The past few weeks have been a busy time for the General Assembly. From budget discussions to health care and education, I am committed to finding solutions that benefit the constituents of the 12th Senatorial District. This week, the Missouri State Capitol saw an influx of people from the great northwest part of our state as the annual Great Northwest Days took place on Feb. 7. This event is used to show the importance and the economic impact our area of the state has. I was encouraged by the amount of constituents, businesses and local entities that made their presence known in our State Capitol.

Also on Feb. 7, the Missouri Senate spent time discussing on the floor a bill that would tie the state’s unemployment benefits to the state’s unemployment rate, ensuring the benefits provided are proportional to the current economic conditions and level of need. Senate Bill 21 mainly reflects economic realities of the state’s labor market, providing a more accurate picture. Senate Bill 21 will likely be discussed more in the coming weeks.

On Feb. 8, the Senate Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs and Pensions passed a bill that I sponsored. Senate Bill 75 would deal with the state’s critical shortage of teachers and school district employees. Specifically, SB 75 would remove the sunset that expired in 2014 and allow teachers who retire with 32 years of service to receive an additional .05% multiplier of the member’s final average salary for each year of service. Currently, the optimal time for a member to retire is at 30 years of service. My hope is this legislation would incentivize teachers to remain in the classroom. Additionally, SB 75 changes the amount a retired teacher who is receiving retirement benefits from Public School Retirement System (PSRS) can earn in a position covered under the Public Education Employee Retirement System (PEERS), which is currently capped at 60% of the minimum teacher’s salary, or $15,000. The last provision in SB 75 would allow a retired teacher or a retired noncertified employee, who is receiving a retirement benefit from PSRS or PEERS, to work full time up to four years instead of two for a school district — if that district has a critical shortage of certified teachers or non-certified employees. Ideally, this provision would be used to identify and assist a student financially while they are finishing their degree with an agreement that they return to teach at that school for a certain number of years.

The Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to hear testimony from various departments regarding their budget requests and the governor’s recommendations. Next week, the committee will hear from the Department of Public Safety, National Guard, Department of Social Services, as well as the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and the General Assembly.

As always, please feel free to call, email or write with your ideas or concerns. My Capitol office number is 573-751-1415, my email is rusty.black@senate.mo.gov and my mailing address is 201 W. Capitol Ave., Room 331, State Capitol Building, Jefferson City, MO 65101.