Missouri House Republicans addressed the media and answered questions after the close of the 2024 regular session, today:
Tag: Jonathan Patterson
VIDEO: House Republicans call on Senate to pass initiative petition reform
House Republicans called a media conference this morning calling on the Senate to take up and pass initiative petition reform on this, the final day of the legislative session:
VIDEO: House Republican and Democrat press conferences 04-13-2023
Missouri House Republicans and Democrats spoke to the media and fielded questions before legislators went home for the weekend:
VIDEO: Republican and Democrat media conferences
After the close of House business for the week, leadership from each caucus spoke and fielded media questions:
House Republican and Democrat end-of-week press conferences
Missouri House Republicans and Democrats fielded media questions after wrapping up work for the week:
Legislature votes to strengthen Kansas City’s shot at World Cup
The Missouri legislature has offered an assist to Kansas City’s bid at bringing the World Cup to Kansas City, and with it, hundreds of millions of dollars to the state’s economy.
“It’s estimated that it would bring $750-million to the state. You’re going to need 50,000 hotel rooms. [Fans] are going to come from all over the world and get to see all of Missouri. They’re going to travel within Missouri and the country,” said Representative Jonathan Patterson (R-Lees Summit). “100-million people watch the Super Bowl. One billion people will watch the World Cup, so this is equivalent to 7 to ten Super Bowls.”
The House and Senate passed legislation that would exempt tickets to the 2026 World Cup from sales taxes if it is held in Kansas City, which is one of 22 cities among 16 potential host sites vying for the event.
Patterson, who has spearheaded the effort in the House to get this legislation passed, said FIFA (the International Federation of Association Football) stipulated that whatever state hosts the World Cup not charge sales tax on their tickets. He said Missouri would be the first state to meet that requirement, assuming Governor Mike Parson (R) signs into law House Bill 1606 and/or Senate Bill 652, both of which were sent to him last week.
Legislators say the measure is a priority for the governor.
“So we are going to be first in the organizers’ minds about states that have filled out a criteria that they wanted to meet before awarding a host site,” said Patterson. “So I think with [these bills] we put ourselves in a very good position to get a host site.”
Representative Wes Rogers (D-Kansas City) said this legislation was in no way just about Kansas City.
“People from as far away as the Lake [of the Ozarks] will need to provide housing. There’s not enough housing in [Kansas City] and there won’t be. You’re talking about people staying in Columbia, probably even Jefferson City and the Lake, so it’s statewide economic impact,” said Rogers. “And they’re going to be here for a month, too, and there’s only a few soccer games, so they’re going to be going back and forth from Kansas City to St. Louis, and they’re going to go down to Springfield, and they’re going to see what else is around. It’s not just the games, it’s also everything people are going to do while they’re here.”
Rogers is quick to note that while the legislation would exempt taxes on the tickets, it will not exempt taxes on all the other places people will spend money while attending the World Cup.
Both representatives say Kansas City is a great sports town with impressive facilities to go with good food and other draws, and they would hold it up against the other potential host sites.
“I think this would put it on the map and really showcase it to the world,” said Patterson. “I think with [these bills] we put ourselves in a very good position to get a host site.”
The proposed exemption has broad bipartisan support. The House vote on SB 652, which included only that language, was 141-5. That bill and HB 1606 are awaiting action by Governor Parson.
Committee votes to let pharmacists dispense opioid relapse fighting medication
A drug that would help former and recovering addicts fight off relapses would be more available under a bill being considered in the House.
House Bill 2603 would allow pharmacists to sell and distribute naltrexone hydrochloride, a drug that helps stem the desire to use opioids or related substances.
Bill sponsor Jonathon Patterson (R-Lee’s Summit) told the House Committee on Health and Mental Health Policy, “I think it would help and maybe even stop a few of the deaths that we see here in this state every year.”
Patterson explained that his legislation would expand upon a bill passed out of the legislature and signed into law in 2016 which allows pharmacists to sell Narcan, a drug that counteracts overdoses.
Percy Menzies is the President of the Assisted Recovery Centers of America. He told the committee that naltrexone is extremely effective and unlike Narcan, which is administered at the time of an overdose, it is preventative. A person can take it to stave off a relapse.
The committee heard that pharmacists would be able to give a person enough naltrexone to last several days. Licensed clinical social worker Aaron Laxton explained this could then help bridge the time between when a person realizes they are about to relapse and when they can get into a treatment program.
