My advice for the week is do not look at the Capitol to be inspired. Do not look at the news to be inspired. Instead, look around and see the massive amount of volunteer work being done around you.
Just as the resilience of the citizens of Ukraine is so impressive, so is the dedication of so many of the people here in Central Missouri in making this a better place to live. There are fish fries constantly throughout Central Missouri. This is all done by volunteers. There are barbecues at various churches and various entities providing food and resources for charitable operations. All of these volunteers are accomplishing and doing good things without any expectations, rewards or recognition.
One of the great joys at the Capitol is having visitors to the Capitol, showing them the Capitol, and giving them a chance to appreciate the quality of the artwork and the atmosphere of being in the Capitol. The quilters of St. Margaret's Catholic Church of Osage Bend toured the Capitol this week and it was an honor to introduce them on the floor. It is inspiring to think of the number of quilts they have sold and the amount of money they have raised for the church over the last 100 years. It makes you wonder where Osage Bend would be without all their work.
We had art students from Russellville schools who participated in and won awards at the state art competition at the Capitol this week. Not only was the work amazing, considering I have a hard time drawing a circle, but their level of confidence and maturity was so impressive. I have had the joy of being able to meet many other constituents and other people at the Capitol, and while I would love to meet and speak to even more, my role in the legislative process has to come first.
Four of my bills are out of committee and rules and are on the House floor. Another four are set to be heard in committee within the next week. This requires me to find witnesses to testify as to the need for the bill and the effects that the bill might have on the state. For example, a lot of my bills will have a direct effect on our legal system which requires other lawyers and judges to come in and explain to the committees what the problem is that is being solved and what effects this will have on Missourians. In addition, I have been able to work with other representatives to get the content of my bills onto their bills as amendments. This gives my bills multiple opportunities to become law. Remember after they pass the House, they have to make it through the Senate. I have been working with senators to move the same bills as senate bills through the senate. Last year, I had about eight bills make it through the House and four of them died on the last day because the Senate decided to recess and go home without taking the consent calendar and passing bills that had been agreed upon.
We heard the eminent domain/condemnation bill this week. I was happy to see that two of my suggestions were incorporated in the bill, but I also know this bill has to go through the Senate, where it died last year. It is an important bill in that we do need to recognize people's rights. When for-profit companies are coming to take your ground under eminent domain, we want to ensure that they don't use their size and power to overwhelm the individual and deny them fair and just compensation for the taking of private ground. Damages are so hard to measure when they go through the middle of your field, near your home, or split your farm in half or just reduce the size of your land.
House Bill 1547 addresses pretrial release. While we want to not keep anyone in jail unnecessarily, if they are going to be released, we need them to be adequately monitored so they do not take advantage of their freedom to commit more crimes and destroy the opportunity of others to qualify for pretrial release.
House Bill 1550 made it out of rules and is set to go on the calendar. It simply allows what we know as summer camps to operate 365 days a year so working parents can maintain their jobs and have a secure, quality place for their children to participate during those days. The content of this bill is also attached to two other bills, and is on the calendar for perfection.
House Bill 2623 deals with background checks and is on the calendar for perfection. Further, its content is attached to two other bills that are progressing through the House. Background checks are required in more and more areas of the state and this is more of an attempt to have a uniform background check using the language that the FBI is requiring we use.
We are now past halfway through the session. We have the budget left to do. Federal congressional lines have been passed in the Senate and are now being sent back to the House for House approval. The Senate will also have to address several of our earlier bills that we passed dealing with COVID-19, initiative petitions, and several other controversial bills, which will take a lot of cooperation to pass anything.
For those of you who believe the less we do, the better, you may well be happy with this year's session. But I assure you there are a lot of bills that deal with the everyday operation of state government, issues arising how the state government operates that do need to be addressed and unfortunately, I do not believe it's going to happen this year.
This may be a painful year for legislators who want to get things done but sometimes pain is what brings change. Hopefully, in the future, we can see what happens when certain individuals do not have any intention of cooperating, accomplishing anything, but mainly just want to obstruct the system and make campaign slogan is not beneficial to our constituents.
In meetings at the Capitol, I get to meet with people from all walks of life such as doctors, engineers, contractors, laborers, firemen, sheriffs, deputy sheriffs and EMTs. Meeting people from all walks of life gives me a new perspective on so many areas of life that I really appreciate.
I met with a general contractor this week and he was showing me the new technology of how bulldozers operate, all on GPS. It made me aware of how important our continued education in technology is to make any of our businesses successful and it further was a reminder that I need to spend more time on the streets with individuals so I can understand the different walks of life to better understand the collateral consequences of some of the bills we pass and what effect they will have.
As always, your input is vital to my ability to represent you effectively. Please call 573-751-0665 and email [email protected] with your questions, thoughts and concerns.
State Rep. Rudy Veit, R-Jefferson City, represents Missouri's 59th District and shares his perspective on statehouse issues twice a month.