JEFFERSON CITY – The month of December is usually dedicated to concluding committee work for the year and numbering prefiled legislation in each legislative chamber.  However, the call for lawmakers to return to Jefferson City for a special session in early December quickly shifted the gears of focus.

Lawmakers returned to the Capital City shortly after the Thanksgiving holiday to expand certain economic development programs in order to compete with a handful of other states for an aerospace manufacturing project projected to create a significant amount of jobs and provide a large capital investment for Missouri.  As of this posting, the Show-Me State is still competing to become Boeing’s new home for its 777X commercial airliner manufacturing plant as a result of the General Assembly passing bipartisan legislation designed to attract the aerospace giant.  The bill creates a separate cap for $150 million per year of incentives offered collectively under the Missouri Works Program, the BUILD Program, the Missouri Works Training Program and the TIF Act. 

Senate Bill 1, sponsored by Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Glendale, also requires:

• Any company that receives incentives under the bill to supply an annual progress report that details information regarding the benefits it receives and is projected to receive throughout the project;
• An annual report on the number of minorities trained under the Missouri Works Training Program and the outreach efforts made to include women and minorities as a result of the legislation; and  
• The Missouri Department of Economic Development to determine the net fiscal benefit to the state 10 years after a company gives its notice of intent for its project, ensuring Missouri sees a net fiscal benefit by the last year the project receives state benefits. 

Boeing is still narrowing down its choices and is expected to announce its decision on where it will locate production of its new airliner in early January.

To read more about Senate Bill 1, click here to view press releases issued by the Missouri Senate Newsroom.  This Week in the Missouri Senate for Dec. 5, 2013, and Dec. 13, 2013, also highlights legislation introduced, debated and passed during special session.  Audio includes soundbites from Sen. Schmitt; Senate Minority Floor Leader Jolie Justus, D-Kansas City; Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles; Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis; Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, D-University City; and Sen. Brad Lager, R-Savannah.

Legislative Panels Wrap Up Work for 2013

Several legislative panels’ work coincided with the special session held in early December.  The Joint Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect, chaired by Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, held its final meeting of the year as a work session of the full committee.  Established by Senate Bill 628 and Senate Bill 636, which were passed by the Legislature and signed into law in 2012, this seven-member panel made up of legislators from both the Senate and House of Representatives is responsible for:

• Making a continued study and analysis of the state child abuse and neglect reporting and investigation system;
• Devising a plan for improving structured decision-making regarding the removal of a child from a home; determining additional personnel and resources necessary to adequately protect children living in Missouri and improve their and their families’ welfare;
• Addressing the need for additional foster care homes and to improve the quality of care provided to abused and neglected children in the custody of the state; and
• Determine from its study the need for changes in statutory law regarding child abuse and neglect. 

Members of this panel include Sen. Bob Dixon, R-Springfield; Sen. Brian Nieves, R-Washington; Sen. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph; Sen. Shalonn “Kiki” Curls, D-Kansas City; Sen. Justus; and Sen. Joseph Keaveny, D-St. Louis.  The joint committee’s annual report must be issued to the General Assembly by Jan. 15, 2014.

The Sentencing and Corrections Oversight Commission, chaired by Sen. Dixon, also held its last meeting for 2013 in early December.  The commission issued its first annual report mid-month detailing the effects of the Justice Reinvestment Act (House Bill 1525 – 2012), which established the panel that is responsible for monitoring and assisting the implementation of various statutes pertaining to the Department of Corrections.  The act is designed to improve public safety, hold offenders accountable, and contain spending in Missouri prisons to “deliver taxpayers a better return on their public safety investment,” as noted in the commission’s report by former Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Ray Price.  Since many of the provisions found in the 2012 Justice Reinvestment Act are still being fully implemented, some statistical information, such as recidivism rates, are limited or nonexistent.  As stated in the report, “Implementation of the Justice Reinvestment and associated statutory changes is a process of continuous improvement.”  However, with full implementation of collection of sufficient data and feedback, the commission will be able to conduct a more complete evaluation of this act in the future. 

