_This weekly column is brought to you by a partnership between The Maneater and The Associated Students of the University of Missouri, the official student lobbying group for the UM System’s 77,000 students. ASUM has four legislative issues on their platform: the budget, a voting student curator, landlord-tenant relations and a STEM initiative._
Things are moving quickly in the Capitol. The budget process is well underway and will be voted on soon.
Two legislators have agreed to sponsor bills that would grant [the student curator a vote on the UM System Board of Curators.](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/1/28/asum-continues-lobbying-legislators-student-curato/) Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, has filed the legislation on the Senate side and Rep. Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, has filed it on the House side. ASUM’s landlord-tenant legislation is sponsored by Rep. Donna Lichtenegger, R-Jackson, and Rep. Bonnaye Mims, D-Kansas City. The landlord-tenant legislation aims to protect wrongfully withheld security deposits by requiring them to be placed in an escrow account and exempting deposits from bankruptcy proceedings. Finally, the STEM legislation, which would create a fund purely for STEM programs throughout the state, has sponsors on both sides as well, with Sen. David Pearce, R-Warrensburg, and Rep. Ron Hicks, R-St. Peters, filing nearly identical bills.
Here’s a rundown of some other highlights from last week.
**Republicans halt 39-hour filibuster of anti-gay marriage bill in Missouri Senate**
Republicans in the Missouri Senate [killed a 39-hour filibuster](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2016/3/10/nearly-40-hour-filibuster-not-enough-anti-lgbtq-le/) of a “religious freedom” bill that would change the Missouri Constitution to allow businesses to refuse goods or services for use in same-sex marriages or receptions. Republicans ended the filibuster in a rare move called “moving the previous question.” This procedural act forced a vote to end the filibuster. Students were introduced on the Senate floor in the middle of the 39-hour filibuster Tuesday for ASUM Student Lobby Day by Sen. Maria Chapelle-Nadal, D-University City.
**Missouri House reviews UM System budget, sends to Senate**
The $8.6 million funding cut for the UM System in House Bill 2003, the higher education budget bill, was passed by the Missouri House of Representatives. After being approved by the Select Committee on Budget, the full House began deliberations on the budget bill. During the deliberations, one representative said during the debate: “We cannot reward bad behavior. We cannot reward lack of leadership.” Next, the bills will go to the Senate Appropriations Committee, where they will ultimately be settled.
Over the past couple of weeks, the UM System funding has taken some hits. In the original proposal by Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Tom Flanigan, R-Carthage, the UM System administration was to be cut by $7.7 million and the [MU campus was to be cut by $400,000.](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2016/2/23/um-system-faces-8-million-proposed-cuts/) Through the markup process last week, the $400,000 was restored to the MU campus. Rowden attempted to have $3.8 million — nearly half — of the $7.7 million cut to the system administration restored. However, he faced much opposition and was denied the restoration of funds. On the House floor, Rep. Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City, [passed an amendment amid opposition from the House speaker, majority floor leader and budget chairman that cut an additional $1 million from MU.](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2016/3/8/missouri-legislature-passes-1-million-cuts-mu/0)
**Columbia State Senator introduces UM System Review Commission, seeks to avoid further budget cuts**
[Schaefer filed Senate Concurrent Resolution 66 this past week.](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2016/3/2/senator-proposes-review-um-system-and-mu-make-chan/) This resolution is ultimately aimed at easing tensions between the UM System and the Missouri General Assembly. The resolution creates a commission that will review all of the university’s systems and actions. They will review everything from the collected rules and regulations to research activities. The commission will have eight members. The speaker of the House will appoint four and the Senate president pro tempore will appoint four as well. After conducting their review, the commission will file a report to the General Assembly at the end of the year recommending changes to be made.
**STEM Initiative passes committee, gets one step closer to final passage**
ASUM’s STEM initiative, sponsored by Hicks, was voted out of the House Higher Education Committee last week. While it had some opposition, the majority of the committee was supportive. This legislation creates a funding mechanism, up to $100,000, for a fund purely dedicated to endowed teaching professor programs, scholarships, experiential youth programs and career enhancement programs in the STEM fields. The funding mechanism allows STEM businesses in the state to apply for a portion of their state tax liability to be reallocated to the STEM fund if they hire interns from a public two-year or four-year institution.
This legislation incentivizes STEM businesses to invest in student interns while also investing in their future workforce. HB 1640 will now go to the Select Committee on Education for approval. There is a similar bill in the Senate, SB 873, sponsored by Pearce. This bill was heard in the Senate Education Committee on March 9.
