JEFFERSON CITY — Legislation continues to move forward in the Senate, including several bills that have been approved by both chambers and now move to the governor’s desk for his signature.
Early in the week, the Senate gave final approval to House Bill 163, legislation that would extend unemployment benefits for Missouri families who have reached, and those nearing, the 79-week cut-off. The legislation, handled in the Senate by Sen. David Pearce, R-Warrensburg, was adopted with an emergency clause. The governor signed the legislation on Wednesday. Since the legislation contained the emergency clause, the bill went into effect immediately with the governor’s signature.
An amendment added to the legislation during debate by Sen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, would reduce Missouri’s share of initial unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to 20 weeks for future benefit recipients. Businesses pay into state unemployment insurance trust funds to fund the state’s portion of unemployment benefits.
Click here to listen to This Week in the Missouri Senate from April 8, which discussed HB 163.
Senate Bill 113, sponsored by Sen. Mike Parson, R-Bolivar, received final approval from the House and Senate this week. The legislation would make changes to the “Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act,” which was passed by voters in November. The legislation makes several changes to the new law, including changing the name of the act to the Canine Cruelty Prevention Act and removing the current law that restricts anyone from having more than 50 breeding dogs.
Senate Bill 113 also makes changes to the Animal Care Facilities Act (ACFA). Currently, the maximum fee for obtaining a license to operate certain dog facilities is $500 per year. The legislation increases this maximum to $2,500 per year. The measure also requires licensees to pay a $25 fee each year to be used by the Department of Agriculture for Operation Bark Alert, a program launched in 2009 to crack down on unlicensed breeders.
The legislation also removes the current criminal penalty provision under the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act and adds new penalty and enforcement provisions to the ACFA and the Canine Cruelty Prevention Act. If the state veterinarian or an animal welfare official finds that past violations of either act have not been corrected, the director of the Department of Agriculture could refer cases to the Missouri Attorney General or a local prosecutor, who could then seek a restraining order, injunction, or a remedial order to correct the violations. Civil penalties of up to $1,000 per violation are also allowed under the legislation.
Senate Bill 113 also creates the crime of canine cruelty, a Class C misdemeanor, when someone repeatedly violates the ACFA or Canine Cruelty Prevention Act in such a manner that poses a substantial risk to the health and welfare of animals in the person's custody or when someone violates an agreed-to remedial order involving the safety and welfare of the animals. A second or subsequent offense is a Class A misdemeanor. The legislation also makes it a Class A misdemeanor for a licensed breeder to keep his or her animals in stacked cages where there is no impenetrable layer between the cages, except if cleaning the cages. The measure also changes the definition of "pet" to only apply to dogs.
Senate Bill 188, sponsored by Sen. Brad Lager, R-Savannah, was also approved by the Legislature. The bill would change Missouri’s employment discrimination law to mirror the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The bill would change Missouri law by specifying that discrimination must be “a motivating factor” rather than “a contributing factor” in wrongful termination lawsuits — language that is identical to the federal Civil Rights Act. The measure would also allow for summary judgments, guarantee jury trials, limit awards as outlined in federal law, and exclude managers and supervisors from being held individually liable.
The bill also addresses Missouri’s whistleblower protections by clarifying that the protections only apply to those employees who call attention to wrongdoing that is illegal, rather than allegations of wrongdoing where no law was broken.
House Bill 209, handled in the Senate by Sen. Lager, deals with nuisance lawsuits in the state and would remove the right to file repeated nuisance lawsuits against a livestock operation. Supporters of the legislation say it will help farmers who, under current law, could face repeated lawsuits for the same offense. The legislation also contains limits to what damages can be awarded in an action for private nuisance where the alleged nuisance emanates from property used for farming, agriculture, crop, or animal production purposes.
Another provision in the bill increases the penalties for not screening a junkyard by a fence to a Class C misdemeanor and a Class A misdemeanor for subsequent violations. Current law requires any junkyard within 200 feet of a state or county road to be screened by a fence.
House Bill 174, handed in the Senate by Sen. Pearce, would allow the Coordinating Board for Higher Education to continue to have nine members. Current law specifies that board have no more than one person appointed from the same congressional district. With Missouri losing a congressional district this year, the law needs to be changed so that at least one voting member, but no more than two, can be appointed from each congressional district.
Senate Bill 113, Senate Bill 188, House Bill 174, and House Bill 209 now await the governor’s signature to become law.
Senators went to work this week on a redistricting plan for the state. The Legislature must approve a plan to redraw Missouri’s congressional districts, which will decrease from nine to eight based on the results of the census.
Missouri’s population experienced a 7 percent increase during the past 10 years, but higher population growth in other states resulted in the loss of a congressional seat in the state. Senators on the Senate Select Committee on Redistricting have been working throughout the year to craft a new map to reflect shifting populations.
House Bill 193, handled in the Senate by Sen. Scott T. Rupp, R-Wentzville, was approved by the House of Representatives in early April. During debate in the Senate this week, the bill was amended to reflect the plan approved by the Senate Select Committee on Redistricting. The Senate plan differs from the House map in several areas, including how Jefferson County, located in the eastern part of the state, would be divided between congressional districts. The Senate plan also handles the division of St. Charles County and the placement of southwestern Missouri counties differently from the House plan.
