The Missouri Senate has unanimously passed legislation to move the filing period for the state’s party primaries back by one month. The bill is moving rapidly because the filing period is currently set to begin February 28th and end in late March.
The Senate’s speedy action is also based on the lack of new State House and Senate district maps – the State Supreme Court tossed out the Senate map and has to be redrawn, and a legal challenge to the new House map is being appealed to the High Court. Senate President Pro-tem Rob Mayer says those facts alone make it necessary to push back the filing period:
“If we didn’t get this bill up and passed this week, we would have further time problems, so (I) certainly urge the House leadership and the body over there to take this bill up and pass it,” Mayer said.
The bill now goes to the Missouri House, which has agreed to hold a technical session Friday so that it can be fast-tracked and potentially sent to the governor next week.
