Tag: Jim Murphy

Baby Boxes Proven to Work in Missouri, Expansion is Next

Updated 08/13/2025: This past weekend, a child was safely placed in the Safe Haven Baby Box at Mehlville Fire Protection District Station 2. This is the second time a child has been placed in the state’s first Baby Box, and the second time a Baby Box in Missouri has been utilized. The child received immediate care and is doing well.

      Missouri House legislation aimed at saving the lives of babies has been fully implemented, it has worked, and now the House has acted to expand it to reach more communities across the state.

For mothers in need of help, the Safe Haven Crisis Line is (866) 99BABY1, or visit shbb.org

Missouri’s first Baby Box was installed at a fire station in Mehlville in August of 2023. Six months later it was used for the first time. (Photo: Matt Markivee, Missouri House Communications)

      In 2021, the legislature passed, and the governor signed, a bill allowing for the installation of Safe Haven Baby Boxes— secure, climate-controlled incubators where newborns can be safely and anonymously surrendered without legal consequences for parents. The boxes offer a compassionate option for mothers in crisis who are unable to care for their newborns.

      The first such box was installed at Mehlville in August of 2023. Just six months later, it was used for the first time: a newborn girl, believed to be only hours old, was placed in the box. She was quickly cared for, adopted, and is now healthy and safe. Then, on the afternoon of August 10, a child was again placed in that box. This was the second time a Baby Box in Missouri has been used. That child received immediate care and is doing well.

      “We’ve had to use the Box already — and everything worked out perfectly. Everything worked the way it was supposed to. The legislation worked and the final product worked, and we’re just excited that through those efforts it’s going to expand it all across the state,” said Mehlville Fire Chief Brian Hendricks, who has become a figurehead for Baby Boxes in Missouri.

      The idea to bring the Boxes to Missouri was brought to Representative Jim Murphy (R-St. Louis) by a constituent who had read about their use in other states. Murphy sponsored the language that became part of House Bill 432 in 2021, allowing Boxes to be used in Missouri and for babies up to 45 days old to be surrendered anonymously.

      Murphy is proud to see that legislation become reality. In carrying it, he has consistently said that women in a crisis such as this should not be judged but praised.

      “A woman that goes through the process of deciding that [her] life is in such a situation that [she] can’t give this baby a future, she has made an incredible decision,” Murphy said. “She has made a decision that this baby is more important than her feelings, and we needed to make that as easy for her and as seamless for her, as anonymously as possible.”

      One of the Boxes’ biggest proponents in the House is Representative Raychel Proudie (D-Ferguson), a member of the House Appropriations Committee who led the effort to secure that funding in the budget.

Representatives Raychel Proudie (center) and Jim Murphy (right) visited the state’s first baby box, at the Mehlville Fire Protection District Station 2, and participated in a regular test of the box was carried out under Fire Chief Brian Hendricks (left). (Photo: Matt Markivee, Missouri House Communications)

      So far, seven Safe Haven Baby Boxes have been installed in Missouri and more are on the way, including a second in Mehlville soon to come online. This year, the legislature set aside in the current state budget $250,000 for a cost-share program to help entities cover the cost of installation, enough to contribute to 25 more Boxes.

      She said while many people may not be able to understand how a person could make the decision to give up a baby in this way, it is a reality, and one that often plays out with tragic results. The use of Baby Boxes prevents many such tragedies.  

      “I think we all look forward to a time where we can stop hearing about babies being found in dumpsters, or in bathrooms, or in trash cans, or under trees, or buried. We are in the business of not only saving lives but improving the quality of life for the citizens of Missouri,” said Proudie. “A lot of people may not be able to fathom it but for individuals who do first responders’ work, they’ve seen some of everything that the average person has not experienced, have not seen, and will never see, and so when they tell us that they need some assistance in this way and it makes sense, we’re more than happy to oblige.”

      Hendricks said every part of the state should have one of these, because this kind of crisis could happen anywhere. As an official who has already gone through the process of having one installed, he offers his help to leaders in other communities.

