus out of our caucus. ... In our caucus, when we disagree, we disagree and we don't ostracize people because we disagree with them," Tilley said. "If they continue to behave like that, the Republican caucus is only going to grow larger."

House Redistricting Committee Chairman John Diehl, R-St. Louis County, said the map was compact and "adequately represents all Missourians," a sentiment that he has stated repeatedly in the past.

In the afternoon, the Senate followed the House's example and, without debate, overrode the veto in a 28-6 vote. One Republican senator, Bill Stouffer, R-Napton, voted with five Democrats against the veto override. Stouffer has been against the redistricting proposals throughout the process because the maps place his and two other rural counties in the Fifth District with a part of urban Kansas City.

The chambers sent Gov. Jay Nixon the finalized conference maps on April 27, and he vetoed the bill on April 30.

Nixon was unavailable for comment, but released a statement on the override. In the statement, Nixon said he still does "not believe this map reflects a fair representation of the interests for all regions of our state." He continued, "Now that the map is finalized, we expect a robust electoral process in these significantly altered districts."

Last week, members of both chambers formed the conference map, which eliminates the St. Louis district held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, following a contentious debate over the proposed district lines that split the Republican party and stalled the legislation for weeks.

Carnahan's office released a statement about the override of the redistricting plan that eliminates his congressional seat.

"This is a bad day for the people of Missouri," the statement said. "Families and businesses across this state are facing the prospect of weaker representation and divided communities, all in the name of a partisan power-grab."

The General Assembly's override of Nixon's veto was the first since 2003 and only its 23rd override in the legislature's 191-year history.

The original plans proposed by both chambers split Jackson and St. Charles counties between two different districts, while dividing Jefferson County among three. The final conference map plan puts a larger chunk of St. Charles County in one congressional district. The map also splits Jefferson County into three different congressional districts. Although splits among Senate Republicans stemmed from the rural versus urban issue, opposition between the House and Senate came from a dispute over the St. Charles and Jefferson County area.

The General Assembly was required to lower the state's congressional districts from nine to eight after 2010 census results revealed the state's population did not grow as quickly when compared to other states. The new congressional districts will be implemented starting with the 2012 elections.

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House approves plan for new congressional districts

With the first chamber vote involving a redistricting plan, Missouri's representatives voted mostly along party lines and with limited debate Wednesday to pass a map that eliminates a St. Louis congressional district held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan.

The Republican-led effort in the House resulted in a 106-53 vote approving the proposal, just two votes away from a two-thirds majority needed to supersede a veto by the Governor should he choose to do so once the maps are finalized.

Democratic Floor Leader Rep. Mike Talboy, D-Jackson County, said that despite Carnahan being "targeted" through the elimination of his district, Democrats could not fight a majority vote by Republicans. Instead, Talboy said, they would have to wait until the Senate finished with its proposal to see the final district layout.

"Obviously when you have one of your congressional delegation with a bullseye on their back, it's not something that you just want to sit down and take," Talboy said. "If the majority has their votes the majority has their votes and we're not going to be able to stop that, but the process is not even halfway done at this point."

Four Democrats joined Republicans in passing the map, even though it dissolves a district held by a member of their own party.

During the House session, Rep. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis County, one of the four Democrats supporting the plan, said the loss of a district was not a surprise.

"At the end of the day we all knew that we were going to lose a congressional seat, so the question on everyone's head was 'who's it going to be,'" Nasheed said.

When asked later why she supported the Republican plan over a member of her own party, Nasheed said she could not "fight for a man that doesn't fight for himself."

House Redistricting Committee Chairman Rep. John Diehl, R-St. Louis County, said that even though not everyone was happy with the result, the redistricting process was fair and the map was the best proposal for the new districts.

"Even with the challenge we faced, we committed to all to complete this process in a fair, open and transparent matter that ensured adequate representation for all Missourians," Diehl said. "The map may not completely satisfy everyone, but it is complete and contiguous."

In addition to dissolving Carnahan's district, the map alters the state's district layout by splitting Jefferson County between three congressional districts and by creating a large sixth district that expands across much of the northern part of the state and dips into Jackson County, dividing the county between two districts.