House and Senate members will now meet in a conference committee to iron out the differences between House and Senate versions of the bill. The agreed-to version of the bill will need to be approved by both chambers before moving to the governor’s desk for his signature.
The 13 bills that make up the state’s core spending plan were approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee this week. With this passing vote, committee members recommend that the budget bills move to the full Senate for debate. One change made to the bills by the Senate committee would lessen funding reductions to public universities and colleges and restore some transportation funding for K-12 schools. Cuts made throughout the rest of the proposed budget allowed for the increased funding.
Click here to listen to the Senate Minute from April 14, which discusses the redistricting plan approved by the Senate. Click here to watch and listen to audio and video clips from April 12 and April 14 featuring senators on the floor discussing HB 193.
The Senate approved several additional measures, sending them to the House for similar consideration.
Additional legislation approved by the Senate included:
- Senate Bill 213, sponsored by Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, which would modify what information is required in a petition for guardianship for a minor or an incapacitated person. The legislation would also adopt the Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act.
- Senate Bill 241, sponsored by Sen. Dan Brown, R-Rolla, which would create a state and local sales and use tax exemptions for the sale of captive wildlife and for feed for captive wildlife.
- Senate Bill 268, sponsored by Sen. Bill Stouffer, R-Napton, which would increase the statutory award amount for Alzheimer's disease research projects funded by the University of Missouri Board of Curators.
- Senate Bill 100, sponsored by Sen. Stouffer, which would create a tax credit for contributions to developmental disability care providers. The bill would also modify provisions of the residential treatment agency tax credit program.
- Senate Bill 286, sponsored by Sen. Ryan McKenna, D-Crystal City, which would establish the Task Force on the Prevention of Sexual Abuse of Children and create the "Amy Hestir Student Protection Act” to better protect children in school from being sexually abused.
- Senate Bill 323, sponsored by Sen. Schaeffer, which requires the State Auditor to conduct a one-time comparative audit of five to 10 of the largest state agencies by Aug. 28, 2013. The auditor would be required to issue a report containing recommendations, including the optimal fiscal practices to be promoted across all state agencies and other efficiency or cost-saving measures.
- Senate Bill 325, sponsored by Sen. Wasson, which would require boards, commissions, committees, councils, or offices within the Division of Professional Registration to notify a licensee's employer if the employee’s license has been revoked.
- Senate Bill 132, sponsored by Sen. Rupp, which would make changes to the law regarding motor vehicle extended service contracts to better protect consumers.
- Senate Bill 387, sponsored by Sen. Wasson, which would allow non-violent offenders to be put on electronic monitoring during pretrial, rather than being incarcerated.
- Senate Bill 300, sponsored by Sen. Brian Munzlinger, R-Williamstown, which would allow centerfire handguns to be used during the muzzleloader portion of the firearms deer season.
- Senate Bill 337, sponsored by Sen. Munzlinger would clarify laws pertaining to the sale of noxious weeds, as well as allowing the Department of Agriculture to publish its brand book online, rather than printing.
- Senate Bill 238, sponsored by Sen. Schmitt, which would change the law for disability claims and death benefits in relation to firefighters. After five years of service, if a firefighter’s health is impaired by an infectious disease, it would be presumed that this infectious disease was contracted in the line of duty. Firefighters would be required to submit to an annual physical examination, at which a blood test is administered, in order to receive the presumption that the infectious disease was contracted in the line of duty.
- Senate Bill 230, sponsored by Sen. Lager, which would allow a political subdivision to transfer ownership of scrap tires or tire shred to any Missouri-based company if the cost of the transfer is less than the cost of disposal of the tires.
The Senate will reconvene next week at 4 p.m. on Monday, April 18, when senators are expected to debate House Bills 45, 14, 15, and 270. The First Regular Session of the 96th General Assembly runs through Friday, May 13, 2011.
This update is written once a week throughout the legislative session. To follow these and other issues facing the Missouri Senate, visit www.senate.mo.gov. Visitors can track legislation as it passes through the General Assembly, learn more about their district, or, when the Legislature is in session, listen to streaming audio of legislative debate as it happens. For more legislative news, please visit the Senate Newsroom. There you will find various audio and video programs and other services, such as:
- Missouri Legislative Update (MLU) – A video program produced periodically throughout the year that provides an overview of the news in the Missouri Senate and House of Representatives. The program features news interviews with lawmakers and stories on issues concerning Missourians.
- Capital Dialogue – Missourinet's Bob Priddy hosts this monthly half-hour roundtable program bringing legislators together from the Missouri Senate and House of Representatives from different political parties to discuss their positions on specific issues and legislation.
- This Week in the Missouri Senate – A weekly five-minute audio program that wraps up the week’s news in the Missouri Senate. Programs are posted online every Friday in .mp3 format.
- Senate Minute – A condensed, one-minute audio report of current Senate news. Programs are posted in .mp3 format and are available through podcast.
- Daily Audio / Video Clips – Throughout the year, the Senate Newsroom posts broadcast-quality audio and video highlights from Senate committee hearings, floor debate, press conferences and other legislative events.
- Daily News Clips – The Senate Newsroom compiles daily news clips from various print and online publications that cover issues relating to the Legislature and state government. An archive of past clips is maintained online and is offered as a subscription service.
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