Mid-Missouri lawmakers generally are pleased with the progress made so far, in the General Assembly's 2015 session.
"We're, obviously, getting a lot done," Rep. Travis Fitzwater, R-Holts Summit, said last week. "I think I've been able to work with a lot of folks to get some good things done."
Rep. Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City, agreed.
"We've had a successful time before break," he said. "We've moved the budget quickly (and) more efficiently than we have in the past."
Senate Appropriations Chairman Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, also said "it's been a pretty productive session. Obviously, I've been spending a lot of my time on the budget, being chairman of the Appropriations Committee.
"As we've said before, we're going to move this budget very quickly."
And that's a good thing, Rep. Caleb Jones, R-Columbia noted.
"I think it's very important to make sure that we get it done in enough time that, if there's any concerns or vetoes from the governor's office, we're able to override it," Jones said.
The Missouri Constitution requires the budget for the business year that begins July 1 to be passed no later than 6 p.m. on the first Friday after the first Monday in May (this year, May 8).
The Constitution gives the governor 45 days from the end of May - until July 14 - to sign or veto any laws the Legislature passes in May.
However, if lawmakers send the budget to Gov. Jay Nixon before the end of April, the Constitution gives him only 15 days to make the decision - giving lawmakers time to try to override any line-item vetoes Nixon might make in the budget before the session ends May 15.
Last week, lawmakers sent the governor the supplemental budget bill that adds money to the current, 2014-15 business year that ends June 30 - and includes the administration's requests for additional spending authority for expenses like extra law enforcement and National Guard operations in Ferguson after the Aug. 9 shooting of Michael Brown.
Sen. Jeanie Riddle, R-Mokane, noted, "Things are moving. We're working on Ag industry bills, which is our number one industry in the state.
"Obviously, Ferguson has had conversation as well."
Lawmakers introduced a total of 1,933 bills in the House and Senate, proposing new laws or changes to existing laws.
They introduced 67 joint resolutions, proposing changes to the state Constitution that, if lawmakers pass them, will go onto next year's statewide August primary or November general elections ballots for voters to approve or reject.
Also, they introduced 90 concurrent resolutions that give a sense of the Legislature in urging Congress or state officials to take certain actions - but generally have no force of law.
A number of the bills and resolutions are duplicates of other bills, so the number isn't as staggering as it might appear.
Also, lawmakers traditionally pass only 150-200 bills of the total filed.
The governor has a say only on the bills - not the resolutions.
However, Barnes is proud of the resolution he introduced in January that lawmakers had to approve by the end of that month.
"I thought it was a priority for us to reject the politician pay increases," proposed last November by the Missouri Citizens Commission on Compensation for Elected Officials, as required by the Constitution every other year.
Those pay changes go into effect automatically unless two-thirds of the members of each chamber - 109 in the House, 23 in the Senate - approve a resolution rejecting them.
"I had the highly-unusual pleasure of having passed a priority piece of legislation in January - which I've never done before and it's unlikely to happen again," Barnes said, "because it's really hard to pass a bill even out of the House by the end of January, let alone out of both bodies."
Rep. Mike Bernskoetter, R-Jefferson City, told the News Tribune: "We've passed a lot of good bills (and) talked about all kinds of stuff.
"We've done some welfare reform" on the same bill in both chambers - which isn't unheard of, but is a little unusual for this time of year.
Sen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, said: "I think reinstating the med-mal (malpractice damages limits) or, at least, getting a med-mal cap bill moved over to the House is huge. I think it's good for our state's economy and the health of our medical industry, so I think that was a good bill to get out of the Senate."
Kehoe also noted the Senate has sent the House "the big agriculture bill - which was a top priority for us, because agriculture is our number one industry."
Also, he said, the Senate last week passed the House version "of the dairy bill - which is in the omnibus ag bill, but we've (also) done it as a separate piece. I think I'm looking forward to the governor signing that.
"I'm a big fan of keeping our dairy industry alive, and letting the farmers of this state be able to take advantage of the federal farm bill."
On the calendar, the Legislature is 61 percent finished with 2015's 18-week session. There are seven weeks to go when the lawmakers return March 30.
"We still have much to do," Riddle said.