Advancing Legislative Priorities

The Missouri Senate moved a number of priority bills forward through the legislative process this week. A package of educational reforms, Senate Bill 4, has advanced to the House of Representatives for its consideration. This measure, which includes a “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” will allow parents to review instructional materials in their children’s classroom and see what their kids are being taught. Every public school in Missouri will be required to provide parents access to curriculum, textbooks and course syllabi through an Education Transparency and Accountability Portal. The bill includes language that prohibits the teaching of racially divisive subjects, but this portion of the bill approved by the Senate is not as strong as I would have liked. I hoped the Senate would adopt the language of my Senate Bill 172, which more clearly addresses the teaching of Critical Race Theory concepts, but I recognize my legislation faces strong resistance. There’s still a chance SB 4 can be improved as it moves through the legislative process and I will continue to work toward that goal.

The Legislature continues to make progress addressing issues related to transgender youth in Missouri. This week, I presented Senate Bill 236 to the Emerging Issues Committee. This legislation establishes the “Missouri Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act,” which prohibits providing gender transition procedures to any minor child. This issue of children being subjected to life-altering hormones and surgical procedures took on additional urgency with the disclosure of troubling allegations made by a former employee of the Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. The whistleblower, a self-described “queer woman” whose husband is transgender, worked as a case worker at the center. In an affidavit submitted to the Missouri attorney general, she alleges children are being rushed into irreversible life decisions with little understanding of the consequences. The attorney general has launched an investigation into the whistleblower’s claims, but my legislation (along with several similar bills before the Senate) would make these sorts of procedures illegal.

Another one of my priority legislative proposals, Senate Bill 94, was perfected by the full Senate this week. The bill only requires one more vote in the Senate before moving onto the House. This legislation creates the “Show MO Act,” and reauthorizes a tax credit for motion picture production in Missouri. Our previous film production incentives expired in 2013, and there has not been a major motion picture filmed in Missouri since. Instead, the film industry makes movies in Georgia and other states where location expenses can be offset by tax credits and other incentives. This bill will spur economic activity in Missouri as movie production companies rent hotel rooms, buy restaurant meals and purchase supplies from local vendors. There are also incentives in the bill that would encourage production projects to hire and train Missouri workers.  Another provision of SB 94 establishes the “Entertainment Industry Jobs Act.” This legislation is aimed at attracting national touring music acts to a state-of-the-art stage production and rehearsal facility in St. Louis County. If you haven’t heard about this facility yet, you will. Described as the largest facility of its kind in the United States, this 32-acre rehearsal complex will host some of biggest stars in country and rock music today, as they develop their stage productions before heading out on the road. The incentives in SB 94 will not flow to the studio, but to artists themselves, providing a reason for them to prepare their stage shows in Missouri. To qualify for the incentives, artists must perform at least two shows in our state.

In other legislative activity, I presented Senate Joint Resolution 1 to the Agriculture, Food Production and Outdoor Resources Committee. This measure would ask voters to approve a constitutional amendment affirming the right to hunt, fish and harvest wildlife in Missouri. It’s surprising to me this isn’t already in the Constitution. Passage of my SJR would give the voters the opportunity to correct that. The Senate Appropriations Committee continued its work reviewing state budget requests. This week, we looked at budgets for the Department of Public Safety and the Missouri National Guard. You may recall the Missouri National Guard became a separate cabinet-level department following a vote of the people in November. As part of our review of the Public Safety budget, we looked at programs related to the Missouri Veterans Commission, the Highway Patrol, the Missouri Gaming Commission and the Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control.

Finally, it was my pleasure to welcome a number of groups of students involved in career and technical education to the State Capitol. These forward-looking youths traveled from throughout the district to participate in the legislative day sponsored by the Missouri Association for Career and Technical Education. Meeting so many young people who are committed to developing skills gives me confidence our state will remain competitive in an increasingly technical workplace.

As always, I appreciate hearing your comments, opinions and concerns. Please feel free to contact me in Jefferson City at (573) 751-4302. You may also email me at Denny.Hoskins@senate.mo.gov.