Missouri senator proposes rule change to base office, seat and parking assignments on seniority

Senator May introduced Senate Resolution 18 on Jan. 13, 2025, proposing to amend Senate Rule 29 to require the Committee on Administration to assign senate offices, chamber seats and parking to the majority and minority caucuses and to have each caucus make assignments on the basis of seniority, with specified exceptions for the president pro tem's office.

The sponsor, Senator May, told colleagues the change is meant to reduce partisan distinctions over office assignments in the chamber. “The only distinction between senators should be the length of service in the senate,” May said, arguing assignments should not be made “on the basis of majority and minority parties.”

The version read into the journal would: direct the Committee on Administration to assign offices, seats and garage parking to caucuses; require caucuses to make office and seat assignments on the basis of seniority; designate rooms 326 and 327 as the president pro tem’s office; require the outgoing president pro tem to vacate that office on retirement and allow that senator to have first choice of vacant offices in his or her caucus regardless of seniority; and state that, except for the outgoing president pro tem, no senator shall be required to relinquish any office or seat once assigned.

The draft text also specifies how seniority is to be determined: continuous senate service first, then prior noncontinuous senate service, then prior house service; and says when members of the same party have identical length of service, seniority shall be determined by their party caucus.

The resolution was read on the floor and ordered printed in the journal; no final vote on adoption was taken Monday. Senator May offered the floor explanation during the introduction and no further debate on the measure was recorded.

Separately, Senator Shelby asked that a proposed rule change on committee structure be printed in the journal; the reading was waived by unanimous consent and Shelby said the committee-structure proposal will be voted on the following day. Senator Carter also sent forward Senate Concurrent Resolution 3, described as relating to the missions of institutions of higher education, and the title was ordered printed in the journal.

Procedural motions recorded during the session included a motion by Senator Platt to dispense with further reading of the journal and approve it as though fully read, which was agreed to on the floor, and a motion by Senator Platt to adjourn, which the body agreed to under the rules.