Mo. House passes unemployment benefit legislation

JEFFERSON CITY, MO (MISSOURI DIGITAL NEWS) - Governor Nixon's signature is all that's left before 10,000 Missourians get their unemployment benefits restored. The Missouri House sent legislation to the governor to extend unemployment benefits by a vote of 138 to 13.

The bill came from the Senate where a Republican filibuster had held it up for weeks.

The delay made benefits expire on April 2 for 10,000 long-term unemployed Missourians.

Republican Representative Barney Fisher from Western Missouri says it was time for the bill to reach the governor.

"We had to accept them really and concur in what the Senate did. I don't think their changes were drastic. I think they were reasonable and it was time to pass that bill and get it to the governor," Fisher said.

Democrat leader Mike Talboy says the House needed to pass the bill or fear "sending this over to, whether there called the four horsemen of the apocalypse or as I've dubbed them, the lunatic fringe," Talboy said.

Future unemployed Missourians will see their benefits cut by six weeks, a concession the House made to the Senate.

Governor Nixon's spokesman says the bill will now go under an "expidited review process."

Brian Bondus, Missouri Digital News

Posted in: Barney Fisher,Brian Bondus,Mike Talboy,Missouri House of Representatives,Missouri Senate,unemployment benefits