This week, the Senate passed a measure to make college more affordable for students in Missouri. Senate Bill 857 creates the Access Missouri Dual Enrollment Program, which allows students to receive funds during their high school career to pay for dual enrollment credits and dual credit courses from an approved private or public institution of higher education. It also creates the Missouri Dual Enrollment Scholarship Act, which creates a tax credit to those who make a donation to a participating school.
To qualify for the funds, the student must meet certain criteria, such as tutoring and demonstrating economic need. These programs help prepare students for college by granting them credits at a reduced price and showing them what is necessary to succeed in higher education. It’s a wonderful option for families and students.
In 2008, California voters approved Proposition 2, which, among its provisions, required all eggs sold in the Golden State to be from “cage-free” producers. The ballot initiative was led by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), an organization I have been fighting my entire legislative career which preys on the sympathies of voters without properly educating the public.
It’s also not completely clear if the law is even enforceable or legal. The egg industry believes the law conflicts with the Constitution’s commerce clause, and egg producing states are appealing a 2014 ruling on the grounds that a law in one state cannot create a regulation on the same industry in another state, which places a burden on interstate commerce.
This year, I’ve sponsored Senate Concurrent Resolution 67, which condemns California’s anti-trade actions relating to eggs, calls on the legislature to repeal the law and urges the voters of California to reconsider and repeal Proposition 2. The resolution places Missouri on the side of egg producers, consumers and other agricultural groups. We must stop this proposal from having a disastrous effect on nationwide egg production and agriculture in other states.
Visitors this week include: Tanner Isenburger, Rick Vance, Larry VanGilder, John & Carma Hopkins, Ben Terrell.