Holly Rehder – Page 2 – Missouri House of Representatives Newsroom

House asked to back needle exchanges to stem potential disease outbreaks

Members of a House Committee have been told a bill to exempt needle exchange programs from drug paraphernalia laws could help combat a potential outbreak in intravenous diseases like HIV and Hepatitis C.

Representative Holly Rehder (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Representative Holly Rehder (R-Sikeston) told the Special Committee on Urban Issues that abusers who take advantage of needle exchange programs are five times more likely to enter treatment programs.

The committee also heard that the Centers for Disease Control have identified 10 counties in Missouri where conditions could lead to an outbreak like that in Scott County, Indiana. In that county of more than 24,000 people, 227 became infected with HIV in 2015 and 2016 due largely to sharing needles used to abuse intravenous drugs.

“This bill is to, honestly, sanction existing programs that we have running in the state,” Rehder told the committee about her bill, House Bill 1620 . “Right now we have syringe access, or needle exchange which it is also called, running in the St. Louis area and the Kansas City area. These have been ongoing for some time but the problem is that they’re running in a somewhat grey area because Missouri’s law has a paraphernalia charge that could be charged. The local jurisdictions have not pressed that because they see the good in these programs.”

Chad Sabora is a former prosecutor who became a heroin user, and is now an activist in fighting heroin addiction. He runs one of the needle exchange programs operating in Missouri, which he said won’t stop an outbreak but is a “crucial piece of the puzzle.”

“80-percent of the people that use my syringe access program I put into treatment within three months, because as Holly stated it’s early engagement,” said Sabora. “They walk into my office seeking clean needles and nothing else, and what they get is something different. They get conversation, they get compassion, they get treatment resources that they did not know exist, and once they find out that all these options are available for them most of them reach out for help, and I never would have told them about those options if they didn’t walk into my office just to get that clean needle that day.”

The committee heard needle exchange programs could also save the state money. Rehder told the committee the cost to treat HIV patients on Medicaid is expected to increase this year because of changes to the Medicaid program.

Sabora told the committee that a rule change by the Department of Social Services means that anyone with Medicaid can receive treatment for Hepatitis C.

“Before that passed, when it was only the very limited few that got Medicaid treatment, the state still spent upwards of $80-million in 2014. We can reduce these infections, we can reduce future cost of treatment, and lower the cost to the state,” said Sabora.

Rehder has led legislative efforts in recent years to pass a statewide drug monitoring program to help fight opioid abuse, and has shared how opioid addiction struck her family; her daughter became addicted to opioid painkillers after being treated for a cut she suffered at work. Rehder said she sees this as another tool to fight opioid addiction.

“We’ve got to be sure that we move emotion to the side and actually look at the numbers, look at the statistics – what’s working?” said Rehder. “When people first hear about needle exchange one of the first things they say is that’s enabling a user, but you have to look past that. You have to look beyond the stigma of addiction and you have to see, ok but what helps? What works? What gets better outcomes?”

Rehder said if her bill passes to remove the “gray area,” she believes needle exchange programs will spread to other parts of the state including the counties flagged by the CDC.

“There are some federal dollars that we’re passing up right now because we don’t have in statute that these are clear of any gray area, so once we get this passed these individual health departments or individual needle exchanges can reach out to get some of that help in some of these more underserved areas,” said Rehder.

The committee voted unanimously to pass HB 1620. It next goes to the House Committee on Rules.

House champion of prescription drug monitoring praises governor’s program, says hers is still needed

Missouri now has a prescription drug monitoring program but it’s not the kind of program one state legislator has been proposing for years, and she says hers is still needed.

Representative Holly Rehder (R-Sikeston) calls the PDMP Governor Eric Greitens (R) launched Monday with an executive order, “outside the box thinking,” that will, “work really well.” She said Missouri counties should not, however, stop pursuing a program like the one she has promoted.

Prior to Monday, Missouri was the only state without a PDMP. Such programs aim to fight opioid addiction and “doctor shopping;” the visiting of multiple doctors while attempting to obtain as much as possible of drugs to be abused.

Greitens on Monday directed the Department of Health and Senior Services to track the prescribing and dispensing of schedule II-IV controlled substances. It will look for cases in which such drugs are being inappropriately prescribed or dispensed.

