Senator Karla May's May Report for the Week of March 31, 2025

Friday, April 4, 2025

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The Week of March 31, 2025

On the Floor

Last Week

The Senate began discussing the following pieces of legislation:

  • Senate Bill 190 would establish tax credits for certain engineering degrees.
  • Senate Bill 107 would classify any emergency medical services provider licensed under certain provisions of state law as a health care professional for purposes of liability and disclosure of materials produced by a peer review committee.

 

Additionally, the Senate third read and passed these bills:

  • Senate Bill 348 enacts several provisions relating to state designations. 
  • Senate Bill 125 modifies eligibility for appropriations withdrawn from the Waterways and Ports Trust Fund.
  • Senate Bill 189 adds vehicles operated by county or municipal park rangers to the definition of "emergency vehicle" for the purposes of yielding to right-of-way and the display of emergency lights.
  • Senate Bill 396 authorizes the board of trustees of a consolidated public library district to change the dates of the fiscal year.
  • Senate Bill 61 would allow a person with at least three years of work experience in an occupation or profession in another state that does not have a license regulating that occupation or profession to apply for a temporary license in Missouri. 
  • Senate Bill 79 specifies that certain contracts for health care benefits provided by qualified membership organizations, such as the Missouri Farm Bureau, to their members will not be considered insurance under the laws of this state.
  • Senate Bill 152 requires donors to campaign committees supporting or opposing a state ballot measure to affirm that the donor is not a foreign national and has not knowingly or willfully accepted funds aggregating in excess of $100,000 from one or more prohibited sources within the four-year period immediately preceding the date the contribution is made.

Two of my consent bills were also third read and passed by the Senate:

  • Senate Bill 110 would designate the week of January 5 each year as “Kappa Alpha Psi Week” in Missouri. 
  • Senate Bill 111 would designate September every year as "Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month" in Missouri.

 

This Week

The Senate began discussion on these bills:

  • Senate Bill 225 repeals a provision in current law allowing a judge to decide on a punishment of death for the offense of murder in the first degree if the jury is unable to agree upon a punishment of life imprisonment without eligibility for parole or a sentence of death.
  • Senate Bill 223 would require schools that receive state funding to notify parents at least 24 hours before their student will be given a survey and disclose the full contents of the survey.
  • House Bill 594 authorizes an income tax deduction for capital gains.

 

Bills and Committees

Senator May’s Legislation:

I was proud to present Senate Bill 691 to the Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence this week. Currently, certain information is excluded from pleadings, attachments, exhibits, judgments, orders or other records of the court, but are included in a confidential information sheet filed with the court, which is not be subject to public inspection or availability. Senate Bill 691 would include information concerning a witness in a criminal case that is confidential as otherwise provided by law or rule and any other information redacted for good cause by order of the court. This act additionally provides that home addresses of the parties, victims, witnesses and attorneys of the parties must be redacted from court documents and from the public access of records on the state court automation case management system.

 

Judiciary Committee:

The committee heard several bills over the last two weeks:

  • Senate Bill 589 would remove the current statute of limitations for civil actions for recovery of damages suffered as a result of childhood sexual abuse.
  • Senate Bill 590 would modify the offenses included in the definition of “childhood sexual abuse” for civil actions to recover damages from injury or illness caused by childhood sexual abuse and remove the statute of limitations for such civil action. This bill also states that a nondisclosure agreement by any party to a childhood sexual abuse action will not be judicially enforceable in a dispute involving childhood sexual abuse allegations or claims and will be void.
  • Senate Bill 604 would create the offense of disclosure of an intimate digital depiction. A person would be guilty of this offense if he or she discloses or threatens to disclose an intimate digital depiction with the intent to harass or threaten another person.
  • Senate Bill 411 establishes the Taylor Swift Act, which establishes a cause of action by an individual who is the subject of an intimate digital depiction against a person who discloses such depiction and who knows or recklessly disregards the fact that the individual has not consented to such disclosure.
  • Senate Bill 378 would establish the Office of State Ombudsman for Inmates in the Custody of the Missouri Department of Corrections. This office would ensure inmates have information regarding their rights, and review and report on correction facilities’ living conditions and procedures.
  • House Bill 87 establishes a DWI diversion program and modifies the offense of driving while intoxicated.
  • House Bill 615 modifies several provisions relating to judicial proceedings. Currently, a statement made by a child under the age of 14 that would otherwise be inadmissible in court, including a visual and an aural recording of a verbal or nonverbal statement of that child, is admissible in court. This bill changes the age to children under 18. This bill also modifies the offense of enticement of a child by increasing the age of the victim from less than 15 years old to less than 17 years old. Additionally, the bill establishes the Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation Fund to fund local rehabilitation of human trafficking victims, fund local education programs for convicted human trafficking offenders and to increase the number of law enforcement officers to enforce human trafficking laws.
  • House Bill 971 creates the criminal offense of unlawful tracking of a motor vehicle, which is committed if a person knowingly places an electronic tracking device in or on a motor vehicle without the consent of all owners of the vehicle for the purpose of monitoring or following a vehicle occupant.
  • House Bill 1259 establishes the Missouri Electronic Wills and Electronic Estate Planning Documents Act, which specifies that an electronic will is considered a will for all purposes of the law of this state and that any written estate planning document can be executed electronically, as well as other provisions relating to wills and estate planning documents.
  • Senate Bill 718 states that a child cannot be restrained during a juvenile court proceeding and, if restrained, they must be removed prior to the child’s appearance before the court, unless the court finds the restraints are necessary. If restraints are used, the restraints must allow the child limited movement to read and handle documents and writings necessary to the proceeding. Under no circumstances will the child be affixed by use of a restraint to a stationary object.
  • Senate Bill 794 would allow pro-life individuals and organizations to intervene in actions where the any provision of the Missouri Constitution, statute or rule involving the regulation of abortion or where the rights of an unborn child is at issue. This bill also moves the counties of Miller and Cole from the Western District of the Court of Appeals to the Southern District of the Court of Appeals and accordingly modifies the number of appellate judges in the Western District from 11 to seven and in the Southern District from seven to 10.

