JOURNAL OF THE SENATE

NINETY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

OF THE

STATE OF MISSOURI

FIRST EXTRA SESSION

OF THE

FIRST REGULAR SESSION

FIRST DAY--WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2001

The Senate was called to order in Extra Session by Lieutenant Governor Joe Maxwell.

The Reverend Carl Gauck offered the following prayer:

"Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God;" (Isaiah 41:10)

We come, O Lord, from our varied duties and time of rest to once more discern the needs of the People of Missouri. We do our business away from our chambers and ask that You provide Your Holy Spirit to guide and direct our thoughts and actions even here. May our decisions be just and provide help and the greatest amount of good among our people. In Your Holy Name we pray. Amen.

The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag was recited.

COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE GOVERNOR

The President laid before the Senate the following proclamation from the Governor, reading of which was waived:

PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS, Missouri's senior population is going to grow over the next nine years from 13.5 percent of our state population to over 20 percent; and

WHEREAS, American seniors over the age of 65 take an average of over nine different medications, and much of our growing senior population is struggling with the dilemma of how to afford the skyrocketing cost of these medications on limited and fixed incomes, often finding that they have to make the unthinkable choice between food and medicine; and

WHEREAS, the federal government has repeatedly failed to adequately address the problem of the rising costs of prescription drugs, and these costs are expected to more than double by the end of the decade; and

WHEREAS, Conference Committee Substitute for House Substitute for House Committee Substitute for Senate Substitute for Senate Committee Substitute for Senate Bill No. 14, passed by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri and signed into law in 1999, created an unexpectedly expensive prescription drug program that does not help those Missouri seniors who are least able to pay for needed medication; and

WHEREAS, in spite of my making prescription drug cost relief one of the major priorities of the first budget of my administration, no consensus was reached by the end of the last regular legislative session on what form a relief program would take, although the General Assembly did appropriate money to pay for the state cost of the first year of such a program; and

WHEREAS, I have appointed a special task force that is holding public hearings and reviewing the issue throughout the summer, and this special task force is charged with making recommendations to the members of the General Assembly for a fiscally-responsible prescription drug relief plan that helps the most needy Missouri seniors; and

WHEREAS, Missouri's Medicaid income eligibility and asset limits for the elderly are some of the lowest in the country, and raising these income guidelines, in conjunction with a new prescription drug relief program, will ensure that Missouri's lowest income seniors will have access to needed prescription drugs; and

WHEREAS, the United States Congress enacted the Economic Growth and Tax Reconciliation Relief Act of 2001 (P.L. 107-16) on June 7, 2001, and President George W. Bush thereafter signed into law P.L. 107-16; and

WHEREAS, Section 101(b)(1) of P.L. 107-16 was codified as Internal Revenue Code Section 6428, which contains provisions that will reduce the federal income tax paid by many individual taxpayers, including many Missouri residents, for the taxpayer's first taxable year beginning in 2001; and

WHEREAS, for many Missouri residents, the effect of this reduction in federal income tax liability will be a reduction in the federal income tax deduction provided by Section 143.171, RSMo, and an increase in the Missouri tax liability for the taxpayer's first taxable year beginning in 2001; and

WHEREAS, Missouri is one of only nine states that allows for a deduction for federal income tax paid, which reduces the tax liability for Missouri taxpayers, and this advantageous aspect of Missouri tax law will no longer operate to the benefit of Missouri taxpayers unless the General Assembly changes the tax law to respond to the passage of P.L. 107-16; and

WHEREAS, P.L. 107-16 was enacted after the time allowed by Article III, section 20(a) of the Constitution of the State of Missouri for the Ninety-First General Assembly to consider any bill to alleviate the increase in Missouri tax due to the enactment of P.L. 107-16; and

WHEREAS, the inability of the Ninety-First General Assembly to consider a bill to alleviate the increase in Missouri tax due to the enactment of P.L. 107-16 will keep some Missouri taxpayers from realizing the full benefit of federal tax relief, which was intended to put a sum of money directly back into the hands of the citizens of Missouri; and

WHEREAS, open access to and expansion of markets and market options is an essential element of agricultural enterprise; and

WHEREAS, in 1999, Conference Committee Substitute for House Substitute for Senate Bill No. 310 (hereinafter "SB 310") enacted provisions of law that may to some degree change the climate of business transactions between animal producers and processors; and

WHEREAS, in May of 2001, when court challenges to the law ceased and the price discrimination provisions of SB 310 became enforceable, animal processors limited purchases of Missouri fed animals to a grade and yield method, curtailing cash sale options for producers and causing severe economic hardship to Missouri's fed cattle and hog industries; and

WHEREAS, maintaining a strong and vital agricultural economy is critical to the long term health of our state, in both rural and urban areas; and

WHEREAS, the ability to negotiate price on a cash basis is an essential element of maintaining the stability of the market and profitability for both small and large producers; and

WHEREAS, all parties have been engaged in the development of specific compromise language that will reopen cash market options for Missouri producers; and

WHEREAS, Article IV, Section 9 of the Missouri Constitution authorizes the Governor on extraordinary occasions to convene the General Assembly by proclamation, wherein he shall state specifically each matter on which action is deemed necessary; and

WHEREAS, the failure to create a new, fiscally-responsible prescription drug program, the passage of P.L. 107-16 and its subsequent, adverse effect on Missouri taxpayers, and the passage of SB 310 and its subsequent, adverse effect on Missouri's fed cattle and hog industries are extraordinary occasions as envisioned by Article IV, Section 9, of the Constitution of the State of Missouri.

NOW THEREFORE, on the extraordinary occasions that exist in the state of Missouri:

I, BOB HOLDEN, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI, pursuant to the authority vested in me as Governor by the Constitution of the State of Missouri, do, by this Proclamation, convene the Ninety-First General Assembly of the State of Missouri in the First Extra Session of the First Regular Session; and

I HEREBY call upon the Senators and Representatives of said General Assembly to meet in the State Capitol in the City of Jefferson at the hour of 12:00 p.m., Central Daylight Time, on September 5, 2001; and

I HEREBY state that the action of said General Assembly is deemed necessary concerning each matter specifically designated and limited hereinafter as follows: