Senate Sends Multiple Bills to the House

JEFFERSON CITY—The Missouri Senate ended the month of February by sending multiple pieces of legislation to the House of Representatives for consideration. The upper chamber also spent hours of debate perfecting a measure to address the ongoing problem of unaccredited districts and the consequences of the state’s school transfer law. Additionally, legislators filed their final measures for the 2015 session prior to the deadline on Thursday, Feb. 26.

Senate Sends Legislation to House for Consideration

Despite spending countless hours vetting and reviewing one of the session’s major educational bills, the Senate also managed to third read and give final approval to 10 bills. The measures below are now in the House awaiting possible debate.

On Monday, Feb. 23, the Senate approved Senate Bill 24, sponsored by Sen. David Sater, R-Cassville, by a vote of 25-8. The legislation, known as the “Strengthening Missouri Families Act,” would modify provisions to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance programs. Senate Bill 24 will add work requirements for recipients and lowers the caps for lifetime limits.

The bill will also create a cash diversion program that will act as a cash grant for short-term needs designed to keep potential welfare recipients, particularly those considered “job ready,” from entering the system. Any savings from the changes will be reinvested in programs to help recipients reenter the work force, such as childcare, job training and transportation services.

On Thursday, the upper chamber third read and gave final passage to nine bills, including Senate Bill 174, sponsored by Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Glendale, and known as the Missouri Achieving a Better Life Experience Program. Under the bill, a person may make tax-deductible contributions to an account established for the purpose of financing the qualified disability expenses of a beneficiary. Participants may deduct up to $8,000 per participant ($16,000 if married filing jointly) from their adjusted gross income. It was approved by a vote of 32-0.

Senate Bill 205, sponsored by Sen. Mike Parson, R-Bolivar, would modify state regulations regarding insurance holding companies and expands the power of the director of the Department of Insurance to examine insurance holding company system. The legislation passed by a vote of 31-1.

Senate Bill 82, sponsored by Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, D-University City, would require long-term care facilities to be encouraged to institute policies facilitating families involvement in the well-being and support of its residents. Lawmakers approved the measure unanimously.

Senate Bill 110, sponsored by Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, would prohibit any member of the University of Missouri Board of Curators from voting to appoint to, hire, or employ in any way in any position in the university any person who appointed him or her to the board. Any such vote taken by a curator will be null and void. Any curator who violates this prohibition will immediately forfeit his or her curator position. By a vote of 30-2, the measure was passed.

Senate Bill 115, sponsored by Sen. Will Kraus, Lee’s Summit, would allow a taxpayer to claim a credit or refund for overpayment of income taxes after the statute of limitations for making a claim has expired if the taxpayer amends or the IRS changes the taxpayer's federal income tax return after such period of time has expired. The taxpayer must make a claim for a credit or refund within one year of the amendment or changes. Senate Bill 115 was approved by a vote of 32-0.

Legislation sponsored by Sen. Gary Romine, R-Farmington was also approved. Senate Bill 68 would provide that directors of industrial development corporations in St. Francois County may be taxpayers and registered voters in the county. The final vote on the bill was 30-1.

Senate Bill 116, also sponsored by Sen. Kraus, would create an exemption from the proof of residency and domicile for purposes of school registration when the family of a student living in Missouri co-locates to live with other family members or in a military family support community because one or both of the student's parents is stationed out of state under certain military orders. The legislation was unanimously approved.

Senate Bill 113, sponsored by Sen. Bob Dixon, R-Springfield, would update references to higher education statutes that have been previously appealed. The mostly technical legislation was given final passage by the Senate by a vote of 33-0.

Finally, Senate Bill 148, sponsored by Sen. Parson, was approved by the Senate on Thursday with a vote of 32-0. Currently, authorized farm corporations and family farm corporations are required to file a corporate registration report annually with the Missouri Secretary of State. Under this act, such farm corporations would not have to file an annual report if the information required by the corporate registration report has not changed since the filing of the corporation's articles of incorporation or most recent registration report.