In a rare move, the House endorsed the plan after giving it first-round approval earlier in the day, causing some Democrats, such as Rep. Mike Colona, D-St. Louis City, to question the integrity of the process. Colona said he was disappointed with the map and that the House could be accused of following "party politics" because of how quickly it was proceeding.

Before its initial approval of the new districts, the House dismissed three amendments proposed by Democrats.

Colona submitted one of the amendments to keep three congressional seats in the St. Louis area and said that as the "economic power of the state," the St. Louis region deserved three representatives.

"In order to protect the interests, not just of the St. Louis metropolitan economic engine, but really the economic clout of the great state of Missouri, the metropolitan area should have three people in its congressional delegation," Colona said.

The General Assembly is required to lower the number of Missouri's congressional districts from nine to eight and submit finalized proposals by the end of the legislative session due to population changes cited by the 2010 census. The House plan will now go to the Senate, which is preparing for its own discussion over a similar map.

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Missouri House Gives Approval to Powerful Economic Development Package Sponsored by Rep. John J. Diehl, Jr.

The Missouri House has approved a wide-ranging economic development package focused on creating and retaining jobs in the fields of science and technology. Sponsored by state Rep. John J. Diehl, Jr., R-Town and Country, the legislation (HB 468) received overwhelming bipartisan support; passing by a vote of 144-7. Diehl said the legislation would give Missouri a powerful tool to move the state toward becoming a national leader in the science, technology and research industries.

“This legislation will help us identify some of the key components of our economy that we can help grow for the future,” said Diehl. “We know entrepreneurial growth is a vital part of any long-term economic success we hope to achieve for the state. This legislation will allow us to support entrepreneurial activity and allow Missouri to catch up with the many states that have already embraced entrepreneurship and innovation as economic growth strategies.”

One portion of the bill would create the Missouri Science and Innovation Reinvestment Act. MOSIRA, which received approval in the House for the first time in the state’s history, would create a funding source to spark growth in research and technology enterprises by capturing a small percentage of the new growth in gross wages generated by employees working in Missouri within designated science and innovation fields. The funds would then be reinvested strategically by the Missouri Technology Corporation into projects that are innovation-based and have the greatest potential return to the citizens of Missouri. Diehl stressed that funding for MOSIRA would not be generated from additional taxes or involve the use of existing general revenue funds.

Diehl said funding would be reinvested in a wide range of programs designed to: attract top science talent to Missouri; commercialize scientific research to create new Missouri-based technology companies; recruit and build strategic science infrastructure; create a continuum of capital programs to increase access to risk capital for early-stage technology companies created in or recruited to Missouri; increase technology-focused entrepreneurial activity in Missouri; and establish highly-focused workplace development initiatives.

“Our science and innovation industries represent an enormous untapped potential that our state needs to capitalize on if we are going to prepare our economy for success in the future,” said Diehl. “MOSIRA gives us a predictable, stable source of funding that will help us build our entrepreneurial infrastructure. Best of all it does it without cost to Missouri taxpayers.”

Diehl’s bill has received strong bipartisan support and has been backed by businesses, academic institutions, workforce development and community groups from across the state.

The legislation also includes incentives for the building of data storage facilities and computer server farm facilities. The bill would authorize a state and local sales and use tax exemption on items related to these facilities. The data storage legislation was also filed as House Bill 366 by House Budget Chairman Ryan Silvey, R-Kansas City.

In addition, the legislative package would modify the Enhanced Enterprise Zone Program to allow for tax credits to be issued to developers who establish a new business facility in a dormant manufacturing plant zone. The plan is meant to help make use of the closed Chrysler Plant near Fenton and has also been proposed as House Bill 357 by Representative Mike Leara, R-St. Louis County.

“This is a big picture piece of legislation that gives our state some effective tools to move our economy in a positive direction,” said Diehl. “We have an abundance of untapped potential that we must make use of if we are going to make Missouri a national leader in the emerging science and technology industries. This puts us in the game and allows us to compete with the many states that have already made that investment.”