Legislative Actions and Information for the Week of Feb. 5, 2018 Time seems to have flown by as the first month of the 99th General Assembly’s Second Regular Session has come to an end. Important work is being done in the State Capitol and even more work remains to be done over the upcoming months as the 2018 legislative session continues.
On The Floor The Missouri Senate debated and perfected Senate Bill 579 on Tuesday, Jan. 30. This bill is intended to protect the hard-working individuals who serve our communities. Individuals found guilty of resisting or interfering with arrests, detentions or stops and who receive a Class A misdemeanor may, at the discretion of the court, be made ineligible for probation and parole. If the offender creates a substantial risk of serious physical injury or death and is charged with a Class E Felony for resisting or interfering with arrest, detention or stop they will not be eligible for probation or parole. In an earlier version of the bill, individuals resisting arrest were required to be ineligible for parole no matter what the circumstance. Senator Nasheed opposed this provision. In some instances, exercising one’s First Amendment rights means resisting arrest. She believes in the right to protest and that it should not be punished. She thought that this provision went against a citizen’s constitutional rights. In the end, an agreement was made to allow a court the discretion to decide whether or not to allow parole for those convicted for resisting arrest. SB 579 still needs to receive another round of approval from the Senate before moving to the Missouri House of Representatives. On Wednesday, Jan. 31, the Missouri Senate worked late into the night on gubernatorial appointments. The governor attempted to withdraw three appointments to the Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC) on Jan. 31. This was a procedural move to once again draw out the confirmation process and possibly allow them to be appointed later without Senate approval. If the appointees failed to be approved under their approaching 30-day deadline, they would be banned for life from serving on the commission. Senator Nasheed led a filibuster against withdrawing the appointments, believing the Senate should reject them rather than allow them to be withdrawn. Ultimately, the Senate did not allow the appointments to be withdrawn, and on Feb. 1 the three members resigned from their positions on the commission. With the announcement, it seemed there was no further action needed and the Senate did not confirm the MHDC appointments. Senator Nasheed took a sincere interest in these three appointments to the MCHC. In November of 2017, the MHDC, with these three appointees serving on it, voted to stop issuing the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). This is the largest tax credit program in the state and it helps subsidize the construction of affordable and safe housing projects. For individuals and families struggling, these housing options are incredibly important. Senator Nasheed opposes ending the LIHTC program, which has helped develop her district and has served to empower her constituents with affordable housing options. With that in mind, Sen. Nasheed will not support appointing any members to the MHDC who would vote in favor of eliminating a beneficial program that has helped so many of her constituents. She is also committed to fighting for the continued existence of the LIHTC program. This week, the Missouri Senate dedicated several days to crafting and perfecting Senate Bill 564, which deals with public utilities. This bill incentives utility companies to upgrade their outdated infrastructure. Modernizing Missouri’s aging electrical grid will make it more secure, create new jobs and provide stability to energy rates for Missourians as newer technology and monitoring programs are implemented. The bill also aims to make energy costs more predictable by putting in place a rate hike cap of an average 2.85 percent per year over a five year period. With a complex piece of legislation such as SB 564, some senators took issues with certain provisions of the bill. They began filibustering on Feb. 7 and continued through late evening hours of Feb. 8, ensuring that free and fair discussion was heard on the bill. The filibuster lasted more than 24 hours, as negotiations on a compromise took place. In the end, a compromise bill was put forth and perfected Thursday evening. Not everyone got what they wanted out of the bill, but the legislative process requires compromise and working together to help the people we serve back home. Just like SB 579, once this bill is third read, it will be sent over to the Missouri House of Representatives for further discussion and debate.
Bills and Committees Senator Nasheed’s bills continue to be heard before Senate committees. Once in committee, senators will hear public testimony on these legislative proposals before deciding whether or not to vote the issue out and send it to the Senate floor. Senate Bill 585 – This legislative proposal takes an important step toward remedying a problem created in 2017. Senator Nasheed’s SB 585 would roll back portions of last year’s Senate Bill 43. Many believe SB 43 makes it harder to sue for discrimination in Missouri. SB 43 has hurt the state financially as well. Already, Missouri has lost $500,000 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and could lose even more revenue due to a lack of tourism stemming from the NAACP’s justified travel advisory for the state. SB 585 would bring state law in compliance with HUD regulations. The bill was heard in the Senate’s Small Business and Industry Committee. Senate Bill 802 – This bill would allow certain nonprofit corporations with a majority of women or minorities sitting as members of its board of directors or as officers to apply for a “women’s business enterprise” and “minority business enterprise” status. Allowing nonprofit corporations to receive this status will allow them to be more competitive against other businesses on bidding for projects. There was no opposition to the bill and it was voted do pass out of the Senate’s General Laws Committee. Senate Bill 804 – The Senate’s Economic Development Committee heard public testimony on SB 804 which reauthorizes the Donated Food Tax Credit until December 31, 2026, and expands it to include food or cash donated to local soup kitchens or local homeless shelters. The bill was voted do pass in committee. Senate Bill 925 – This bill allows urban and community gardens to be classified as agricultural and horticultural property for establishing land values for property tax purposes. The Senate’s Agriculture, Food Production and Outdoor Resources Committee voted it do pass and the bill now heads to the Senate floor.
Appropriations The Senate Appropriations Committee continues to work on producing its version of the state’s spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year. This week, the committee heard from several state departments about their budget situation. These departments included the Departments of Transportation, Revenue and Corrections, among others. MODOT stated that it needs more funds than originally recommended by the governor in order to work on bridge repair and railroad safety projects. The Committee will continue to hear from state departments and other stakeholders as the budget process continues. This week the committee also approved Senate Bill 912, which increases the yearly tuition cap for Missouri’s colleges and universities. Currently, tuition is allowed to increase with the rate of inflation. This bill would increase that cap by 10 percent. In these tough budgetary times and with pending cuts to higher education, Sen. Nasheed understands the possible need for this legislation in order to help offset cuts, but does not want to place too much of a financial burden on students. As the appropriation process continues, she will continue to consider all possible solutions to ensure that higher education funding is protected.
Other News Governor Announces Tax Cut Plan On Jan. 29, the governor announced a plan to cut taxes by $800 million. The plan would cut the top income tax bracket from 5.9 percent to 5.3 percent and lower the corporate tax rate from 6.25 percent to 4.25 percent. The plan is described by the governor as revenue neutral, because it would offset tax cuts in other ways like limiting the deductibility of federal income taxes, imposing a sales taxes for online purchases and eliminating certain tax breaks like the timely filing discount for businesses. Lt. Governor Asks for a Personal Driver Missouri’s lt. governor has asked the House Budget Committee for a $50,000 increase to his office budget. The extra money would be used for a part-time driver to assist the lt. governor with driving around the state while also performing other office duties. The lt. governor, who serves as the presiding officer of the Missouri Senate, has the smallest budget of the six statewide officeholders. Previous lt. governors have requested increases to their budgets as well. |
Missouri Senate — 2018
Missouri General Assembly