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The Week of Feb. 20, 2023

On the Floor

Although Monday, Feb. 20, was Presidents Day, the Senate held committee hearings and floor debate to continue doing the people’s work. The Senate gave first round approval to the following bills this week:

•            Senate Bill 8 would reduce the assessment of personal property tax to 31% of its true value.

•            Senate Bill 45 would extend the coverage that low-income pregnant and postpartum women currently receive through MO HealthNet for Pregnant Women or Show-Me Healthy Babies through the duration of the pregnancy and for one year following the end of the pregnancy. The bill was amended to prohibit any woman who knowingly receives services that are in violation of state law from receiving coverage and delay the expanded benefits from taking effect until the number of existing Medicaid recipients is reduced.

•            Senate Bill 133 would allow taxpayers to claim an income tax exemption for their unborn child and for the year the child is born.

•            Senate Bill 186 modifies provisions relating to criminal offenses involving teller machines.

On Feb. 22, the Senate passed House Bill 14, a supplemental budget bill that was heard and voted out of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Feb. 21. This bill would give all state employees an 8.7% cost of living pay increase, and provide $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. Additionally, the Senate passed the following bills and sent them to the Missouri House of Representatives for consideration:

•            Senate Bill 20, which extends the terms of active employee members serving on the Board of Trustees of the Missouri Department of Transportation and Highway Patrol Employees' Retirement System from August 28, 2026, to June 30, 2028.

•            Senate Bill 24 creates the “Missouri First Responder Mental Health Initiative Act.”

•            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.

•            Senate Bill 28 modifies provisions relating to fees for requests to access public records of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

•            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 70 adopts the Counseling Interstate Compact for professional counselors.

•            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 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.

•            Senate Bill 101 enacts provisions related to lender-placed insurance.

•            Senate Bill 13 modifies provisions relating to financial institutions.

•            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 82 would establish a transitional benefits program for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) to allow recipients whose income has exceeded the maximum allowable income for program eligibility to continue receiving reduced benefits.

•            Senate Bill 41 would allow pharmacists to continue administering vaccines approved or authorized by the FDA to address a public health need during a public health emergency.

•            Senate Bill 187 creates the Commercial Financial Disclosure Act.

Bills and Committees

Senator May’s Legislation:

This week, the Senate also perfected my Senate Bill 34 on the floor this week. 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.

On Feb. 21, the Senate Education and Workforce Development Committee voted on my Senate Bill 122 to 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. Mental health is an essential part of a student’s overall health and well-being. The committee voted do pass on this legislation, and I am glad the committee decided to move it forward in the process.

Judiciary Committee:

The committee heard three bills this week, including Senate Bill 74, which would create a DWI diversion program. Additionally, the committee heard Senate Bill 146 and Senate Bill 253, which would both allow wrongfully convicted individuals to receive compensation from the state. Several exonerated individuals testified in support of this legislation, including Lamar Johnson, who was released just last week after serving 28 years behind bars. This legislation cannot take away the injustice these individuals suffered, but it is a step in the right direction to help them continue on with their lives.

Commerce Committee:

The committee heard two bills this week. Senate Bill 233 would require any political subdivision that adopts an ordinance or regulation that requires installation of electric vehicle charging stations at non-automotive fueling stations to pay the costs associated with the installation, maintenance and operation of the stations. Senate Bill 266 creates provisions related to the disposal of contaminants into state water and regulates the discharge of earthen materials into these waters.

Appropriations Committee:

•            Agriculture.

•            Health and Senior Services.

•            State Tax Commission.

•            State Lottery.

•            Economic Development.

•            General Assembly.

The committee also heard several bills this week:

•            House Bill 14, a supplemental budget bill.

•            Senate Bill 192, which I filed to authorize the Video Lottery Control Act to allow the State Lottery Commission to implement video lottery game terminals and issue licenses.

•            Senate Bill 1 and Senate Bill 30, which would both authorize sports wagering.

Other News

House panel votes to re-impose state control of St. Louis police

The Missouri House of Representatives Crime Prevention and Public Safety Committee voted 20-4 on Feb. 23 to advance House Bill 702, which would put the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department back under state control.

A state-run Board of Police Commissioners had governed the St. Louis department for more than 150 years, but the state’s authority ended when 63.9% of Missouri voters approved Proposition A, a statewide ballot measure in 2012 restoring local control.

The original state takeover of the St. Louis police department resulted from Gov. Claiborne Fox Jackson’s efforts to take Missouri out of the Union and join the Confederacy after the outbreak of the Civil War. At Jackson’s behest, the legislature enacted legislation in late March 1861 stripping the pro-Union St. Louis city government of authority over its police force and giving it to a state-run police board to prevent officers from being used against Confederate sympathizers.

The bill now heads to the full House of Representatives and is eligible to be debated on the floor.

Bill seeks to allow utilities to pass on nuclear plant costs

The House Utilities Committee on Feb. 22 heard legislation that would allow investor-owned electric companies to charge existing customers for the planning and construction of future nuclear power plants. House Bill 225 would circumvent the existing “construction work in progress” (CWIP) law prohibiting companies from passing on costs until after a new facility is on line and generating power, and carve out an exemption to the law for proposed new nuclear plants. Ameren operates Missouri’s only existing nuclear facility, in Callaway County.

Supporters say charging customers upfront for a project’s cost is the only way to make it financially feasible. Opponents said shareholders – not consumers – should bear the costs and associated risks of building a new nuclear facility, especially since the legislation would not require a plant to actually be built for a company to recoup its planning expenses from customers. The committee took no immediate action on the bill.

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.