Things got a little stir crazy this week in the Capitol. The weather was nice; I saw that the temperature outside was 75 degrees and I was stuck on the House floor for several hours a day with Committee meetings in the morning, afternoon and evening. It is amazing how hard it is to take just a minute and step outside. Hopefully Spring sticks after a very rough winter.
We are spending a lot of time on the floor these days. Wednesday saw a milestone as the first legislation made it to the "Truly Agreed to and Finally Passed" stage of the legislative process. What this means is the bill, in this case it was a Senate bill, has been passed in the same form in both the Senate and the House. The final step for this legislation is the Governors desk where he will either sign or veto it. There were amendments offered on the House Floor to change the Senate bill but all were defeated. Had a House amendment passed, the bill would have gone back to the Senate for debate. Fortunately that did not happen.
We are starting to see a lot of Senate bills come over to Committees before going to the House for debate. The days will be getting even longer on the floor over the next five weeks as the weather gets even nicer. I will have to make time to step outside to ensure I don't miss all of Spring.
Have a great weekend!
Myron
Visitors to the Capitol
Liberty School Board member, Bren Abbot was here with Farmers Insurance for their annual lobbying day. It was great to see Bren and be able to congratulate him on his re-election in person.
Floor Action
We took action on many bills this week - too numerous to put all of them here. Following are some highlights from my point of view. For a full detail of actions on the floor you can refer to each day's House Journal.
These bills were among those Perfected and Printed: (This means the bills were debated on the floor, amendments were offered, and if any amendment passed, it was added into the final bill)).
HCS HB 641 - This bill would add any synthetic compound acting as cannabinoid receptors to the list of controlled substances. The main purpose of this is to combat the recent surge of new "drugs" such as products labeled as bath salts that are really intoxicating agents.
HCS HJR 3 - HJR 3 calls for amending the Missouri Constitution to solidify the right of Missouri farmers to raise their livestock without the state imposing any undue burdens or regulations. Agri-business is the number one industry in the State of Missouri.
HCS HB 470 & 429 - This legislation improves the laws governing nonresident entertainer and professional athletic team income taxes.
HCS HB 336 - HB 336 authorizes an income tax credit for the eligible costs of bringing certain sporting events to Missouri. The result of incentivising such endeavors is increased activity for Missouri businesses and increased revenue to the state.
HCS HB 28 - This bill would prohibit a non-physician from prescribing an abortion-inducing drug and gives pharmacists the right not to carry these drugs.
HCS HB 546 - HB 546 bill would require the Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC) executive director or chief executive officer to live within a 40 mile radius of Jefferson City and will provide greater accountability over the MHDC. As a comment on this, the recently organized Kansas City Caucus, which is comprised of all the Kansas City Representatives, both Democrat and Republican, held together to ensure that the 80 jobs currently in Kansas City stayed here and would not be required to move with the CEO. This was a compromise that accomplished most everyone's goal related to the MHDC.
HB 291 - HB 291 requires window stickers to show current motor vehicle registration instead of license plate tabs. The current system of placing stickers on your license plates would be fazed out and replaced with a window sticker system. Because the stickers are placed in the interior, the state will save time and money by not having to replace stolen plate stickers.
HCS HB 193 - If passed without amendments, this legislation would redraw the Congressional districts based on the 2010 census. This redistricting map compensates for Missouri's loss of a Congressional district while providing continuity and minimizing the number of counties being split to only eight. This is one of the more difficult and important issues we will confront this year.
HB 677 - HB 677 Removes the June 30, 2012 expiration date of the provisions requiring every child enrolling in kindergarten or first grade in a public school to receive one comprehensive vision examination. The mandatory vision examination provision in Missouri has produced great results in diagnosing early vision problems and needs to remain in place.
The House Third Read (final passage in House before going to Senate) the following bills: HBs 458, 641, 192, 470 & 429, 336, 28, 546, 468, 677 and 737.
Committee Action
Education
HB 679 - Allows a school district to transfer unrestricted funds from the capital projects fund to the incidental fund under certain conditions. This will allow districts to have more flexibility in transferring funds into their operating budgets from funds previously restricted to capital improvements. There are restrictions on when a district can do this and how much. Given the current plight of many of our districts, this will give some needed relief to certain districts in the state. Voted do pass!HB 446 - Changes the laws regarding the state school funding formula This is vital piece of legislation given the current underfunding of the school foundation formula. When the formula was approved there were no provisions for if revenues went down. Given they have, this bill gives direction for how to pro rate and disburse funds going forward. Voted do pass!
Financial Institutions
HB 811 - Changes the laws regarding motor vehicle extended service contracts Voted do passSB 71 - Eliminates a requirement that banks, savings institutions, and credit unions file a certain notice with the Missouri Real Estate Appraisers Commission Voted do pass!
SB 83 - Allows for the sale of deficiency waiver addendums and other similar products with respect to certain loan transactions Voted do pass!
SB 219 - Allows owners of automated teller machines to charge access fees to those with bank accounts in foreign countries (with amendments) Voted do pass!
Community Calendar
Apr 14 - 4th Annual A Downtown Affair: Walk the Red Carpet
Apr 16 - 30th Annual Easter Egg Hunt
It is an honor and privilege to serve the people of the 34th District and the State of Missouri. Let me know how I can better represent you.
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