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May 13, Missouri was poised to become the nation’s 26th right-to-work state when the General Assembly approved a right-to-work bill. However, the stroke of Gov. Jay Nixon’s pen vetoed the measure.
Missouri Republicans could override the veto this fall. They have supermajorities in both chambers, and a two-thirds vote is needed from both chambers for the worker freedom measure to take effect. The original vote in the House was 92-66, while the Senate vote was 21-13. Supporters of the bill will need to find more votes for the override, which will need 109 and 23 votes, respectively.
Right now the country is split down the middle with 25 right-to-work states. Missouri could make a majority of the states right-to-work if the veto is overridden.
While Missouri’s governor is very much against worker freedom, its lieutenant governor is very much for it. In fact, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder co-authored an op-ed with Mackinac Center Director of Labor Policy F. Vincent Vernuccio. The op-ed, published in the June 5 edition of the Washington Times, argued for the benefits of right-to-work.
