Happy New Year! Let’s get this show on the road

By State Rep. Bruce Sassmann, Missouri’s 61st District
Posted 1/1/25

The 103rd legislative session begins on Jan. 8, 2025, and you might be surprised to know the members of the Missouri House of Representatives will start the year with an average of only 2.5 …

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Happy New Year! Let’s get this show on the road

Posted

The 103rd legislative session begins on Jan. 8, 2025, and you might be surprised to know the members of the Missouri House of Representatives will start the year with an average of only 2.5 years of experience in state government.

Because of term limits, the average experience level of your state representatives is the equivalent of a first-year sophomore.

Incoming Freshman have no legislative experience, Sophomores have two years under their belt, Juniors begin the session with four years of experience and the Seniors are the celebrities in Missouri’s House of Representatives will begin this session with only six years of legislative experience.

The class size also impacts the efficiency of the legislature. In a perfect world each class, Freshman, Sophomore, Juniors, and Seniors, would have approximately one fourth of the total number of class members. In reality the Freshman class is always the largest. This session our Freshman class will be over one third of the total number of members of the House. One third of the members in the Missouri House of Representatives will begin this session with absolutely no legislative experience.

Because of term limits, many people believe the institutional knowledge in our state government rests with the staff, unelected officials, and lobbyists. It has been said that this group is in control and runs our state government.

If that is true, the body of legislators with the average experience level of first year sophomores has the challenging responsibility of holding the unelected in government accountable.

In 2025, legislators may have a chance to debate House Joint Resolution, HJR15, which makes a slight change in the terms of the members of the legislature. Today a freshman could begin his legislative duties and serve 8 years in the House and another 8 years in the Senate for a total 16 years. HJR 15 would allow that same freshman the opportunity to serve the same 16 years, but in any combination of years in the House and the Senate. This system would allow an older class of experienced legislators to provide a better balance between the elected and the unelected government officials.

The language of HJR 15 also strictly limits the number of years the Speaker of the House can remain in power.

I would be anxious to hear your views about this change in the way our state government functions. You can contact me by email at bruce.sassmann@house.mo.gov or call Jill Ryals, my legislative assistant, at 573-751-6668. Let’s get this new year off to a good start.