This week, we passed legislation that limits the amount of punitive damages plaintiffs can receive in a lawsuit against Doe Run. The bill in no way affects compensatory damages, only punitive, which are solely a way to punish a business or individual. Up until a few decades ago, we didn’t really know about the dangers of lead (lead-based paint wasn’t even outlawed in the United States until 1971). Mining companies in the past could be careless, leaving behind debris and huge piles of chat, the waste produced from lead-zinc mining.

We now know the debris made a lot of people very sick. A number of lawsuits were filed against the Fluor Corporation, the previous owners of the mines. The company ceased operations in 1972, but cases were still winding their way through the courts up until a few years ago. In 2011, a St. Louis jury awarded plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the company a $320 million award for lead pollution at a smelter in Herculaneum.

Doe Run Resources Corporation is now facing a number of similar lawsuits. The only problem is that Doe Run did not create the debris. The company bought the mines and smelting operations years after Fluor stopped doing business. Despite this, Doe Run has spent more than $60 million cleaning up the pollution and invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into local communities. It has plans to build a new smelting plant with cutting-edge environmental protection technology. The company continues to make good faith efforts to repair mistakes for liabilities it purchased, not created.

A large lawsuit like the one from 2011 would bankrupt Doe Run. The 1,600 people the company employs would be out of work, and victims would be robbed of ever receiving any compensation. The company is not dodging its responsibilities, but if a jury awards a plaintiff a massive verdict for punitive damages, out of some mistaken attempt at “justice,” the lead industry in Missouri will be destroyed.

There is no easy answer to this situation. We cannot let the lead industry in Missouri die. It’s an important part of our economy, and the economy of our country. At the same time, though, victims deserve to be compensated.

I believe this bill is the best option out of what are admittedly a lot of bad ones. It still allows people the right to compensation in a court of law, while giving Doe Run some protection from massive, bankrupting lawsuits, which secures the future of lead mining in Missouri and the jobs it’s created. The measure now goes to the governor.

The Legislature approved this week a handful of measures and provisions I sponsored. House Bill 196, which contains a provision identical to my legislation, Senate Bill 339, establishes the Missouri Works Training Program, which combines several existing programs to better provide job training assistance to qualified companies and expands which organizations qualify. We also approved House Bill 986, which contains an amendment I offered on the Senate floor. The provision creates the Joint Committee on Medicaid Transformation, which will examine ways we can reform our Medicaid system to be more efficient and fiscally sound. Many lawmakers are hesitant to consider Medicaid expansion until we deal with the program’s existing problems, which this committee will look at.

Finally, a provision I offered that allows a fire department or fire protection district chief to carry a firearm, with the requirement that he or she be full-time and has a CCW permit, was added to House Bill 533, which was sent to the governor on Wednesday.

The Senate adjourned this evening at 6 p.m. for the end of session. We will return in September for the annual veto session, but the bulk of our legislative work in the Capitol is finished for the year. I’m happy to say that all of my priorities for the year passed. A great deal of that success is due to my staff, whose dedication to serving the citizens of the 3rd District inspires me on a daily basis. It is truly a group effort.

It has been an honor to serve you in the Capitol this year. Even though we’re out of session, please feel free to contact me with any concerns you have about state government.

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