      “Just let me give you the answers to the test. I’ve tripped, I’ve fallen, I got back up. I’ve dealt with the state. I’ve dealt with the legislature. I’ve dealt with it. You can just take all this information and copy it and do it at your place,” Hendricks said. “I think you’re going to see this program explode across the state of Missouri because of the actions of the legislature, of the legislators.”

For those who want to learn how to get a baby box in their area, Chief Hendricks invites them to contact him at the Mehlville Fire Protection District.

      Proudie and Murphy recently visited Mehlville Fire Protection District House 2, the site of the first Baby Box in Missouri and where the little girl was dropped off last year. They participated in a test of the box and got to see firsthand the response to its use. They saw responders at the fire station react and saw the various alerts and alarms that go out when the Box’s door is shut.

      The Station’s personnel are trained in all manners of neonatal care, so they can ensure the health of a baby in any situation.

“It’s a commitment, but it’s worth every minute,” Hendricks said.

The whole system is impressively and carefully designed to monitor the health and safety of the baby, protect the anonymity of the person who puts the baby in the box, and provide that person with information on how they can seek help, and who to contact if they change their mind and want to be involved in that baby’s life.

Created thanks to legislation that began in the Missouri House, the state’s first Baby Box has already saved one life. The sponsor of that legislation, Rep. Jim Murphy, hopes it is never used again, but is glad it is here if needed.

“Inside the box there is a packet of information and that’s just for the person that surrenders the baby. It gives them resources that they can use to address their medical care, to address counseling. All roads lead to taking care of a woman in crisis as well as the baby.”  Hendricks said.

      Murphy remains impressed by the system every time he sees it, and he says that thoroughness is necessary.

      “The last thing we want to do is have a baby surrendered and not have all of these things happen to ensure that that baby, from day one, is going to be cared for. As you saw through all the redundancy in this program, I don’t know how it could fail because there’s so many different fail-safes in this, and it works. It just simply works and we’ve proven it works,” Murphy said.

      Hendricks said the night that the Box was used remains one of his proudest moments in 13 years of being a Fire Chief. When he called Murphy to let him know what had happened, Murphy broke into tears.

      “It was an incredible moment in my life. It moved me forever,” Murphy said. “If I do nothing else worthwhile, and I’ve done a lot of things in the legislature, but this one I think is the most important because we actually saved a life.”

“I hope it’ll never get used again, but if it does it needs to be here.”

Previous stories:

House legislation enables safe place to surrender newborns in Missouri

VIDEO: ‘Baby Box,’ created by House efforts, used for first time to safely surrender a newborn

VIDEO: ‘Baby Box,’ created by House efforts, used for first time to safely surrender a newborn

For the first time in Missouri a “Baby Box,” allowed in state law thanks to a 2021 House bill, has been used to safely hand over a newborn to emergency officials.

Last Thursday a baby girl believed to have been several hours old was left in the “Safe Haven Baby Box” at a Mehlville Fire Protection District Station 2. The child was taken to a local hospital, and is now in state custody. Authorities said she is in perfect health.

For mothers in need of help, the Safe Haven Crisis Line is (866) 99BABY1, or visit shbb.org

The Baby Box, installed in August and the only one in Missouri, is built into an outer wall at the Fire Station. It allowed the mother to place the girl into a bassinet and close the door. This triggered alarms in the fire station to let personnel know that a child had been relinquished.

Missouri law has since 2002 allowed for babies to be dropped off at places including hospitals and fire stations. The 2021 proposal from Representative Jim Murphy (R-St. Louis) to allow Baby Boxes in Missouri meant to expand on that 2002 law, to allow a person to drop off a baby without interacting with anyone, and with complete anonymity.

Murphy shared the news with his fellow legislators on Monday, and commended the little girl’s mother.

See our earlier story on the installation of this Baby Box

“She should be honored for making a great decision for a baby girl, who now will have a fruitful life,” said Murphy. “I personally would like to thank everybody in this body who voted for that bill, because today we celebrate life and saving a baby’s life, and I think that’s something worth celebrating and I think we should all be very proud of that.”

