Missouri Senate one step closer to passing bill giving subpoena power to Senate's leader

Intro:	The Missouri Senate voted to give itself more power to subpoena documents and people.
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Wrap: The Senate will vote one more time on a bill granting subpoena power to the Senate's leader, currently only the Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the House have that power.

The man who would benefit from this bill Dexter County Republican Senator Rob Mayer say the Missouri Constitution will serve as a guideline for punishing those who disobey a General Assembly subpoena.

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Description: "Technically they can be jailed or fined or a combination of the two."

The State Constitution says a person may be fined up to 300 dollars or held in jail for up to 10 days, or both, if guilty of disrespect to the house.

The bill is scheduled to be discussed further before the end of the month.

From Jefferson City I'm Andrew Weil.

Intro:	The Missouri Senate voted to streamline its own subpoena process.
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Wrap: The Senate moved one step closer to passing a bill regarding the ability to request records.

Saint Louis County Republican Senator Jim Lembke calls the bill another tool to streamline the subpoena process.

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Description: "I would hope that the things that come out of this would just help us do a better job and be more efficient."

Lembke also says he hopes there will be no resistance to future subpoenas.

Subpoenas currently may only be issued by the leaders of the House and Senate.

From Jefferson City, I'm Andrew Weil.

Intro:	A Senate subpoena bill moved one step closer to becoming law yesterday, but one Senator wants to make sure the bill is not abused.
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Wrap: The Missouri Senate moved to schedule a vote on a bill granting subpoena power to the Senate's leader and add the power to subpoena records.

Saint Louis County Republican Senator Jim Lembke expressed the importance of not overusing the bill.

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Description: "This isn't something that we are looking to abuse, and hopefully we never have to use it."

Lembke and the rest of the Senate were unanimous in support of the bill.

It is scheduled to get another vote by the end of the month.

From Jefferson City, I'm Andrew Weil.

Intro:	Missouri Senate voted to give itself increased subpoena power for records and people.
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Wrap: The Senate unanimously gave first approval to a bill that would grant subpoena power to the President Pro Tem.

The approval came with little opposition by Senate Democrats including Democratic Floor Leader Victor Callahan.

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Description: "Even if you didn't do a subpoena most of the production of records would be included probably in the Open Records and Sunshine Law."

The bill needs to be approved one more time before it is sent to the House.

The Senate is scheduled to discuss the subpoena bill again before the end of the month.

From Jefferson City, I'm Andrew Weil.