Missouri House Democrats addressed reporters and answered their questions after the close of legislative work for the week:
Tag: Paula Brown
Legislators to MODOT and Conservation: get dead deer off the roads
Two House lawmakers say there are too many dead deer on the state’s roads and it’s hurting economic development and tourism. They say it’s time the legislature steps in and gets the Departments of Conservation and Transportation to do something about it.

Hazelwood Democrat Paula Brown and Mexico Republican Kent Haden have each filed identical legislation that would require the Department of Transportation to move dead deer from roadways and bury them at least three feet deep on Conservation land, and would have the Department of Conservation pay for that removal and burial.
Both representatives say this is an issue driven by constituent concerns. Brown shared with the Committee on Transportation Accountability some of the reports she’s gotten from people throughout the state: “There’s 22 deer on this stretch of road … I hit a buzzard because it was eating a deer … then one of my other representatives from my side of the aisle called and said, ‘Have you been hearing about dead deer?’ and I was like, ‘It’s time to do something.’”
Haden had a similar experience.
“We are open to solutions,” said Brown. “This is not to punish anyone but when constituents call you and tell you how disgusted they are, and they’re from all over the state, it’s time for us to do something.”
“ … the problem’s gotten worse, not better.”
The issue came before a House transportation committee four years ago when its then-chairman, former representative Tim Remole (R-Excello), said he counted 75 deer on Highway 63 in the roughly 30 mile distance between Moberly and Columbia. Remole filed legislation about the problem then, and Haden said the committee was told by the Departments of Conservation and Transportation that they would work something out and a legislative solution would not be needed.
Transportation Accountability Committee Chairman Don Mayhew (R-Crocker) said he was on the committee then, “I was a participant in that [hearing] and that was four years ago and I can tell you from my own personal experience the problem’s gotten worse, not better.”
“If the two groups would do what is right for the State of Missouri and not argue over, ‘It’s our money. You can’t tell us what to do,’ then this wouldn’t be an issue,” said Haden. “We have two commissions with adequate funding who … have not yet done what is correct for the betterment of the whole State of Missouri, for a relatively small amount of money.”
The Departments told lawmakers a combination of things has led to the large number of dead deer remaining along the state’s byways. One of those has been staffing.
Department of Transportation Legislative Liaison Jay Wunderlich said the Department is down about 300 maintenance workers. Also gone are hundreds of incarcerated individuals who, pre-COVID, helped remove carcasses and trash along highways.
“ … right now what we’ve been asked to do is just turn the deer around and to leave it on highway right-of-way … ”
Another factor has been chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal neurological disease in deer and other cervids. Department of Conservation Deputy Director of Resource Management Jason Sumners said the Department is concerned about the movement and disposal of deer carcasses in relation to controlling the spread of that disease.

Wunderlich said Transportation crews have been following Conservation Department guidance on what to do with a dead deer.
He said between Conservation directions and financial concerns, leaving the deer on the roads made more sense to his Department.
“To make it a priority to go out picking up dead deer our number one focus for the particular day, that’s just not good [use of] taxpayers’ dollars in our minds. We’ve got to take care of the roads so that people are driving safely,” said Wunderlich. “Do we have the choice of picking up dead deer for that particular area or do we have to go out and fill potholes, fix a bridge that has a hole in it, put up guardrail, what have you. We’re doing the best we can with what we’ve got but right now the best that we have is to just go out there to remove the deer as we see them, as it becomes a health or a safety factor.”
At least one Committee member, Lakeshire Democrat Michael Burton, sympathized with the Transportation Department’s argument.
“ … somebody’s going to have to say, ‘What’s good for the State of Missouri and who’s going to do it?’”
Haden and Brown insist, though, that the current situation needs to be addressed. They said in addition to being eyesores, sources of odor, and potential road hazards, the carcasses are threats to economic development and tourism.
“A million dollars could very well be made up with one business settling in our state who could be turned off by the fact of, ‘What is the deal here?’ if they come from a state who does pick up their deer better,” said Haden. “You also have all the tourists coming through. How many of them want to look at a decaying, rotten carcass, with odor? What is that damage to the State of Missouri? In my opinion it’s very damaging … as Representative Brown said, it is a constituent-driven issue.”
The Committee’s top Democrat, Michael Johnson, hails from Kansas City which in coming years will host the NFL Draft and the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament.
The committee took in the concerns of the two departments but most members commented that something different needs to start happening. Representative Rudy Veit (R-Wardsville) said he doesn’t think the legislature should be having to deal with this.
The legislation is House Bill 501 (Brown) and House Bill 404 (Haden). The committee has not voted on either bill.
Pronunciations:
Remole = REM-oh-lee
Wunderlich = WON-der-lick
Veit = veet
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.