Tougher penalties proposed for those who roam neighborhoods checking car doors

      One state lawmaker says too many Missourians don’t feel safe in their own neighborhoods, and he believes tougher laws are the answer. A House panel has endorsed his proposal.

Representative Jim Murphy (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      Representative Jim Murphy (R-St. Louis) says groups of individuals are routinely going through neighborhoods in his south St. Louis County district seeking opportunities to steal from homes and cars.  This typically involves pulling door handles on multiple cars, looking for those that are unlocked.

      “This is happening every night in St. Louis County, every single night.  If you have a Ring doorbell you get these neighborhood alerts.  Every single day I get, oh they’re checking doors in this neighborhood, they’re checking doors in that neighborhood.  It’s just something now that is neighborhood terrorism,” Murphy told the House Committee on Crime Prevention and Public Safety. 

      “They also go and check for the garage door openers, and they open the garage door and they go in and pilfer the garage.  They’ve gotten more bold, because now not only are they doing that but they see you have cameras, so what they do is they show their weapons daring you to come out.”

      Murphy told his colleagues that the people committing these acts feel no fear of punishment.  He said the way Missouri statutes are written doesn’t cover these acts, or they fall under crimes which carry too little punishment.  In incidents involving juveniles, the penalties are so lenient that when law enforcement does catch them in these acts, they are often simply let go.    

      He is sponsoring House Bill 1510, which would create the crime of “unlawfully gaining entry into a motor vehicle,” defined by the act of lifting the handles of, or otherwise attempting to open, the doors of successive vehicles in an attempt to gain entry.  It would be a class E felony, punishable by up to four years in jail and a fine of up to $10,000. 

      It would also extend the crime of second-degree burglary to include unlawfully entering a vehicle, or any part of a vehicle, with the intent to commit a felony or theft.  A person could commit such an offense with any part of the body, or with an object connected with the body.  Burglary is a class D felony, which carries up to seven years in prison.  If a person violating this provision has or steals a firearm, it would be a class C felony, punishable by three to ten years in prison.

      “I voted for it in the past, I intend to vote for it now,” Representative Robert Sauls (D-Independence) told Murphy, but he questioned the design of the legislation.  He and others on the committee asked whether these acts could fall under existing crimes without creating a new offense.

      Murphy said it’s time to be more pointed.

      “Doesn’t it send a message?  If there’s a law out there that says you can’t tamper with, pull a door handle … now the word’s out,” Murphy said.  “I think you really need it to be specific to make it known that this is the crime.”

      At least one committee member, Representative Holly Jones (R-Eureka), said she is in full support.

      “This has happened to me in my driveway, in my neighborhood.  They have come through my neighborhood and opened garage doors stealing things out of the garage, they have tried getting into the vehicles, some other vehicles have been damaged on the inside … This is absolutely ridiculous because there are no consequences,” Jones told Murphy. 

      The committee has voted to advance that bill. It will next be considered by another committee, and from there could be sent to the full House for consideration.

House legislation enables safe place to surrender newborns in Missouri

The first Baby Box in Missouri has been installed, and more are coming. 

Representative Jim Murphy (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      Baby Boxes are an extension of the Safe Haven law, which allows parents to relinquish a newborn up to 45 days old without fear of prosecution.  That law, in place in Missouri since 2002, allows for babies to be dropped off at places including hospitals and fire stations, but Baby Boxes offer an option for parents who don’t want face-to-face contact.

      “The whole idea of the Baby Boxes is [for there to be] no interaction with one human to another, so if you just want to do it and you want to do it anonymously, this is a method of doing it,” said Representative Jim Murphy (R-St. Louis), who sponsored the language that made Baby Boxes an option in Missouri.

      For mothers in need of help, the Safe Haven Crisis Line is (866) 99BABY1, or visit shbb.org

      The first Box in the state is in his district, at Mehlville Fire Protection District Station 2.  There is a commitment for a second Box at Mehlville, and more fire stations in the state are expressing interest.