 

Commerce Committee:

The committee heard one bill last week. Senate Bill 489 would require local municipalities and the Missouri Department of Transportation to reimburse internet and telecommunications and video providers for relocating their facilities as a result of a right-of-way road project initiated by those municipalities or MoDOT. A similar reimbursement provision exists in current law for investor-owned utilities. 

 

This week, the committee heard two bills:

  • Senate Bill 365 would modify requirements for the dissolution of a public water supply district by requiring a majority of four-sevenths of voters of the district to finalize the dissolution, instead of the current standard of a majority of two-thirds of the voters.
  • Senate Bill 487 would create the Electrical Choice and Competition Law to govern the sale of electricity in Missouri.

 

Rules, Joint Rules, Resolutions and Ethics Committee:

Last week, the committee reviewed consent bills, which are pieces of noncontroversial legislation that were passed unanimously by the committee to which it was referred initially.

 

This week, the committee heard two resolutions week. Senate Concurrent Resolution 9 would establish a Commission on Interstate 70 Safety and Beautification. Senate Resolution 156 recognizes the cordial relationship between Israel and the United States and Missouri.

 

Appropriations Committee:

Last week, the committee heard Senate Bill 586, which states federal funds designated for highway purposes must be deposited in the Federal Road Fund, created in the act, rather than the State Road Fund.

 

This week, the committee heard Senate Bill 753, which would distribute revenue from wine excise taxes equally between the Agriculture Protection Fund and the Missouri Wine and Grape Fund, with each fund receiving $0.21 per gallon sold.

 

Other News

Last Week

Governor signs state takeover of St. Louis police into law

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department is back under the state government control after the governor signed legislation into law on March 26 ending a brief period of local oversight of the agency. Because the bill contained an emergency clause, it took effect immediately instead of the usual Aug. 28 effective date for new laws.

 

The governor had made a state takeover of the department a top priority for his first year in office. The state previously seized control of the St. Louis police at the outset of the Civil War in 1861 as Missouri’s pro-secession governor and state legislature sought to limit the power of pro-Union city officials and suppress the city’s Black population. Missouri voters finally restored local control over the department with the passage of a 2012 statewide ballot measure.

 

Under House Bill 495, a board of five voting members will run the department. The governor will appoint four of those members, who must be city residents, with the St. Louis mayor holding the final spot. The governor will also pick a sixth, non-voting member who can be a St. Louis County resident, provided that the person owns property in the city. The governor has 90 days to appoint the new Board of Police Commissions.

 

As with the previous state control of the St. Louis police and the continuing state control of the Kansas City police, local taxpayers will remain fully responsible for funding the police department but have no say over how it operates.

 

Supporters of HB 495 point to the city’s crime rate and continuing loss of population as reasons for putting the police department back under state oversight. The bill’s detractors note there were several periods under state control when crime in the city was much worse than it is today. They also point to the fact that the city’s population decline began 60 years ago and has continued ever since, while local authorities had only been in charge of the department for the last dozen years.

 

House Bill 495 also includes numerous other provisions relating to public safety. Those provisions include prohibiting stunt driving on public roads, cracking down on organized retail theft, requiring law enforcement agencies to report the immigration status of criminal offenders, banning the use of restraints on pregnant prisoners in their third trimester and establishing the Missing and Murdered African-American Women and Girls Task Force.