Henrio Thelmaque with Assisted Recovery Centers of America and the Missouri Pharmacy Association also testified in support of the bill, saying, “The idea is to say, ‘Hey, if you are at risk of relapsing here is a preventative measure.”
Thelmaque said relapses can often be triggered by stressful events such as the loss of a job or a breakup. He said there have been greater instances of relapses in the last two years, likely due to the COVID pandemic. He said last year there were 1,842 deaths in Missouri related to opioid overdoses.
He said this bill could help significantly to reduce that number.
“There shouldn’t even be one death regarding opioid overdoses, especially with the tools that we have now,” said Thelmaque.
The committee voted 12-0 to advance Patterson’s bill. Another favorable committee vote would send it to the full House.
Missouri House passes 5 bills in special session called to address crime
The Missouri House has given initial approval to five bills related to crime issues in Missouri. The bills were filed in a special session of the legislature called by Governor Mike Parson (R).
Republicans say the legislation will help address violent crime in a year when Kansas City is on pace to set a new record for the annual number of homicides, and St. Louis is in the midst of a wave of murders and other violence. Democrats decried the legislation as accomplishing nothing and said the special session was called only for political reasons.
House Bill 66 would create a fund to pay for law enforcement agencies to protect witnesses or potential witnesses and their immediate families during an investigation or ahead of a trial.
St. Louis City representative Peter Merideth (D) said the bill would be meaningless because there would be no money in the fund until it is appropriated in budget legislation.
“If we really believed this was an emergency wouldn’t we be funding it right now?” asked Merideth.
Bill sponsor Jonathan Patterson (R-Lees Summit) said his bill will create the program and funding can come later, as is usually the case with newly created state programs.
“I trust the mayors of our state. They say it’s an emergency. I trust the law enforcement in our state. They say it’s an emergency,” said Patterson. “We could have funded it [during the special session]. You’d have to ask yourself, ‘does that fit within [the governor’s call of topics to be addressed in this special session]?’ I don’t know.”
Merideth said he would still support the bill, but also expressed concern that the offer of state money to pay for a potential witness’ room and board could be used to incent false testimony and lead to wrongful convictions.
The House voted 147-3 to send HB 66 to the Senate.
House Bill 46, sponsored by Representative Ron Hicks (R-Dardenne Prarie), would temporarily lift the requirement that St. Louis Police officers, EMS personnel, and firefighters live in the City of St. Louis. The residency requirement would be reinstated after September 1, 2023.
“Out of all the things in the governor’s call this is the one really good thing that will immediately improve the conditions of [St. Louis’] crime problem,” said Representative Justin Hill (R-Lake St. Louis), a former law enforcement officer and undercover detective. “Men and women in blue want to to work in the city. Right now they don’t feel empowered enough by their city to stay there.”
St. Louis area Democrats say the bill infringes on local control because St. Louis residents are set to vote on whether to remove the residency requirement in November.
“This comes up about every eight years in our city. It has never passed,” said St. Louis representative Wiley Price (D).
The House passed HB 46 117-35.
House Bill 11 would increase the penalty for endangering the welfare of a child from a misdemeanor to a first-degree felony. Bill sponsor Nick Schroer (R-O’Fallon) said criminals are taking advantage of juveniles by giving them guns and encouraging them to participate in violent crime.
The House passed HB 11, 117-33.
House Bill 16, also sponsored by Schroer, would define the unlawful transfer of a weapon to a minor as the lending or sale of a firearm to a minor for the purpose of interfering with or avoiding an arrest or investigation. It would change current law to allow such transfers to be a felony even if done with parental permission.
“It’s very important that we focus on these adults … that are victimizing our youth. Sometimes it’s resulting in their death, sometimes it’s resulting in them going into the juvenile justice system,” said Schroer. “Amending this law pursuant to the conversations we’ve had across the state it’s going to lead to a decrease in crime.”
St. Louis representative Rasheen Aldridge (D) said those bills will not reduce crime and won’t help his city.
HB 16 was sent to the Senate with a 103-45 vote.
The House also approved 133-11 House Bill 2, sponsored by Representative Barry Hovis (R-Whitewater), which aims to clarify current law on the admissibility of witness statements when a witness has been tampered with or intimidated. If a court finds a defendant tried to keep a witness from testifying and the witness failed to appear, an otherwise inadmissible statement from that witness could be allowed into evidence.
