The Latest on Missouri Veto Session: Senate censures Chappelle-Nadal for Facebook comment

The Missouri State Capitol is pictured here in August 2017.
The Missouri State Capitol is pictured here in August 2017.

2:40 p.m.

The Missouri Senate has approved a resolution censuring state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal for her Aug. 17 Facebook comment: "I hope Trump is assassinated!"

The vote was 28-2, with Sens. Kiki Curls, D-Kansas City, and Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis, casting the only no votes.

The resolution noted the Senate "may punish a member for disorderly conduct" and urged Chappelle-Nadal to resign.

Chappelle-Nadal, D-University City, said she has not offered to resign, because "I have had an overwhelming number of people in my district asking me not to. They want me to continue the work that I do."

Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard, R-Joplin, told colleagues: "Expulsion is still a part of the process, and we're still considering it."

Several senators urged her to resign "in the best interests of your district."

-- Bob Watson

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2:30 p.m.

The Missouri House of Representatives is in recess awaiting messages from the Senate. The House is set to return no later than 6 p.m. to adjourn its veto session, and will meet at 9 a.m. Thursday for a technical session.

-- Brittany Hilderbrand

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2 p.m.

The Missouri Senate bell has rung, meaning senators to begin veto session soon, two hours after scheduled noon start.

-- Bob Watson

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1:25 p.m.

On a 49-106 vote, the Missouri House of Representatives failed to override the governor's veto of House Committee Bill 3, which would have provided a protection fund for seniors across the state.

As of July 1, 8,000 seniors were cut from in-home care services, and with no action by the Legislature those numbers will continue to rise.

The bill would have required the state treasurer to deposit $34.5 million into the Senior Services Protection Fund by Sept. 1 and authorized the commissioner of Administration to make a one-time fund sweep of unspent balances to pay for the deposit.

-- Brittany Hilderbrand

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1:13 p.m.

A Missouri House panel will look into an ethics complaint about a colleague who remarked on social media that he hopes whoever vandalized a Confederate monument will be "hung from a tall tree with a long rope."

House Speaker Todd Richardson said Wednesday that he will refer a resolution about Republican Rep. Warren Love to the bipartisan House Ethics Committee, whose proceedings are secret.

House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty has said Love should be disciplined for essentially encouraging lynching.

Love has apologized but has declined to resign.

McCann Beatty denounced Love publicly during Wednesday's annual legislative veto session, telling colleagues that "freedom of speech doesn't mean freedom from the consequences of your actions."

Love sat silently, looking at and listening to McCann Beatty. No one else spoke about it.

-- Associated Press

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1 p.m.

About an hour after the Missouri House of Representatives started its veto session Wednesday, House and Senate leadership announced the chambers would work together to develop a funding solution to preserve in-home and nursing care for more than 8,000 disabled Missourians.

House Committee Bill 3, which Gov. Eric Greitens vetoed, would have required the state treasurer to deposit $34.5 million into the Senior Services Protection Fund by Sept. 1 and authorized the commissioner of Administration to make a one-time fund sweep of unspent balances to pay for the deposit.

Lawmakers also will consider restoring provider rate cuts, including cuts to private-duty nurses who administer in-home neonatal care, according to the House Communications news release.

Senate Leader Ron Richard, R-Joplin, and House Speaker Todd Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff, have asked state Sen. Mike Cunningham and House Budget Chair Scott Fitzpatrick to work with legislators from both parties for a "fiscally responsible plan that will ensure services are maintained for some of the state's most vulnerable citizens" over the next three weeks, the news release states.

-- News Tribune

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1 p.m.

The Missouri House of Representatives began its part of veto sessionmid-day Wednesday, holding a brief ceremony for Sara Walsh, R-Ashland, to take the oath of office as the newest representative.

Walsh was elected Aug. 8 to succeed former state Rep. Caleb Jones, R-Columbia, who joined Gov. Eric Greitens' staff at the beginning of the year.

The House also began debating whether to override the governor's veto of House Committee Bill 3, the measure that would provide more money for seniors and disabled Missourians.

Meanwhile, the Senate leadership delayed the beginning of the veto session - scheduled for noon - while they, apparently, were trying to decide what to do about state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal.

After Chappelle-Nadal made a Facebook post Aug. 17 saying she hoped someone would assassinate President Trump, there have been calls for her to resign or be expelled by the Senate.

So far, she's not said she would resign.

-- Bob Watson