Torpey: District Day Visit, Fiscal Review Committee Recap

A Special Note

On Tuesday, we were more than happy to hold our First Annual District Day! We were very pleased with the turn out, and truly hope that everyone had a good time! I am looking forward to holding this event again, so if you were unable to attend, there will be another chance next year. A heartfelt thank you to those who braved the rainy weather to drive down to Jefferson City to see the House in action. Please remember that if you wish to come to Jefferson City, contact my office and we would love to meet with you and show you around the area.

2011 Legislative Session continues

Passes through the House this week:

• HB 656, sponsored by Rep. Brandom, will change the laws regarding unsecured loans of $500 or less, commonly known as payday loans. This bill tries to strike a middle point between allowing responsible individuals access to payday loans, while trying to protect borrowers from predatory lending. Although this bill does not take huge strides towards payday loan reform, I believe that this is a small step in the direction we need to be heading in order to make true payday loan reform. This bill passed by a vote of 96-58, with myself voting in favor. This will now be sent to the Senate for further action.
• HB 661, sponsored by Rep. Wells, will change the laws regarding debt adjusters. With the economy in its current bad state, debt adjusters can actually provide useful services to help people lower what they may owe; however, sometimes these adjusters take advantage of people. This bill makes it clear that debt relief agencies cannot charge people without lowering the debt they owe, and they cannot charge people without explaining the process to them. This bill passed 120-22, with myself voting in favor, and is now sent to the Senate for further action.
• HB 1008, sponsored by Rep. Long, will allow the Highways and Transportation Commission to enter into infrastructure improvement agreements to reimburse funds advanced for the benefit of a county, political subdivision, or private entity. This bill simply allows MODOT to work together more efficiently through greater public-private partnerships. This bill passed 146-1, with myself voting in favor, and is now sent to the Senate.
• HB 473, sponsored by Rep. Jones (63), will change the laws regarding charter schools and establishes the Missouri Charter Public School Commission. This bill passed and was sent to the Committee on Fiscal Review for further action (see below).

For more information on current legislation in the Missouri House of Representatives, please contact our office or visit the House website.

Committees

Elementary and Secondary Education met on Wednesday to hold a hearing on my bill regarding kindergarten education. HB 752 will change the laws regarding the compulsory school attendance of kindergarten students. Currently, once a student is enrolled in kindergarten or first grade, even though the student is below the compulsory school age of seven years, the student's parent or guardian is required to ensure the regular attendance of the student. However, any student below the compulsory school age may be withdrawn from the school's attendance rolls upon written request. This bill requires the request to be because of a transfer to another school, health reasons, or the parent's belief that the child's best interests are served by withdrawal after discussing educational options with school personnel.

Fiscal Review met on Thursday to hold executive session.

• HB 473 (see above) was voted out of committee and sent back to the floor by a vote of 7-4, with myself voting in favor.
• HB 579, sponsored by Rep. Frederick, will change the laws regarding health care. This bill was tabled by the committee until the next meeting.
• HB 366, sponsored by Rep. Silvey, will authorize tax incentives for technology business facilities and for data storage centers and server farm facilities. This bill was also tabled until next week.

For more information on these bills, or any that have been filed in the Missouri House of Representatives, please visit the House Bill information page by clicking here.

Word of the Week

Every day, the actions in the House for the previous day are recorded in the House Journal. House Journal --An official chronological record of the actions taken and proceedings of the respective chambers. People are able to view the House Journals on-line, in order to follow the House's actions and representative's votes. You can access our journals by clicking here.

In Other News

Redistricting has been a huge topic on everyone's mind here in Jefferson City and back home. This week, the House and Senate have been going back and forth trying to find a compromise that we can send to Governor Nixon for approval. However, today (on Good Friday) the House reluctantly came back into session and passed the redistricting map [SB68] by a vote of 91-47, with the hopes that the Senate will take it up next week and then deliver it to the governor.