All of these except for HB 16 were passed with a clause that would make them effective immediately upon being signed by the governor.
House panel told Missouri is ready for coronavirus
A Missouri House panel today heard from three doctors, including the Director of the Department of Health and Senior Services, about how ready the state is for the coronavirus.
Legislators heard Missouri is very prepared and that the best thing Missourians can do to prevent the disease from spreading is wash their hands.
“We have been meeting daily since January 27,” DHSS Director Randall Williams told lawmakers. “I believe we are very well prepared. Our motto is, ‘Hope for the best, prepare for the worst,’ and we think we are prepared for both.”
More than 100 people had been confirmed to have the coronavirus in the United States and it is responsible for six deaths in this country as of Monday afternoon. The disease has killed more than 3,000 people globally. House Speaker Elijah Haahr (R-Springfield) created the House Special Committee on Disease Control and Prevention to assess Missouri’s readiness for the disease to appear here.
Doctor Stevan Whitt with the University of Missouri Health System deals with infectious diseases. He told committee chairman Jonathan Patterson (R-Lees Summit) the current rates of infections and deaths suggest a 3.3-percent mortality rate with coronavirus.
“Which means you have about a 97-percent rate of survival even if you get the virus,” said Whitt.
“And that number’s probably even lower given that there’s been underreporting of the cases,” said Patterson.
Williams noted that the mortality rate is twenty times greater than the flu.
“It’s two percent and the flu is one in 1,000, so you’re talking about two out of 100 versus one in 1,000, so that’s concerning,” said Williams.
No cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Missouri. Williams, who has been in regular contact with federal officials and his counterparts from other states, said samples from fewer than 15 patients in Missouri are being tested for the virus, while California has tested more than 460 people.
Whitt said corona is very much like the common cold or flu in the symptoms that a person presents.
“You get it from coughing, sneezing, runny nose; all the usual things, contact, close contact with somebody who’s had it, inhalation of droplets – especially a large amount of droplets from somebody who you’re very close to, distance wise,” said Whitt. “We know that cases can be everywhere from completely asymptomatic to death. Most of the deaths are associated with lung involvement and inability to appropriately oxygenate, similar to influenza.”
The doctors told lawmakers that the state has a plan in place for dealing with a pandemic and those plans were made available to lawmakers and the media. They also said the best things the public can do to protect against coronavirus and stem its spread are the same things commonly recommended to keep healthy.
“If you’re sick, please stay at home. If you’re sick and need to go see a doctor please check in, tell them about your symptoms. Usually you’ll be given a mask if part of your symptoms are fever, cough, and/or shortness of breath, and please put on the mask,” said Whitt. “If you’re sick and do not need to be in the hospital or see a doctor just stay home, call in sick. I would encourage [legislators] to help us encourage employers to give very lenient practices to people who are sick and want to stay home during this time.”
Whitt said another concern is the “classic hoarding mentality” applying to things like masks. He said for people who are not sick to wear those affords them very little protection.
“They protect mostly the person from disseminating the disease. For instance the regular surgical masks that are the recommended masks for people who are ill, they don’t really filter air. What they do is they trap particles … that’s what happens when you cough into one, that’s what happens when you sneeze into one,” said Whitt. “If, on the other hand, the person who is the source of infection is not wearing the mask but you are, you still breathe around the edges, you still breathe around the gaps in the top around your nose. It’s not very protective for individuals who are not sick. It’s protective of groups of people to put it on the sick person.”
The doctors also recommended that those who haven’t gotten a flu shot go ahead and do so, as cases of the flu continue to rise.
Williams said the state health lab in Jefferson City now has the capability to test for coronavirus and have a result in six hours.
Doctors said another concern if the disease reaches Missouri will be in hospital and clinic staffing if staff members begin getting sick.
Speaker Haahr said the legislature is prepared to act as needed to support the response to coronavirus, including by appropriating funds or giving authority for the spending of federal funds. He said the citizens of Missouri should know their government is prepared to protect them from the virus, and said he has complete faith in Williams to head up the state’s response.
The committee will hold additional hearings on an as-needed basis.
Missouri House leaders discuss corona virus following committee hearing
The Missouri House’s Special Committee on Disease Control and Prevention held its first hearing today discussing Missouri’s level of preparedness for the corona virus. Leadership and committee members fielded questions from the media following that hearing.