The Missouri Supreme Court yesterday upheld Gov. Jay Nixon’s 2015 veto of unemployment insurance reforms.
House Bill 150, sponsored by Rep. Scott Fitzpatrick, R-Shell Knob, moved to cap unemployment benefits at 13 weeks from 20 weeks when the state’s unemployment rate is below 6 percent.
However, the timing of the state General Assembly’s veto became the subject of debate on the Supreme Court level.
During the regular session last year, legislators passed the bill, which was then vetoed by Nixon. In May 2015, the House voted to override the veto, but the Senate took no action prior to the session’s adjournment. In September, the General Assembly met for a veto session for an unrelated bill. During the session, legislators overrode HB 150, which the
Supreme Court yesterday found to be unconstitutional given they did not override the veto during the regular session.
“The judges’ ruling clarifies the law limiting when the legislature may vote to override a governor’s veto and is good news for thousands of Missourians who were wrongfully denied the unemployment benefits they had earned,” Nixon said in a statement, noting the restored cap of 20 weeks puts Missouri among eight states that pay less than the national average of 26 weeks.
However, Senate leaders and the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry say the law was meant to aid the state in the event of economic downturns.
Senate Majority Floor Leader Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, said the measure would have shielded small businesses and the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund.
“This issue is vitally important to Missouri businesses and the state’s budget, and I expect the legislature to pursue these improvements next year with a new governor,” he said in a statement.
The Missouri chamber, too, said it would support similar legislation during the 2017 legislative session.
Chamber President and CEO Dan Mehan said he was “extremely disappointed” in the Supreme Court ruling.
“This common-sense measure was designed to protect Missouri’s unemployment insurance system from economic downturns that have repeatedly thrown Missouri’s fund into insolvency over the last decade,” he said in a release.
The unemployment insurance trust fund balance was $377.5 million as of Jan. 1, and it was solvent, according to the
federal Department of Labor.
Projections indicate it will peak at $1 billion in 2020 before moving down to $870.7 million by the end of 2022.
Missouri’s most
recently reported unemployment rate was 4.5 percent in June.
