Some of the bills the Senate and House approved have dealt with illegal immigration, the allowance of a University of Missouri student curator, a bill requiring for-profit swimming pools to carry liability insurance, making mortgage fraud a state crime and the approval of a preliminary bill that deals with motorcycle helmets.

The illegal immigration bill the Senate passed deals with a number of different elements. First, police would need to check the immigration status of people after arresting them. Next, illegal immigrants could not get public benefits. The House passed a similar bill but in addition, it would keep illegal immigrants from attending public colleges and universities.

Also approved, a bill allowing the student curator on the University of Missouri System's Board of Curators to vote. The student curator's vote will only count if Missouri loses a congressional district in 2010, because of a state law only allowing a certain number of curators.

Just because the legislature is hard at work, doesn't mean that mid-Missourian's are following the progress to closely.

"I'm sure there's information out there that if I sat down, I could find it, you know, and I need to sit down and do that kind of thing," Columbia resident Traci Stacy said. "Everybody should, you know. If we're going to complain about what they're doing, we need to know what it is they're doing, so that we can complain intelligently and not sound like whiners."

The House also passed a bill that requires all for-profit swimming pools, like water parks, to carry liability insurance. Thursday, respresentatives passed a bill that makes mortgage fraud a state crime. The House gave preliminary approval to a bill allowing motor cyclists who are at least 21 to ride without a helmet.

Before all these bills become laws, the House and Senate must reconcile their versions so they are identical and send them to Gov. Blunt for his signature.