MPA Legislative Update: 2025 Legislation Becomes Effective Today

The following is a legislative update from Clarkston Nelson, LLC concerning the Missouri General Assembly’s 2025 legislative session. Use the information within to develop local coverage of issues important to your readers.

2025 Legislation Becomes Effective Today

The end of summer brings the marked date of August 28th making all legislation passed in the 2025 legislative session go into effect except for legislation with emergency clauses (a different date stated in the legislation). The full list of bills passed during the 2025 regular session can be found here.

Upcoming Veto Session Begins in Two Weeks
The Missouri General Assembly will be returning to Jefferson City in two weeks for the constitutionally required legislative veto session on Wednesday, September 10th. Governor Mike Kehoe (R) provided numerous line-item vetoes in our state budget bills; however, we do not expect the Republican controlled legislature to attempt any overrides and thus the veto session should wrap up rather quickly.

Special Session on Congressional Maps Under Consideration
Recent media reports have suggested our General Assembly may be called into a special session next month to address congressional re-districting. Following the recent activities in the state of Texas to redraw congressional districts, our legislative leaders are considering adopting a new map for our state that would potentially advantage 7 of our 8 congressional districts towards the Republican candidates. Missouri’s current congressional delegation has 6 Republicans and 2 Democrats. This effort would be a net 1 seat gain for the Republican House Caucus in the US Congress. President Donald Trump (R) has posted on social media that Missouri is likely to address the redistricting legislation in the weeks ahead, however, Governor Kehoe has not made an official decision or called the legislature back to session at this point. If the Special Session call occurs, we expect this to occur during the week of the September veto session as lawmakers will already be in Jefferson City.

Interim Activities and Pre-Filing for 2026 Legislative Session
Various committees in the House and Senate have held public hearings and work sessions over the interim on topics such as property tax assessments, nuclear power generation, public school funding, and mental health oversight. We fully expect additional topics to surface in the weeks ahead for legislative review in anticipation of the 2026 legislative session that begins in January. Missouri lawmakers will begin pre-filing legislation on the first day of December 2025.

Upcoming Dates of Interest
September 10, 2025 – Annual Legislative Veto Session
December 1, 2025 – Legislative Pre-Filing Begins
January 7, 2026 – First Day of the Legislative Session
January 19,2026 – No Session (MLK Jr. observance)
April 6, 2026 – No Session (Easter Break)
May 15, 2026 – Last Day of the 2026 Legislative Session