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Bean’s water export bill on-hold in MO Senate

The chairman of Missouri’s Senate Agriculture Committee a bill he’s sponsoring that would require permits for any water exported out of Missouri has been laid over in the Senate.

Jason Bean tells Brownfield Senate Bill 782 had floor time this week, but the language is too confusing for some and there’s not much time left in the session.

“Instead of taking up valuable floor time, we’ll lay it over and put it back on the informal calendar. The floor leader can pick it back up at any time, but it’s time to meet with stakeholders and talk about how to move forward.”

Bean says water can already be exported outside the state and that’s where the confusion is happening.

“You can do that now, we’re just trying to create a process that must be followed before you can,” he says. “We’re just being proactive. A lot of states out west haven’t been good with water resources, they’re going through drought and they want our water. Several states have tried to get our water and we want…to protect Missourians.”

However, Bean says a similar water export bill has already passed in the Missouri House and “we should hear it in our committee or another committee in the Missouri Senate in the next few weeks.”

Representative Jamie Burger is the sponsor of House Bill 2153 and his staff tells Brownfield they are hopeful it will be referred to Missouri’s Senate Agriculture Committee.