Jay Nixon vetoes public defender bill
JEFFERSON CITY — Legislation setting maximum caseloads for public defenders wouldn’t solve the overburdened system’s problems, Gov. Jay Nixon said today.
Nixon vetoed the bill (SB37), along with more than a dozen others. The actions wrapped up his decisions on legislation passed this year by the Missouri General Assembly.
The public defender bill, sponsored by Sen. Jack Goodman, R-Mt. Vernon, would have allowed the state to contract with private attorneys to handle cases that exceeded a new maximum. If money ran short, a waiting list would have been established for indigent defendants needing a lawyer.
Nixon said the bill would have given the Public Defender Commission “too much unfettered discretion” to set caseload limits and would have shifted responsibility for managing the public defender docket to trial courts. He promised to work to find more money for the system instead.
Nixon also vetoed bills that he said would have scrapped a property tax reform (HB148) and required renters to pay rent even if their apartment was destroyed by a natural disaster (HB171).
Most of the other vetoed bills involved obscure topics, such as milk sales regulations (HB251 and SB153), the propane council (HB751) and whether legislators should have keys to the Capitol dome (HB544).
The latter is a pet project of Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau. Legislators like to give tours of the dome; currently they must get a key from the chamber’s administrator. Nixon said Capitol security could be jeopardized by distributing more than 100 keys that could be lost or stolen.
What about the motorcycle helmet law? You mean he didn’t veto it?
Very disappointed if he didn’t!!!
“Nixon also vetoed bills that he said would have scrapped a property tax reform (HB148) and required renters to pay rent even if their apartment was destroyed by a natural disaster (HB171).”
I read the summary for HB171 and then the bill itself (all 4 lines of it). I’m pretty sure it says the exact opposite of this.
@Hamilton Bagwell
The governor already vetoed the helmet bill. http://bit.ly/17Cgxx
The system has failed and is beyond repair. It must be razed and we the people need to take the power back from the legal thieves. Ir’s a racket and the press knows and just plays along. BAN THE BAR OR IT’S WAR! We the people not we the BAR members is what America is all about. Hundreds of thousands off your neighbors and undoubtedly members of your family have had to deal with these “terrorist” for way too long. NO MORE LAWYERS!
“The system has failed . . . BAN THE BAR OR IT’S WAR! . . . “terrorist” . . . . NO MORE LAWYERS!”
Thank you, Jack Cade.
Let’s give him a hand, ladies and gentlemen!
Cat, your literary references are WAY too deep for the likes of Bulletinman….
Icanread, the problem with HB171 is the phrase “In the absence of a written contract to the contrary”. It’s a loophole. Had Gov. Nixon signed the bill, landlords would have started putting clauses in their lease contracts holding tenants responsible for rent on apartments destroyed by natural disaster. Tenants generally would not have had much choice but to agree if all or most landlords started doing this. It’s a scheme for making profit off the backs of the not-so-wealthy.
I don’t doubt that you can read, but if you had read the governor’s veto letter, you would have been aware of this.
Great. Thank you. Was out of town the 4th weekend and didn’t hear that he had vetoed the mc helmet law. Glad to hear it!! Thank you Gov.
I tell you. I wonder why I even read the Post’s shoddy reporting. The governor just vetoed legislation (HB 544) which would REINSTATE the Accountability Portal on a permanent basis. The Governor has refused to use it up to this point. It also provides for a joint accountability committee for the oversight of stimulus funds. The Post, as usual in its blind partisanship) ignores the main facet of the legislation and focuses on a meaningless obscure provision. Real journalism would hold the Guv’s feel to the fire on these transparency issues. Once again, Pulitzer is rolling over in his grave….
@CommonSense: Nixon already signed a bill (HB191) making the Accountability Portal permanent. The joint committee overseeing the stimulus is also in effect; it was authorized by SCR27. Nixon references both of these in his veto message.