Unlike with Rehder’s proposed plan that data will not be available to doctors so they can look for signs of abuse and act to, among other things, offer help to abusers.

“It’s of the utmost importance, in order to treat addiction – which is at the core of this epidemic – for our medical professionals to be able to see this data. We need to be able to catch addiction on the front end and that’s what the traditional PDMP does,” said Rehder. “The executive order is phenomenal – very much outside the box thinking. I think we’re the only state doing this, which is going to be just an excellent cross check with the PDMP, and so I think with these two programs together we will have an extremely robust system focusing on the opioid epidemic, and so I’m very excited about it.”

Several counties in Missouri, St. Louis County being the first, have adopted their own monitoring programs that are more like those proposed by Rehder. She said since Monday she has been working to urge other counties not to back down from plans to adopt a program like St. Louis County’s.

“I’ve had to educate many on the fact that these are two very different programs,” said Rehder. “We had a couple of counties that said, ‘Hey, the state’s executive order gives us a statewide PDMP.’ One even cancelled a meeting for today that was going to approve an ordinance.”

Rehder said around 60-percent of Missouri’s population is already living in an area that has a monitoring program. She plans to keep urging counties to adopt one, and depending on the success of that effort, she might again propose legislation to create a statewide monitor when the legislature is in session in 2018.

House backer of prescription drug monitoring wants a special session to get program passed

The legislative session has ended without passage of a statewide prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP), but the top advocate for that issue hopes the legislature will be called back early to try again.

Representative Holly Rehder (R-Sikeston) has been pushing for a statewide PDMP for several years. Missouri is the only state that does not have one, though several of its counties are participating in a program based in St. Louis County.

She kept fighting until the final hours of the session on Friday for passage of a bill to create a program. Now she hopes Governor Eric Greitens (R) will call a special session of the legislature to focus on the issue.

“I think if there’s any hope of us getting a statewide [PDMP] passed it’s going to have to be a special [session] sooner than later, and I’m going to have to have help from [legislative] leadership,” said Rehder.

Backers of PDMPs say they help fight prescription drug abuse, particularly opioids. PDMPs collect and monitor drug prescription and dispensing data to look for, among other things,

“doctor shopping;” the visiting of multiple doctors in an attempt to get as much as possible of drugs that are commonly abused.

Rehder came away from a conference between selected House and Senate members with a version of the program that would purge patient data after two years; would include reporting on all schedules II through IV drugs; and a mandate that all physicians would have to report to the system. She said she simply ran out of time Friday to educate fellow lawmakers on the measure to get it passed.

She said in order to get a statewide PDMP passed time is now of the essence, because with no program having been approved by the legislature, more counties will be looking to join St. Louis County’s system.

“We’ve kind of reached a tipping point with these counties,” said Rehder. “We can never get that type of a robust program out of both [chambers of the legislature], yet I need counties’ representatives’ votes to get it out of the House, and so … if we don’t get this out in something like a special session right away, the more counties that get added, just the more reps that are going to have to be against it.”

Rehder believes if the legislature is called back for a special session it will be able to come to agreement on a monitoring program, and she thinks it will look much like the bill that came out of the conference committee in the final days of the session.

Rehder said if a county-by-county PDMP is the only option, she’ll support that, but she still thinks it is important that a state-run PDMP be created.

“We shouldn’t be penalizing people’s safety because of their zip code,” said Rehder, saying anyone could drive until they are in a county that isn’t participating in a program.

She noted proposals for a state program would also prohibit authorities from using prescription data to prevent individuals from owning guns – a provision the St. Louis County program doesn’t have.

In order for a bill to pass the House, Rehder would likely need to regain the support of urban Democrats whose districts are covered by the St. Louis County program. Many voted against the final proposal to come before the House, viewing the program it would create as less robust than the county’s.

House asks Senate to come to the table on proposed prescription drug monitoring program

The state House has asked the Senate to debate the changes it made to the House’s proposed prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP).

