Becky Ruth – Missouri House of Representatives Newsroom

First MO fuel tax increase since ’96 drops Friday, but refunds available

On Friday, October 1, Missouri’s gas tax will increase for the first time in 25 years, but Missourians who don’t want to pay the increase have an option.

Representative Becky Ruth (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

The tax will increase by 2.5 cents October first, with more incremental increases every July 1 until it reaches a 12.5 total increase in 2025. The Department of Transportation estimates the increase, when fully implemented, will generate another $460-million annually for the state’s roads and bridges.

Those who don’t want to pay the increase will be able to apply for a refund. The Department of Revenue has prepared a draft of the form that would be used, which can be viewed here. A final version is expected to be available, either digitally or by paper copy, by the time applications can be accepted between July 1 and September 30 of next year.

Fuel purchased in Missouri for vehicles weighing less than 26,000 pounds is eligible for a refund. House Transportation Committee Chairwoman Becky Ruth (R-Festus) said Missourians who want a refund will, “need to save [fuel] receipts in case they are audited, and there is a form that the Department of Revenue is providing for them to fill out,” said Ruth.

Ruth said she’s not concerned that letting people get back some of their tax dollars will hurt the overall goal, that of giving the Department of Transportation more funding to maintain the state’s roads and bridges.

“I think this is a very fair provision. If people are happy with the job that’s being one and they want to continue to invest in the roads and bridges, then they will leave their money there. If they feel like they need to have that money back; they don’t think it’s fair, they need it for whatever reason, or maybe they’re just not happy with how the money is being spent or they don’t feel like MODOT’s doing a good job, they can request a refund of that new tax.”

Ruth said the initial increase, which begins October 1, has been estimated at about $1 a month for the average Missouri driver.

“Once it’s fully phased in [the increase will be] right around $60 [per year]. Again, it depends upon how much you travel, how much gasoline you use,” said Ruth.

Ruth said the Department has been running about $800-million behind what it needs for road work, per year. The increase will cover a significant portion of that gap, and will also put Missouri in position to draw federal dollars from an anticipated infrastructure bill.

“That federal infrastructure bill is an 80/20 match. Otherwise we would not be in a position to have the match money to pull down those federal dollars … we’re talking about billions. Roughly, Missouri is looking around $7-billion. If we did not have this money to pull down that match, that money would end up going to other states.”

Ruth said she was grateful for the bipartisan support this proposal received. She thinks that is due, in part, to the refund provision, and to lawmakers recognizing a need for additional money for transportation.

“I just look forward to seeing Missouri rise in terms of where we’re at in road funding: having safer roads to travel on, roads that are in better condition. Our investment in our infrastructure also helps to drive the economy and bring in new business,” said Ruth.

The gas tax increase became law when Governor Mike Parson (R) signed Senate Bill 262, which passed out the House with a final vote of 104-52.

Houses passes vehicle tax credit bill, answering call of special legislative session

The Missouri House has passed legislation aiming to allow people to keep getting multiple tax breaks when trading in more than one vehicle on a new one.

House Speaker Elijah Haahr and Representative Becky Ruth discuss the passage of a vehicle tax credit bill, in response to the special session’s call. (photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

The chamber’s Republicans say the language of House Bill 1 will allow Missourians to keep doing what they’ve been doing and say it will help all consumers. Many House Democrats voted for the bill, though some in that caucus decried it as “corporate welfare” and said it was a topic unworthy of a special session.

The House voted today, 126-21, to send the bill to the Senate.

Governor Mike Parson (R) called a special session to coincide with today’s annual veto session to deal with the issue in response to a Missouri Supreme Court ruling in June. The Court said state law allows a tax break to be awarded only on one vehicle, when multiple vehicles are traded in toward a new one.

Sponsor Becky Ruth (R-Festus) said her bill will give much-needed tax relief to Missourians from all walks of life.

“A young mother who is trying … maybe she’s got two cars that don’t run well and she’s trying to upgrade to a good, dependable car to take her child to school; to get to work herself. This impacts someone that may have lost their spouse and they need to trade in those two cars to be able to get a good, reliable car. This impacts senior citizens who are trying to downsize. This impacts just normal, everyday working people,” said Ruth.

Shrewsbury Democrat Sarah Unsicker agreed the bill will affect some individuals, but said it will also let corporations keep from paying their “fair share.”

“There are approximately 14-thousand vehicle sales estimated to be impacted by this bill. The Department of Revenue cannot estimate how much this tax credit costs the state or how many vehicles are commercial sales,” said Unsicker. “If we make this just about individuals like those the sponsor referenced I would support this bill. However, I believe this bill is, to a substantial extent, corporate welfare, and therefore I will be voting against it.”

An amendment that would have made the tax credit available only to individuals and businesses of 12 or fewer employees was voted down.

Democrats argued that the tax credit issue was not pressing and did not merit the calling of a special session.

“This Supreme Court Decision didn’t just help us figure out, this summer, that this was an issue. Since 2008 there have been 17 administrative hearings to ask this question of whether folks are allowed to trade in multiple cars to offset the car they buy. In all 17 administrative hearings they found they couldn’t,” said St. Louis representative Peter Merideth (D). “Regular people, regular folks were being told they couldn’t claim this credit, but we didn’t consider it an emergency.”

