The House Rules Committee sent a proposed constitutional amendment altering the state's Non-Partisan Court Plan to the floor.
The resolution, which is sponsored by Rep. Stanley Cox, R-Sedalia, passed out of the Rules Committee 5-3. All of the present Republican members of the committee voted for the bill to be sent to the floor. All three Democrats voted against it.
The bill makes a number of changes to the plan that selects appeals court and Missouri Supreme Court judges. Those changes include allowing the governor to reject a panel, adding another lay person to the Appellate Judicial Commission and increasing the panel the governor chooses from to four.
Another version of Cox's amendment failed on the House floor last year. The amendment was almost unanimously opposed by Democrats. A number of Republicans also voted against the resolution.
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