Passed Bills

 Senate activity is well under way with bills coming before the body and committees going strong. I would like to discuss the bills that the Senate passed this week.

First off, the Senate passed my Senate Bill 914 this week. This bill makes soil morphology testing the default for determining whether a site is good for sewage containment, like septic tanks. This is because percolation testing often provides poor information. In cases when the ground is made up of unexpected clay or stone, the test can provide false results.

Other bills passed by the body this week include Senate Bill 890, which requires a report from every state department on the activity of any board or commission under their purview. This will help to inform the General Assembly of any inactive or underused organization.

Senate Bill 994 will help with tax filing but also clarifies a few words in the Beginning Farmer Income Tax Deduction. The original deduction was put in place to help farmers pass on their land to the next generation, but due to how certain family farms were organized they did not qualify. This bill simply changes the wording slightly so that those excluded family farms can now benefit from the tax deduction as intended.

Finally, Senate Bill 1020 simply allows the Director of Revenue to enter into an office contract with an organization if no bids are received from any other organization. 

The Senate also finalized the language for, or “perfected,” Senate Bill 974. This legislation combats the predatory practice of “claim sharks” who, while unaccredited, charge veterans a fee for help filing their benefits. Prohibiting these practices will help protect our veterans. This bill will hopefully get third read and passed next week. 

Please feel free to contact my office at 573-751-4302. For information about my committee assignments or sponsored legislation, please visit my official Missouri Senate website at senate.mo.gov/KurtisGregory.