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.”
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.
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 votes to restrict seclusion, restraint of students
The Missouri House has voted to tell schools in the state to enact guidelines on when students may be secluded or restrained, and to require that when it happens, the student’s parents or guardians must be notified. The bipartisan effort began when practices that one lawmaker called “archaic” came to light.

The chamber approved 149-1 House Bill 387 filed by Representative Dottie Bailey (R-Eureka). It would require schools to have policies in place for when a student can be placed in seclusion or restrained, and that those things only happen when there is imminent danger of harm to the student’s self or others.
In addition to the notification requirement the bill also includes protections for those who report violations of that policy.
“Unfortunately … some of these school districts have used seclusion and restraint for discipline and time outs and punishment. So imagine a child that already has problems interpreting the world – a kiddo with autism – then being punished for that non-interpretation and disciplined, and thrown into a box,” said Bailey. “Not only are these archaic … and need to be done away with for punishment, there are many, many other alternative therapies that have been used, that have been proven to be adequate and without hurting the child and hurting their growth and not traumatizing them further.”

Representative Ian Mackey (D-St. Louis) brought the issue to the legislature after seeing reporting on the practices in some schools. He and Bailey worked to bring the legislation forward. He said most schools in Missouri haven’t been doing anything wrong and won’t have to change any practices because of this bill.
Similar legislation passed out of the House last year and was approved by a Senate committee before COVID interrupted the normal business of the 2020 session.
Bailey said it was important to add to this year’s bill the protection for those who bring to light misuses of restraints and seclusion. She said teachers who brought evidence of violations to a House committee last year faced retaliation.

“We saw urine-filled, stained rooms. We saw drab, horrible things, and then you hear from the teachers telling this story, and I give those teachers so much credit because they took their own careers in their hands because they care about these kids,” said Bailey. “I’ve kept in touch with a couple of them and yes, retaliation has occurred.”
Hazelwood representative Paula Brown (D), a retired school teacher, said she saw retaliation against teachers who spoke out against seclusion.
“I, for one, was not retaliated against when I reported to the school administration that a kid was locked in a dark closet but I do know that it does happen, and I was probably only not retaliated against because I happened to be president of the teachers’ union at the time,” said Brown. “I’m urging the body to support this bill. It is a wonderful bill and it will protect children, and it will protect teachers.”
HB 387 also adds a prohibition to “prone restraint,” not seen in last year’s legislation.
The bill now goes to the Senate.
Earlier stories:
VIDEO: Parent speaks about bipartisan legislation on restraint and seclusion of students
House to consider restrictions on student restraint/seclusion in Missouri public schools
House approves bill meant to stop school-to-school movement of child abusers
The House has proposed that school districts open up lines of communication with one another to stop employees with a history of abusing students from going from one district to another.
That is one of the things House Bill 739 aims to accomplish, according to its sponsor, Representative Rocky Miller (R-Lake Ozark).
The legislation has the support of various child advocacy groups, who told lawmakers that right now, schools cannot share such information about former employees. This often allows individuals with a history of abuse to find jobs in other districts and to abuse more children.
One of Hazelwood Democrat Paula Brown’s previous jobs was in human resources in a school district. She said she was often in a terrible position.
One provision added on the House Floor would require criminal background checks of anyone who volunteers with a school district, if that person will have regular or one-on-one contact with students or access to student records.
Representative Kathy Swan (R-Cape Girardeau) sponsored that amendment.
Another piece added by the full House extends the definition of those who can be found guilty of abuse to include any person who developed a relationship with a child through school, even if the abuse did not occur on school grounds or during school hours.
Representative David Wood (R-Versailles) said this would close a “loophole” child advocates described to him.
The bill adds two-and-a-half hours to the training required of new school board members, which would be focused on identifying signs of sexual abuse and potentially abusive relationships between adults and children. It would also require an hour of refresher training, annually.
Finally, the bill requires schools to offer students trauma-informed, developmentally appropriate sexual abuse training for grades six and above. Parents who don’t want their children to receive that training could choose to opt-out of it.
The House voted 150-4 to send the bill to the Senate.
Earlier story: House committee considers legislation to stop abusive teachers from going to new districts