      Murphy said the Safe Haven Law is saving the lives of children. 

      “It’s happened time and time again where we’ve discovered babies in alleyways or in dumpsters and so forth.  For a woman to give up her child after birth has got to be a traumatic decision to make.”

      The box is built into an outer wall at the Mehlville Fire Station.  A parent can open it, place a baby inside in a bassinet, and close the door.  Alarms will alert personnel on duty, who will remove the bassinet and take the baby to a hospital.

      “I think the most important thing is that we try to deliver a message to mothers who are in this situation that their baby will be taken care of, and that’s the whole, entire goal of this thing is that the child shall have a good life from that day on and that we don’t villainize the person that gave the baby up.  We actually honor them for making a decision that if they can’t care for their baby that they gave it up in a proper way.” 

      Murphy said since his language became law two years ago, the state had to develop language to ensure Boxes would be safe.

      “Everything’s inspected properly, everything’s wired properly, the bassinet’s correct, there’s nothing in there that could endanger the baby, the alarms are set so that there are people readily available to retrieve the child … there’s all kinds of regulations that had to be promulgated to make sure that within a minute or two that that baby is put into care.”

      Founder and CEO of Safe Haven Baby Boxes Monica Kelsey helped guide the legislation that allows for these Boxes in Missouri and other states.  So far more than 160 have been installed.

      “I introduced baby boxes to allow parents anonymity so they can place their infant in an electronically monitored box that calls 911 on its own.  It’s heated, it’s cooled, and the infants are only in these boxes for right about two minutes.  With the amount of stories that we’re having across this country right now with babies being abandoned, these boxes are saving the lives of these kids now where before they were being thrown in dumpsters, trash cans, alongside highways, and stuff like that.”

      She said there are many reasons a parent might want to give up a child, including factors like financial struggles, mental health issues, or domestic abuse.  She wants people to support those who utilize the Safe Haven Law.

      “Every story is different.  Every story is unique, and every person handles crisis differently, but the one thing that all of these parents that are surrendering are doing is they’re putting their child first, and we should celebrate that.”

      Babies who are dropped off under Safe Haven receive immediate care, and Kelsey said they are adopted within 30 to 45 days. 

      “Every baby that has come through the Baby Box program and the Safe Haven program has been adopted.”

      For those who drop off a baby under Safe Haven, there is time to change their mind and reclaim their child. 

      “I don’t think our intent is to take babies away from parents.  Our intent is to protect children,” said Murphy.

      “They can get their children back as long as the termination of parental rights has not happened and that usually takes between 30 and 45 days,” said Kelsey.

      The installation of this Baby Box has gotten a lot of attention, but Murphy and Kelsey want to stress that it is not the only place in the state to drop off a child.

      “Every hospital in America – every hospital in the State of Missouri – is a Safe Haven location, and most [states’ Safe Haven laws also] have fire stations, Missouri is one of them, so every fire station that is manned – that is also another avenue for women in the State of Missouri,” said Kelsey.

      Murphy’s Baby Box language was introduced in 2021 as House Bill 76, which was approved by the House 151-1.  It was later amended to and became law as part of, House Bill 432 sponsored by Representative Hannah Kelly (R-Mountain Grove). 

      Since its installation in August, the Box in Mehlville hasn’t been used.  Since the Safe Haven Law was adopted in Missouri in 2002, 61 babies have been surrendered.  

      Kelsey said those who want to see a Baby Box installed in their community can contact her organization for help.

      “We’ll walk alongside you, or contact Mehlville Fire.  Talk to Chief [Brian] Hendrix.  See what his process was, see what he’s learned along the way … contact us if you want to get started.  We’ll help you raise the funds so the government doesn’t have to pay for it.  Mehlville Fire was 100% not tax dollars, so donors stepped forward for that … and that’s what we like to see.  We like to see the communities come together and do this on their own.”

      For mothers in need of help, the Safe Haven Crisis Line is (866) 99BABY1.  Kelsey’s organization, Safe Haven Baby Boxes, can be found online at shbb.org. 