A PDMP aims to fight the abuse of prescription drugs by entering into a database information on people’s prescriptions to see who is getting large numbers of drugs that can be abused. Backers say the program will help identify abusers and cut back on “doctor shopping,” or going to multiple doctors to get multiple prescriptions for drugs.

The House passed House Bill 90 earlier this month that would require pharmacists to report to the database in real time by 2020, require the Department of Health and Senior Services to notify law enforcement if it believes any law or professional standard has been broken, and keep submitted prescription information confidential except when there has been a breach.

The Senate proposed several changes to the House plan. It would require that information only be kept on the database for 180 days; limit the database to opioids and benzodiazepines (the House proposed including all schedule II, III, and IV drugs); and mandate that doctors check the database before writing prescriptions for specified drugs.

The sponsor of HB 90, Sikeston Republican Holly Rehder, has been pushing for passage of a PDMP for years, driven in part by how drug abuse has affected her family. She opposes some of those proposed changes and wants to see if the House and Senate can work out differences.

She said those in the medical field she has talked to say the database won’t be effective if information is only kept on it for 180 days. They want it to be on there for at least two years.

“Typically when you’re looking at addiction, your first two years you have more relapses,” Rehder explained. “Once you get past that two-year mark you’re doing pretty good.”

Rehder said limiting a PDMP to opioids and benzodiazepines wouldn’t go far enough.

“Ritalin – Adderall is one of the highest drugs of misuse and abuse, so we need to be sure that we have all schedule II through IV (drugs) in my opinion,” said Rehder.

Rehder said she would not fight the change that requires doctors to check the database before writing a prescription.

Representative Justin Hill (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

The Senate also proposed letting the legislature decide after six years whether to continue the PDMP, and requiring training for database users.

Lake St. Louis Republican Justin Hill opposes Rehder’s proposal and urged the body to deny her motion. He said if Missouri is going to have a PDMP it should include the 180-day provision.

“I hope we keep the 180-days in because if we’re talking about addiction and pill shopping, then let’s try it. Let’s see if it works with 180-days,” said Hill.

Hill would rather Missouri not have a PDMP. He argues they haven’t worked in other states except to push more people from abusing prescription drugs to heroin.

“49 other states admit that this doesn’t work,” Hill told Rehder.

“No, no, tell me a state that admits it. You can’t just throw things out like that on the House floor and not have anything to back you up,” Rehder responded.

The House passed Rehder’s motion to seek a conference with the Senate, and now awaits the Senate’s answer. Fewer than four weeks remain in the legislative session for lawmakers to attempt to reach a compromise.

House perfects prescription drug monitoring program proposal

The Missouri House has given initial approval to a proposed tracking system for prescription drugs that backers hope will fight opioid abuse in Missouri. Specifically it aims to help stop “doctor shopping;” the practice of going to multiple doctors seeking multiple prescriptions for valuable and addictive medications.

This is the fifth session in which Representative Holly Rehder has sponsored PDMP legislation. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Bill 90 would make Missouri the 50^th state to enact a prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP). The electronic registry would take information on those who prescribe, use, or dispense prescription drugs.

The bill had bipartisan support in a 109-40 vote. West Plains Republican Shawn Rhoads, a former police detective, said it is an answer to opioid abuse in Missouri.

“There’s just so many times in a career [someone has] had to go to somebody’s house and tell them that their loved one has overdosed and died because somebody was doctor shopping, selling them drugs, and they’ve overdosed on them. That is the worst thing that you will ever have to do in a career, and I’m telling you I never, ever, want to do it again,” said Rhoads. “That’s why, Mr. Speaker, I urge the body to vote for this bill.”

The bill is sponsored by Sikeston Republican Holly Rehder, who has spoken publicly many times about her own family’s experience with addiction.

“I grew up in poverty. One of my stepdads was a dealer. My sister married a dealer at 16, was a main line user by the time she was 16,” said Rehder. “I didn’t use drugs because I was afraid of them. I saw what they did to those around me.”

Rehder said it was that fear that caused her to raise her children “differently,” but when her daughter was given a prescription for opioid painkillers after cutting her thumb at work, she became addicted.

“From that point forward we had 13 years of addiction,” said Rehder.

Rehder said addictions to opioid painkillers often begin with a legal prescription following an injury, such as when a high school athlete gets hurt.