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade (at podium) and other House Democrats were critical of the legislature’s special session not including discussion of Medicaid eligibility and gun laws. (photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Ruth argued that the law needed to be clarified, and addressing it in a special session makes sure no eligible vehicle trades will happen without the award of tax credits, thanks to a window of 180 days before or after a new vehicle purchase in which to offset the owed sales tax.

“If you’re one of those people since the Supreme Court decision on June 25, 2019, that’s trying to figure this out … if we do this now, those folks are still going to be able to take advantage of that credit. If we wait and we do this next session they’re not going to be able to take advantage of that credit,” said Ruth. “The people that come before them, the people that come after them, will, and this could possibly set our state up for lawsuits.”

Ruth calls the legislation is a way to keep Missouri law consistent.

“We simply went in and made this clear and direct … so that the citizens of Missouri can continue to do business the way they are accustomed,” said Ruth.

“The problem that I have with that is the ‘business as usual’ that we’ve been doing has been established by the Supreme Court to be against the law,” said Kansas City representative Ingrid Burnett (D). “Rather than take to task the [Department of Revenue], who has been breaking the law, we have decided to call a special session to come here to change the law.”

House Democrats said lawmakers’ time would have been better spent debating changes to gun laws, and several among them filed proposals to that end.

They also wanted to see attention given to Medicaid enrollment. House Minority Leader Crystal Quade (D-Springfield) said Missourians with life-threatening medical conditions are losing coverage.

“There were several important issues that the legislature could have taken up in special session that could have made a positive impact on all Missourians. This was not one of them,” said Quade.

House Speaker Elijah Haahr (R-Springfield) said any time a special session is called people will point to other issues it could have dealt with.

“That’s not really my decision. If the governor thinks it’s important … we were coming up here anyway for the veto session. It’s an issue that we could work on. It’s an issue that, as you saw, had pretty broad support,” said Haahr.

Haahr said he has asked members of his caucus to research what some other cities in the nation have done to reduce violent crime, with the aim of preparing a legislative proposal for the regular session that begins in January.

As for Medicaid enrollment, Haahr said decreases in enrollment are due to factors including an improved economy and changes in 2016 to the Affordable Care Act (ACA); and a review of Medicaid eligibility that has seen ineligible recipients being taken off the program’s rolls. He said if a need for hearings on the issue is presented to him, he will call for them.

House approves budget plan maintaining $100-million boost to transportation

The Missouri House has proposed a $29.2-billion state budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Among other things it maintains Appropriations Committee Chairman Cody Smith’s (R-Carthage) plan to apply $100-million of General Revenue to road and bridge projects. That would be in addition to the money in the state’s Road and Bridge Fund, which is dedicated to transportation.

House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

If that proposal becomes law it would be the first time GR dollars have been used for transportation infrastructure. Smith said the state’s road funding has been falling behind for years, and with other proposals to support it having fallen short – including a gas tax increase that was rejected by voters in November – it’s time to consider unprecedented sources.

He also said his plan is a better option than what Governor Mike Parson (R) proposed, to use bonds to support $350-million for bridge projects, which take years to pay off.

“Going further into debt comes at a high cost. We already spend, on average, about 24-percent of the road fund on debt service as it is,” said Smith. “This plan, paying as we go, could save us as much as $100-million over the course of 15 years, and it’s really that simple.”

Democrats say this approach creates uncertainty for the Department of Transportation, which wouldn’t know year-to-year how much money the legislature might decide to give it.

Kansas City representative Greg Razer (D) said the plan also would set a precedent that transportation would compete with other state priorities that are already funded with GR dollars, including education and medical care.

“The day will come when we have our director of transportation, people with disabilities, the presidents and chancellors of our universities all coming and trying to fight over the same pot of money,” said Razer.

Representative Greg Razer, D-Kansas City (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Razer and other Democrats said the state should not get away from using only the Road and Bridge Fund to support transportation.

“It’s something that has served us well for nearly a century,” said Razer.

Democrats say $100-million won’t go very far toward meeting the transportation infrastructure needs across the state. Festus Republican Becky Ruth said a lot of options that have been considered might be short-term solutions. She said this one would be a good start.

“Right now we have to do something, and that’s what the people of Missouri [have] asked us to do,” said Ruth.

“When our school busses are travelling on roads and crossing bridges and many of those bridges are in poor condition, I want you to stop and think about those children sitting on that school bus. I want you to stop and think about the families driving in their car down the road. I want you to stop and think about all of the people that use our highways day in and day out to get to their destinations – to go to work, to return from work – and they want to be able to do that safely,” said Ruth.

Smith said it is his intention to propose the use of General Revenue in future budget years to cover the projects that would’ve been paid for in the governor’s plan. Each year, then, that would have to be decided upon by the General Assembly.

The 13 budget bills that make up the House’s spending plan now go to the State Senate, which will propose changes to it. Then the two chambers will attempt to reach a compromise on a budget to be sent to the governor before the constitutional deadline of May 10.

