JEFFERSON CITY — Gov. Eric Greitens offered big doses of numerous legislative priorities but scant information about looming cuts to Missouri's budget during his State of the State address to the General Assembly on Tuesday night.
For about an hour, Greitens reiterated his claim that he is a political outsider sent by the people of Missouri to fight for them in their state's capital and laid out his wish list for the 2017 session, headlined by labor-related proposals such as enacting "right-to-work," which blocks unions from charging membership dues, and repealing the state's prevailing wage law, which establishes a base pay rate for public construction projects.
Tort reform — referring to the passage of laws that make it more difficult to sue and win large sums — also was part of Greitens' stated agenda. He said the state needed to change its expert witness standards and cited a report that named St. Louis as "the worst judicial hellhole in America" as part of his characterization of Missouri as "the place where the nastiest lawyers come to do work so dirty, and engage in lawsuits so murky, they wouldn't pass muster anywhere else."
The Center for Justice and Democracy contacted the News-Leader on Monday and said the report in question was meant to "discredit judges and juries willing to hold reckless corporations accountable for the harm they cause." …
For full article, click here. (Last retrieved 1.19.2017)
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