“An athlete breaks a leg or whatever, they go to the doctor, they get an opiate to help with the pain, and then if that person is predisposed to addiction, they become addicted.”

Before giving the bill first-round approval, the House changed it so that by 2020, pharmacists will have to report information to the registry in real-time.

The sponsor of that change, Representative Lynn Morris (R-Nixa), owns a chain of pharmacies.

“By doing real-time, all my stores are connected real-time, and we know how much importance that is in trying to catch people that are drug shopping every day, and we catch them and we don’t fail to catch them,” said Morris.

Opponents say a PDMP creates a government database and poses a threat to the privacy of anyone using prescription drugs.

Representative Rick Brattin was among those Republicans who opposed the PDMP legislation filed by one of their fellow caucus members. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications) — Representative Rick Brattin questioned the PDMP legislation offered by a fellow Republican, but voted for the bill on perfection. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Harrisonville Republican Rick Brattin also argued PDMPs must not be effective because they exist in all other states, yet President Donald Trump has launched a task force to fight opioid addiction.

“So that would lend to me that this sort of program does not work and it has no effect, and if it has we would not be issuing a task force for the entire country to tackle the overprescribing of opioids,” said Brattin.

Ash Grove Republican Mike Moon also maintains PDMPs are not effective, and urged his fellow lawmakers to consider whether Missouri should launch one.

“As of 2014 Missouri ranked 24^th in the nation related to the number of deaths due to prescription drug overdose, and we’re not participating in the PDMP. You’d think that Missouri would be number one in the abuse category, but we’re not,” said Moon

Brattin and others offered other changes to HB 90 saying it needed to be strengthened, in part because similar versions have stalled in the state Senate in past years. Rehder urged legislators to reject them, saying that over the five years she’s handled the issue, stakeholders including law enforcement and medical experts have helped develop the language she’s proposing. Those amendments were then rejected.

Another favorable vote would send the bill to the Senate, where in past years it has been stopped primarily by Senator Rob Schaaf (R-St. Joseph), who has his own PDMP proposal which cleared that chamber early this month.

With Senate prescription monitoring plan close to passage, House remains focused on its member’s version

The Missouri Senate appears prepared to endorse a prescription drug monitoring program. The House, however, remains focused on a plan proposed by one of its members who said the Senate bill won’t do the job.

Representative Holly Rehder has proposed for several years the creation of a prescription drug monitoring program in Missouri. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Backers of PDMPs say they help fight prescription drug abuse. They are intended to catch people in the act of “doctor shopping;” visiting multiple doctors in an attempt to get their hands on as much as they can of prescriptions commonly abused.

The Senate has given initial approval to a Senate Bill 74 sponsored by Senator Rob Schaaf (R-St. Joseph), meaning another vote could send it to the House for consideration. Schaaf has blocked advancement of earlier PDMP bills saying they would invade Missourians’ privacy by creating a database of their prescriptions.

His plan would let doctors submit a patient’s name to the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. It would then give that doctor access to the patient’s medical records only if the Bureau determined the patient is a potential abuser.

Sikeston Representative Holly Rehder (R) has sponsored PDMP legislation in the House for several years. She said neither her nor Schaaf are willing to budge on their approaches to a plan.

“He would allow physicians to see what their patient is doing if a red light comes back. Well, you know, that’s after a problem has already been discovered and we’re already down that road,” said Rehder. “Physicians need to be able to have full understanding of what their patients are on and what they’re doing so that they can make those best clinical decisions. I’m not able to give on that point because to me that’s the most important part to help this epidemic that we are in. That’s the way to decrease overdoses. That’s the cornerstone of this legislation.”

Missouri is the only state without a PDMP. Other states allow doctors to access their patients’ prescription information through a secured database. Rehder said such a database gives doctors quick access to information they are already authorized to view.

“They just have to call around and get it from kind of doing the phone tree – calling the pharmacies and other doctors,” said Rehder. “This just allows a one spot place that the physicians can go, that pharmacists can go to make sure that they’re not prescribing something that’s harmful, that’s going to counteract with other medications … this a huge opportunity for physicians to be able to spot the signs of addiction early and to help get that person on a manageable path back to a healthy lifestyle.”

