Dear Friends:

In an effort to keep you informed about the activities at your State Capitol and how those activities might impact your lives, I am offering a regular electronic newsletter. I will send you information about bills making their way through the legislative process, especially bills that directly impact the lives of Kansas Citians. I welcome your feedback and encourage you to contact my office with any questions or concerns you may have.

Thank you.

The final week of the 2013 legislative session saw another fight over anti-labor union legislation, a heated debate over liquor franchise laws, and approval of a proposed constitutional amendment to protect farming and ranching in Missouri.

Senate minority members blocked a vote on another anti-labor bill that would have allowed government contractors to do construction projects without paying the prevailing wage. Prevailing wage is the hourly wage, usual benefits and overtime paid to the majority of workers, laborers, and mechanics within a particular area. At issue is a 2011 Missouri Supreme Court ruling that expanded the definition of "construction" regarding prevailing wage laws, meaning more projects would be subject to the prevailing wage. House Bill 409 would have defined "maintenance" as routine, recurring work that cannot exceed $75,000. Maintenance work is not subject to prevailing wage laws. My colleagues and I in the Senate minority feared the bill would allow contractors on public projects to bid projects at less than $75,000 in order to avoid paying prevailing wage rates to workers. Our state's working citizens should not bear the burden of less-than-quality legislation that should benefit all Missourians.

In the meantime, my colleagues and I fixed a problem created by the Legislature eight years ago when the General Assembly capped the surcharge Missouri businesses pay into the Second Injury Fund. The fund helps disabled workers who suffer a second injury on the job. The fund has been unable to pay out claims due to the cap adopted eight years ago, and lawmakers have struggled with a solution for the past few sessions. Senate Bill 1 temporarily increases the business surcharge to allow the fund to pay its obligations. It also moves most occupational disease claims back into the state's workers' compensation system. The House approved the Senate version Thursday and sent the measure to the governor.

Legislation is headed to the governor's desk that makes a number of changes to state election laws. Senate Bill 99 started out as a simple bill to make the St. Louis City Public Administrator an appointed position rather than an elected position. The bill also allows certain third class counties to eliminate primary elections for mayor and councilmen offices, lowers the minimum age for a person to serve as an alderman in a fourth class city from 21 to 18 years of age, and it allows for the printing of the state manual or "Blue Book," which was discontinued a couple of years ago and is currently available only on the Internet.

Senate Bill 100 also advances to the governor. It protects money from an individual's health savings account, retirement savings or an inherited account from being attached in bankrupt proceedings. The bill also adds law school clinics to the list of entities that may waive legal fees for providing legal services to indigent clients without getting court approved.

Legislation giving children in foster care an opportunity to opt back into the system also heads to the governor. Senate Bill 208 raises the age for foster care re-entry from 18 to 21. Those who leave the foster care system early are more likely to be homeless, need state assistance and have unwanted pregnancies. This bill would allow them to get back into the system and receive the care in which they are seeking.

Missouri voters will be asked to amend the state constitution in November 2014 to enshrine a "right to farm" in the constitution. House Joint Resolution 11 & 7 affirms the right of farmers and ranchers to engage in agricultural production and ranching practices. Many of my colleagues and I were concerned the bill would interfere with the ability of local governments to adopt health or environmental ordinances relating to agriculture.

One of the final measures considered by the Senate before adjourning for the year was an employment discrimination bill that adds sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of enumerated categories. Recent polls show 80 percent of Missourians support adding sexual orientation and gender identity to Missouri's employment discrimination laws. House Bill 320 passed the Senate on a 19-11 vote, though there was not enough time left in the session for the House to consider the amended version.

Beneficial Insurance Legislation Heads to Governor

A measure sponsored by Sen. Curls this session that contains several important health care provisions is now on its way to the governor. Senate Bill 262 prohibits larger deductibles, copayments or coinsurance amounts for services using telemedicine compared to the same health care service provided through face-to-face diagnosis, consultation or treatment. Telemedicine uses modern-day information technology to provide certain health care services to various citizens, especially those who are not able to easily leave their homes or do not have readily access to medical facilities.

My legislation is a great way for Missourians to gain access to health care across our state. It reduces the need for travel from rural areas of Missouri and saves taxpayer dollars by having to pay for medical travels, such as instances when citizens who are on Medicare are transported from nursing homes to medical treatment centers. This is incredibly important as we look for ways to provide improved access to health care around the state in rural and urban communities.

Additional provisions added to Senate Bill 262 during the legislative session would require individuals to establish a physican-patient relationship before they can receive a prescription for medication or treatment through the Internet; allow health maintenance organizations to charge deductibles and coinsurance for basic health care services; and give those who use prescription eye drops the ability to renew their prescription before they run out of medication, among other health insurance provisions.

The telemedicine portion of Senate Bill 262 would take effect Jan. 1, 2014, once signed by the governor. Other provisions found in the bill contain an emergency clause, meaning they would go into effect upon the governor's signature.

Disparity Study for Minority- and Women-Owned Businesses

Last week the Legislature passed a $24.7 billion state budget that includes $700,000 in House Bill 5, which funds the Office of Administration and employee benefits, for a disparity study. This study will ensure that minority- and women-owned businesses can compete fairly for state contracts. We want to make sure that minority- and women-owned businesses have a fair shot at securing state contracts for infrastructure projects, but we need new information before we can determine how to allocate those dollars. This new information will help us determine whether or not everyone is receiving equal access to state contracts.