Commission members, made up of all three branches of Missouri government and partners of the criminal justice system across the state,  provided in their final legislative recommendations in the report, which include asking the General Assembly to enact legislation to update the Missouri’s criminal code at the earliest opportunity.  Legislation (Senate Bill 491) has already been prefiled by commission member Sen. Justus, addressing provisions relating to criminal law.

The Senate Minute for Dec. 17, 2013, highlights the last hearing of the Sentencing and Corrections Oversight Commission.  The program includes audio from Sen. Dixon and Sen. Justus.

Legislators Prefile Bills for 2014

Each year, lawmakers prepare for the next legislative session by prefiling bills.  This process gives measures a head start in the legislative process, allowing bills to receive their numbers starting in early December and be introduced in the Senate on the first day of session in January.  Among the nearly 160 bills prefiled this year includes a more than 1,000-page bill that would restructure Missouri’s criminal code, legislation that would require a voter to show a photo ID before casting a ballot at the polls, a bill addressing violence prevention education in classrooms throughout the state, and measures pertaining to how Missouri’s K-12 schools handle transfer students from unaccredited school districts. 

To see a complete list of prefiled legislation, visit www.senate.mo.gov and click on the “List of 2014 Prefiled Senate Bills” link under the “Legislation” tab.

Watch the December 2013 edition of Missouri Legislative Update, which includes a story previewing Senate bills prefiled for the 2014 legislative session and features interviews with Sen. David Pearce, R-Warrensburg, and Sen. Justus.

New Year Marks Important Date for Previously Passed Measures

As lawmakers prepare for the new year and the upcoming legislative session, several provisions found in legislation passed during the 2013 regular legislative session are set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2014. 

Senate Bill 1, sponsored by Sen. Scott T. Rupp, R-Wentzville, changes Missouri’s law relating to the Second Injury Fund and occupational disease within the workers’ compensation system.  The legislation was one of the most high-profile bills debated in the Legislature in 2013.  It addresses Missouri’s insolvent Second Injury Fund by establishing priority for paying fund liabilities and instituting a funding mechanism to bolster the Second Injury Fund when usual collections are inadequate.  The measure also prohibits claims for permanent partial disability against the Second Injury Fund, defines “occupational disease due to toxic exposure,” and affirmatively states that occupational diseases are exclusively covered under workers’ compensation laws, among other provisions.

A House bill handled by Sen. Rupp in the Senate changes Missouri’s laws regarding the accreditation requirements for reinsurance companies and specifies when an insurance company can take credit or reduce liability due to reinsurance.  House Bill 133, which takes effect on Jan. 1, 2014, was signed into law in order to comply with the federal Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2010, which took effect in 2011.

Legislation sponsored by Sen. Dan Brown, R-Rolla, requires every sheriff to maintain, house, and issue concealed carry permits by Jan. 1, 2014.  This provision is part of a larger public safety bill, Senate Bill 75, which took effect in late August, and addresses how Missourians apply for concealed carry permits and prohibits the sharing of records or developing databases with the federal government.  The bill also establishes the Active Shooter and Intruder Response Training for Schools Program that permits schools to teach a “gunsafe” program to first graders.

“Chloe’s Law” is the result of Senate Bill 203, also sponsored by Sen. Brown.  This new law, starting Jan. 1, 2014, requires every baby born in Missouri to be screen for critical congenital heart disease.  Informational material, reporting and referral for treatment, if necessary, would be provided to the parents. 

An omnibus bill relating to the regulation of motor vehicles, sponsored by Sen. Brian Munzlinger, R-Williamstown, contains a provision set to take effect the first of the year pertaining to the regulation of alternative fuels.  This provision, found in Senate Bill 51, reauthorizes (beginning Jan. 1, 2014, and ending before Jan. 1, 2017) the tax credit for alternative fuel stations and requires alternative fuels to have at least 70 percent by volume one or more of ethanol, biodiesel, liquefied petroleum, autogas, hydrogen, or natural gas-based fuels.  The alternative fuel station tax credit is capped at $1 million annually.