 

House tries to resurrect unconstitutional gun nullification bill

The Missouri House of Representatives voted 100-51 on March 27 for legislation that attempts to resurrect a 2021 state law that declared many federal gun laws unenforceable in the state and prohibited local police from assisting with their enforcement. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that law unconstitutional in August, agreeing with a lower court that it violates the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, which holds that federal law trumps contrary state laws.

 

While supporters of House Bill 1175, dubbed the Second Amendment Preservation Act, claim the new legislation has been modified from the 2021 version to withstand judicial scrutiny, it still purports to declare a litany of federal laws and regulations restricting firearms to be invalid in Missouri, which is precisely what the 8th Circuit said the state cannot do. 

 

“The Supremacy Clause states that federal law is ‘the supreme Law of the Land, … any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding,’” Chief Judge Steven Colloton wrote in the appellate ruling. “The ‘Second Amendment Preservation Act’ states that certain federal laws are ‘invalid to this state,’ but a State cannot invalidate federal laws to itself. Missouri does not seriously contest these bedrock principles of our constitutional structure.”

 

House Bill 1175 also contains a provision authorizing those arrested or convicted of a federal gun crime to sue local police departments for civil fines of $50,000 per occurrence for assisting federal agents. In addition, it would prohibit local governments from hiring – in any capacity – former federal officers who previously enforced gun laws. These provisions were also included in the unconstitutional 2021 version of the legislation. 

 

Only three members of the majority joined the unanimous minority party in opposing HB 1175. The bill now advances the Senate.

 

Members of the House majority seek to stymie initiative petition process

The House of Representatives voted 103-49 on March 27 along straight party lines to impose several new procedural restrictions designed to make it harder to put measures on the statewide ballot via the initiative petition process. However, the Missouri Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled the Legislature has no authority enact statutory procedural hurdles that frustrate the constitutional right to the initiative.

 

House Bill 575 would require paid petition circulators to be U.S. citizens and either a Missouri resident or a resident of another state who has been present in Missouri for at least 30 consecutive days prior to gathering signatures. It also would specify the color of ink people must use to sign a petition, restrict the time period for courts to resolve ballot language challenges and limit who has legal standing to bring those challenges.

 

In addition, the bill would give the secretary of state and attorney general the authority to reject proposed petitions for allegedly failing to comply with constitutional requirements. That change was prompted by failed attempts by anti-abortion officials to keep a constitutional amendment protecting reproductive rights off the 2024 statewide ballot. The Supreme Court rejected those efforts and voters ultimately ratified the amendment.

 

Members of the majority party in the Legislature have been seeking to alter the initiative process for several years after voters used it to enact a number of polices, including legalizing marijuana, enacting legislative ethics reform and increasing the state minimum wage while also requiring employers to offer mandatory sick leave.

 

House advances anti-abortion messaging bill to Senate

The Missouri House of Representatives on March 27 approved anti-abortion messaging legislation that, despite bearing an inflammatory moniker, wouldn’t actually prohibit conduct that isn’t already illegal. The bill advanced to the Senate on a vote of 109-32, with nine lawmakers voting “present.”

 

House Bill 195 would establish the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act that purports to make it a crime to intentionally kill a child after birth following a failed abortion. However, that is already considered murder under existing law. 

 

The bill would also impose civil liability on medical providers who participated in allegedly faulty abortions. The legislation is part of efforts during this legislative session to push the legal boundaries of permissible abortion restrictions after Missouri voters enshrined abortion rights in the state constitution last year.

 

This Week

Minority party attempts to stop public funding of private schools

Members of the majority party on April 1 rejected an effort by members of the House minority party to block the governor’s plan to provide $50 million in direct taxpayer funding for private schools, while providing local public school districts with $300 million less in state appropriations than the minimum funding amount called for by the education foundation formula – required to be used by Missouri law – for the 2026 fiscal year.

 

During debate on the FY 2026 appropriations bills, an amendment was offered to eliminate the public funding for private schools, with the intent of redirecting that $50 million back to public schools. The amendment failed on a vote of 48-90, with only one member of the majority party joining the unanimous minority party in support.

 

Currently, the state’s private school voucher program is exclusively funded by private donations. In exchange, donors receive a credit against their state income tax liability equal to the amount of their contribution. The law is structured this way in an attempt to circumvent a state constitutional prohibition against the Legislature providing direct public funding to private individuals or organizations. Because of this prohibition, the proposed direct appropriation of taxpayer money for the voucher program would appear to be unconstitutional and vulnerable to being blocked by a court if challenged.

 

Two days after the initial debate, the House gave final approval to the 13 appropriation bills that make up the $47.9 billion state operating budget for FY 2026, which begins July 1. The House budget plan calls for about $2.1 billion less in overall spending than the governor requested when he presented his proposed budget to lawmakers in January.

