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Feb. 17, 2023

On the Floor

This week, the Senate adjourned early on Monday night for the Senate’s annual charity bowling tournament. With the Kansas City Chiefs’ win at the Super Bowl on Sunday, session was canceled on Thursday to accommodate the celebration parade on Wednesday in Kansas City. Additionally, on Feb. 14, the Senate perfected the following bills:

•          Senate Bill 94 creates the “Show MO Act” to reauthorize a tax credit for film productions and establishes the “Entertainment Industry Jobs Act” for tax credits related to rehearsal and tour expenses.
•          Senate Bill 75 modifies provisions relating to public school retirement systems, including retirement allowance multiplier, working after retirement and increases for members in domestic partnership with reduced monthly payments.
•          Senate Bill 13 modifies provisions relating to financial institutions.
•          Senate Bill 24 creates the “Missouri First Responder Mental Health Initiative Act” and provides that communication made by a first responder or peer support advisor in a peer support counseling session, as well as any oral or written information conveyed in the peer support counseling session, will be confidential and cannot be disclosed by any participants in the peer support counseling session or released to any person or entity, with exceptions outlined in the bill.
•          Senate Bill 101 enacts provisions related to lender-placed insurance.
•          Senate Bill 103 modifies the expiration dates for provisions relating to court automation, including expanding the number of members on the Court Automation Committee and extending the expiration dates for provisions relating to court automation, as well as repealing provisions relating to a surcharge for petitions for expungement, which was Sen. May’s Senate Bill 372.
•          Senate Bill 70 adopts the Counseling Interstate Compact for professional counselors.
•          Senate Bill 23 requires licensed motor vehicle dealers to collect and remit to the Missouri Department of Revenue the sales tax on all motor vehicles the dealer sells.
•          Senate Bill 28 modifies provisions relating to fees for requests to access public records of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
•          Senate Bill 47 exempts homeless children, homeless youths and unaccompanied youths from certain fees collected by the Missouri Department of Revenue and adds these groups to the definition of “emancipated minor” for the purposes of proving the supervised driving experience required to obtain an intermediate driver's license, and exempts emancipated minors from intermediate driver's license fees.

The Senate also gave first round approval to Senate Bills 119 & 120, which add “telecommunicator first responder” to the definition of “first responder” and repeals a mandatory salary range for the Kansas City chief of police. I filed SB 120 to establish post-traumatic stress disorder as an occupational disease for first responders. My Senate Bill 121 was amended to SBs 119 & 120 and would add firefighters as eligible first responder personnel to receive services from the Critical Incident Stress Management Program of the Missouri Department of Public Safety.

Bills and Committees

Senator May’s Legislation:

In the first month of session, I’m proud to say four of my bills have received committee hearings, and three of those bills have been voted out of committee and are eligible for debate on the Senate floor.

My Senate Bill 35 was voted do pass by the Senate Government Accountability Committee on Feb. 9. This bill would give individuals who are behind on child support payments and lose their driver’s license or professional license as a result the opportunity to have an evidentiary hearing to determine if the suspension of the license should remain. The license suspension can further exacerbate the issue of the individual’s late child support payments. This legislation provides an opportunity for the individual to submit evidence or cause for their missed payments.

On Feb. 14, the Senate Education and Workforce Development Committee voted do pass my Senate Bill 34. This legislation would allow school districts to offer elective social studies courses relating, but not limited to, the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament of the Bible and the New Testament of the Bible. These courses would focus on the historical, political and cultural impact, as well as the literary styles of these texts. This bill requires that any course must follow applicable laws maintaining religious neutrality and not endorse, favor, promote or show hostility to any particular religion, nonreligious faith or religious perspective.

I also had the opportunity to present Senate Bill 122 to the Senate Education and Workforce Development Committee. This legislation would allow a child to be excused from school due to mental health or behavioral health concerns, provided the school receives documentation from a mental health professional. Ensuring all students are healthy and ready to learn when they come to school is important, and mental health is an essential part of a student’s overall health and well-being.

Judiciary Committee:

The committee heard four bills this week:

•          Senate Bill 36 modifies provisions relating to expungement, including repealing the $250 surcharge to petition for expungement.
•          Senate Bill 37 authorizes the Missouri Office of Prosecution Services to establish a conviction review unit to investigate claims of actual innocence of any defendant, including those who plead guilty.
•          Senate Bill 189 creates “Max’s Law” and raise the penalty of assault on a law enforcement animal to a class A misdemeanor.
•          Senate Bill 227 modifies provisions relating to the culpable mental state necessary for a homicide offense.

Commerce Committee:

This week, the Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy and the Environment Committee only held an executive session. The committee voted to pass Senate Bill 152, which would prevent local municipalities from proposing duplicative franchise fees on streaming services. These fees are used to pay for infrastructure needed to provide cable television service, but streaming services are accessed over the internet and don’t require additional infrastructure.

Appropriations Committee:

The following departments and offices shared their funding requests for the FY ‘24 state operating budget:

•          Public Safety.
•          National Guard.
•          Governor.
•          Lieutenant Governor.
•          Treasurer.
•          Attorney General.
•          General Assembly.

Other News

House advances supplemental spending bill to Senate

This week, the Missouri House of Representatives voted to approve nearly $627 million in emergency supplemental spending for the current fiscal year. While the bulk of the spending authority in the measure is for state worker pay raises and related benefits and costs, House Bill 14 also includes $275 million for disaster aid grants, $148.71 million for matching grants to federally qualified health centers, $20 million to bolster security at local schools and $3 million for the Wood Energy Tax Credit Program, among other items. The governor has asked lawmakers to send him the bill as soon as possible so that an 8.7% pay increase for state workers can take effect March 1.

The Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled hear this bill next week. If the committee and the full Senate pass HB 14 without changes, it would go to the governor to be signed into law. The bill includes additional spending authority for the final four months of the 2023 fiscal year, which ends June 30.

House discusses local vehicle charging station mandates

This week, the Missouri House of Representatives also voted to pass House Bill 184. This legislation would require local governments to pay the costs associated with the installation, maintenance and operation of electric vehicle charging stations, if they require the installation of such stations at certain businesses. The bill now advances to the Senate. 

This legislation was filed in response to a 2021 St. Louis County ordinance requiring developers to install a certain amount of charging stations. The county eased the requirement the following year to apply only to parking lots with 31 or more spaces after complaints that the original ordinance imposed too onerous a burden.

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.