Missouri House cuts speaking time for final bill votes

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The new general assembly in Jefferson City will be operating under new rules.

Missouri House members will now have five minutes to speak on a bill before the final vote instead of 10 minutes.

Lawmakers who support the move say it's designed to give more members opportunities to speak. However, many legislators have opposed and say they are concerned the new rules will reduce government transparency for Missouri residents.

"This is designed to help put some guardrails in place to ensure that the work that we are doing on the floor to move our legislation forward to getting it to the governor's desk isn't undone because of excessive amendment making," said Missouri House Majority Leader Alex Riley (R-Springfield).

"I believe we should have the ability to thoroughly vet issues, to thoroughly talk about issues and especially on our side, that's going to handcuff us severally," said Missouri Rep. David Tyson Smith (D-Columbia).

Democrats tried to stop the change, but the amendment failed.

For the 2025 legislative session, house member are still allowed to speak 15 minutes on the first round, in addition to approval of legislation and Senate bills.