As for Schaaf’s concerns about privacy, Rehder said the prescription drug database would be encrypted.

“If somebody were to get this information they wouldn’t be able to read it,” said Rehder. “[Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act] laws – our federal laws – really cover this area very well, which is why we have electronic medical records, and this is just another portion of that.”

Rehder says Schaaf’s bill is also so expensive it might never be implemented. Legislative researchers estimate that if passed, SB 74 would cost more than $1-million dollars in Fiscal Year ’18 – similar to the projected year one cost of Rehder’s legislation – but in Fiscal Years ’19 and ’20, Schaaf’s bill’s projected cost each year is greater than $6.5-million.

Rehder believes the actual cost of her bill would be less than $1-million dollars, and said with grants and other funding sources it would pose less of a challenge to fund.

Rehder took up the PDMP issue in response to her own family’s issues with prescription drug abuse. Her daughter, Raychel, became addicted to an opioid pain reliever after an emergency room visit when she was 17. She went on to abuse other substances including methamphetamine, but has been clean for going on two years. Other members of Rehder’s family have also struggled with abuse issues.

Rehder’s PDMP legislation in past sessions has passed out of the House with overwhelming support only to be stalled in the Senate, where opposition was largely led by Schaaf. House Speaker Todd Richardson (R-Poplar Bluff) said even with Schaaf’s bill close to coming to his chamber, the focus of the House is going to remain on Rehder’s efforts.

“Representative Rehder has been the thought leader on prescription drug monitoring here in the House for some time and for good reason,” said Richardson. “We’ll continue to allow Representative Rehder to stay in the driver’s seat on that bill and we’ll see if we can work through the differences with the Senate.”

Rehder’s legislation, House Bill 90, is nearly ready for debate by the full House.

Missouri House votes to send right-to-work to Gov. Greitens

The Missouri House has sent Governor Eric Greitens a bill that would make Missouri the 28^th right-to-work state.

Representative Holly Rehder also sponsored the House's version of a right-to-work bill, HB 91, which was sent to the Senate in January. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications) — Representative Holly Rehder also sponsored the House’s version of a right-to-work bill, HB 91, which was sent to the Senate in January. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Senate Bill 19 would bar union membership or the paying of union dues from being a condition of employment. It would make violators of that prohibition guilty of a Class “C” misdemeanor and would require county prosecutors and the state Attorney General to investigate complaints or violations.

It also includes a “grandfather” clause, which would allow existing contracts between unions and companies to remain in place until they are changed or expire.

The House voted 100-59 to send the bill to the governor, who, it is anticipated, will sign it into law.

Republicans say right-to-work is an issue of worker freedom that will allow workers to decide how their money is used and who will represent them. They say some companies have not come to Missouri because it is not a right-to-work state, and say the bill’s passage will lead to more jobs and perhaps an increase in union membership.

Sikeston Republican Holly Rehder carried SB 19 in the House. She said it felt great and humbling to be carrying the bill that appears set to finally make law a long-time Republican priority.

“It’s a huge win for Missouri,” said Rehder. “The states that have passed it in the last few years have shown unemployment drop considerably, so I think this is a big deal for all Missouri working families. I’m very excited to get it to the governor’s desk. I think that it’s not a silver bullet but it’s definitely a tool in our tool box now, and we can move on to some other things to make Missouri even more business friendly.”

Democrats say right-to-work states have lower wages and a lower quality of life, and say the passage of SB 19 will not help the state’s economy.

Representative Doug Beck still wants to see right-to-work go to a vote of the people. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

St. Louis Democrat and member of a local pipefitters union, Doug Beck, said it is a “sad day” for Missouri.

“Every conservative estimate I have seen shows right-to-work will cost our state at least $160-million in lost revenue due to lower wages. Lower wages equal lower income taxes collected. Lower wages equal less money spent stimulating the economy,” said Beck. “After years of lower wages many of these families will turn to state assistance as their only option to survive.”

