This week I would like to celebrate four pieces of legislation that were passed and now await the governor’s signature. For me, this time of year is one of the best as a legislator. Once the governor signs laws and they take effect, we can begin to see the real fruits of our labor in Jefferson City.

Senate Bill 492 is beneficial legislation that has the ability to make higher education institutions more efficient and make it more attainable to meet state expectations. With 30 other states using performance funding, our state could use a funding model that puts the responsibility of success in the hands of the schools. Once the governor signs this bill, colleges will work with the Department of Higher Education to develop five goals that will, in essence, reward the higher educational institutions for good performance. Three of those goals must be related to graduation and retention rates, as well as job placement in a field appropriate for a graduates’ degree level. 

The legislation would apply only in years the state can afford to increase higher education funding and would expire in 2016. There are 13 colleges and universities that will be affected and will implement the performance standards.  With such high academic standards obtained by the West Plains and Springfield campuses belonging to Missouri State University, I’m confident these exceptional higher education institutions will benefit from this new funding model. 

Unemployment fraud was also addressed this session. Senate Bill 510 is waiting on the governor’s signature. This legislation would keep employees who are fired for workplace infractions, such as stealing and doing drugs, from receiving unemployment insurance benefits. It also redefines "misconduct" for which an employee may be disqualified from unemployment benefits. Currently, a deliberate violation of the employer's rules constitutes misconduct. Under the measure, a violation of an employer's rule is misconduct unless the employee demonstrates that he or she did not know and could not reasonably know the requirement, the rule is unlawful, or it is not consistently enforced. As a former small business owner, I can tell you that this legislation will help make things much more clear for business owners and other professionals, as it specifically defines what misconduct is. Misconduct includes a violation of a no-call, no-show policy; missing work regularly; being late; and unapproved absences following a written warning. 

For eight years, legislators, attorneys, judges and advocates worked long and hard to help revamp the state’s aged criminal code. It was last revised in 1979, but thanks to the dedicated work of many this session, the new criminal code, found in Senate Bill 491, was passed.

This legislation is one of the biggest victories of this session.  It renames some crimes, and renumbers or consolidates other crimes. And despite the Legislature correcting two drafting errors that the governor pointed out, he still refused to sign this important piece of legislation. However, this inaction still allowed the bill to lapse into law. The revised criminal code will not take effect until 2017, allowing for two legislative sessions to work out any corrections needed to be made. To further safeguard against potential errors, the Missouri Supreme Court Standing Committee on Criminal Procedure is slated to review the bill.

The very first piece of legislation that was passed and signed by the governor this year was Senate Bill 668, a bill that mandates health insurance companies to pay the same amount toward both oral and intravenous chemotherapy medications.

With this much-needed change, we can eliminate a financial barrier and put the emphasis on access to quality care. Oral chemotherapy allows patients the ability to continue to work and contribute to the economy because they are self-administered, and often have fewer side effects. More than 25 percent of the 400 chemotherapy drugs currently in the developmental pipeline are oral therapies. However, IV treatments, which are covered as a medical benefit, require a flat co-payment, while oral therapies are covered as a pharmacy benefit. Patients can be charged up to 50 percent of the costs of these drugs, which can mean hundreds or thousands out-of-pocket dollars each month, even if the oral therapy is the only treatment available for their cancer. Senate Bill 668 takes one worry away from families who are faced with coping with an illness, possibly lost wages, and mounting medical bills. I am pleased to say this measure passed during my time in the Missouri Senate.