General Column

Week of March 2, 2009

Public Defender Reform Bill Receives Final Senate Approval

Senate Gives Drunken Driving Awareness Program First-Round Passing Vote

JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri’s public defender system is closer to reform after the Senate this week gave final approval to Senate Bill 37.

Senate Bill 37 , sponsored by Sen. Jack Goodman (R-Mt. Vernon), now moves to the House for similar consideration. The public defender bill implements changes designed to relieve the significant workload of Missouri’s public defenders. This includes instituting maximum case loads in order to fulfill the constitutional obligation to provide effective counsel and ensure public defenders are not violating their professional standards, and providing guidelines for instances when maximum case load levels are reached.

Senate Bill 215 , sponsored by Senate Leader Charlie Shields (R-St. Joseph), received a final vote on Monday and also moves to the House for consideration. The bill allows port authority boards to establish port improvement districts to fund projects with voter-approved sales taxes or property taxes.

Listen to the Senate Minute’s report on SB 215 .

Receiving final Senate approval on Wednesday was Senate Bill 104 , sponsored by Sen. Jolie Justus (D-Kansas City). The measure provides the opportunity for female students enrolling in the sixth grade at public schools to be immunized for HPV—which has been linked to cervical cancer—at the option of a parent or guardian.

Sen. Justus also saw her SB 96 receive a final passing vote from the Senate on Wednesday. The consent bill establishes educational rights for foster care students. Each school district would designate a staff person to be an educational liaison for foster care children, who would help them make a smooth transition. Child-placing agencies would also take educational stability under consideration when making placements.

Listen to the Senate Minute’s report on SB 96.

Receiving a first-round vote of approval on Wednesday was SB 237 , sponsored by Sen. Jim Lembke (R-St. Louis). The bill creates a multi-state nursing licensure compact for registered nurses and licensed practical/vocational nurses that allows nurses to practice in states that participate in the compact.

Senate Bill 8 , sponsored by Sen. Norma Champion (R-Springfield), also received an initial vote of approval from the Senate on Wednesday. The bill creates a Crime Laboratory Review Commission to independently review the operations of crime laboratories in the state of Missouri that receive state-administered funding. The five commission members would be appointed by the governor and approved by the Senate, and would have the power to assess the capabilities and needs of the crime labs and make recommendations for improvements.

Sen. Tim Green’s (D-St. Louis) SB 93 also received a first-round passing vote from the Senate on Wednesday. The bill establishes a statewide drunken driving risk reduction awareness program, which would provide for the placement of signs at or near the scene of a drunken driving accident.

Any person may apply to the Missouri Department of Transportation to sponsor a drunken driving victim memorial sign in memory of an immediate family member who died as a result of a motor vehicle accident caused by a person who was driving while intoxicated.

The signs would resemble a Missouri license plate and feature the words "Drunk Driving Victim!", the initials of the deceased victim, the month and year in which the victim was killed, and the phrase "Who's Next?".

Several bills were passed out of committee this week. They include SB 264 , sponsored by Sen. Rob Mayer (R-Dexter), which was passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday. Under this bill, the current informed consent requirements for an abortion would be expanded to include the presentation of various new printed material and videos detailing the risks and information about the unborn child to pregnant women. Senate Bill 264 also makes it a crime to knowingly coerce a woman into having an abortion. 

Senate Bill 167 , sponsored by Sen. Rupp, was passed by the Senate Small Business, Insurance and Industry Committee on Tuesday. The legislation requires health carriers to provide those 21 and younger coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders. Health carriers are prohibited from refusing to issue coverage on an individual or their dependent solely because the individual is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.

Another bill by Sen. Rupp, SB 65 , was passed by the Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy and the Environment Committee . If passed by the General Assembly, the bill would expand the state’s No-Call List to include personal cell phone numbers. It also would prohibit certain solicitations by faxing, graphic imaging or data communication, including text messaging.

Certain automated calls to those who sign up for the No-Call List would be prohibited. Entities that make automated calls would also not be able to block their number from appearing on any caller identification service. Violators of this act may be subject to a civil penalty up to $5,000 per knowing violation.

The bill also requires that anyone making a political phone call to a Missouri resident must include a "paid for by" statement. Violations of the political-related solicitations may be referred to the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Senate Bill 321 , sponsored by Sen. Rita Heard Days (D-St. Louis), was passed by the Senate Progress and Development Committee on Wednesday, and would create a new commission to study the death penalty in Missouri. The 10-person commission would consist of two House and two Senate members, with one from each party from each body; a county prosecutor; a criminal defense lawyer; the state public defender; the attorney general; a murder victim's family member; and a family member of a person on death row. The commission would be comprised equally of people in favor and opposed to the death penalty.

The commission would be required to hold public hearings and study all aspects of the death penalty as administered in Missouri, including possible alternatives. It will issue recommendations for any changes in Missouri law to the governor, General Assembly and Missouri Supreme Court by January 2012.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 14 , sponsored by Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Glendale), was passed by the Senate Rules, Joint Rules, Resolutions and Ethics Committee . The resolution would create the bipartisan Blue Ribbon Panel On Job Retention And Economic Growth, which would be charged with studying matters relating to the social and economic effects of the loss of any major corporate presences or other businesses within the state.

Listen to the Senate Minute’s report on SCR 14.

The Missouri Senate will reconvene at 4 p.m. Monday, March 9, 2009. The First Regular Session of the 95th Missouri General Assembly will run through Friday, May 15, 2009.

The Missouri Senate General Column is written on a weekly basis. To follow these and other issues being addressed by the Missouri Senate, visit www.senate.mo.gov . Visitors can track legislation as it passes through the General Assembly, learn more about their Senate district, and listen to streaming audio of legislative debate as it happens. For more legislative news, please visit Senate Communications online. There you will find various audio and video programs, such as:

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