Senator Ron Richard’s Legislative Column for the Week of June 27

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Richard Column

Committee Appointments Announced; Governor Signs 2016 Legislation

Legislative News

Under the Missouri Constitution, the governor has 45 days upon the Legislature’s adjournment to sign, veto or allow legislation to lapse into law without his signature. The deadline for the governor to sign legislation is Thursday, July 14, 2016. The following bills were all passed during the 2016 session and have been signed into law by the governor.

Agriculture

The following bills pertain to agriculture, the Show-Me State’s No. 1 industry:

  • Senate Bill 655, repealing the Advisory Council to the Director of the Missouri Agriculture Experiment Station and establishing the Fertilizer Control Board;
  • Senate Bill 664, modifying corporate registration report requirements for authorized farm corporations and family farm corporations; and
  • Senate Bill 665, modifying provisions such as the Qualified Beef Tax Credit, the Farm-to-Table program and the per barrel motor fuel inspection fee, among others.

Education

Senate Bill 638 modifies numerous provisions relating to elementary and secondary education, including: remedial education and personal study plans, school board vacancies, charter schools, CPR instruction in schools, the Pledge of Allegiance in schools, gifted education and the A+ Schools Program. Additionally, SB 638 requires each public school in Missouri, including charter schools, to conduct dyslexia screenings and provide reasonable classroom support consistent with the guidelines developed by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, beginning in the 2018-2019 academic year.

Also pertaining to dyslexia is House Bill 2379, which creates the Legislative Task Force on Dyslexia to make recommendations for a statewide system for the identification, intervention and delivery of support for students with dyslexia. Affecting males and females almost equally, dyslexia is a neurological disorder, characterized by difficulties with accurate and fluent word recognition and poor spelling and decoding abilities. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.

House Bill 1646 creates the “Missouri Civics Education Initiative,” which requires any student entering ninth grade after July 1, 2017, who is attending a public, charter or private school, except for private schools, to pass an exam on the provisions and principles of American civics. The test will consist of 100 questions that are similar to the questions used by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Health Care

House Bill 1568 allows licensed physicians to prescribe naloxone to any individual to administer, in good faith, to another individual suffering from an opioid-related drug overdose. The measure also creates immunity from criminal prosecution, disciplinary actions from a professional licensing board and civil liability for any individual who administers naloxone to a person they believe is suffering from an opioid overdose.

On average, one suicide occurs every 12.8 minutes in the United States. Here in Missouri, the suicide rate outpaces the national suicide rate. Senate Concurrent Resolution 50 designates September as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month in Missouri in order to help reduce the stigma associated with suicide and develop broad community support for suicide prevention.

Cystic fibrosis, commonly referred to as “CF,” is a genetic disease affecting approximately 30,000 children and adults in the U.S., 717 of whom live in Missouri. CF occurs in about one out of every 3,500 live births in the U.S. House Concurrent Resolution 73 designates May as Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month and October as “Brachial Plexus Awareness Month” in Missouri.

Insurance

House Bill 2194 changes the laws regarding insurance policy renewal so that insurers are no longer required to non-renew when transferring a policy to an affiliate.

Public Safety and the Judicial System

On Monday, I was disappointed to hear the governor had vetoed Senate Bill 656, a common-sense measure that seeks to strengthen the Second Amendment right of all Missourians to keep and bear arms. Through this legislation, we hoped to expand the rights of law-abiding citizens to protect themselves and their families. Both the House and Senate approved the legislation by a veto-proof margin during the final week of session, and we are determined to take the necessary steps to override the governor’s veto in September.

Among other provisions, House Bill 1562 expands the crime of sexual trafficking to include advertising a child participating in a commercial sexual act. It also states that victims of human trafficking may participate in the Safe at Home program. Safe at Home was established in 2007 to provide survivors of domestic violence, rape, sexual assault or stalking with a substitute mailing address through the secretary of state’s office. The secretary of state’s office then forwards all mail and maintains the confidentiality of the participant’s location.

Transportation and Highways

Senate Bill 657 modifies a number of provisions relating to motor vehicles, including: ignition interlock devices, the Petroleum Storage Tank Insurance Fund, the per barrel motor fuel inspection fee and motor fuel liability.

Senate Bill 915 designates a portion of U.S. Highway 63 in Boone County as the “U.S. Army Specialist Steven Paul Farnen Memorial Highway” and a portion of U.S. Highway 63 in Boone County as the “U.S. Navy Lieutenant Patrick Kelly Connor Memorial Highway.”

Senate Bill 947 creates an insurance coverage requirement between a transportation network company (TNC) and a TNC driver who uses a personal vehicle to transport passengers for the TNC beginning April 1, 2017. The insurance policy must recognize that the driver uses the vehicle to transport riders for compensation while logged onto the TNC’s digital network.

Senate Bill 1009 designates a portion of state highway FF in Audrain County as the “Trooper James M. Bava Memorial Highway.