A disparity study compares the actual number of minority- and women-owned businesses in the state against the actual number of minority- and women-owned businesses receiving state government contracts. A disparity exists when minority- and women-owned businesses are underutilized in the state contracting system. The last disparity study conducted on Missouri was commissioned in 1994 and completed in 1998.

Funding for Negro League Baseball Museum and
World War I Memorial

Also included in our state's operating budget for Fiscal Year 2014 is money through House Bill 7 that will provide $450,000 for the National World War I Museum and Memorial ($200,000) and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum ($250,000), both located in the heart of our great city.

Public Retirement Systems

The Legislature also delivered to the governor this session legislation that modifies Missouri’s public pension plans to ensure their long-term sustainability and security. House Bill 233 clarifies several provisions of a pension reform package approved by lawmakers in 2007. The legislation continues Missouri’s commitment to sound fiscal principles in sustaining retirement security for our teachers, public safety personnel and all public employees.

Missouri currently has nearly 130 public pension plans covering more than 500,000 participants, many of whom do not participate in Social Security and rely on their pensions as their primary source of retirement income.

KC Police Department Salary Increase Legislation

In the last hours of the 2013 session, Senate Bill 224 reached the legislative finish line. I'm proud of the work of conference committee members and those in the General Assembly on behalf of our hard-working law enforcement in the City of Kansas City. This is legislation I sponsored this year that would have increased the salaries that may be paid to the Kansas City Police Department also allows actions taken by the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners, such as suspending, removing or demoting the chief of police, subject to review by any court.

Kansas City School District's Accreditation Status

The Senate also delivered to the governor legislation that would change provisions relating to duties of boards of education.  Senate Bill 125 would require the declaration of new administrative rules that include standards, appropriate scoring guides, forms, instruments and procedures used in determining the accreditation status of a district.  The legislation would also allow tenured teachers in the St. Louis City School District to be removed based on incompetency, shorten the written notification waiting period from at least one semester to 30 days in order to dismiss a teacher for inefficiency and incompetency in the line of duty, and prohibit the appointment of teachers when there are properly qualified teachers on unrequested leave of absence to fill vacancies, among other provisions. 

The bill also removes the two-year waiting period that exists between the classification of a school district as unaccredited and the lapse of the district’s corporate organization. The measure allows the State Board of Education to intervene and determine the best governing structure for the district while it seeks to regain accreditation. Additionally, DESE must conduct at least two public hearings regarding the accreditation status of the district. The Kansas City School District lost its accreditation Jan. 1, 2012. Under current state law, the State Board of Education cannot intervene until June 30, 2014. This two-year waiting period leaves thousands of students in limbo.

The First Regular Session of the 97th Missouri General Assembly officially concluded 6 p.m. on May 17.

Status of Sen. Curls' Sponsored Legislation

The following are measures I have filed this session (notes last legislative action):

• Senate Bill 151 - Changes the notice requirement to a tenant in a foreclosure action from 10 to 90 days (assigned to the Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee)
• Senate Bill 152 - Allows judges to suspend the imposition of an adult criminal sentence for juvenile offenders (assigned to the Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee)
• Senate Bill 153 - Requires a non-custodial parent to pay child support until the child reaches 22 instead of 21 years of age (assigned to the Senate Seniors, Families and Pensions Committee)
• Senate Bill 223 - Modifies provisions of the Public School Retirement System of Kansas City (voted out of the Senate Seniors, Families and Pensions Committee)
• Senate Bill 224 - Increases the maximum salaries that may be paid to the members of the Kansas City Police Department and provides that actions taken against the police chief are subject to review (delivered to the governor)
• Senate Bill 225 - Modifies laws regarding educational parental support for higher education (assigned to the Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee)
• Senate Bill 262 - Prohibits heath carriers from denying coverage for a health care service on the basis that the service was provided through telemedicine if the same service would be covered when delivered in person (delivered to the governor)
• Senate Bill 263 - Creates the crimes of assault of an employee of a mass transit system while in the scope of his or her duties in the first, second and their degree (assigned to the Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee)
• Senate Bill 346 - Modifies the eligibility requirements for food stamp assistance (voted "do pass" by the Senate Governmental Accountability & Fiscal Oversight Committee)
• Senate Bill 388 - Regulates certain contracts for the sale of residential real estate (assigned to the Senate Financial and Governmental Organizations and Elections Committee)
• Senate Bill 389 - Provides a process for the Parole Board to review the case histories of offenders serving more than 15 years in prison and recommend clemency or allow release on parole (assigned to the Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee)
• Senate Bill 422 - Designates a portion of Interstate 70 in Independence as the "Clinton J. Scott Memorial Highway" (hearing conducted in the Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)
• Senate Joint Resolution 11 - Upon voter approval, increases the amount of time for repaying the Budget Reserve Fund when monies from this fund are appropriated due to a disaster or the governor's reduction of the state's expenditures (assigned to Senate Ways and Means Committee)
• Senate Joint Resolution 20 - Upon voter approval, authorizes the creation of Show-Me Small Business Districts (assigned to the Senate Jobs, Economic Development and Local Government Committee)
• House Bill 632 - Designates Dec. 4 as "Alpha Phi Alpha Day" in Missouri in honor of the first African-American intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity (voted "do pass" by the Senate General Laws Committee)

To read more about my legislative actions in the Missouri Senate, visit my Senate website at www.senate.mo.gov/curls and click on the various informative links, which include my news releases, under my Media tab.