Missouri Bill Hits Snag

As may happen with legislation in any field, an autism bill in Missouri has hit a snag for reasons unrelated to the merits. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports:

Sen. Chuck Purgason is holding up an autism insurance bill until his committee approves an unrelated bill reining in tax credits.

Yesterday, Purgason, R-Caulfield, abruptly canceled a meeting of the Governmental Accountability and Fiscal Oversight Committee, where autism supporters had expected their bill (SB618) to be approved.

The meeting was scrapped after a deal fell through to revive the bill (SB728) that would make tax credits subject to annual appropriation by the Legislature. It failed in Purgason’s committee earlier this month.

Purgason said in an interview that he was “trying to get some bills gathered up to vote out.” Asked whether the autism bill was linked to the tax credit bill, Purgason said: “It’s my intention to get both bills voted out.”