Democrats, as they did when the House debated its right-to-work bill (HB 91), proposed sending the issue to Missouri voters rather than the governor. That was rejected on a Republican-led vote. Democrats said the issue is one that should be decided by the people. Republicans said they proposed sending right-to-work to voters two years ago and Democrats opposed it then, and accused Democrats of favoring a vote now only because the governor is unlikely to veto the bill.

Proposals were also rejected that would have put a sunset on the bill, making it no longer law after five years unless renewed by the legislature; and that would have made it not apply to existing union-company contracts until their renewal, as opposed to when they are changed.

House Committee advances Senate right-to-work bill

A state House committee has advanced the Senate’s version of right-to-work legislation.

Senator Dan Brown is the sponsor of SB 19, a right-to-work bill now making its way through the Missouri House. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Senate Bill 19 is largely similar to House Bill 91, the right to work bill passed by the House earlier this month. The major difference between the bill sponsored by Rolla Republican Senator Dan Brown and HB 91 is that it includes a grandfather clause. That will allow contracts between employers and unions that exist at the time it becomes law to remain in place until they expire or are altered.

Earlier story: Missouri House sends fast-tracked right-to-work bill to the Senate

“Since Oklahoma, every state that has passed right-to-work has had a grandfathering clause,” said Brown. “I would like to point out that that language is probably the toughest grandfathering language that’s in the United States on any of the right-to-work bills to date. We felt that we did not want to be a test case for the national right-to-work people as the first state that did not have a grandfathering clause.”

Republicans supporting SB 19 say right-to-work would give workers more freedom in being able to choose whether to be members of a union. Lake Ozark Republican Rocky Miller said he wants more union jobs in Missouri, and he believes right-to-work will increase union membership.

“From the time we last got to vote on this in 1978 to right now we’ve dropped from 20-to-30 percent union labor force to we’re just 8-percent now here in Missouri,” said Miller. “Both my grandfathers were union workers so we were blessed. Like I’ve said before, I owe a lot or everything to union labor.”

Democrats note a recent article that said Missouri union membership has increased to 9.7-percent.

Representative Doug Beck (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications

Democrats say right-to-work is an attack on unions that would drive down wages in Missouri. Representative Rory Rowland (D-Independence) suggested that right-to-work should not be a priority compared to other issues Missouri is facing.

“Does this surprise you that this legislation is being pushed so quickly with respect to, we’re anticipating about a five- or 600-million dollar budget shortfall next year, for fiscal year ’18, and we’re also looking at roads and bridges in the State of Missouri being in very bad shape – we’re looking at probably 600 bridges right now that are, in fact, deficit – that are either going to be closed or in fact could be weight limited?” asked Rowland.

SB 19 was passed out of the House Committee on Economic Development 7-2. It next goes to the House Rules Committee before reaching the House floor. If it is passed by the House with no changes, it would go on to Governor Eric Greitens, who has said he supports right-to-work.

The bill will be carried in the House by Sikeston Republican Holly Rehder, who sponsored HB 91.

Missouri House sends fast-tracked right-to-work bill to the Senate

The Missouri House has advanced another priority of its Republican supermajority, sending a right-to-work bill to the State Senate.

Representative Holly Rehder carried HB 91, the right-to-work bill passed to the Senate by the House. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

HB 91 would bar union membership or the paying of union dues from being a condition of employment. It would make violators of that prohibition guilty of a Class “C” misdemeanor and would require county prosecutors and the state Attorney General to investigate complaints of violations. It would also negate existing agreements between unions and companies that require the paying of union dues or fees.

Many Republicans, like Representative Rick Brattin (Harrisonville), say right-to-work is an issue of worker freedom.

“This bill will empower the worker. We hear the left say, ‘empowering the individual.’ That’s exactly what this bill does,” said Brattin.

Democrats like Karla May (St. Louis) say a right-to-work law will let workers who aren’t paying union dues enjoy the salaries and other benefits that unions fight for.

“You can’t walk into a company under the umbrella of freedom where we’ve been on strike 170 days with no pay. You can’t walk in where we fought for the health benefits of somebody else without pay and you come in and get those benefits and expect not to pay dues. The audacity of you!” said May.

Republican backers say right-to-work will bring more jobs to Missouri, and argue there are many companies that would have come to the state already if it had a right-to-work law.

