25 April 2001

Senate Bill 267 (the bill sponsored by Sen. David Klarich, which includes the exclusion of mentally-retarded individuals from consideration for the death penalty) has been catapulted to the third slot on the Monday April 30, House calendar for "Senate Bills for Third Reading." If the full House passes the bill, which seems likely at this point, legislators from both chambers will gather together to negotiate through differences in the two versions of the bill passed by each chamber. The language of the mental-retardation provision is identical in both versions (at least at this point), so the measure should remain intact. Finally, assuming Gov. Holden signs the bill, which again seems quite likely— SB 267 will become law. We’re heading to the home stretch, but there’s still a few more hurdles to overcome.

Other news on the bill: SB 267 was voted "Do Pass" on April 19 by members of the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. Ralph Monaco (D-Raytown), who is now the handler of the bill on the House floor. During the committee’s public hearing, representatives added other items, bloating the bill to 50 different provisions. In the Executive Session of Judiciary, members omitted a few provisions while tacking on an additional ten (aaarggh! Welcome to legislation, Missouri style) in what’s officially now known as House Committee Substitute for Senate Substitute for Senate Committee Substitute for SB 267. Rep. Monaco’s office turned in the bill to the office of Jim Krieder, Speaker of the House on Thursday. At that time, I was told there were 60 other Senate bills ahead of it. However, on Friday when I was checking out the House website, I found that the Speaker had apparently vaulted it to near the head of pack, indicating that he was a bill he regarded as a top legislative priority. It is likely to be debated in the next day or two.

Note: at this time, several folks are reviewing the amendments tacked on to the bill to see if any of them make this an appalling rather than an appealing bill—and if the character is the former, we’ll be pow-wowing about ways to make it a more progressive bill. We’ll let you know ASAP of what we decide. Most likely, much of the action would happen behind the scenes however, in a low-key manner, drawing little rather than greater attention.

Suggested Action: Please contact your House Representative (log onto the Legislator Lookup page to determine who represents you if you’re unsure). Ask him or her to refrain from tacking on any more measures onto this bill (remember, identical versions of the bills need to ultimately be passed by both chambers). Ask your representative to vote favorably on the bill, assuming it retains the MR measure as it’s written.

Please contact Speaker of the House Jim Krieder; (573-751-2956, The Honorable Speaker of the House Jim Kreider, House Post Office, Jefferson City MO 65101). Thank him for facilitating quick consideration of SB 267, especially for his efforts to let legislators pass the provision to exclude people who are mentally retarded from being considered for the death penalty,...

HB 265/HB 369 would also protect mentally-retarded individuals from death-sentence consideration. On Tuesday, April 24, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted this measure "Do Pass." Not surprisingly though, the committee chair, Sen. Klarich, tacked on all the same provisions present in his own bill, SB267. The bill has not yet been turned into the office of the President Pro Tem, Sen. Peter Kinder so it could then be placed on the calendar for debate by the full Senate. As of Friday, the main administrator with Sen. Klarich was saying Kinder’s office was not allowing more bills to be turned in and that her boss still has 5-6 other bills he wants to turn in, bills which he considers of equal or higher priority.

It still seems that at this junction that SB 267 is the best vehicle for advancing the MR exemption, however, if a bill logjam forms in the House, it would be good to have HB 265 moving along as well.I will let you know in the next day or so, if we need to contact his office and urge him to move the bill along. Perhaps best for now to not hassle the office and risk antagonizing either Sens. Klarich or Kinder (although time for this session is fast fading).

HB 835. A component of this massive omnibus crime bill-- one establishing a commission to consider sentencing in homicide cases-- is all that we have remaining from HB 68, our moratorium bill. It is listed in the Number #1 slot for the House calendar on House bills for third reading. No other amendments can be added on at this point by members of the House. It should pass perhaps later today or certainly later this week onto a Senate committee for their consideration. Behind the scenes again, we will try to work with one of the senators on either the Senate Judiciary or Civil and Criminal committee (once we find out where Sen. Kinder assigns the bill) to propose an amendment which would change the composition of the commission. (After the next few days, the House will likely consider no other bills on this specific calendar as they will have almost certainly no change for passage in the limited time left with this session.)

FYI: We want to modify the current provision (incorporated in HB 835) which would allow the commission to have as members three victims’ advocates, one each chosen by the state prosecutors association, the state police officers association and the Missouri victim assistance network. All would almost certainly be supporters of the death penalty and would likely be unable to be objective in their comparison of how death sentences and other punishments are meted out. We’ll suggest senators advancing amendments stating either that an equal number of members on the commission would be proponents and opponents of the death penalty or asking that the Missouri Bar to chose three representatives for the commission, instead of the other three groups. These would be in addition to the other members, which the bill already points out, would be appointed by leaders in the Senate and House, the Attorney General’s office and Public Defender Commission. Anyway, I’ll pass along an update as soon as is possible and seeming worthwhile—especially if there will be a need for action on your part.

Till then, thanks for your attention and concern.
Shalom,
Jeff Stack
Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty, Legislative Coordinator

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