Sater: Busy Week Before Mid-Session Break

This has been a busy week at the Capitol. In the Health Care Policy Committee we passed out three bills and debated three others. One of the bills that passed was a combination of three different bills on the prevention of brain injuries of students participating in sports. These three bills all had to be adjusted to find common ground between proponents and opponents, so my office was busy with meetings. The process ended with a consensus of all parties and a house committee substitute was passed and sent to the House Clerk. This week I also presented a bill and had another one of my bills pass out of the Rules Committee. Hopefully, HB 29 will get floor debate in the next few weeks. The passage of any bill is not easy and there is always a lot of work done by many people.

In addition to the Health Care Policy Committee work the Budget Committee has been meeting all week trying to find money that isn’t there. We went through each “markup” book for House Bills 1-13, which are the appropriation bills, dealing with the budget. We started last Monday at noon and met for many house going through every state program that uses state funds. This is something I’ve done for many years, but I remind myself all the time, it is the taxpayer’s money, not mine. This weekend I will work on amendments to move some money from one program to another.

For the last several years it has been proposed to cut the Dept. of Tourism budget by several million dollars. I intend to offer an amendment to increase this line item because for every dollar spent there is a return of $8-10 and it especially helps southwest Missouri. I also want appropriations for Mo. State University and UMKC School of Pharmacy to develop a pharmacy program at Mo. State. This would create more healthcare jobs for out part of the state. I also will have several amendments decreasing some state programs because even though state revenue was up 5-6% in January I do not think it will hold. I hope I’m wrong, but would rather be conservative in revenues.

The House “third read & passed” several bills this week. The most debated bill that passed was the English only version of the state driver’s license test [HB167]. Another bill of interest was the increase of tonnage for livestock transport trucks which mirrors our surrounding states [HB266]. We changed the tax classification for sawmills from commercial to agriculture [HB112], and we tweaked the telecommunications statute to keep fair and equal competition on rate charges for Missouri citizens [HB339]. How these bills will fare on the Senate side is anyone’s guess.

Thank you for allowing me to serve all of your needs in the 68^th district.