House budget plan keeps Rock Island Trail development funds

      The state House has voted to preserve more than $69-million in federal dollars to support development of another hiking and biking trail on a former railway.  That funding survived two attempts to redirect it over concerns some House members have about its use.

Representative Tim Taylor (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      Governor Mike Parson (R) recommended that appropriation, which would use funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).  It would pay to revitalize a 78-mile stretch of the former Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad corridor, commonly referred to now as the “Rock Island Trail.”  Work would include the stabilization of tunnels and bridges. 

      Bunceton representative Tim Taylor (R) said his family owns property along the Katy Trail, Missouri’s other hiking and biking trail along a former railway.  He said he’s seen how communities have benefitted from being along that trail.

      “It has brought a sense of small prosperity to our community.  When the railroad left, as it did on the Rock Island, much of the town ceased to exist.  We have prospered and those towns and cities along the Rock Island are going to prosper just like the Katy Trail.”

      The Rock Island corridor runs through Bland, hometown of Representative Bruce Sassman (R).  He said hiking and biking trails are engines for economic development, and this is Missouri’s chance to expand them.

Representative Bruce Sassman (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      “I have been working on this Rock Island development project for 35 years, almost half of my life, and it’s a vision to create a trail system and a trail route that is unlike anything in the country and maybe in the world.  I wish you could see this project through my eyes.  I wish you knew the history of this project,” said Sassman.

      Taylor and Sassman were among those who spoke against amendments that would have blocked that $69-million from going to the trail.  One of those, offered by Chillicothe Republican Rusty Black, would have diverted that money to maintenance that has been deferred on other Department of Natural Resources’ properties.

      “In my eight years up here, every year we have had this fight with DNR about maintaining what we already have.  This is a one-time use of funds that, if we spend it on the trail, is going to further dilute the sales tax money that they get to use to maintain all of the other parks in the state,” said Steelville Republican Jason Chipman.  “What we have already is in bad shape and we could put a big dent in the maintenance needed for all of the other parks that bring in a whole lot of people to Missouri rather than partially work on this one.”

      “I think there’s arguments to be made for and against the Rock Island Trail,” said Representative Dirk Deaton (R-Noel), the House Budget Committee’s vice-chairman.  “I think it’s compelling to me as a conservative, as a fiscal conservative, you’ve got to take care of what you’ve got before you start taking on new things – building new things, acquiring new things, setting up new things, and we do have a substantial maintenance backlog within our state parks and so I think we really ought to address that before we do this, and then you can get to the question of, ‘If we do this.’”

Representative Scott Cupps (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      Another amendment was offered by Shell Knob Republican Scott Cupps.  It proposed that the money be withheld from the project until lawsuits involving property owners along the Rock Island route are settled.

      “The rationale for that is there is concern that we will spend millions and millions of dollars on this project and, depending on what happens in federal court, we may not be able to complete it until this is resolved,” said Cupps.  “If you stand up for land owners’ rights and property owners’ rights … then you sure as heck better be a ‘yes’ on this.”

      Cupps noted that there were similar legal disputes for people who owned property along the Katy Trail, which he says weren’t settled until 11 years after that trail opened.

      Lawmakers who want work on the trail to proceed argued that those lawsuits’ outcomes will have nothing to do with Rock Island’s development.

Representative Jason Chipman (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      “This is not about converting it back to ownership by these folks who are suing.  They simply seek to reclaim the money for land that was never part of their farm in the first place, whenever they purchased it,” said Representative Don Mayhew (R-Crocker).  “These lawsuits, this is a red herring.  It has nothing to do with it.  The state can proceed with this.”

      In the end the House voted down those amendments 53-81 and 62-70, respectively, and then voted to keep the money for the trail project in the budget. 

      Some, like Representative Jim Murphy (R-St. Louis), were glad to move forward that spending proposal.

      “When I leave here I think it’d be nice if I could look at one thing and say, ‘We did this for the future.  We did this for this state.  It’s long lasting.  We didn’t spend it on frivolous things.  We didn’t buy shiny objects.  We built something that our citizens can use now and in the future,” said Murphy.

