The 2018 session of the Missouri Legislature had its successes and failures, but overall lawmakers pushed through a major distraction to accomplish a good amount of work.
Criminal charges against Gov. Eric Greitens and a subsequent and ongoing House committee probe into allegations against the governor have overshadowed the entire session. Still, lawmakers managed to approve some good legislation. It fulfilled its constitutional requirement of passing a balanced budget for the fiscal year that starts in July.
The Legislature passed 144 bills out of the 2,068 that were introduced. The success of any given session, however, can't be judged on the number of bills passed. Sometimes preventing bad legislation from making law is just as important as passing good legislation.
On the positive side, the Legislature approved some good conservative measures, including a reduction of personal and corporate income taxes. To fund this however, lawmakers limited some income tax deductions.
Republican lawmakers boast they didn't increases taxes, which we applaud.
But we also like that they did vote to give Missourians the opportunity to vote on a 10-cent fuel tax increase to fund Missouri's underfunded transportation system. The Missouri Department of Transportation announced years ago that, with a drop in funding, its ability to maintain our current network of roads and bridges would be limited. Nothing has been done since then, and it's starting to show.
The Mid-Missouri area was the impetus for some successful measures, and our area will benefit from others.
Lawmakers saw fit to give state employees a raise this year, although it does little more than keep up with inflation.
The Legislature funded higher education at a higher rate than Greitens had recommended, and two schools in our backyard, Lincoln University and State Technical College, got boosts.
One bill sent to the governor will require all nursing homes and similar facilities to report suspected abuse or neglect of residents to local police. Currently, a report is only required to be filed with the Department of Health and Senior Services.
The unsolved death of Carl DeBrodie in Fulton highlights the need for such a law.
All in all, the 2018 legislative session was a mixed bag, but generally a good effort to help the lives of Missourians.