Senate Bills Awaiting Perfection or Final Approval

As the General Assembly passes the eight-week mark for the 2015 session, a number of bills are poised to move from the Senate to the House for similar consideration by that body. Here is a list of bills on the Senate formal calendar for upcoming third read and perfection motions:

• Senate Bill 424, sponsored by Sen. David Pearce, R-Warrensburg, would delay, until July 1, 2017, the requirement that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education prorate payments to formula districts if the foundation formula is not fully funded.
• Senate Bill 245, brought forth by Sen. Dan Hegeman, R-Crosby, would allow counties in which townships have been abolished to continue to collect a property tax for road and bridge purposes for a specified period of time.
• Senate Bill 283, offered by Sen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, would allow political subdivisions to assign operation of a retirement plan to the Missouri Local Government Employees' Retirement system.
• Senate Bill 59, sponsored by Sen. Dixon, would modify the process for filling vacancies in certain statewide and General Assembly offices.
• Senate Bill 107, offered by Sen. Sater, would provide that boards and commissions under the Division of Professional Registration may issue certain opinions for educational purposes.
• Senate Bill 67, sponsored by Sen. Mike Cunningham, R-Rogersville, would provide the Howell County shall collect a ten dollar surcharge in criminal cases to be used for a criminal justice center.
• Senate Bill 227, sponsored by Sen. Ed Emery, R-Lamar, would modify provisions relating to the collateral source rule and provides that parties may introduce evidence of the cost, rather than the value, of the medical treatment rendered.
• Senate Bill 37, sponsored by Sen. Romine, would award attorney's fees and court costs in cases where a settlement offer was previously rejected and when the court rules on a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim.
• Senate Bill 233, offered by Sen. Kehoe, would modify provisions relating to expert witnesses.
• Senate Bill 10, sponsored by Sen. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, would modify provisions relating to health care facility infection reporting.
• Senate Bill 119, co-sponsored by Sen. Dan Brown, R-Rolla, and Sen. Chappelle-Nadal, would modify the criteria to be used in accepting donated drugs for use in the Prescription Drug Repository Program.
• Senate Bill 152, brought forth by Sen. Wayne Wallingford, R-Cape Girardeau, would modify provisions relating to solid waste.
• Senate Bill 58, offered by Sen. Dixon, would modify and repeal a number of existing, expired or obsolete committees.

There are two bills currently awaiting perfection debate on the Senate informal calendar:

• Senate Bill 142, sponsored by Sen. Romine, would require the Department of Natural Resources to prepare a regulatory impact report when submitting a state implementation plan to the Environmental Protection Agency.
• Senate Bill 330, sponsored by Sen. Parson, would allow bonds issued by the State Board of Public Buildings for state projects to be used for new construction or other Capitol Improvement project.

Last Week to File Legislation

Thursday, Feb. 26 was the final day lawmakers in the upper chamber could file legislation for the 2015 session. This week saw more than 70 bills introduced in the Senate, bringing the total number of acts filed by senators for this session to 568 bills, not including resolutions. On the House side, 1081 bills have been introduced, bringing the total for the General Assembly to more than 1600 bills, not accounting for numerous resolutions in both bodies.

As session continues, measures will begin moving from one chamber to another for debate. Any differences between legislation will be hammered out in conference committees, which typically ramp up toward the latter weeks of session.

For a full list of Senate bills filed for 2015, click here or visit www.senate.mo.gov and click on the “List of 2015 Bills” link under the “Legislation” tab.

Passing of State Auditor Tom Schweich

On Thursday, Feb. 26, news broke of the passing of State Auditor Tom Schweich, who was recently reelected to the statewide position during the 2014 election. Many pegged him as the next Republican candidate for governor in 2016. Public officials quickly expressed their condolences to the Schweich family. Senate Leadership released the following statement in response to the tragedy:

“We would like to offer our prayers and sympathy to the family of Auditor Tom Schweich. Tom’s experience as a talented federal prosecutor, diplomat and Ambassador made him become a brilliant auditor. In his service to the state of Missouri, he led hundreds of audits, making it his mission to fight corruption and bring transparency to many offices across the state. Our heartfelt prayers go out to his family at this difficult time.”

The 2015 legislative session runs until May 15. To follow these and other issues before the Missouri Senate, visit www.senate.mo.gov. Visitors can track legislation considered by the General Assembly during the 2015 session, learn more about their legislative district and listen to streaming audio of legislative debate as it happens on the Senate floor.

The Missouri Senate’s Capitol Briefing will be distributed and posted weekly throughout session. 

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 and stories on issues concerning Missourians.
• This Week in the Missouri Senate – A weekly, 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.