      The House voted today to advance that spending plan to the Senate.

Committee hears plan to teach social media literacy, evaluating news

      A bill aimed at teaching children how to critically consider today’s constant stream of information and to be safe online has been presented to a House committee.

Representative Jim Murphy (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      St. Louis Republican representative Jim Murphy has proposed House Bill 1585, the “Show-Me Digital Health Act.”  It would instruct the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to create a curriculum on the “responsible use of social media.”

      Murphy said children are exposed to information from numerous sources and mediums, and often legislators discuss how to regulate that information.

      “I don’t care how much you try to regulate it it’s not going away and it’s not going to get better, it’s going to get worse, and if we’re not teaching our children how to process the information that they see – how to question it, how to verify it, how to not internalize it, we’re just going to get worse and worse and worse,” said Murphy.  “This is not about what the content of media is.  It’s about how to process media.”

      The Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education heard from Julie Smith, an instructor at Webster University in St. Louis who has authored books and offered numerous presentations on media literacy and news analysis.  She said “digital citizenship” is the term that’s been used for teaching children how to behave online.  She said Murphy’s bill would expand on the basics of “digital citizenship,” which tends to focus on being “nice” online.

      “Kids have been lectured since day one how to behave online.  They know.  Now we need to help them process this digital world that they live in,” said Smith.  “Digital citizenship already exists in Missouri schools but we need to help that go deeper.  We have to go beyond the ‘be nice online’ and help students examine not only how they use the media but how the media uses them.  This 21st century survival skill, these additional digital citizenship skills will not only increase and enhance their digital health but could potentially help preserve our republic.”

      She said a new curriculum would encourage children to read the terms of service for the websites and apps that they use and educate them about laws governing internet use; how websites and apps are designed to keep them online and make money off of them; how to spot and deal with fake accounts; and how to cope with anxieties and depression related to an online presence.

      The committee’s top Democrat, Paula Brown of Hazelwood, is a retired teacher with 31 years of experience.  She expressed concerns about adding to the already extensive curriculum from which teachers are expected to work.  

      Smith said the school districts with which she has worked have asked how to weave this education into existing curriculum, “So that if you’re a math teacher this is how you can do it, if you’re a science teacher this is how you can do it, so that it’s not an additional class and it doesn’t replace anything.  It merely enhances what already exists.”

      Brown said she would talk further with Smith about that, and would do further research into her concern about what additional cost the bill might create for individual school districts.   

      University of Missouri freshman William Wehmer said he believes as someone who just finished his K-12 education Murphy’s proposal is “much needed.”

      “As I made my way through my education I was faced with the abrupt uprising of social media and was given no tools as to how to handle myself online, what a digital footprint was, and most importantly how to respect others with differing opinions,” said Wehmer.

      The bill’s supporters include the Missouri School Boards Association and the Missouri Broadcasters Association.  Mark Gordon with the Broadcasters Association said its member radio and television stations think the bill would support their work on social media.

      “We’re licensed to serve and as a result of that we produce trusted information and the last thing we want is for people to be confused on a side-by-side issue, where they’re looking at something and they see postings from our members versus those from untrusted sources.”

      The committee has not voted on HB 1585.

Previous story: House proposal aims to teach youth responsible social media use, evaluating constant flow of information

House proposal aims to teach youth responsible social media use, evaluating constant flow of information

      A House member believes Missouri children should be taught in school how to deal with and scrutinize the constant stream of information with which they are faced every day.

Representative Jim Murphy (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      St. Louis Republican Jim Murphy believes all media has one thing in common:  that it was created by someone, and created for a reason.  He thinks children aren’t being equipped with how to figure out, in each case, what that reason is and how to deal with it.

      House Bill 1585 would create the “Show-Me Digital Health Act.”  It would have the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education create a curriculum on the “responsible use of social media,” but Murphy said his aim is to teach how to critically analyze information whether it comes through news, entertainment, advertising, or anything else.