Representative Charlie Davis (R-Webb City) said, “just 12 years ago we had the opportunity that one of the world’s largest automobile manufacturers was going to come to my little town of Webb City, population of 10,000. Representative [Ron] Richard at the time, now the pro-tem of the Senate, could not guarantee that Missouri would be a right-to-work state. Since then they’ve built two facilities in the United States, both of them in right-to-work states.”

Representative Clem Smith and other Democrats argue right-to-work will result in lower wages for Missouri workers. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Democrats said the idea that a right-to-work law would result in more companies bringing jobs to Missouri is, “preposterous.”

“When this passes, and unfortunately it will pass, some of your counties will still be without jobs,” said Representative Clem Smith (D-Velda Village Hills). “If you were knocking doors and you told your residents, ‘Oh, we’re gonna get good, high-paying jobs,’ I’m not talking about minimum wage – good, high-paying jobs and those jobs never come, you can’t blame it on the Democrats.”

The House voted 100-59 to send the bill to the Senate.

Sponsor Holly Rehder (R-Sikeston) said she will work next week on more labor reform issues when the Economic Development Committee she chairs holds a hearing on a bill supporters call “paycheck protection,” and opponents call, “paycheck deception.” It would bar the automatic deduction of union fees or dues from a public employee’s pay except with that employee’s annual permission. It would also bar the use of union dues or fees for political campaign donations except with permission from the union members paying them.

Missouri House advances right-to-work bill, rejects sending it to voters

The state House has advanced a right-to-work proposal but rejected Democrats’ attempt to have Missourians vote on it.

Representative Doug Beck offered an amendment that would have had a right-to-work proposal go to a vote of the people, if passed by the legislature and signed by Governor Eric Greitens. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Right-to-work is a priority for the Republican super majorities in both chambers and of Governor Eric Greitens (R). The plan the House voted on would bar union membership or the paying of union dues from being a condition of employment. It would make violators of that prohibition guilty of a Class “C” misdemeanor and would require county prosecutors and the state Attorney General to investigate complaints of violations.

Most Republican House members say the bill would make Missouri more competitive against neighboring states, would increase wages, and argue that requiring union membership violates employees’ rights.

Democrats say right-to-work will lower wages and would be a government overreach into contracts between unions and employers.

St. Louis Democrat Doug Beck proposed an amendment that would put right-to-work before voters if it is passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Greitens.

“A bill of this magnitude which will affect every working person in Missouri – everybody who makes a paycheck like I do, union and non-union alike – deserves to go to a vote of the people,” said Beck.

Representative Holly Rehder (R-Sikeston) is sponsoring right-to-work legislation in the Missouri House. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Republicans like Paul Curtman (R-Union) say voters spoke on the issue when they elected a Republican governor to go with Republican supermajorities.

He said Democrats are calling for a vote on the bill now that there is a Republican governor who won’t veto it, but years ago they opposed a Republican bill that would have put the issue to voters at a time when Democratic Governor Jay Nixon would have vetoed it.

“They’re only using this amendment strictly for political exploitation of the rights of the people,” said Curtman. “When it’s convenient to special interests you let the people vote. When it’s not convenient to special interests you don’t let them vote, or you let them vote – whatever the case may be.”

Representative Clem Smith (D-Velda Village Hills) said the argument that the election of a Republican governor means the people want right-to-work doesn’t hold up.

“I didn’t hear anybody use that argument when we had a Democratic governor and he was vetoing bills,” said Smith. “Some of the same individuals were saying, ‘Oh, that’s not what the people want.’ But the people elected him, so we can’t use that logic.”

Ballwin Republican Shamed Dogan said to put the issue to voters would defeat the purpose of having elected representatives.

“If you’re going to put a referendum clause on this piece of legislation it could also be put on every piece of legislation that this body takes up,” said Dogan. “The purpose of a representative government, which we have here, is that we represent the will of our districts, the will of our people, collectively the will of the State of Missouri, and if we’re going to put referendum clauses on every piece of legislation that comes across here we might as well just get up and leave.”

Republican-led opposition carried a vote defeating Beck’s amendment, and the House then voted to advance the right-to-work bill 101-58. Another vote for the bill would send it to the state Senate.