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The Week of May 6, 2024

On the Floor

This week, the Senate began discussion on a number of bills. House Bill 1659 modifies various provisions relating to public safety, including my Senate Bill 760, which adds firefighters as eligible first responder personnel to receive services from the Critical Incident Stress Management Program in the Missouri Department of Public Safety. On the floor, I added language to modify the statewide “Amber Alert System” to aid in the identification and location of missing black youth. This comes as a response to the large disparities in our country when it comes to reporting missing or abducted black youth. My intention with this legislation is to ensure that all missing or abducted youth are reported adequately through the state’s “Amber Alert System,” especially African American young women.

The Legislature has truly agreed and finally passed the series of House Bills that comprise the FY 25 state operating budget, as well as supplemental appropriation bills for the FY 24 budget. 

The Senate third read and passed the following bills:

Bills and Committees

Judiciary Committee:

The committee heard three bills this week. Senate Bill 1509 modifies Missouri Supreme Court Rule 52.08 relating to class actions. House Bill 1777 modifies several provisions relating to certain offenders. House Bill 2576 modifies the offenses of drug trafficking in the first degree and drug trafficking in the second degree by amending the quantities of fentanyl required to obtain a certain felony class.

Other News

Senior Property Tax Freeze Credit

The application for the City of St. Louis Senior Property Tax Credit is now open. This tax credit was passed as a part of Senate Bill 190 during last year’s legislative session and signed into law by the governor. It allows the city to provide senior citizens with fixed city property tax rates while protecting other tax rates such as public schools, the public library, the St. Louis Zoo, museums, etc., from revenue reductions. Eligible seniors can apply for this credit online, via paper form or in-person at the assessor's office. Applications are due by June 30, and individuals can learn more about eligibility and necessary documents at the link above.

Governor signs private school voucher expansion into law

The state’s private school voucher program is slated to significantly expand under a wide-ranging education bill the governor signed into law May 7. The controversial legislation received the bare minimum number of House votes constitutionally required for passage and is expected to face a court challenge.

Senate Bill 727 started as a 12-page measure limited to expanding Missouri’s voucher program, which the Legislature first created in 2021 and provides tax credits for some students to attend private schools. It ultimately ballooned to dozens of provisions spanning 167 pages it order to win enough support for passage. 

The bill increases the annual cap on the tax credits used to fund the voucher program from $50 million to $75 million and opens participation to students statewide, instead of just those from more densely populated areas, as currently is the case. Although the vouchers were previously targeted toward special needs students and those from lower-income households, SB 727 allows wealthier families – those earning up to $166,500 a year for a family of four – to apply.

Other provisions of the bill call for significantly increasing basic state funding for local public school districts, boosting minimum starting teacher pay from $25,000 to $40,000 a year, requiring voter approval for districts in more populous cities and counties to switch to a four-day school week and financially incentivizing districts to maintain a five-day schedule.

Although many of the new provisions enjoyed widespread support, opponents of the overall bill noted future lawmakers won’t be required to provide any – let alone all – of the estimated $468 million a year in additional spending that it would take to deliver on the bill’s promises. With state revenue collections expected to decline sharply in the near term due to a series of recent tax cuts, the money might not even exist to fund these items. By contrast, the revenue to be redirected for private school vouchers is basically guaranteed.

A provision authorizing charter schools in Boone County appears likely to provoke a lawsuit challenging it as an unconstitutional “special law” that applies to just one or a few jurisdictions while excluding other jurisdictions. Charter schools, which are public schools that operate free of many state regulations, are currently only allowed to operate in Kansas City and St. Louis, both of which have experienced struggles with student performance, as well as unaccredited districts located elsewhere.

However, none of the school districts in Boone County are struggling. In a joint letter urging the governor to veto SB 727, six Boone County school superintendents noted Missouri Supreme Court precedent requires a “rational basis” for laws treating some jurisdictions differently than others. In this case, Boone County is targeted for an expansion of charter schools, while similar counties are excluded, simply because the county’s current state senator wants local charter schools, reasoning that likely fails the rational basis test.

The governor also signed into law a second education measure, House Bill 2287. The bill primarily makes modifications to the state’s virtual school program but was amended in the Senate to include some after-the-fact fixes to some possible problems with various aspects of SB 727.

Hazelwood district accuses attorney general of misconduct

A lawyer for the Hazelwood School District filed a complaint with the state on April 15 alleging the Missouri Attorney General violated the rules of professional behavior for attorneys. The claim alleges that the AG promoted false claims and engaged in dishonest conduct by launching an investigation into the district on a factually dubious assertion that district policies promoting diversity and inclusion somehow led to the off-campus beating of a 15-year-old student.

The complaint was filed with the Missouri Supreme Court’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel, which investigates allegations of misconduct by lawyers. It became public May 2 following a story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. All seven members of the Hazelwood Board of Education signed on in support of the complaint.