“It’s about how you process the message.  We see things coming at children from so many different angles, and today they’re not being taught how to process that information, how to verify it, how to question why is it they’re receiving that message, what is it the person on the other end of that message is trying to make me do,” said Murphy.  “We’ve just gotta teach our kids to question, to verify, all of the different aspects of the information that’s being sent to them.”

Murphy’s bill would have DESE create a curriculum to cover things including the purpose and acceptable use of social media; identifying online misinformation; and applying protections for freedom of speech for online interactions in schools as provided by DESE. 

The bill also specifies that the bill should cover cyberbullying prevention and response.  Murphy said bullying goes beyond interactions between bullies and victims, but is fueled by what children see online.

“If they don’t fit into the mold of everything they see then they feel like they’re an outcast.  We don’t teach them that they’re not an outcast just because they’re seeing it out there.  It’s a very encompassing view, but if we’re not teaching our children to process all of the information as a whole, and questioning it as a whole, and understanding it as a whole, then they’re going to take some things personal and it can have catastrophic results,” said Murphy.   

“They have to understand that what they see and hear on the internet is meaningless in their lives, and we can teach that to them but we don’t.  We try to, instead, try to put a policy up that says you can’t put this information out there.  Well it’s out there anyway so we have to teach the people on the other side how to process it when it gets to them.”

      Murphy stresses he doesn’t believe this is a partisan issue.  He doesn’t want the curriculum to be tailored to favor information from any given sources, but to teach children to understand and dissect everything with which they are presented. 

      He said his legislation could be expanded to address teaching children how to be safe from online predators, scams, and other such threats. 

      HB 1585 would require Missouri schools to adopt such a curriculum for grades three to 12 by the 2024-25 school year and provide professional development to the teachers who would use the curriculum.   

      His bill has been prefiled to be considered in the session that begins Wednesday.

Veto session: House votes to fund programs fighting child abuse, neglect; Senate disagrees

      The Missouri House voted Wednesday to override Governor Mike Parson’s (R) vetoes of several spending proposals in the state budget, including one aimed at stemming the sexual abuse of children in Lincoln County. 

Representative Randy Pietzman (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      The Senate did not concur on those overrides and allowed the governor’s actions to stand, and those proposals to fail.

      House members including Lincoln County representative Randy Pietzman (R-Troy) took to the floor expressing anger and frustration that Parson rejected $300,000 to fund a 3-year pilot program that would’ve hired investigators, a prosecutor, and staff to address an increase in sex offenders in the region.

      “I have children in my district that are getting ravaged … I’d like to read you the list of the cases but I think it’s just too much.  Children in my district getting raped and made child pornography with them.  It’s going on and we’ve got to stop it,” said Pietzman.

      He said that line item would be enough to get the program started and after 3 years local officials could sustain it after that.

Pietzman said he was approached with “offers” by people who didn’t want him to even propose the override.

      “Screw those guys.  I’m fighting to the end for these kids.  They deserve justice.  This is small piece of pie of our budget but it can do so much good if we get it into the hands of the right people, and that’s what I’m trying to do.”

      Pietzman directed his criticism squarely at the governor, saying this was a plan he and others in the county worked for years to develop.  The governor has said that a federal grant program can be used to address this issue but Pietzman says that will not work.

      “Unlike [the governor] I’m not looking for a photo opportunity saying this is what I’m doing.  I’m doing it for those kids,” said Pietzman.

      The House voted 150-3 in favor of that override.

      The chamber also voted 151-3 to reverse the governor on a $2-million item that included 3-percent pay raises for caseworkers and supervisors in the Children’s Division.  These employees deal with abuse, neglect, and other issues facing children in the custody of the state.

Representative Raychel Proudie (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      Representative Raychel Proudie (R-Ferguson) said Missouri is having a hard time retaining those workers, partly because of how much they are paid.

      “Some of these workers [are] being spat at, cursed at, threatened  [while] trying to protect the children of this state when they can just go down to the local wizard stand or the local Wal-Mart and get paid more, and deal with less.  We owe them better than that,” said Proudie.

