political career has been limited to the Missouri House of Representatives, but Pratt is currently running for the 8th District of the Missouri Senate. Pratt has served in the Missouri House since 2003 During that time, Pratt has served as the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and as Speaker Pro Tem. State Senate candidate Pratt announced in late 2009 that he was running for Senator for District 8 of the Missouri Senate. The seat is currently held by Matt Bartle, who is unable to run for re election due to Missouri's term limits. Pratt was the first Republican to announce that he was running for the seat. Speaker Pro Tem Pratt was elected Speaker Pro Tem of the Missouri House of Representatives on September 12, 2007. Pratt was nominated by Representative Gayle Kingery, and his nomination was seconded by Representative Shane Schoeller. Representative JC Kuessner was nominated to run against him, but Representative Kuessner withdrew his nomination. Because of this, Pratt was elected to Speaker Pro Tem by acclamation. Pratt was reelected as Speaker Pro Tem on January 7, 2009, again by acclamation. His term as Speaker Pro Tem will last through the end of the current legislative session. Committees As Speaker Pro Tem, Pratt serves as an ex-officio member of all committees of the House. Additionally, he has been specifically assigned to the House Local Government, House Ethics, Joint Legislative Research and Joint Pre-need Funeral Contracts Committees. Pratt previously served as a member of the House Rules Committee, but was removed from the committee on June 28, 2010 by Speaker Ron Richard. Pratt had voiced opposition to a bill, and was told by the Speaker that he would be removed from the Rules Committee if he planned to vote no on the bill. According to Pratt, "It is frustrating that because I want to vote against giving Missouri taxpayer dollars to keep large corporations in business, I am no longer allowed to serve on that committee." The bill in question would have given state money to an automotive plant in Claycomo, Missouri. Major Legislation Pratt has sponsored and supported legislation to create a voting student curator on the Board of Curators of the University of Missouri as well as various other Missouri state universities. This includes House Bill 1417 in 2004, House Bill 440 in 2005, House Bill 1308 in 2006, House Bill 613 in 2007, House Bill