JEFFERSON CITY – With the 2016 legislative session in the books, State Sen. Eric Schmitt today highlighted a series of legislative achievements that will benefit all Missourians.
Ending Nefarious Ticketing Schemes
Schmitt has been leading the effort in the state legislature to stop taxation by citation and reform Missouri municipalities by limiting the amount of revenue municipal governments can raise from residents with moving violations. This year he successfully advanced Senate Bill 572 to passage adding non-moving violations to the list of violations for which municipal revenue is limited. This achievement will curb the practice of government bureaucrats stalking neighborhoods to write tickets for mismatched blinds or font yard grills.
“Missourians work hard to support themselves and their families, and want their state and local governments to respect their hard work and not treat them as ATMs to prop up bloated bureaucracies,” Schmitt said. “We made historic progress in 2015 to protect Missourians from taxation by citation schemes and now we are protecting them from nefarious ticketing schemes cooked up by local officials in Pagedale and other communities across Missouri.”
Stopping Ticket Quotas
Senator Schmitt passed legislation, Senate Bill 765, which prohibits bureaucrats from forcing police departments to have traffic ticket quotas. This legislation builds on the historic municipal reforms approved over the past two years and further protects citizens, and also law enforcement officers – who can now serve and protect their communities, rather than target citizens as ATMs to prop up bloated government budgets.
Advocating for Missourians With Developmental Disabilities
As an advocate for Missourians living with developmental disabilities, Schmitt scored significant victories in 2016. He was the force behind Missouri passing the MO ABLE Act in 2015 and this year worked to pass House Bill 2125, ensuring Missouri’s program is up to date with all the rules published last year by the federal government. Now, MO ABLE will be a qualified program and individuals can begin saving by 2017.
Schmitt secured millions for services for the most vulnerable, including individuals with disabilities through the annual appropriations process. In House Bill 2010, he secured funding for developing skills for independence and community support for people with epilepsy, including preparing individuals for gainful employment and providing services for seizure management. In House Bill 2010, Schmitt secured increased funding to support Regional Autism projects. In House Bill 2010, Schmitt secured additional funding for tuberous sclerosis research.
In two appropriations bills, Schmitt secured funding for the purpose of providing autism services and related training at Truman State University.
“As a father of a young child with a developmental disability, I know personally how it impacts families across Missouri,” Schmitt said. “Missouri parents want their children to live up to their God given potential and we are doing everything we can on behalf of these families to help make that possible,” Schmitt said.