Missouri high school students’ education in personal finance would be regularly updated, to keep up with changes in the world of finance, under a bill being considered in the state House.
Representative Michael O’Donnell (at podium) (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) already requires that high schools teach personal finance. House Bill 809 would ensure that this continues by putting it in state statute. It would also add the stipulation that a work group review the mandated curriculum every seven years to make sure it’s keeping with the times.
The legislation would require a half-credit, equal to one semester, of education on this subject matter. O’Donnell discussed with legislators on the House Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education whether that would be enough.
The committee did discuss incorporating some of this education at a less-complicated level into an earlier grade level, such as eighth grade.
The bill’s supporters include the Missouri Bankers Association and the Missouri Credit Union Association. No one testified in opposition to it.
HB 809 cleared that committee on a 12-0 vote and awaits action by a second committee. O’Donnell said the language of this bill will likely be incorporated into at least two other pieces of legislation.
When the Missouri House convened in January for this, the 102nd General Assembly, it did so in a freshly renovated House Chamber featuring new voting and message boards; refinished woodwork; updated wiring; and most importantly, badly needed new carpeting.
You can see photos from before, after, and throughout that project in the gallery below (and linked here), and scroll down to read more about it.
The work done during the summer and fall of 2022 was overseen by the Chief Clerk and Administrator of the House, Dana Rademan Miller. Among other things, Miller has a deep appreciation for the history and cultural significance of the Capitol, and she brought that to this project.
House Chief Clerk Dana Rademan Miller explains the design that was selected for new carpeting in the House Chamber. (Photo: Mike Lear, Missouri House Communications)
She tells us that when the Capitol was being built more than 100 years ago the carpeting in the House was originally wool. It has been replaced several times since then, the last time having been in 2008.
In what was intended to be a cost saving decision the carpet installed at that time was synthetic. Instead of saving money, this proved to be a costly choice that hampered business in the Chamber because the synthetic carpet built up static electricity more quickly than had the wool.
This problem developed at the beginning of a session, and obviously the voting system was of primary importance, so staff at the time had to quickly come up with a short-term fix.
The wiring in the chamber was replaced that next summer to alleviate the static issues. Now the Chamber is back to having wool carpeting not just for the sake of historical significance and functionality, but also because wool holds up better than did the synthetic.
A lot of thought was put into the visual design elements of this new carpeting by Miller and others with a mind for history. It leans heavily on symbology already found elsewhere in the Chamber.
This image illustrates how features already in the House’s artwork (left) were recreated in the new carpet pattern (right). Here, the egg and dart border around a hawthorn blossom as seen in the ceiling of the House is recreated in the new carpet. (Photos: Tim Bommel and Mike Lear, Missouri House Communications)
Miller said when these symbols were built into the Chamber they were meant to represent qualities that, it was hoped, would be found in the representatives in the House as well as in all people.
In these images can been seen the laurel pattern found on the ceiling (upper right and bottom images) that is recreated in the new carpet in the side galleries of the House Chamber. (Photos: Tim Bommel and Mike Lear, House Communications)
Among other work done during this time, professional woodworkers refinished the fine features of the dais and rostrum. When carpet was removed from the stairs leading up either side of the dais, a fine cork floor – chosen for that structure in part to control sound – was uncovered, and it was able to be saved.
The members’ desks from the House floor were sent to a St. Louis company to be refinished for the first time in about 35 years, and before-and-after photos show that now they look virtually new. Most of these desks are original to the building, their number having increased as the size of the House has increased since 1917.
The removal of the carpeting and those desks also presented an opportunity to update the wiring beneath the Chamber floor. This work will better serve the modern laptops and new voting boards. It also added a system that will help the hearing impaired.
The replacement of the voting boards had been a priority for Miller for years. The old ones dated back to 1997 and were still running on a program that relied on Windows ’97.
Finally, the sound desk – which had not been original to a Chamber that originally had no sound system – was updated to a smaller, more efficient design.
For Miller, as someone who admittedly loves the Capitol and its history, it has felt good to get to leave her stamp on the Chamber by having a project like this take place during her time as Clerk.
She says there is still work to be done in the Chamber, including some plaster detailing and decorative paintings that need to be touched up. She said there has been money set aside by the General Assembly for restoration of the Capitol as a whole, but the legislature will have to give more attention to that issue.
A House committee has heard from dozens of Missourians that it could help secure relief for families that have suffered for decades due to radioactive contamination throughout the St. Louis region.
Representatives Tricia Byrnes (at podium) and Richard West (behind her) are joined by dozens of St. Louis region residents ahead of a committee hearing about their resolutions dealing with radioactive contamination left in that region by work related to the Manhattan Project. (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Nuclear weapons development and testing there in the 1940s and ‘50s contributed to the U.S. having the atomic bombs used in World War II. That work, also known as “The Manhattan Project,” also eventually led to the dumping of nuclear waste near Lambert airport which contaminated soil, Coldwater Creek, and the Creek’s floodplain.
Residents who live or have lived, or whose families have lived, in the affected region, testified for more than four hours Tuesday night about House Concurrent Resolutions 21 and 22, which would trigger an investigation by state agencies into whether those residents could be eligible for federal relief funds in programs that already exist to compensate those harmed by nuclear testing.
The Committee on General Laws heard story after story of cancer clusters; high concentrations of extremely rare diagnoses; and of mental, physical, and financial suffering that has impacted multiple generations.
The sponsor of HCR 21 is Tricia Byrnes (R-Wentzville), whose son was diagnosed at age 15 with thymoma, a form of cancer typically caused by the use of radiation or chemotherapy to treat a different cancer. Some experts have told her that his may be the only case in history of thymoma being a patient’s primary diagnosis.
It was his diagnosis that led to her investigating the issue of contamination in the St. Louis region, and eventually to filing HCR 21.
Representative Richard West (R-Wentzville), who sponsors HCR 22, said he began learning about the situation after his mother was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. He learned that one cause of that form of cancer is contaminated water, and he knew that among the sites tested for radioactive contamination were wells like those on his parents’ property.
One of those who testified Tuesday was Christen Commuso, the Community Outreach Specialist with the Missouri Coalition for the Environment. Commuso also lived in St. Ann until the age of 7, and often played in Coldwater Creek. She is among those diagnosed with cancer at an early age, as well as other diagnoses. Among other procedures she has undergone, she has had her gallbladder and left adrenal gland removed, and had to have a total hysterectomy.
She told lawmakers that the emotional and physical tolls on her and her family have been massive, and the cost at times is so great that she is forced to skip appointments or tests.
Representatives Richard West and Tricia Byrnes (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Karen Nickel grew up in Hazelwood and played in a park on the bank of Coldwater Creek, and the Creek flooded other local playgrounds and backed into her parents’ basement.
She and other residents explained that the impacts of this contamination go beyond any one individual. Some families spend decades trying to keep more than one of their members alive. The radiation can also cause mutations that put future generations at risk, even when there had been no history of such diseases in those families prior to the contamination.
Thomas Whelan taught for 30 years at Francis Howell High School, a school that was within walking distance of a uranium processing facility. He and several others said that as that site was cleaned up students were exposed to particulate matter and other contaminants.
Those visiting the Capitol this week will see photos and stories from nearly 30 people living with mental health conditions. Participants in The Art of Being Me hope to inspire others to share their stories, to seek help, and to reduce stigmas surrounding mental health issues.
The Art of Being Me on display in the Missouri Capitol (Photo: Mike Lear, Missouri House Communications)
The exhibit, mostly found in the Capitol’s third floor Rotunda, features large portraits of each participant next to the text of a portion of their experience. There is also a video that features 3-5 minutes of each participant.
The exhibit includes stories like those of Alia, a friend of Martin. She shares not only her own story which began in her youth, but that of supporting her college-age son.
The Art of Being Me on display in the Missouri Capitol (Photo: Mike Lear, Missouri House Communications)
Eli, one of the subjects of The Art of Being Me, on display now in the Missouri Capitol (Photo: Mike Lear, Missouri House Communications)
The Art of Being Me came to the Capitol after several legislators and other elected officials saw it last year at Bacon’s studio in Springfield. After seeing it, some of them requested that it come to the Capitol.
That included Representative John Black (R-Marshfield), who chairs the House’s budget subcommittee on Health, Mental Health, and Social Services. He called the exhibit, “powerful.”
Another of those legislators is Representative Betsy Fogle (D-Springfield), who said a large part of addressing mental health issues in state policy is removing stigmas surrounding them, and she hopes having that display in the Capitol will help do just that.
The Art of Being Me on display in the Missouri Capitol (Photo: Mike Lear, Missouri House Communications)
Those featured in The Art of Being Me are at varying points in their own mental health journeys, but Martin said the fact that they were willing to share their own stories is empowering for them as well.
