House fails to override right to work veto

The Missouri House fell 13 votes short of overriding Gov. Jay Nixon's veto of a controversial right to work proposal Wednesday during the veto session.
The Missouri House fell 13 votes short of overriding Gov. Jay Nixon's veto of a controversial right to work proposal Wednesday during the veto session.

Hundreds of labor union members cheered when the vote was announced - the Missouri House fell 13 votes short of overriding Gov. Jay Nixon's veto of a controversial right to work proposal.

The debate and vote took nearly two hours Wednesday afternoon, on a key issue of the 2015 veto session.

The state Senate recessed about 1:30 p.m. and apparently waited for the House action before taking any votes on the half-dozen Senate bills Nixon also rejected.

Supporters argued overriding the veto and putting right to work into state law would help improve Missouri's economy and help create more jobs.

Opponents argued passing the law would result in lower wages, and wouldn't prevent companies from leaving Missouri for other states, or other countries.

The House had passed the bill by a 92-66 margin in May, so the override effort picked up four votes.

But it needed 109 to be passed.

Because the House failed to override the governor's veto, the Senate won't have a vote on the issue.