(LISTEN): Missouri’s 2024 legislative session begins at noon; legislative prayer service is this morning

By Zimmer Communications
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Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher (R-Town and Country), right, prepares to introduce U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (R-Tarkio) to the House in Jefferson City on May 1, 2023 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Child care and transportation are expected to be key issues in Missouri’s 2024 legislative session in Jefferson City, which begins today at high noon.

Republicans have supermajorities in both chambers: 111-51 in the House and 24-10 in the Senate. Both chambers will gavel-in at high noon today, per the state Constitution. The annual legislative prayer service is this morning from 8:30 to 10 at Jefferson City’s Concord Baptist Church. Governor Mike Parson will be attending. He’ll outline his 2024 legislative priorities in three weeks during his State of the State address.

162 state representatives and 34 state senators will be returning to the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City for today’s (Wednesday) start of the 2024 legislative session. Mayor Ron Fitzwater tells 939 the Eagle’s “Wake Up Mid-Missouri” that he’s always happy to see the legislators return.

“They bring an energy to the community and you know we have a lot of visitors. You know I’ve tried to talk since I’ve been in office that we have to embrace our role as the Capital City and as hosts for the guests coming in,” Fitzwater says.

Mayor Fitzwater tells listeners that city staff and Jefferson City’s Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) have bought into that. The city’s hotels and restaurants see a boost when lawmakers return to Jefferson City.