General Assembly Plans to Return to Capitol

The Missouri General Assembly issued a statement this week through the House Speaker and Senate Pro Tem indicating their plan to return to the Capitol on April 27th in order to ensure funding for state government and look to passing the FY 2021 budget. There was no indication if other legislation would be considered before the May 15th session deadline. The statement assured that social distancing measures would be taken in order to protect the legislators and their staff, but that the public would be able to attend public hearings and participate in the process. How the protective measures will be implemented in practice remains to be seen. To date, Missouri has tested over 50,000 citizens for COVID-19; just over 5,000 have tested positive.