      On another vote, the House voted to restore funding for court costs to the owners of certain wedding venues.  St. Louis Republican Jim Murphy said these owners were years ago told by the Department of Revenue they did not need to pay sales tax, but years later the Department sent them bills for tens of thousands of dollars in back taxes.  Eventually everything was paid back to those owners but the court costs.

      Murphy said the Department harmed and lied to those Missourians.  “This year there was $150-thousand put into the budget to do the right thing, and that’s give these people their money back … well the governor, in his wisdom, and I cannot explain why, vetoed this,” said Murphy.  “We have promised these people over and over again that we would do right by them, only to have the rug pulled out from under them.”

      The House supported that override 152-2.

      It also voted 112-38 to override a veto on $700,000 for a Community Improvement District along Business Loop 70 in Columbia.

      These overrides were sent to the Senate, which voted to reject two of them and did not vote on the other two, so the governor’s vetoes stand.

House debates reinstating tax credits for shows, movies shot in Missouri

Missouri lawmakers are debating whether the amount of money that comes into the state when movies and TV shows are filmed here is enough to merit giving producers a tax break in return.

Representative Kathy Swan (photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Cape Girardeau representative Kathy Swan (R) says it is.  She’s proposing in House Bill 923 that the tax credit for production of film projects in Missouri be reinstated.  It was eliminated in November, 2013.

Swan’s district is where the major motion picture Gone Girl, starring Ben Affleck, was filmed in 2013.  She says one need look no further than how that benefited her region to see these credits are worthwhile.

“With a $7.9-million boost to the regional economy of Cape Girardeau … the state redeemed $2.3-million in tax credits, generating a net of $4.7-million in economic activity in the State of Missouri,” Swan said.  “116 Missouri crew members were hired, 1,400 local extras, 7,000 hotel room nights paid for and secured, cars rented, set supplies, office supplies were all purchased from local businesses, and food was catered for workers.  In addition, university students had the opportunity to apprentice alongside professionals.”

Swan said since the film tax credits were allowed to expire the state has missed out on more than 10 projects that could’ve carried more than $150-million of economic impact.  That includes projects that are set in Missouri, such as the Netflix series Ozark, starring Jason Bateman.

That series, a dark drama about drug money laundering that has been renewed for a third season, is set around the Lake of the Ozarks, yet is mostly shot in Georgia.

That frustrates Lake Ozark Republican Rocky Miller.

“The Ozarks happen to be in Missouri … they are not in Georgia,” said Miller.  “The beautiful Lake of the Ozarks doesn’t have a whole lot of pine trees, nor a muddy bottom, nor a lack of fun stuff that goes on in the Ozarks, and I know for a fact that if it were not for the lack of this film credit we would have greater exposure for the actual, beautiful, bluff-laden Lake of the Ozarks rather than the pine tree surrounded lake from somewhere in Georgia.”

Miller said for a series like Ozark to have filmed at a site already so popular with tourists such as the Lake of the Ozarks would have brought tourism dollars to Missouri for years to come, exceeding the $150-million impact Swan referenced.

Not everyone is sold on the proposal.  St. Louis Republican Jim Murphy said to vote for this bill would be a “vote for shiny objects.”

Representative Jim Murphy (photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

“What we’re talking about here is spending $45-million over the next ten years, or $4.5-million next year for a shiny object – to bring in a [transient] film crew to film a film just to make us feel good,” said Murphy.  “Would that $4.5-million be better spent bringing a factory here that year after year will employ Missourians?  That’s what tax credits are for.  Not for shiny objects.”

Amendments to the bill would require applicants for the film tax credit to disclose any political contributions in excess of $25 made to a Missouri candidate or party; allow municipalities where a project is being filmed to offer a local one-percent tax credit that would trigger a greater tax credit from the state; and require a film receiving the credit to include a logo and statement in its credits indicating it was shot in Missouri.

Another favorable vote would send Swan’s proposal to the Senate.