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THIS WEEK IN THE MISSOURI HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
House Reaches Session Mid-Point with Numerous Legislative Successes
As the legislative session reached its mid-point, House members were able to celebrate a long list of accomplishments that include most of the Speaker’s legislative priorities. In total, the House has sent nearly 70 bills to the Senate and the two chambers have worked together to see one bill already passed and signed into law by the governor.
House members will now spend time in their districts during their annual spring break and will return to the State Capitol on March 25. When they return they will focus their efforts on approving the state operating budget. Lawmakers have a deadline of May 10 to complete the state budget. The bills sent to the Senate by the House have until May 17, when the legislative session officially concludes, to receive approval from both chambers.
Highlights of the First Half of the 2019 Session:
Developing Missouri’s Workforce
| • | Fast-Track - HB 225 is meant to put thousands of Missourians on a fast track to develop the skills they need to obtain good-paying jobs. The bill would create a new state financial aid program known as Fast-Track that would address workforce needs by encouraging adults to pursue an industry-recognized credential in an area designated as high need. The goal of Fast-Track is to provide community colleges, tech schools, and universities with the means to equip students for the high-paying, high-demand jobs of the future. It is designed to open up higher education opportunities for hard-working, middle-class families looking for a boost to pursue their dreams. It is also meant to help Missouri businesses find workers with the training needed to fill their workforce demands. |
| • | Missouri One Start - HB 469 would allow the Missouri Department of Economic Development to improve and consolidate its workforce development programs. The bill allows the department to consolidate three workforce training programs into the Missouri One Start program. The consolidation of the programs will allow for more flexibility and efficiency and will allow more businesses to take advantage of the program. |
| • | Missouri Works - HB 255 would give the Missouri Department of Economic Development an additional tool to bring new jobs to Missouri. The bill would modify an existing state program to establish a closing fund the department can use to make agreements with companies to create new jobs in the state. The bill would enhance the existing Missouri Works Program, which helps businesses access capital through withholdings or tax credits to embark on facility expansions and create jobs. |
Protecting the Most Vulnerable
| • | Standing for the Unborn - HB 126 was approved by the House as the strongest piece of pro-life legislation in the nation. The bill would prohibit physicians from performing an abortion after a fetal heartbeat or brain function is detected, which is typically around 6-8 weeks gestational age. Because similar provisions have been struck down in other states, the bill contains additional clauses to protect the lives of the unborn. Should the fetal heartbeat requirement not stand, Missouri law would prohibit all abortions past 14 weeks gestational age. If that provision doesn’t stand, the bill would implement a “Pain-Capable” standard that would prohibit abortions past 18 weeks gestational age. The legislation also states it is the intent of the state of Missouri to prohibit all abortions in the state under any circumstances. |
| • | Fighting Sex Trafficking - HB 397 is meant to protect underage victims of sex trafficking from prosecution. Lawmakers endorsed the change to ensure young people who are forced into prostitution aren’t further traumatized by facing criminal charges. Current law in Missouri makes it an affirmative defense for a minor charged with prostitution to have been acting under coercion at the time of the crime. House Bill 397 would remove the coercion requirement and make it an affirmative defense that the defendant was under the age of 18. |
| • | Hailey’s Law - HB 185 is meant to better protect children by improving the state’s Amber Alert system. The bill is known as “Hailey’s Law” in honor of Hailey Owens, who was abducted and murdered at the age of 10 while walking home from a friend’s house. The legislation would require the Amber Alert System to be tied into the Missouri Uniform Law Enforcement System (MULES), which is the computer system that allows all law enforcement in Missouri to communicate. That means once an officer enters information about a missing child into MULES, it would at the same time be available to the Amber Alert system. |
| • | Simon’s Law - HB 138 would prevent do-not-resuscitate orders from being issued for Missouri children without a parent being aware. Commonly referred to as “Simon’s Law”, the legislation would prohibit a health care facility, nursing home, physician, nurse, or medical staff from putting such an order in a child’s file without a parent’s permission. That permission may be written, or given orally in the presence of at least two witnesses. |
Reforming Missouri’s Criminal Justice System
| • | Sentencing Reform - HB 113 would give judges greater discretion when sentencing non-violent offenders. The bill is meant to both help non-violent offenders get a second chance, and to slow the growth of Missouri’s prison population. The bill would allow judges to issue sentences below Missouri’s current minimum sentencing requirements except in crimes that involved the use, attempted use, or threat of physical force, or certain non-consensual sex crimes against a minor. |
| • | Preventing Debtors’ Prison - HB 192 would keep judges from putting people back in jail for failing to pay for the cost of previous stays in jail. The bill would keep a person’s failure to pay a jail for housing that person from resulting in more jail time that would result in additional housing costs. Instead, a local sheriff could attempt to collect such costs owed through civil proceedings, or a judge could waive those costs. |
Fighting the Opioid Epidemic
| • | Narcotics Control Act - HB 188 would create a statewide monitoring program for drug prescriptions. Supporters say the bill would combat the abuse of prescription drugs and help prevent conflicts between medications. Known as the Narcotics Control Act, the bill would require the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services to establish and maintain a program to monitor the prescribing and dispensing of all Schedule II through Schedule IV controlled substances. |
| • | Stopping Fentanyl Abuse - HB 239 would make it a felony to possess or distribute the potent synthetic opioid fentanyl and certain date-rape drugs. The measure would make it a first- or second-degree felony to possess or traffic fentanyl — which can be up to 50 times more powerful than heroin — and derivatives such as the even more powerful carfentanil. Penalties range from three years to life in prison, depending on the amount of the drug. The legislation would not apply to people with prescriptions for fentanyl. The legislation also would make it a felony to possess or traffic the date-rape drugs GHB and the drug commonly known as Rohypnol. |
House Budget Committee Finalizes FY 2020 Spending Plan The members of the House Budget Committee have worked long hours during the course of the session to craft a fiscally responsible state spending plan. This week they concluded months of work by finalizing the appropriations bills that will make up the Fiscal Year 2020 state operating budget. When they return from their annual break on March 25, House members will work to approve the appropriations bills and send them to the Senate so that both chambers are on track to complete the budget by the May 10 deadline. When House members bring up the budget plan on the floor, it’s important to note that any changes made to the budget must remain revenue positive or revenue neutral. If a member wants to add money to a specific area of the budget, he or she must first find another area of the budget from which the funds can be transferred. There is no way to simply add funding to a particular program without first cutting it from somewhere else in the budget. This process ensures the budget remains in balance. As the budget comes to the House floor, it is balanced and leaves approximately $133 million on the bottom line for FY2020 supplemental expenses.
Status of House Bills I have Sponsored
HB 532 authorizes the city of Portageville to levy, upon voter approval, a sales tax whose revenues are dedicated for public safety purposes, including expenditures on equipment, city employee salaries and benefits, and facilities for police, fire, and emergency medical providers. HB 532 was the third read and passed out of the Missouri House and now moves to the Senate.