JEFFERSON CITY – The gavel has dropped for the final time at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 16, signifying the 2014 regular legislative session has officially adjourned. Lawmakers sent nearly 200 measures to the governor this year for his signature. Below are some of the bills that reached the governor before the final weeks of session. To view all bills passed by the General Assembly during the regular session, go to www.seante.mo.gov, and click on the “Truly Agreed Bills” link under the “Legislation” tab.

Measures Relating to Health Care and Public Health

A bill sponsored by Sen. Ryan Silvey, R-Kansas City, to ensure insurance companies provide affordable coverage for oral chemotherapy was passed and signed by the governor. Senate Bill 668 provides for a more affordable and accessible option to patients in need of this medication. Orally prescribed anti-cancer medications are in compliance with health benefit plans under the bill if they are offered at a rate that limits the total out-of-pocket cost to $75 for the 30-day period.  Senate Bill 668 was passed March 6, 2014, and signed by the governor March 19, 2014.

House Bill 1320 moved swiftly through the House and Senate to honor of the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Rory Ellinger, who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of liver cancer and passed away shortly after the governor lent his signature to the bill. The bill consists of safe guards that will protect women from charges of public indecency, obscenity or sexual conduct when nursing or pumping breast milk.  House Bill 1320 will also excuse breastfeeding mothers from jury duty, and prevents any local government from enacting an ordinance to restrict breastfeeding.  The legislation, handled in the upper chamber by Sen. Joseph Keaveny, D-St. Louis, was passed March 31, 2014, and signed by the governor April 3, 2014.

Senate Bill 532, sponsored by Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis, allows caregivers that are related either by blood, marriage or adoption, under a sworn statement, to consent to medical and educational services for a minor if the parent or guardian cannot be reached after a reasonable amount of attempts. The consent may also be presented in written form. In this act, the affidavit will expire after one year. Senate Bill 532 was passed March 8, 2014.

Measures Relating to Military Affairs

House Bill 1125, carried through the upper chamber by Sen. Will Kraus, R-Lee’s Summit, was one of the first bills passed by the Legislature this year. It allows representatives of military candidates and candidates with physical disabilities to establish the order of their names on the ballot by drawing numbers. House Bill 1125 was passed Feb. 12, 2014, and signed by the governor Feb. 19, 2014.  Since the bill contained an emergency clause, it took effect immediately upon receiving the governor’s signature.

Also handled by Sen. Kraus, House Bill 1710 creates an income tax return check-off program to provide funds for the Missouri National Guard Foundation, a non-for-profit created to promote the state’s National Guard, assist with enhanced military family support services, and provide for the needs of servicemen and women and their families. This will give Missourians the opportunity to contribute to the newly created Missouri National Guard Foundation Fund, in which individuals can donate to the fund by designating a portion of their tax refund. Individual donations must be at least $1 and combined returns must be at least $2. House Bill 1710 will sunset Dec. 31, 2020. This bill was passed April 30, 2014.

Measures Relating to Local Governments and Telecommunications

Senator Brad Lager, R-Savannah, sponsored a package of bills relating to telecommunications infrastructure.  Senate Bills 649 and Senate Bill 653 address management of public right-of-way and utility pole access; Senate Bill 650 places parameters around the wireless approval process to encourage more timely investment in broadband expansion and wireless service improvement; and Senate Bill 651 addresses immunity for telecommunications companies in emergency situations. This package of bills works toward providing communications companies the ability to expand their wireless services in order to accommodate Missourians’ demand for increased amounts of data for their smart phones and mobile devices. Senate Bills 649, 650 and 651 were passed March 5, 2014. Senate Bill 653 was passed March 4, 2014. All four were signed by the governor March 20, 2014.

Senate Bill 523, sponsored by Sen. Ed Emery, R-Lamar, prohibits school districts from requiring students to use identification devices, such as a student ID badge, that utilize radio frequency identification technology to identify students, transmit information regarding students, or monitor or track students’ locations. Senate Bill 523 was passed March 28, 2014.

House Bill 1426, handled in the Senate by Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Glendale, allows counties to create a voluntary registry of individuals with health related ailments for emergency purposes. This act provides assistance to those individuals in case of a disaster or emergency. Any personal identifying information provided for the registry will not be used in public records. However, in the result that an emergency or disaster happens, any person listed on that registry list will be included in a public incident report. This bill was passed April 24, 2014.

Measures Relating to Contracts and Contractors

A measure designed to protect Missourians against predatory practices performed by certain building contractors was passed March 29, 2014. Senate Bill 610, sponsored by Sen. Mike Parson, R-Bolivar, extends consumer protections against predatory business practices by contractors to owners of not just residential, but also commercial properties.

Another bill sponsored by Sen. Parson, Senate Bill 609, modifies applicability of electronic communication of insurance documents to other provisions of law. This will apply to sending insurance documents, such as notices and documents issued by certain insurance companies, non-life insurance companies, and certain life insurance products, through electronic forms.  This act will not change current law regarding a health insurance enrollee’s right to receive certain documents in the enrollee’s preferable format.  This bill was passed April 29, 2014. Senate Bill 609 is similar to House Bill 1079, which allows insurance companies to deliver, save, store, and manage life insurance documents electronically. This bill, also handled by Sen. Parson, will permit these companies to make available policies online instead of mailing or delivering paper copies given the documents do not contain personal identification information. House Bill 1079 was passed April 23, 2014.

Senate Bill 529, sponsored by Sen. Wayne Wallingford, R-Cape Girardeau, modifies the Missouri Prompt Payment Act and the law relating to public works projects. Current Missouri law states that all public work contracts made by political subdivisions for a public works project must provide prompt payment to the contractor. Senate Bill 529 provides that the contracts must also ensure prompt payment for any professional, including engineers, architects, landscape architects, and land surveyors. This bill also addresses how much a public owner may retain, retainage payment upon completion, bond furnishments and guidelines for grievances. Senate Bill 529 was passed April 29, 2014.