House Bill 2335 designates a portion of Highway 32 in Dent County as the “Trooper Gary Snodgrass Memorial Bridge.”

House Bill 2591 designates a number of new memorial highways in Missouri, including the “Senator Emory Melton Memorial Highway,” the “Judge Vincent E. Baker Memorial Highway,” the “LeRoy Van Dyke Highway” and the “Scott Joplin Memorial Highway.”

Committee Appointments

Last year, we witnessed a lack of leadership at the University of Missouri System’s highest level. The Legislature saw the need for objective oversight and subsequently passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 66 to establish the University of Missouri System Review Commission. On June 16, I announced four appointments to the Commission. In addition to my four appointments, the speaker of the House will also appoint four members.

Members of the commission will be responsible for reviewing the UM System’s rules, regulations, administrative structure, campus structure, auxiliary enterprise structure, degree programs, research activities and diversity programs. Once the review of the UM System is complete, the commission will prepare a report for the General Assembly, due by Dec. 31, 2016, with its recommended changes. It is our hope this review process will help gain back trust and respect from people across the state.

We conducted an exhaustive search to make sure we appointed some outstanding Missourians from all areas of the state with different backgrounds. My appointments include:

  • Neal Bredehoeft, B.S., Animal/Livestock Husbandry and Production, University of Missouri-Columbia College of Agriculture, Bredehoeft Farms, Inc.;
  • Renee Hulshof, B.J., University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism, Co-host of KFRU’s “The Morning Meeting”;
  • Dave Spence, Home Economics, University of Missouri-Columbia, Legacy Pharmaceutical Packaging; and
  • Michael Williams, J.D., University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law, Partner at Williams, Dirks, Dameron LLC.

I have also made the following Senate committee appointments:

Senate Interim Committee on Long-Term Care Facilities

Long-term care provides a broad range of medical, personal and social services and supports in-home and community settings for persons in need of care due to age, illness, accident or disability, including many Missouri veterans who have served and protected Missouri residents and the nation. Unfortunately, the general underutilization of beds in Missouri long-term care facilities, the disproportionate distribution of beds to residents in many counties and the high cost of care for vital long-term care services for the elderly, disabled and veteran populations have resulted in a crisis in the provision of adequate and financially-sustainable long-term care for Missouri residents.

The Senate Interim Committee on Long-Term Care Facilities will conduct in-depth studies and make appropriate recommendations concerning the current occupancy and utilization of long-term care beds in Missouri and methods to improve quality of care and reduce costs in long-term care facilities, among other areas. The committee may present a final report to the Senate by Dec. 31, 2016, at which point the committee shall be dissolved.

Committee appointees include:

Senate Interim Committee on MO HealthNet Pharmacy Benefits

MO HealthNet, Missouri’s Medicaid program, provides statewide medical assistance to low-income and vulnerable Missourians, including access to prescription drugs through MO HealthNet’s Pharmacy Program. Prescription drugs — often a vital element in a patient’s treatment plan and continued wellbeing — have grown increasingly expensive in recent years. The continued trend of increased prescription drug costs is unsustainable and represents a budgetary crisis for the MO HealthNet program, as well as increased hardship and uncertainty for the health and welfare of Missouri residents.

The Senate Interim Committee on MO HealthNet Pharmacy Benefits will conduct in-depth studies and make appropriate recommendations concerning pharmacy benefits under the MO HealthNet program and potential cost savings strategies. The committee may present its final report to the Senate by Dec. 31, 2016, at which point the committee shall be dissolved.

Committee appointees include:

Senate Interim Committee on Utility Regulation and Infrastructure Investment

Sustained investment in electric, natural gas, water and sewer utility infrastructure is vital to the economic vitality and well-being of our state. Missouri utility companies compete with utility companies in other states for the necessary capital to sustain investment in utility infrastructure in Missouri. They must be able to achieve reasonable rates of return to ensure sustained investment in utility infrastructure in Missouri. Unfortunately, the utility regulatory process in Missouri, as it applies to electric, natural gas, water and sewer corporations, is governed primarily by Chapter 393, RSMo, which is largely unchanged since original enactment in 1913.

The Senate Committee on Utility Regulation and Infrastructure Investment will conduct in-depth studies and make appropriate recommendations concerning: how the Missouri utility regulatory process and framework compares to that of other states; and how the utility regulatory process in Missouri can, or should, be modernized to be more efficient and effective, to ensure sustained investment in utility infrastructure and to promote the interests of fairness and balance among all constituencies. The committee may present a final report to the General Assembly by Dec. 31, 2016, at which point the committee shall be dissolved.

Committee appointees include:

Contact Me

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I always appreciate hearing your comments, opinions and concerns. Please feel free to contact me in Jefferson City at (573) 751-2173. You may write to me at Senator Ron Richard, Missouri Senate, State Capitol, 201 W. Capitol Ave., Rm. 326, Jefferson City, MO 65101; e-mail me at ron.richard@senate.mo.gov or visit me on the Web at www.senate.mo.gov/richard.