|
2011 Mid-Session Update
Spring recess is here for the Legislature, along with spring weather for all of us. It’s great to be back in the district and listening to the people of the 8th District. We have now completed half of a session. At the beginning of the year, Senate leadership set out its agenda for this session. Mid-session is a good time to review that agenda.
A key goal for this session is to pass legislation that “puts Missourians back to work by enabling all employers to invest in working families rather than government growth, improving employers’ ability to hire and retain quality workers, and making sure employees can’t be personally sued for honest accidents at work.”
This Legislature wants to help families survive by enabling employers to keep and create better paying jobs with benefits.
To meet the goal of enabling employers to invest in working families rather than government growth, Senate Bill 19, passed in the Senate and sent to the House for its consideration, phases out the corporate franchise tax. It limits, and then ends the double taxation on employers so they can invest in hiring new employees instead of growing government through higher taxes.
Businesses should not have to pay a tax just to be in business. They must pay the franchise tax regardless if they are profitable. Kansas has been phasing out its franchise tax since 2007; beginning in tax year 2011, it will be repealed altogether.
By ending this double taxation altogether, it removes this disincentive for companies to invest in Missouri. Bottom Line: Companies can invest more capital in Missouri without being penalized, meaning employers can invest in hiring new employees rather than growing government through higher taxes.
Corporations already pay:
- Income taxes on income earned by the corporation,
- Sales taxes on some business inputs, and
- Property taxes on land, structures, and personal property.
The Franchise Tax taxes these activities and property again.
Senate Bill 8 returns Workers’ Compensation as the Exclusive Remedy, and it has also been passed in the Senate and sent to the House for its consideration. It protects individual employees from personal lawsuits for their role in honest accidents at work (Robinson vs. Hooker).
Missouri employees and employers face higher risks due to an appeals court ruling that says co-workers can be sued for their role in workplace injuries, even when it was shown to be simply an accident (purely negligence). Before, co-workers could only be held personally liable if it was shown that the co-worker purposefully and dangerously caused an employee’s risk of injury. By restoring protections, Missouri employees will no longer have to seek insurance to protect against lawsuits if an accident were to occur.
Senate Bill 8 also holds that employees who are intentionally put at risk for injury or death by their employers could have the courts as an avenue to seek resolution. Employers who deliberately and intentionally put their employees at risk will not be tolerated.
Additional Legislation
Following is a list of all legislation that has been passed in the Senate this session, and sent to the House. If you want to know more about these bills, simply click on the bill number, and you will be taken to the Senate web page that provides a summary, the entire text of the bill, and all the actions taken since the bill was introduced.
SB 3 Allows enabling legislation for advance voting and photographic identification of voting
SB 8 Restricts co-employee liability in workers’ compensation cases
SB 13 Requires the Joint Committee on Education to oversee a task force on teacher compensation and effectiveness
SB 17 Requires the Department of Health and Senior Services to make available resources relating to umbilical cord blood
SB 19 Phases out the corporate franchise tax over a five-year period
SB 33 Repeals a provision of law that requires the Department of Transportation to submit to binding arbitration in negligence actions
SB 38 Establishes a prostate cancer pilot program to provide screening, referral services, treatment and outreach
SB 55 Classifies sawmills and planing mills as agricultural and horticultural property for tax purpose
SB 58 Modifies various provisions relating to the regulation of household goods movers
SB 61 Requires that one of three commissioners appointed in condemnation cases in St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and Jackson County be a real estate broker or appraiser
SB 63 Prohibits large water consumers from taking water outside of the Southeast Missouri Regional Water District if such activity interferes with certain others’ use of the water
SB 68 Authorizes the issuance of subpoenas for the production of records by the General Assembly
SB 71 Eliminates a requirement that banks, savings institutions, and credit unions file a certain notice with the Missouri Real Estate Appraisers Commission
