In the first two months of session, the Missouri Senate has taken up and passed nine priority pieces of legislation, including a bill that would provide the first income tax cut to Missourians since 1921. While Washington D.C. is addicted to borrowing, taxing, and spending, the Missouri Senate is dedicated to cutting waste, balancing a budget, and getting Missourians back to work.
Over the past two decades, the authorization of tax credits has grown exponentially in the State of Missouri. Some of these targeted and special incentives just aren’t producing the jobs or return on investment that Missouri taxpayers deserve. The Missouri Senate acted by cutting wasteful tax credits and is instead focusing on providing broad-based tax relief to all Missourians. Senate Bill 26, which is now in the House of Representatives, will cut taxes for job producers and workers, which will allow Missouri families to keep more of their own money.
Another area of waste and fraud has been our unemployment system. Over the last few years, Missouri courts have narrowly construed the definition and application of “misconduct” when it came to benefits. This has led to cases where employees fired for repeatedly falling asleep on the job, stealing, or even sexual misconduct around children were still allowed to collect unemployment benefits. Senate Bill 28, which was passed out of the Senate, will stop those who willingly disregard workplace rules from collecting government checks and will save Missouri taxpayers more than $500 million over the next decade.
A top priority for the Senate this year was reforming our workers’ compensation system and addressing the now insolvent Second Injury Fund. Senate Bill 1 will provide necessary protections to injured workers and will limit the liability employers will face, while providing the Second Injury Fund a workable funding mechanism. Protecting our job producers and employees from unreasonable settlements is economic development and will keep jobs here in the Show-Me State.
One area of consistent concern has been the overreach of government, be it in Missouri or Washington D.C. Three weeks ago, the Missouri Senate learned the Missouri Department of Revenue had taken the extraordinary step of requiring individuals going in for a license renewal or a Concealed and Carry permit to provide the government with a copy of their birth certificate or passport they could scan and then keep in a database. The extreme steps didn’t stop there, and unfortunately we have learned the Department of Revenue, through a Homeland Security grant, is taking biometric photographs of Missouri residents simply looking to receive a Concealed and Carry permit or update their licenses.
Beyond concern for privacy, these actions by the Department of Revenue have resulted in Missourians having to wait weeks to receive updated licenses through the mail as opposed to same-day printing. These actions by the governor’s employees are unnecessary, wrong, and likely illegal. In my capacity as Senate President, I approved and delivered a subpoena for documents in order to begin uncovering what occurred and why. Beyond the subpoena, we have held hearings on the issue, and I called upon our Attorney General to do his job and defend Missourians from this ridiculous overreach. Infringement upon personal freedoms and the attacks upon the Second Amendment cannot stand.
The administration in Washington D.C. and the governor in Missouri are both pushing legislatures to adopt an unaffordable, billion-dollar state expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare. I co-sponsored the Healthcare Freedom Act in 2010, when more than 70 percent of Missourians agreed and said “no.” The message was as clear then as it is now: Missourians want a system that works for them, not have a broken arrangement forced upon them by the Obama Administration. The Roberts’ ruling on the Affordable Care Act provides states with the option, NOT a mandate to expand Medicaid. We simply cannot afford to double down on a broken system and gamble on our state’s budgetary future with our children’s money. Senate leadership has signed a statement calling on the governor to begin working toward a common-sense, Missouri solution instead of an irresponsible, comprehensive adoption of more failed federal policies.
I always appreciate hearing from you. If you have any questions about the topics discussed above, or any other issues, please do not hesitate to contact my office.
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