The House passed two bills this week that will help Missourians regarding the taxes they pay on vehicles. One would address a years-old issue regarding temporary license tags. The other would stem the hiking of property taxes on vehicles that are getting older with increasing mileage.
Representative Michael O’Donnell (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
House Bill 415 could at last cut off the displaying by drivers of expired temporary tags – something that has been an issue in Missouri for years. It would require dealerships to collect sales tax at the time of a vehicle purchase, either as a lump sum or by rolling the tax into the financed amount. House Bill 713 would lay out how vehicles’ assessed valuations would be determined, replacing a system that has allowed property tax increases in the last two years.
St. Louis Republican Michael O’Donnell carries HB 415, which he says is the latest step in addressing the temporary tag issue. Under previous action by the General Assembly a new computer system is coming to the Department of Revenue that will allow the collection of sales tax by dealers. This bill would allow for its use beginning in January.
Bipartisan backing gave the bill a 155-1 vote on its way to the Senate. Democrats including Peter Merideth (St. Louis) said it would be a fix that is “important,” and “overdue.”
O’Donnell said the passage of this legislation could eliminate “90%” of “temp tag abuse” in Missouri, and noted that 47 other states already allow dealers to collect tax at the time of the sale.
Representative Roger Reedy (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
The sponsor of HB 713, Rodger Reedy (R-Windsor) explained that each year Missouri assessors use the October edition of the National Automobile Dealers’ Association (NADA) Used Car Guide to determine the values of the vehicles on which Missourians pay property taxes. HB 713 would replace that with a system that begins with the original suggested retail price (MSRP) of each vehicle from when it was new, and apply a depreciation schedule for each year of its age up to 15 years. After that its value would be assessed at one-tenth of one percent.
Reedy said the old system’s flaws were made obvious in the wake of the COVID pandemic.
The families of fallen veterans, police officers, and firefighters, and of those missing in action, would no longer have to foot the bill for highway or bridge memorial signs honoring those loved ones under a bill approved by a House committee.
Representative Tricia Byrnes (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Byrnes joined Mayhew in proposing this change in response to the effort to honor Marine Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz, a Wentzville native, who was one of 13 U.S. military members who died in a 2021 bombing at an airport in Kabul, in Afghanistan. She learned that when Corporal Schmitz’s family wanted to have a section of highway named for him they received an invoice from the Department of Transportation for more than $3,000.
Schmitz said he talked to the families of the other 12 personnel who died at the same time as his son. None of them had to pay the cost of having a memorial sign placed in honor of their loved on, on a highway in their respective states.
The Department of Transportation did not oppose the legislation but offered information on how the system currently operates. Chief Safety and Operations Manager Becky Allmeroth said the Department has to consider other signage.
Representative Don Mayhew (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
The committee voted unanimously in favor of the bills, House Bill 882 (Byrnes) and 518 (Mayhew), advancing them to another committee for consideration.
Nine bills filed in the Missouri House would reduce or eliminate the taxes paid on diapers, and most of those would also apply to feminine hygiene products. The bipartisan group of legislators backing them say such a change would help some among the Missourians who most need relief, especially during this period of increased inflation.
Representative Maggie Nurrenbern (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
The rate at which these products are taxed is sometimes referred to as a “luxury tax.” That is the rate at which most products in Missouri are taxed. Food is taxed at a decreased rate, and some of the proposals would set the levy on those products to that rate. Others would make them exempt from the sales tax altogether.
Several of the bills’ sponsors said there is no reason to keep taxing these things at the greater rate.
Similar bills have been offered for several years but have fallen short of becoming law. Among their most fervent and consistent backers have been diaper banks. Data released last year by the National Diaper Bank Network placed the annual cost of diapers at nearly $1,000 per infant.
Representative Peter Merideth (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
In addition to this issue, St. Louis Representative Jo Doll (D) also proposes in House Bill 408 that public charter, middle- and high schools provide feminine hygiene products free to students. She said that wouldn’t just be for students who can’t afford them, it’s about the mental health of young girls dealing with what might still be a new experience.
The House sponsors and co-sponsors of those bills include a bipartisan group of 12 Democrats and four Republicans. None of those bills have been referred to a committee.
In the Senate three such measures have been filed. Two of those, filed by Republicans, have been approved by a committee in that chamber.