“As a result of AG Bailey’s irresponsible and political actions, the HSD Board, staff and I have received numerous emails and phone calls from all over the country containing hate-filled messages,” the complaint says. “Employees answering phones are called (racial slurs). Bomb threats have been made to individual employees and at schools, to which law enforcement have had to respond. Fortunately, these have been false alarms. However, his actions have caused staff, students and parents to fear for their safety.”

The complaint stems from the attorney general’s actions following a viral video of a March 8 fight in which a Black Hazelwood East High School student is shown assaulting a white student. The victim spent several weeks in intensive care, while the attacker was arrested and is awaiting a hearing to decide whether she will be criminally charged as an adult. Police found no evidence the fight was racially motivated.

In a March 22 letter to the district, the attorney general blamed the district’s diversity and inclusion policies for contributing to the attack and said he would be investigating. However, the district says the attorney general got numerous key facts wrong, including the date the incident occurred. He also claimed the attack had taken place on campus during the middle of the school day, when it actually happened after school and roughly a quarter-mile away.

The attorney general also falsely asserted no one was on hand to break up the fight because the district doesn’t employ school resource officers. However, the district does employ resource officers at some schools and private security at others. The district noted the fact that the incident occurred off campus is the reason officers weren’t there to intervene.

If the disciplinary counsel pursues an investigation and finds the complaint has merit, it could recommend a range of punishments, including reprimand, suspension of the attorney general’s law license or disbarment. The Supreme Court would ultimately decide if any punishment were warranted.

Four initiative petitions submitted seeking statewide votes

Missouri voters this fall could decide whether to provide constitutional protection to reproductive rights, legalize sports gambling, authorize a new casino near the Lake of the Ozarks and increase the state minimum wage under separate initiative petitions filed with the Secretary of State Office in time for the May 5 deadline.

Supporters of all four measures said they submitted signatures well in excess of the minimum numbers required to qualify for the Nov. 5 statewide ballot, which comes to about 107,000 signatures for a statutory proposition and 172,000 for a proposed constitutional amendment. Election officials will now verify whether each petition has enough valid signatures from registered Missouri voters in at least six of the state’s eight congressional districts.

The reproductive rights measure is the highest profile initiative of the group. It would amend the Missouri Constitution to guarantee the right to have an abortion prior to the point of fetal viability, as well as access to birth control and other forms of reproductive care. Supporters said they submitted more than 380,000 signatures – well over double the minimum number required.

Another prominent initiative proposes a constitutional amendment to legalize and tax sports gambling in Missouri, which is one of the last remaining states where it is still illegal after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal law outlawing sports betting a few years ago. The St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Chiefs and Kansas City Royals spearheaded the petition drive to put the issue before voters. They claimed to have collected more than 340,000 signatures.

A third proposed constitutional amendment seeks to authorize a new casino along the Osage River near the Bagnell Damn at the Lake of the Ozarks. The state constitution currently limits casinos to facilities on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Supporters say they submitted more than 320,000 signatures.

The final initiative proposes changing state law to increase Missouri’s minimum wage from the current rate of $12.30 an hour to $15 an hour by 2026 and guarantee paid sick leave for workers. The measure garnered more than 200,000 signatures – almost double the number needed for a statutory proposition.

Governor signs bill to seeking to defund Planned Parenthood 

The governor signed legislation into law May 9 that will block Planned Parenthood facilities and other facilities associated with abortion providers from participating in the state’s Medicaid program. The move will primarily impact low-income women by cutting off state funding for a low-cost provider of cancer screenings, birth control and general women’s health services.

House Bill 2634 marks the culmination of a years-long effort to defund Planned Parenthood clinics operating in the state. Although the organization was state’s last remaining abortion provider, none its clinics currently perform the procedure in Missouri, where it is now illegal in nearly all circumstances. 

Because the Missouri Supreme Court twice has ruled attempts to strip the organization of funding through the state budget process unconstitutional, the bill attempts to sidestep that precedent by creating a general statute purporting to prohibit Medicaid reimbursements to health care facilities affiliated with out-of-state abortion providers.

Lawmakers passed HB 2634 along straight party lines by votes of 23-10 in the Senate and 106-48 in the House of Representatives. The measure takes effect Aug. 28.

Governor endorses bill blocking controversial KC landfill

The governor on May 6 signed into law bipartisan legislation to block construction of a proposed landfill in south Kansas City that residents in the nearby city of Raymore and other surrounding areas have been trying to stop for more than a year. 

House Bill 1751 prohibits building new landfills in Kansas City if they fall within a mile of the border of a neighboring municipality unless that city also approves the project. In this instance, the proposed landfill would have been near a residential area of Raymore. The bill passed on votes of 24-7 in the Senate and 121-25 in the House of Representatives. It takes effect Aug. 28.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Thank you for your interest in the legislative process. I look forward to hearing from you on the issues that are important to you this legislative session. If there is anything my office can do for you, please do not hesitate to contact my office at 573-751-3599.