Senators - Republican and Democrat - Work Together to Do the Right Thing for the People of Missouri
JEFFERSON CITY – The Missouri Senate advanced a number of key priorities including passing four job creation initiatives, protecting taxpayers with a balanced budget, restoring funding for K-12 transportation and higher education, and meeting its constitutional deadline to craft a new map outlining Missourians’ representation in Congress.
Senate Leader Robert N. Mayer, R-Dexter, commended senators for their cooperation in finding common sense solutions to the problems that face the people of Missouri.
“We began this session with two goals – passing a balanced budget Missouri taxpayers could sustain without a tax increase and putting people back to work,” Mayer said. “The Senate worked together to pass a balanced budget on-time that protects taxpayers, passed four job creation initiatives, restored funding for K-12 busing and higher education, and crafted a new congressional district map that is fair and equitable.”
Lawmakers sent four bills to the governor aimed at spurring job creation. Senate Majority Floor Leader Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles, said job creation is part of the solution to Missouri’s on-going budget crisis.
“Our state’s economy is reliant on people working, so the solution is putting people back to work in good-paying jobs with benefits,” said Dempsey. “This session the Senate advanced four measures aimed at assisting businesses in their ability to hire more employees.”
The governor signed Senate Bill 19, sponsored by Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Glendale, that would freeze and then phase out Missouri’s corporate franchise tax over a five-year period. The bill takes effect Aug. 28.
“By phasing out this double taxation on employers, we eliminate a disincentive that penalized companies for investing more in our state,” said Schmitt. “We are glad to see the governor join us in our efforts to allow companies to invest in hiring new employees instead of growing government with higher taxes.”
Last month, the Legislature passed and the governor signed a bill that extended unemployment benefits for more than 10,000 Missouri families who had reached, and those nearing, the 79-week cut-off. House Bill 163 also included a reduction to Missouri’s share of initial unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to 20 weeks.
“The federal government has spent Missouri businesses into an almost $1 billion debt,” said the amendment’s sponsor, Sen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City. “With this change, we reduced the burden on businesses to offset the additional federal taxes that will be placed on Missouri businesses to pay off that debt. But more importantly, this will encourage businesses to hire and expand, creating new jobs."
Today the Senate passed the Conference Committee Report for Senate Bill 8, sponsored by Senate Assistant Majority Floor Leader Jack Goodman, R-Mt. Vernon. The bill, which failed to pass in the House, would have restored protections to co-employees, meaning they would no longer be at risk of personal lawsuits for their role in honest accidents at work. The bill would have abrogated an appeals court decision in Robinson v Hooker, made in the Western District of Missouri on Aug. 3, 2010, that opened up co-employees to this higher risk.
“Currently, all Missouri workers are at risk of being sued and held liable for honest accidents at work and that is simply unfair,” Goodman said. “With this bill, we would have returned protections to Missouri employees, so that only co-workers who purposefully and dangerously cause other employees harm could be held personally liable.”
Last month the governor vetoed Senate Bill 188, sponsored by Sen. Brad Lager, R-Savannah, that would change state laws to mirror federal employment laws when it comes to discrimination.
“We want Missouri employees to be protected from employers who break the law,” Lager said. “We can best do this by raising our standards to meet the provisions set out in the historic Civil Rights Act. Senate Bill 188 simply mirrors Missouri employment law with federal employment law so employers and employees have certainty across the board when it comes to their day in court.”
Mayer and Dempsey said they anticipate the Senate to move to override the governor’s veto in the annual veto session held in September.
The Missouri General Assembly last week advanced 13 budget bills totaling $23.2 billion for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The bills include a $13.5 million net reduction in general revenue spending from the budget proposed by Gov. Jay Nixon in January. Lawmakers’ budget actions lessen a 7 percent cut to higher education by adopting a $12 million increase for Missouri’s two- and four-year colleges and universities and another increase of $10 million for Missouri’s K-12 transportation line item. The $10 million increase for K-12 busing restores part of the governor’s reduction, bringing the total funding for public school transportation to nearly $110 million.
“By lessening that 7 percent cut to only 5.45 percent, we allow our colleges and universities to find and pass on real savings to out-of-pocket expenses students would have incurred,” said Senate Appropriations Chairman Kurt Schaefer, R- Columbia. “By also working to help shore up funding for K-12 transportation, we help prevent local schools from having to raid funding for our classrooms or other dollars directed to education.”
The Legislature also voted to maintain the school funding formula at its current level, voting last month to accept an additional $189 million in federal funding to go toward K-12 funding in FY 2012.
Lawmakers also crafted a map that is fair and equitable to Missouri citizens when it comes to their representation in U.S. Congress. The Missouri General Assembly last week overrode the governor’s veto of Conference Committee Report for House Bill 193.
The General Assembly was constitutionally charged to redraw Missouri’s congressional districts based on the most recent data from the 23rd Decennial Census. In December, the U.S. Census Bureau concluded, based on 2010 Census data, that Missouri’s population grew 7 percent to 5,988,927 people. Despite this growth, Missouri is losing a congressional seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, resulting in a drop from nine to eight seats.
“We were committed to a redistricting process that was open and transparent,” said Sen. Scott T. Rupp, R-St. Charles County, who served as chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Redistricting. “By staying true to this process, we crafted a map that both Republicans and Democrats voted ‘yes’ for because it appropriately and fairly represents Missouri’s citizens.”
Other bills to advance this session include:
- A ballot question and enabling legislation to let voters decide if Missourians should be required to show photo identification at the polls (SJR2 and SB3);
- “The Missouri Solution” representing a compromise to last year’s Prop B requirements for Missouri dog breeders. The governor signed both SB113 & 95 and HB161 last month.
- Lawmakers passed and the governor signed SB187 ending nuisance lawsuit abuses against Missouri farm families.
- Two identical bills, HB213 and SB65, would prevent late-term abortions.
- HB641 outlaws “bath salts,” a synthetic drug that mimics the effects of cocaine, and other controlled substances know as K3 that mimic marijuana.
- HB73 requires drug testing for TANF recipients, with those testing positive to complete a drug treatment program and not test positive again in order to regain their benefits.
- And HB412 extends the sunset on the Missouri Prescription Drug Program that assists more than 225,000 Missouri low-income seniors and the disabled in purchasing drugs under the Medicare Part D program. Full funding, or $19.6 million, was included in the budget.
Senate leaders did note disappointment when it came to not reaching a final vote to save Missouri taxpayers $1.5 billion over the next 15 years. Differences between the House and Senate went unresolved in the conference committee for Senate Substitute for House Bill 116. The measure included a tax amnesty program for Missouri taxpayers; the combination of several existing performance-based tax credits to create a more flexible program called “Compete Missouri”; the sunset, capping or making subject to appropriations of a number of tax credit programs; and the creation of tax incentives to support an international trade hub at Lambert - St. Louis International Airport, attract amateur sports events, and target growth in hi-tech areas of science and innovation industries.
Mayer said the bill was the culmination of at least three years of work in the Senate to balance the growth of performance-based programs with unchecked spending when it comes to other tax credits.
“Offering incentives to businesses in a financially responsible way to expand or relocate to Missouri is a step in making new jobs real and available,” said Mayer. “We will continue to work to advance these incentives coupled with reforms.”
The 2011 regular session ended today at 6 p.m. The Senate is scheduled to next convene during the annual veto session held in September.
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