The Legislature adjourned for the session at 6 p.m. this evening. After four months of busy days and some long, late nights, we’re mainly finished with our legislative duties in the Capitol this year.

We took up a lot of high-profile measures dealing with problems that have been plaguing our state for years, from welfare abuse to our insolvent Second Injury Fund. The following legislation is now before the governor. These bills can either be signed into law or vetoed. We’ll have the option of overriding any vetoes later in the year.

Second Injury Fund Fix

Fixing the Second Injury Fund was one of the Legislature’s top priorities. In recent years, the funding mechanism for the SIF has become unsustainable, mainly due to the 2008 recession. The SIF is funded through a surcharge on workers’ compensation insurance premiums. When unemployment began to rise, workers’ compensation premiums fell, bringing in less and less revenue for the fund. It is now nearly insolvent.

We approved Senate Bill 1 to address the fund’s shortfall. The measure establishes a funding mechanism that allows a maximum 3 percent supplemental surcharge to bolster the SIF in instances of a shortfall. The bill also removes permanent partial disabilities from the system, which will eliminate 70 percent of the claims.

Unfortunately, the surcharge rate for employers will increase if this bill is signed into law. I’m not happy about this increase, and neither were many of my colleagues. However, the cost of doing nothing would be far higher than this solution. And, the backlogged claims against the SIF should be completely paid out by 2020, at which point rates will return to normal.

Let the People Decide on Local Use Tax

Last year, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled local sales taxes can only be collected on in-state sales, creating a tax-free loophole for consumers who purchase vehicles out-of-state. These buyers no longer had to pay local sales tax, and unless the voters in the city or county had previously approved a use tax, they avoided paying that as well.

Within months of this change, auto dealers in Illinois began advertising how much Missouri buyers could save by crossing the state line. Retailers are losing business, and local governments, already cash-strapped, are losing a huge chunk of their budget, which pays for things like infrastructure repair, police officers and fire fighters, among a lot of other services.

The Legislature passed a measure last year that basically reversed the court’s decision, which was ultimately vetoed by the governor.

We’ve addressed the problem again this year by approving legislation that only requires citizens to pay sales tax on the titling of property, and asks all tax jurisdictions that haven’t already done so to put to a vote of the people whether or not to implement a local use tax.

I can’t stress how important it is that we find a solution to this issue. This legislation allows local jurisdictions, and ultimately the people, decide what tax policy best suits their area. I think it’s the right approach, and I hope the governor signs this bill into law.

Eliminating Social Service Fraud

We passed a handful of measures this session to eliminate fraud and streamline our social services programs. Senate Bill 28 clarifies who’s eligible for unemployment benefits. The current standards are fairly loose. It’s not at all uncommon for an employee fired for misconduct to turn around and receive unemployment benefits, on the taxpayer’s dime. It completely flies in the face of why we created unemployment in the first place—to provide temporary help to people who lost their jobs through no fault of their own. It’s not supposed to be a government-subsidized vacation for someone fired from their job for negligence.

The bill ensures only those who are truly eligible for unemployment benefits receive them. This will ease some of the fiscal stress on the system, which has been overwhelmed with claims since 2008.

We also approved Senate Bill 251, which prohibits Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits from being used in any liquor store, casino, adult business or other place primarily marketed for adults and not in the best interests of the children or household. The legislation is in response to numerous reports we’ve received of TANF benefits used at places such as casinos and gentlemen’s clubs. It’s ridiculous that some would take advantage of taxpayers’ kindness and abuse these funds. This legislation will limit many of these instances.

“No Pay, No Play”

The Legislature passed a measure this year that limits how much money an uninsured driver in an accident with an insured driver can receive in the instance of a lawsuit. Under House Bill 339, if an uninsured motorist is injured in an accident, that driver would not be allowed to receive noneconomic damages from the insured driver in an ensuing lawsuit.

Every driver on the road is required to carry at least liability insurance on their vehicle. A lot of people don’t, though. This legislation adds some teeth to that requirement and will hopefully encourage all citizens to cover their vehicles with sufficient insurance. If you don’t, you forfeit you’re right to noneconomic damages in a court of law, which are usually given out for things like pain and suffering. To be clear, the bill does not infringe on a citizen’s right to receive compensatory damages, only noneconomic ones.

These are just a few of the more than 100 bills we approved throughout the 2013 session. In next week’s column—what will be the last until the 2014 session—I’ll describe some of the legislation I sponsored that was sent to the governor.

Even though session is over, I’ll continue working on the issues facing our state. As always, it was an honor to represent the citizens of the 20th District in our State Capitol.

If you have any questions or comments about this or any other matter regarding your state government, please feel free to contact me at (573) 751-1503; you are also welcome to e-mail me at jay.wasson@senate.mo.gov.