JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.—Attempts to override state budget vetoes that impacted St. Louis area programs and projects fell short Wednesday, as lawmakers met for roughly three hours before adjourning the annual veto session.
Despite complaints from the St. Louis and St. Charles County delegations following Governor Mike Parson’s budget vetoes over the summer, there was not an expectation that a Republican supermajority in the legislative branch would override a Republican governor.
A vote to override $12 million for the design and construction of a law enforcement training facility in O’Fallon did not clear the House, nor did a move to revive $13 million in funds for roof maintenance, repairs and a lead assessment of the Riverview Gardens School District.
A move to restore $1.5 million for a year-round job training youth employment program in the city of St. Louis also failed, despite pleas from the St. Louis delegation.
But there was successful bipartisan support to try and restore $10 million that would go toward the construction of a new $42 million 911 public safety dispatch center located at the current site of the St. Louis Fire Department.
The issue of 911 service in St. Louis took on new urgency over the summer, following July storms that overwhelmed a short-staffed dispatch center and first responders. A woman died after being trapped in a car struck by a fallen tree. Authorities have said it took more than 30 minutes from the time a 911 call was taken for a fire crew to arrive at the scene.
House lawmakers heard that story prior to the successful override vote.
A total of 14 overrides passed the House, including pay raises for the Missouri State Highway Patrol as well as training and equipment for Missouri Task Force 1, the statewide search and rescue team, but none advanced in the Senate.
Not long after receiving formal notice of the House’s actions, Senate Appropriations Chair Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, said on the floor he didn’t plan to move for a vote as he did not believe any of the measures sent by the House had enough support to pass.
"This kind of seems like an exercise in futility to me," Hough said.