 

The budget process now moves to the Senate, which will pass its own versions of the appropriations bills to set up negotiations with the House over a final FY 2026 spending plan. Lawmakers must grant final approval to the bills by a constitutional deadline of 6 p.m. on May 9.

 

Majority party pushing measure to nullify abortion rights

Members of the House majority party appear committed to debating legislation in the coming days that attempts to nullify the reproductive rights protections Missouri voters added to the state constitution in November, but remain sharply divided over how to do so, with two different committees completely rewriting the measure with additional substantial changes expected.

 

Voters ratified Amendment 3 in November to restore reproductive rights in the state after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion in 2022. The new state constitutional protections declare that “reproductive freedom shall not be denied, interfered with, delayed, or otherwise restricted” absent a compelling state interest that is achieved by the least restrictive means.

 

The House Children and Families Committee on Feb. 4 heard legislation to nullify Amendment 3, but the measure, House Joint Resolution 54, subsequently languished for nearly two months until March 31, when the committee voted 11-5 for a radically different version of it. However, in an unexpected move, HJR 54 was immediately sent to the House Legislative Review Committee, which on April 1 again completely rewrote the measure before approving it on a vote of 7-3. 

 

As HJR 54 currently stands, it wouldn’t change a word of the laws created by Amendment 3. However, it would add a new constitutional section that would nullify the existing protections and empower lawmakers to enact any restrictions they wish on abortion, access to contraception and any other reproductive health care services.

 

The full House of Representatives is expected to debate HJR 54 soon. If approved by both legislature chambers, it automatically would go on the November 2026 ballot for voter approval. The ballot language written for HJR 54 makes no mention that it would nullify Missouri’s existing constitutional protections for reproductive rights.

 

House advances bill on presidential primary, early voting

Missouri’s presidential preference primary would be restored under legislation that won first-round approval in the House of Representatives on April 2. The bill, which passed on a voice vote, also would expand the no-excuse absentee voting period from two weeks prior to an election to six weeks. A second, recorded vote is required to send the measure to the Senate.
 

Although Missouri historically had been a caucus state in the presidential nominating process, the state held presidential primaries from 2000 through 2020. Under omnibus elections legislation enacted in 2022, however, the state eliminated its state-run presidential primary for the 2024 election cycle.

 

While the Missouri Republican Party reverted to the caucus system, the state Democratic Party conducted a mail-in presidential primary. The leaders of both state parties testified before the Legislature this year in support of restoring the state-run primary.

 

The 2022 elections bill that did away with the presidential primary also for the first time authorized voters to cast absentee ballots without needing an excuse, such as they will be away from their home county on Election Day. The two-week, no-excuse absentee voting period has proven so popular that some county clerks who oversee local elections asked lawmakers to extend that period to six weeks.

 

In addition to the presidential primary and absentee voting provisions, House Bill 126 would also prohibit public pension systems from making contributions in support of or in opposition to any ballot measure. That provision was prompted by $80,000 in combined donations the retirement systems for county sheriffs and prosecuting attorneys made last year to the campaign advocating for a proposed constitutional amendment that sought to authorize a special fee to support those two pensions’ funds. Voters rejected the measure, Amendment 6, with 60.6% opposed.

 

Lawmakers reject reimbursing companies for expenses

By a vote of 69-77, with seven lawmakers voting “present,” the Missouri House of Representatives rejected legislation that sought to require municipalities and the state Department of Transportation to reimburse telecommunications, Internet and cable providers for the costs of relocating lines in a public right-of-way due to road construction or maintenance.

 

It is unusual for the House to vote down bills outright since, if passage is in doubt, the sponsor typically doesn’t bring it up for a final vote. The rejection of House Bill 661 was particularly pronounced since it didn’t come anywhere close to passage, falling 13 “yes” votes short of the minimum of 82 required to advance legislation to the Senate. The House had previously granted HB 661 preliminary approval on a voice vote.

 

Supporters of the bill said government should reimburse private businesses when it forces them to relocate equipment due to road projects. Opponents contend that those companies benefit from using the public right-of-way and that they – not taxpayers – should bear the costs when moving lines is necessary for public improvement projects.

 

Ethics panel admonishes lawmaker over conflict of interest

The Missouri House Ethics Committee on April 2 unanimously issued a “letter of reproval” against a state representative finding that he “took one to three votes with an apparent conflict of interest.” A letter of reproval is the lowest level of sanction authorized against House members under the chamber’s procedural rules.

 

The committee found that on three occasions – once each in 2023, 2024 and 2025 – the representative voted for state budget bills that authorized grant funding for the National Law Enforcement Foundation, which employed the representative at the time of his votes.

 

The House Ethics Committee, which consists of equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans, considers confidential complaints filed against House members by other members. The letter of reproval against him was published in the House Journal, which is the official record of the chamber’s daily proceedings. The letter states that no further action will be taken in the matter.

 

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.