Wednesday at noon. That's when Missouri lawmakers officially begin the 2016 General Assembly session to consider a new state operating budget for the business year that begins July 1 and to debate proposed new laws and changes to existing statutes.
The main deadlines this year are 6 p.m. May 6, when that budget must have been finished by both the House and Senate, and 6 p.m. May 13, when the Missouri Constitution says all work must be finished for the year.
Both the House and Senate have new leaders going into what is, formally, the second-half of the two-year legislative cycle.
Though no official announcement has been posted, it's likely new Speaker Todd Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff, and new Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard, R-Joplin, will deliver opening day remarks Wednesday to set a tone and outline the Republican goals for 2016.
The GOP holds substantial majorities in both chambers - 116-43 in the House, with one independent and three vacancies, and 24-8 in the Senate, with two vacancies.
That means if all Republicans vote the same way both on the bills and on override attempts of any bills vetoed by Gov. Jay Nixon, the party has a "veto-proof" majority that easily can override Nixon, a Democrat. The Constitution requires each chamber to override the governor by a two-thirds vote - at least 109 votes in the House and at least 23 votes in the Senate.
But even recent history shows that won't always be the case.
For example, the House fell well short of the 109 votes needed to override last year's veto of the controversial right-to-work law, that would have prohibited unions and employers from negotiating contracts requiring every employee to pay fees to the labor organization.
Lawmakers generally agree some statewide issues will be center-stage this year.
Transportation
At 17.4 cents-per-gallon since 1996, Missouri's fuels tax is one of the nation's lowest - but the nearly 34,000 miles of state-owned, operated and maintained roads and bridges is the nation's seventh largest system.
Because voters in 2004 approved a plan for the Transportation department (MoDOT) to sell bonds, to speed up maintenance work on a number of deteriorating roads, the department first must budget its income to pay off those bonds as promised.
That, they say, leaves MoDOT with less income than it needs to build new roads and bridges - and not even enough revenue to provide the state's match to federal dollars for some projects.
But voters rejected recent proposals to increase the state's fuels and/or sales taxes, to provide MoDOT with more money so it can tackle new, needed projects.
"I believe Sen. (Doug) Libla (R-Poplar Bluff), the chairman of Transportation, has the tax increase again," Sen. Jeanie Riddle, R-Mokane, told the News Tribune. "And Sen. (Bob) Onder (R-Lake St. Louis) has one that does not add a new tax, but redirects some of the general revenue money (to transportation).
"I'm kind of interested in that one, but there will be several (bills) - and we'll see how they all shake loose."
Sen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, works with the Joe Machens Capital City Ford and Lincoln dealership he owned for a long time, and he said last week, transportation still is a key issue for him.
"The big issues for the legislature are those issues that matter most to Missourians," he said, including having the "leadership that builds and maintains ... improved roads across the state."
In the House, transportation will also be a priority.
Rep. Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City, said that while there may be discussion over improving transportation, he doesn't see a solution in 2016.
"I think that there might be a general understanding in Missouri for a need for improvements to transportation infrastructure, but there's not agreement on the method to do that," he said.
Increased MoDOT funding proposals have included: tolling along Missouri's major interstates like I-70, raising the gas tax, moving the Highway Patrol out of the MoDOT fund into its own or making adjustments to the general revenue.
"I think the most important piece on transportation as far as how you pay for it, in my opinion, is that the people who use it pay for it," Rep. Travis Fitzwater, R-Holts Summit, said. "Whether that's tolls or gas tax or whatever that looks like, we have to figure that out. We're going to have to have a serious conversation about that going forward."
Ethics
Kehoe said other big issues in 2016 likely will be creating "a culture of strong personal ethics in the capitol (and) an improved business climate via long-overdue tort reforms."
Both Kehoe and Riddle said Missouri voters want, in Kehoe's words: "Less government intrusion and regulation, (to) keep and spend more of their own money, and Missourians want to ensure that their tax dollars are absolutely not being used to fund the killing of unborn children."
On ethics reform, Riddle added: "Make your contributions transparent. Like any other law, there are people who choose to break them, so, if someone is going to be unethical and have a character issue, they're going to be that way.
"But if you make everything transparent, then the voters of the state can see the full picture."
Barnes, Fitzwater and Rep. Mike Bernskoetter, R-Jefferson City, all said they would like to see "revolving door" legislation, which would ban legislators from working as lobbyists within a certain time from after their work as politicians. They agreed that ethics reform is plausible if lawmakers pass bills individually and not as one omnimous piece of legislation.
"The vast majority of representatives and senators - most come here for the right reasons and stay for the right reasons, but we need to make the Capitol like the real world and not so insulated," Barnes said. "Being an elected official, it changes people overtime. The day after the they're elected, their jokes are funnier. They get a lot funnier, according to all the people around them. And, the people around them always want something from them, so that can warp a mind overtime and make things that on day one seemed unacceptable to, "Oh there's no big deal about that.' That has been a problem in government since the beginning of time and will always be a problem, but the purpose of some of these bills is to do the best we can to reduce the impact of that."
Planned Parenthood
Rep. David Wood, R-Versailles, said he forsees controversy surrounding Planned Parenthood continuing into the upcoming session.
"It's been a hot issue all summer long," he said, "and I don't see that stopping."
2016 General Assembly key dates
January
6: Session begins - Both House and Senate convene at noon.
18: Martin Luther King Day - Holiday. No session in either chamber.
??: Gov. Jay Nixon's final State of the State message to a Joint Legislative Session - Date to be determined, but must be within 30 days of the session's start.
??: State of the Judiciary message to a Joint Legislative Session - Date to be determined.
March
17: Spring break begins - Upon adjournment.
28: Easter Monday break, at end of spring break.
29: Legislature reconvenes - House, time to be determined; Senate, 4 p.m.
May
6: Appropriation bills must be truly agreed and finally passed - 6 p.m.
13: Session ends - 6 p.m.
30: Final adjournment (as required by Missouri Constitution).
September
14: Veto session