SB 77 Expands the types of directional signs that may be erected and maintained within highway right-of-ways
SB 83 Allows for the sale of deficiency waiver addendums and other similar products with respect to certain loan transactions
SB 101 Creates requirements for contractors who perform home exterior and roof work
SB 108 Extends the expiration date concerning the installation of fire sprinklers in certain home dwellings to December 31, 2019 and modifies adoption by a political subdivision of certain residence codes
SB 113 Modifies the Animal Care Facilities Act and the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act
SB 131 Exempts qualified plug-in electric drive vehicles from the motor vehicle emissions inspection program
SB 133 Modifies law regarding commissions’ authority to enter into additional design-build contracts
SB 135 Modifies provisions pertaining to the storage and dispensing of motor fuel and extends the expiration date to August 28, 2017 for environmental laws relating to dry-cleaning facilities
SB 145 Requires the auditor of any county with a charter form of government to take an annual inventory of county property with an original value of $1,000 or more, rather than $250
SB 161 Allows the Missouri Agricultural and Small Business Development Authority to provide loan guarantees for loans to agribusinesses
SB 162 Creates the Farm-to-Table Advisory Board
SB 163 Modifies the composition of higher education boards and changes the name of the Coordinating Board for Higher Education to the Board for Higher Education
SB 166 Requires title agencies and title agents to maintain a physical place of business in Missouri as a condition of licensure
SB 173 Requires the Joint Committee on Missouri’s Promise to develop long-term strategies and plans relating to developing a modern infrastructure and transportation system
SB 174 Allows cities, towns and villages in St. Charles County to seek voter approval to impose a fee for water lines repairs
SB 180 Specifies a “Walk & Bike to School Month,” “Walk & Bike to School Day,” “Missouri Bicycle Month,” and “Bike to Work Week”
SB 187 Modifies the laws regarding nuisances and junkyards
SB 188 Modifies the law relating to the Missouri Human Rights Act and employment discrimination
SB 207 Repeals the requirement that the Missouri Energy Task Force must meet at least once annually to review progress
SB 219 Allows owners of automated teller machines to charge access fees to those with bank accounts in foreign countries
SB 220 Modifies liens for certain design professionals
SB 243 Establishes the “Sharing of Services and Increasing Efficiencies Act” to allow school districts and other entities to achieve efficiencies
SB 250 Requires sexual assault offenders to complete certain programs prior to being eligible for parole or conditional release
SB 284 Modifies the disciplinary authority of the Board of Pharmacy and defines the term legend drug for the purpose of certain pharmacy statutes
SB 306 Modifies laws relating to the administration of credit unions
SCR 1 Disapproves a final order of rule making by the Public Service Commission regarding Electric Utility Renewable Energy requirements
SCR 7 Authorizes the employment of an independent certified public accountant or certified public accounting firm pursuant to Section 21.760, RSMo
SJR 2 Establishes photo identification requirements for voting and requirements for advance voting
Town Hall Meetings
I hope that you will be able to attend one of the two remaining town hall meetings that I am hosting over spring break.
On Thursday, March 24, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., the town hall will be held at Places Manhattan Room, John Knox Village at 1001 NW Chipman Road, Lee’s Summit. State Representative Gary Cross, District 48, will also be in attendance to answer questions.
Also on Thursday, March 24, from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., the town hall will be held at Mid-Continent Genealogy Center at 3440 S. Lee’s Summit Road, in Independence. State Representative Noel Torpey, District 52, will also be on hand to answer questions from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
I look forward to seeing you at one of these events!
Upcoming Elections
The following elections are scheduled in Eastern Jackson County. I encourage you to remember the dates for your area and get out and vote!
Date Election
Apr. 5 Municipal Elections for the following:
Kansas City (Earnings Tax Question)
Blue Springs
Grain Valley
Greenwood
Lake Lotawana
Lake Tapawingo
Levasy
Lone Jack
Oak Grove
Raytown
Sibley
Apr. 5 School Board Elections for the following:
Lee’s Summit R-VII School District
Blue Springs R-IV School District
Grain Valley R-V School District
Oak Grove R-VI School District
Lone Jack C-6 School District
Raytown C-2 School District
|
