Governor Jay Nixon, for the second year in a row, has vetoed common sense legislation designed to help bring stability to the Missouri Unemployment Trust Fund.
HB 150, sponsored by Rep. Scott Fitzpatrick and handled in the Senate by Senator Mike Kehoe, would have reduced the weeks of benefit when the unemployment rate drops because there are more jobs available. The bill also contained a provision supported by AIM that would have modernized Missouri’s treatment of severance pay by requiring those receiving severance pay to wait until that pay is exhausted to get unemployment benefits. Vacation pay is already treated this way, but severance pay is not. Even New York does not allow unemployed workers to double dip and receive unemployment benefits while receiving golden parachutes.
The governor’s letter may be found here. We will be working to override the governor’s veto before the end of the legislative session May 18.