Measures Relating to Unemployment Compensation and Employment Security

Legislation redefining the terms “misconduct” and “good cause” when determining if an individual is disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits also received the General Assembly’s approval this year. Senate Bill 510, sponsored by Sen. Kraus, changes “misconduct” to a knowing disregard of an employer’s interest and a knowing violation of the standards the employer expects, in addition to knowingly disregarding the employer’s interests or the duties and obligations to the employer.  The act also defines “good cause” as a term that would compel reasonable employees to cease working or require them to separate from work due to illness or disability. Senate Bill 510 was passed March 29, 2014.

Legislation sponsored by Sen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, changes the duration for unemployment compensation. Current state law states the maximum duration for an individual to receive unemployment benefits is 20 weeks. Senate Bill 673 directly correlates Missouri’s unemployment rate with the number of weeks available to receive unemployment benefits:

• 20 weeks – 90 percent or higher;
• 19 weeks – between 8.5 and 9 percent;
• 18 weeks – 8 percent up to and including 8.5 percent;
• 17 weeks – between 7.5 and 8 percent;
• 16 weeks – 7 percent up to and including 7.5 percent;
• 15 weeks – between 6.5 and 7 percent;
• 14 weeks – 6 percent up to and including 6.5 percent;
• 13 weeks – below 6 percent

This bill also modifies the method the state pays back the federal government by requiring the Board of Unemployment Fund Financing to issue bonds when the amount owed to the federal government for advances exceeds $300 million. Senate Bill 673 was passed April 30, 2014.

Measures Relating to Business and Commerce

Senate Bill 812, sponsored by Sen. Parson, requires the Department of Economic Development to open an office in Israel. This will promote strategic partnerships between companies based in Missouri and companies based in Israel. Senate Bill 812 was passed April 30, 2014.

An act authorizing gaming establishments to provide lines of credit, also sponsored by Sen. Parson. This bill allows gaming establishments and casinos in Missouri to provide a line of credit to a person they deem “creditworthy.” Under Senate Bill 741, an applicant must qualify for a minimum of $10,000 in credit and may not be under the influence of alcohol. Senate Bill 741 was passed April 29, 2014.

Measures Relating to the Environment

Senator Gary Romine, R-Farmington sponsored Senate Concurrent Resolution 19 this legislative session, which continues the work of the Missouri Lead Industry Employment, Economic Development and Environmental Remediation Task Force.  The panel is responsible for making recommendations in a report to the General Assembly on environmental settlements, ways to promote and develop a clean lead industry, clean lead industry legislative proposals, and the economic potential of implementing clean lead industry policies. The task force will consist of 11 members. Senate Concurrent Resolution 19 took effect when it was adopted on March 12, 2014.

Measures Relating to Government Transparency and Efficiency

House Bill 1245, handled by Sen. Doug Libla, R-Poplar Bluff, repeals duplicate versions of statutes allowing state laws to be administered uniformly and increases government efficiency. This measure includes, among others, provisions regarding specialty license plates, permits for transporting hazardous materials, and registers for purchasing or trading specified scrap metals. HB 1245 was passed April 24, 2014.

Measures Relating to Taxation

Senator Romine carried House Bill 1459 in the upper chamber. The bill creates a new tax credit for donations to innovation campuses, a partnership between a Missouri high school, four-year college or university, business, and two-year higher education institute that places focus on the subjects of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. For a donation to be eligible, it must be used toward the STEM fields. The tax credit is nonrefundable, transferable, can be carried on for four years and is equal to 50 percent of the taxpayer’s donation to an innovation campus. This bill will sunset Aug. 28, 2020. House Bill 1245 was passed April 30, 2014.

An act that would extend allocations of tax revenues from nonresident entertainers and athletes until Dec. 31, 2020, was handled in the Senate by Sen. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph. House Bill 1237  will funnel this revenue to the Missouri Arts Council Trust Fund, the Missouri Humanities Council Trust Fund, the Missouri State Library Networking Fund, the Missouri Public Television Broadcasting Corporation Special Fund, and the Missouri Historic Preservation Revolving Fund. Missouri currently applies income tax to amounts earned by athletes and entertainers like all other professions.  The state also applies withholding tax to the amounts paid to non-resident athletes and entertainers.  Under HB 1237, the measure would extend the allocation of tax revenues from the non-resident entertainer and athlete tax until 2020.  The act also specifies that such allocations are subject to appropriations. HB 1237 was passed April 30, 2014.

Unless otherwise mentioned, the measures noted in this Capitol Briefing await the governor’s signature.

Next week’s Capitol Briefing will highlight legislation Truly Agreed to and Finally Passed by the General Assembly during the month of May.  To see a complete list of “Truly Agreed to and Finally Passed” legislation, visit www.senate.mo.gov.  On this site, visitors can track legislation considered by the General Assembly during the 2014 session and learn more about their legislative district and state senators.
The Missouri Senate’s Capitol Briefing will be distributed and posted monthly throughout the interim.  For more legislative news, please visit the Senate newsroom at www.senate.mo.gov/newsroom, where you will find various audio and video programs and other informational services, such as:

• Missouri Legislative Update – A video program produced throughout the legislative session and interim that provides an overview of news in the Missouri Senate and House of Representatives.  The program features news interviews with lawmakers conducted by Missourinet’s Bob Priddy and stories on issues concerning Missourians.
• 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.
• The 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.  Please note: Clips linked to this Capitol Briefing are only available for the legislative week referenced in the publication.