The Missouri Senate took almost three hours Tuesday to vote on sending a message to the House - that the senators had begun work for the special session.
At the heart of the slow start was state Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, who spent two hours and 38 minutes talking with several colleagues about why the special session was needed.
"We're blowing through taxpayer dollars to the tune of $25,000 a day .... and I'm trying to figure out why," he said.
As the Constitution allows him to do, Gov. Jay Nixon last month called lawmakers to Jefferson City for a special session beginning Tuesday.
His call listed nine areas for lawmakers to consider, including enacting legislation implementing comprehensive reforms to existing tax credit programs, that produces substantial savings to the state treasury through the elimination of programs.