Several provisions found in Senate Bill 127, sponsored by Sen. David Sater, R-Cassville, will take effect Jan. 1, 2014.  The underlying bill changes provisions relating to public assistance benefits, including referrals for home- and community-based services.  Under the bill, the Department of Health and Senior Services is responsible for making recommendations to the General Assembly by the first of the year for the implementation of an automated electronic assessment care plan tool, which the department must develop for use by home- and community-based service providers.  The legislation also requires the Department of Social Services to conduct an annual redetermination of all MO HealthNet participants’ eligibility as provided under federal rule at the first of the year.

Senate Bill 256, sponsored by Sen. Ryan Silvey, R-Kansas City, took effect in late August.  However, a provision in the legislation pertaining to the Task Force on the Prevention of Sexual Abuse of Children requires the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, in collaboration with the task force, to make yearly reports to the General Assembly on the department’s progress in preventing child sexual abuse beginning Jan. 1, 2014.  The panel was created by Senate Bill 54 in 2011 and is responsible for studying and identifying strategies for preventing child sexual abuse.  Senator Dixon and Sen. Curls are among the 16 members who serve on the task force.

Legislation sponsored by Sen. Curls, Senate Bill 262, and a bill handled in the upper chamber by Sen. Jay Wasson, R-Nixa, House Bill 986, change various provisions of state law relating to health insurance.  Senator Curls’ legislation takes effect Jan. 1, 2014, and prohibits larger deductibles, copayments or coinsurance amounts for services using telemedicine compared to the same health service provided through face-to-face diagnosis, consultation or treatment, among other acts.  This same provision found in House Bill 986 also takes effect in early January, prohibiting a health carrier or health benefit plan from denying coverage for a health care service on the basis that the service was provided through telehealth if the same service would be covered when delivered in person.

House Bill 315, also ushered through the Senate by Sen. Wasson, is another bill that changes Missouri’s laws regarding health care services.  One part of the bill allows for the early refill of a prescription for eye drops and another requires the Board of Registration for the Healing Arts and the State Board of Nursing in the division to establish the “Utilization of Telehealth by Nurses” starting the first of January. 

Senator Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, carried House Bill 404 through the upper chamber.  The measure recognizes psychological stress as an occupational disease for certain paid police officers.  The provision regarding the formula to equalize workers’ compensation insurance premium rates takes effect Jan. 1, 2014.

Legislation that changes the laws regarding child abuse and neglect in Missouri was handled in the Senate by Sen. Dixon.  House Bill 505 requires the governing body of each charter school in the state to adopt a written policy concerning employee-student communication starting the first of January.  The school board of each school district and the governing body of each charter school is required to adopt and implement training guidelines and an annual training program for all school employees who are mandatory reporters of child abuse or neglect. 

To see a complete list of bills pass by the General Assembly in 2013, along with their respective effective dates, visit www.senate.mo.gov and click on the “Past Session Archive” link under the “Legislation” tab.

The Missouri Senate’s Capitol Briefing will resume its weekly posting of legislative events throughout the 2014 regular session, which is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014, at noon.  The makeup of the upper chamber will be slightly different than it was the last time the Senate convened.  Ryan McKenna, D-Crystal City, resigned as senator of the 22nd District in mid-December to become the director of the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.  The new breakdown of the Senate going into the Second Regular Session of the 97th General Assembly is 24 Republicans and nine Democrats. 

For more legislative news, please visit the Senate newsroom at www.senate.mo.gov/newsroom, where you will find various audio and video programs and other informational services, such as:

• Missouri Legislative Update – A video program produced throughout the legislative session and interim that provides an overview of news in the Missouri Senate and House of Representatives.  The program features news interviews with lawmakers conducted by Missourinet’s Bob Priddy and stories on issues concerning Missourians.
• This Week in the Missouri Senate – A weekly, five-minute audio program that wraps up the week’s news in the Missouri Senate.  Programs are posted online every Friday in .mp3 format.
• The Senate Minute – A condensed, one-minute audio report of current Senate news.  Programs are posted in .mp3 format and are available through podcast.
• Daily Audio/Video Clips – Throughout the year, the Senate Newsroom posts broadcast-quality audio and video highlights from Senate committee hearings, floor debate, press conferences and other legislative events.  Please note: Clips linked to this Capitol Briefing are only available for the legislative week referenced in the publication.