Twenty-four Republicans jumped ship and opposed their party's efforts to restrict the number of weeks a person can claim unemployment insurance in good economic times Tuesday in the Missouri House. Steven Anthony reports from Jefferson City.
It wasn't only Republicans who jumped ship.
Representative Keith English of St. Louis County, the only independent in the House, pleaded with his colleagues to kill the bill.
"Let's vote this bill down. Let's sit at the table next year and let's come up with some good legislation because this hurts every man, woman, and child in the state of Missouri," he said.
Sixty-eight members voted against the bill, but it passed with 88 votes.
The bill now heads to Governor Jay Nixon's desk for his signature or veto.