In the perfect world, the House passes a bill and sends it to the Senate for their consideration.

The Senate could reject the legislation and the legislation simply dies. The Senate could accept the legislation and send it on to the Governor. I wish it could be that simple.

But, if a House Bill is sent to the Senate and Senate changes it in any way, it has to be sent back to the House for their approval of the changes. Those changes are known as amendments and they are often added in abundance. It is unlikely both the House and the Senate would ever agree or the process would ever come to some conclusion if legislation is continuously passed back and forth between the two chambers.

In reality, if the House refuses to accept the Senate changes to their original Bill, the House can ask for the Bill to be sent to a Conference Committee to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate.

The Conference Committee consists of five members of the House and five members of the Senate. This group of 10 legislators will shape the final legislation by stripping amendments to create the most palatable piece of legislation to be sent to the Governor.

In the end, there will be multiple conference committees with different members serving on each committee. This week, 13 budget bills from the House where modified in the Senate.

The House version of the Budget totaled $45.6 billion. The Senate version of the Budget included over $4 billion in additional spending.

Rather than accept all of the Senate changes to the budget, the House and Senate will defend their positions in 13 different Conference Committees.

There will be several more Conference Committees created in these last weeks to resolve the differences between House and Senate. Many of the bills will be burdened with a long list of amendments and amendments to amendments. The Conference Committee will negotiate their position by stripping amendments to create a comprehensive and cohesive piece of legislation.

It is in the House and Senate’s best interest to send legislation to the Governor that works for the best interest of the citizens of Missouri. The Conference Committee has the task of making the best of what the House and Senate have tried to create.

If you’ve been following a specific piece of legislation, you still have a chance to influence the outcome by contacting the members of the Conference Committee. Look in the daily journal to identify the members.