Wednesday morning's previous question motion to end the state Senate's nearly 40-hour filibuster on the proposed "religious liberty" constitutional amendment once again brought the Senate into conflict with one of its general philosophies.
The words carved on the Senate chamber wall highlight that philosophy: "Free and fair discussion is the firmest friend of truth."
"I thought (the debate) was fair and open," President Pro Tem Ron Richard told reporters during a Wednesday morning news conference, shortly after the Senate ended its session that began about 4:15 p.m. Monday. "We gave everyone an opportunity to speak their mind."
For years, the Senate has prided itself on letting its members talk about anything and everything for as long as they want.
The Senate's rules also are very specific about how the previous question, generally known as the PQ, shall be raised.
It's a procedural motion to end debate by demanding the chamber vote on the most recent bill or amendment placed before the Senate for discussion.
The motion must be made in writing in a letter to the Senate's secretary signed by at least five senators.
Once the letter is delivered to the secretary, the lawmaker making the motion can choose when to raise the question.
"It was our goal to make sure that we didn't have to use the previous question," Richard, R-Joplin, said. "We thought at many times during the debate that we were not going to be able to move to some kind of a compromise.
"So, after some deliberation in the (Republican) caucus, we decided to move toward a previous question - and you saw the result."
A previous question motion cannot be debated. And it requires two roll call votes, which must get at least 18 votes to be passed - one to approve the motion and then a forced vote on the bill or amendment.
From the beginning of statehood until 2000, the PQ motion was used only a handful of times.
But its use became more frequent since 2000, and several Capitol observers said Wednesday the advent of term limits likely had more to do with the increasing use than the switch from a Democratic Party majority to the Republican takeover in 2001.
Among many issues in recent years, Republicans invoked the PQ on measures to:
• Require voters to show a photo identification card before being able to cast a vote. That 2006 law was ruled unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court later that year - and that ruling is the main reason, sponsors say, for the current voter photo ID proposal to have a proposed constitutional amendment as well as a law defining the kinds of ID that would be allowed.
• Place a constitutional amendment on the November 2008 ballot, requiring English to be the state government's official language.
• Convert Missouri to a Right to Work state, where membership in a union could not be a requirement for any job. Last May's use of the PQ during the last week of the 2015 session brought the Senate's work to a halt, with only one other bill passed in the session's final three days - a time that usually is packed with last-minute negotiations and the final passage of numerous bills.
The House last September failed to override Gov. Jay Nixon's veto of the bill, so the issue never came to another debate or vote in the Senate.
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