Engler: Legislative Session Draws to a Close

At this writing, we are getting into the end of the legislative session. However, that does not mean that work is drawing to a close. As in past years, there is a mad dash by many in the Capitol to get legislation passed in the final hours and even minutes of the session. At this hour, it is hard to say if negotiations will be successful on several key pieces of legislation.

In these final days of session, we have been busy working on legislation. This includes one of the measures I drafted. The national Republican and Democratic parties have requested that several states move the date of their 2012 presidential primary. Senate Bill 282 would move the Missouri primary from Feb. 7 to March 6. The bill now needs the governor’s signature to become law.

Another piece of legislation I worked on this year is Senate Bill 226, which relates to ambulance districts. Specifically, the bill would allow members of ambulance districts to be recalled. The bill would also allow an ambulance district to choose whether to go to the voters with a sales tax or property tax to fund a new district. Currently, the district can only go to the voters with a property tax and has to go back to the voters a second time to change to a sales tax.

Several other important measures have been approved by the Legislature and sent to the governor’s desk. These include:

• House Bill 641, which would outlaw certain controlled substances. There has been some confusion about this bill because it outlaws “bath salts.” These substances are not the Epson salts that are actually used in a bath, instead they are synthetic forms of cocaine and methamphetamine that are marketed as “bath salts” to avoid the need for Federal Drug Administration approval. Under the legislation, these substances will be treated as the dangerous drugs that they are.
• House Bill 73, which would allow the state to screen and test suspected drug-users receiving cash from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Under the measure, if a recipient is suspected of using drugs, the Department of Social Services could test the individual. If they are found to be using drugs and do not go into treatment, they would lose their TANF benefits.
• House Bill 648, which continues work I started several years ago. Up until recently, many state agencies were still using the terms “retarded” or “retardation.” These terms are now considered offensive to the developmentally disabled, and after I proposed legislation to change this, the governor signed an executive order to strike the use of these terms from state agencies. The provisions of HB 648 takes this further by changing any references to these terms in current state law.

Session officially ends Friday, May 13th at 6:00 pm. We will send out an update next week on the Truly Agreed and Finally Passed bills.


Senator Engler’s Capitol office staff for the 2011 legislative session includes (from left) Brian Bunten, Shelly St. Clair, Karen Jacquin, Sen. Engler, Winston, and intern Keaton Ashlock.