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JEFFERSON CITY—The 2010 legislative session, the Second Regular Session of the 95th General Assembly, will begin in just two weeks when lawmakers convene in the Capitol at noon on Wednesday, Jan. 6. Already on the docket for 2010 is legislation addressing ethics reform, insurance coverage for autism and advanced voting systems.
Numbers have been assigned to prefiled bills since Dec. 1. All prefiled bills will automatically be introduced and read for the first time on the opening day of the session. The following is a sampling of some of the bills that have already been prefiled by senators for consideration in 2010:
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Senate Bill 618, sponsored by Sen. Scott T. Rupp (R-Wentzville). This bill would require health carriers to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders. The bill would also prohibit health carriers from denying or refusing to issue coverage on an individual or dependent solely because the individual is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Senate Bill 618 would also establish coverage limits and protect small businesses from unreasonable premium costs. Listen to This Week in the Missouri Senate’s report on SB 618.
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Senate Bill 584, sponsored by Sen. Matt Bartle (R-Lee’s Summit). This bill would require the mandatory review and sunset of certain tax credit programs. Specifically SB 584 would modify the sunset act to terminate new programs three years from their effective date, and if reauthorized, programs would terminate three years from the date of reauthorization.
The bill would also require the Joint Committee on Tax Policy to review all state tax credit programs that are not currently subject to a sunset. Also (effective Dec. 31, 2014) the measure would prohibit the issuance of tax credits authorized under programs that are not subject to a sunset, unless the General Assembly adopts a concurrent resolution approving and reauthorizing the tax credit program after it has been reviewed by the joint committee or a law is enacted changing provisions of the tax credit program.
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Senate Bill 590, sponsored by Sen. Joan Bray (D-St. Louis). The bill would create the “Task Force on the Use of Conducted Energy Devices,” which would have 10 members appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. Task force members would include two medical experts, two scientific experts, two legal experts, two law enforcement experts and two private citizens who have been shot by a conducted energy device (CED) or whose family member has been shot by a CED, commonly known as a taser.
The task force is designed to evaluate the safety of CEDs and to make recommendations regarding their use by law enforcement. The task force would hold public hearings and study all aspects of CED use in Missouri and report its findings and recommendations to the governor, attorney general and Legislature by January 1, 2012.
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Senate Bill 603, sponsored by Sen. Rob Mayer (R-Dexter). This bill would allow students currently enrolled in a public school to enroll in a public school in another district beginning July 1, 2011. Each school district would adopt a policy outlining appropriate class size and teacher-pupil ratios for all grade levels and no school district would be required to admit students if doing so would violate its class size and teacher-pupil ratio.
Parents would be responsible for providing transportation to the student, though a school district may provide transportation to a student to and from a point on an existing bus route provided the parent transports the child to that point. Senate Bill 603 would not apply to the Kansas City or St. Louis City school districts.
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Senate Bill 610, sponsored by Sen. Tim Green (D-St. Louis). This bill would ban employers from asking or requiring an employee or applicant to disclose any user name or password information for any Internet site or web-based account, except for those relating to the employers' computer systems.
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Senate Bill 634, sponsored by Sen. David Pearce (R-Warrensburg). This bill would create a state income tax credit for any eligible costs incurred by taxpayers in making homes reach certain benchmarks for green building standards. The credits would be available in amounts ranging from $.45 per square foot for minimum green building standard attainment to $1.15 for maximum standard attainment. The program would be capped at $2 million per year and tax credits would be issued on a first-to-file, first-to-receive basis.
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Senate Bill 651, sponsored by Sen. Rita Heard Days (D-St. Louis). This bill would create a system to allow voters to cast advance ballots at central voting locations and satellite sites across the state. The election authority would consider factors including geographic location and demographics of the registered voters from the previous election to ensure non-discrimination.
Election authorities would create lists of the names and addresses of each voter casting an advance ballot and the lists would be confidential until 8:00 a.m. on the Friday before the election. Provisions regarding advance voting would become effective January 1, 2011.
The Missouri Senate Capitol Briefing is written on a regular basis. To follow these and other issues being addressed by the Missouri Senate, visit www.senate.mo.gov. Visitors can research legislation and learn more about their Senate district and the legislative process. 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 available through podcast. All four of these programs give listeners the option of subscribing via 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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