House lawmaker honored for work on newborn screenings legislation

A Missouri House member has been recognized for her work to screen Missouri newborns for two life-threatening diseases.

Representative Becky Ruth received the “Abbey” RareVoice Award for State Advocacy from Rare Disease Legislative Advocates at a ceremony in Washington D.C., November 15, 2017. This was for her work on House Bill 66, the language of which was added to a larger bill and became law.

Representative Becky Ruth (R-Festus) sponsored legislation that became law this year that will expand newborn screenings to look for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and mycopolysaccharidosis II (MPS II), otherwise known as Hunter syndrome. Missouri becomes the first state to offer newborn screenings for those conditions.

For her work, Rare Disease Legislative Advocates presented Ruth with the “Abbey” RareVoice Award for State Advocacy. She received the award at a ceremony Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

“I’m very, very honored to receive this award. I actually cried whenever I got the news that I had been chosen for the award,” Ruth said. “I always go back to giving credit, though, to my grandson Brady. He’s the reason why we have expanded newborn screening in our state. He’s the reason why Missouri is actually number one when we look at newborn screening throughout our entire country – even internationally.”

Both genetic diseases can be fatal, but children can have better outcomes the earlier each are detected. Ruth said that’s what is truly rewarding about sponsoring her legislation.

“Children with these diseases – they’re going to go through a whole myriad of diagnoses just trying to find out what’s wrong with them, and when they are finally diagnosed it’s pretty severe by that point. These children will eventually die,” said Ruth. “With the early intervention with the newborn screening, we’re going to actually be able to save their lives. They’re going to be able to go on and live very healthy, normal lives.”

Ruth became involved in issues regarding newborn screenings after her grandson, Brady Alan Cunningham, was diagnosed with Krabbe.

Ruth credits Grace Grutter and Leslie Derrington, two mothers of children with SMA who testified during legislative hearings on her language, for helping push it to passage.

Ruth became interested in sponsoring her 2017 legislation after attending a conference on Krabbe, the genetic disease her grandson, Brady Alan Cunningham, had. It was his condition that helped spur passage of House Bill 716 in 2009 which expanded newborn screenings for that and other conditions. Ruth’s legislation this year expanded on what the 2009 bill accomplished.

Her bill means that screenings will be conducted for all Missouri newborns whose parents don’t opt out of them. The bill gives until 2019 for screenings to start, but Ruth said there is a chance they will begin earlier.

Bill for 2017 would expand newborn screenings to include two genetic diseases

The legislature will be asked in 2017 to expand screenings of newborns in Missouri to look for two more life-threatening diseases.

Festus Republican Becky Ruth is proposing that infants be screened for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and mucopolysaccharidosis II (MPS II), otherwise known as Hunter syndrome. Both are genetic diseases that can be fatal, but Ruth says the earlier they are caught, the better outcomes can be.

“It gives families hope and it gives us a chance to save the lives of even more babies here in Missouri,” said Ruth.

SMA results in a loss of physical strength that can include a lessened ability to walk, eat, or breathe. It is the leading genetic cause of death for infants.

Hunter syndrome is caused by an enzyme deficiency that results in the buildup of harmful molecules that can affect a person’s appearance, mental development, organ function, and physical abilities. An estimated 2,000 people have Hunter syndrome worldwide, with about 500 of those living in the U.S.

No drugs have been approved for SMA, but Ruth says one, nusinersen, could be approved by April.

“The earlier [SMA] is detected the earlier [babies] can start therapy,” said Ruth. “With this new drug that hopefully will get approved by the FDA this could be something that could affect newborn screening as well and could improve the outcome.”

There is no cure for Hunter syndrome, but Ruth says with it too, earlier detection could improve the lives or increase the lifespan of those children who have it.

“Most often with this disease it’s not recognized until the ages of two to four years old. By that time the disease is already progressing, so early detection is actually vital here,” said Ruth. “Gene therapies can be started and it can lessen or completely reduce and regress some of the symptoms.”

In 2009 the legislature passed and the governor signed HB 716, The Brady Alan Cunningham Newborn Screening Act, named for Ruth’s grandson. Ruth, not yet a legislator, testified for that bill. She said Brady’s diagnosis was her introduction to certain rare diseases.

“We have actually, to date, saved the life of about 120 children by expanding newborn screening,” said Ruth. “We will be starting the [severe combined immunodeficiency] in January – testing that our legislature approved last year … Where some of this came from with SMA, they have developed an assay that kind of piggybacks with SCID to make it very, very reasonable and cost-effective and to make it possible for the testing.”

Ruth said that “piggybacking” means there should be little or no additional cost to screen for SMA, and she believes screening for Hunter syndrome can be done “very reasonably.”

The bill would make the additional screenings subject to annual funding by the state, and would allow the Department of Health and Senior Services to increase its newborn screening fees to pay for the additional tests.

Ruth said with the occurrence rate of SMA, it is something that should be tested for. She said Missouri already tests for MPS I, so testing for MPS II is a “natural next step.”

Ruth’s bill is HB 66. The 2017 session begins January 4.