Missouri House Republicans spoke to reporters after the close of legislative work for the week:
Tag: Phil Christofanelli
House members push for lesser tax on feminine hygiene products, diapers
Nine bills filed in the Missouri House would reduce or eliminate the taxes paid on diapers, and most of those would also apply to feminine hygiene products. The bipartisan group of legislators backing them say such a change would help some among the Missourians who most need relief, especially during this period of increased inflation.
The rate at which these products are taxed is sometimes referred to as a “luxury tax.” That is the rate at which most products in Missouri are taxed. Food is taxed at a decreased rate, and some of the proposals would set the levy on those products to that rate. Others would make them exempt from the sales tax altogether.
Several of the bills’ sponsors said there is no reason to keep taxing these things at the greater rate.
“It’s ludicrous … these are not luxury items. These are items that you need to exist and function in society, period,” said Kansas City Democrat Maggie Nurrenbern.
Similar bills have been offered for several years but have fallen short of becoming law. Among their most fervent and consistent backers have been diaper banks. Data released last year by the National Diaper Bank Network placed the annual cost of diapers at nearly $1,000 per infant.
“Over time for the average family, the average parent that’s buying diapers for their child over the course of the first three or four years that will add up,” said Representative Mark Sharp (D-Kansas City) of the tax on those diaper purchases. “The least we can do at the state level is make sure that we’re taking care of the average person, the everyday person who’s just trying to make it and make sure that their child has adequate diapers [and we should] make sure that our older folks have the stuff they need as well.”
Republican Phil Christofanelli (R-St. Peters), sponsoring the proposal for the second straight year, said he thinks part of what has held it up in the past has been that it would significantly reduce revenue, particularly for local governments, “But I think this one’s important, particularly in our time of inflation, where the basic necessities for so many working families are incredibly high and we want to be a culture that encourages stable families and child rearing and a vibrant family culture and this is part of that, make sure that families can afford the necessities of raising kids.”
Representative Peter Merideth (D-St. Louis) has for years sat on the House Budget Committee. He said the state could afford this change.
Merideth’s version of the bill would extend such changes to other necessities, such as, “Toothpaste, deodorant, soap, shampoo, but I do exempt sort of luxury cosmetic-type products. So I think, again, the basic necessities, people just shouldn’t be paying taxes on them.”
In addition to this issue, St. Louis Representative Jo Doll (D) also proposes in House Bill 408 that public charter, middle- and high schools provide feminine hygiene products free to students. She said that wouldn’t just be for students who can’t afford them, it’s about the mental health of young girls dealing with what might still be a new experience.
Regarding those who struggle to afford those products, Doll said, “We know that girls who can’t afford feminine hygiene products don’t go to school during that time and so this would just give them access to products that they may not be able to afford.”
The House sponsors and co-sponsors of those bills include a bipartisan group of 12 Democrats and four Republicans. None of those bills have been referred to a committee.
In the Senate three such measures have been filed. Two of those, filed by Republicans, have been approved by a committee in that chamber.
The bills that have been filed are:
HB 114 (Sharp), HB 126 (Nurrenburn), HB 145 (Doll), HB 290 (Patty Lewis), HB 351 (Christofanelli), HB 381 (Rasheen Aldridge, Jr.), HB 744 (Stephanie Hein), HB 1053 (Barbara Phifer), and HB 1136 (Merideth)
Rep. Doll’s legislation to require schools to provide feminine hygiene products to students at no cost is HB 408.
RAP Act would govern when lyrics, other art can be evidence in criminal trials
Some people in Missouri’s prisons are there after a jury considered the lyrics they wrote or listened to when weighing their guilt. One House member thinks courts should have to consider whether lyrics or other artistic expressions are relevant to a case before they are allowed in a trial.
House Bill 353 would lay out when such expressions could be introduced to a jury and require that a hearing be conducted to see whether they meet that criteria.
The Restoring Artistic Protection (RAP) Act, as it’s being called, is sponsored by Representative Phil Christofanelli (R-St. Peters).
“We want artists to not be afraid to engage in their full scope of expression when they’re creating music in our state,” said Christofanelli. “It’s really a First Amendment issue because we don’t want to have a chilling effect through state action on the expression of artists in our community.”
Christofanelli said many judges are already doing what his bill would require because they recognize that things like lyrics are often used to prejudice a jury.
“[Prosecutors] introduce that they have sung or rapped about unsavory things in the past so obviously they must have engaged in whatever crime they’ve been currently accused of,” explained Christofanelli. “But certainly if it’s the case that they’re actually singing about literal representations of things that they’ve done in the past, well then that would be relevant. I think that as long as we have a gatekeeper to make sure that that sort of evidence doesn’t reach the jury unfairly I think that it will be okay.”
Under HB 353 before song lyrics, literature, visuals, or any other form of art could go before a jury as evidence against a defendant prosecutors would first have to convince a judge that it was relevant to the crime.
Supporters say in more than 500 cases in the U.S. have lyrics played a part in criminal trials.
Christofanelli said one of the entities he has worked with in deciding to file HB 353 is Warner Music, which owns labels including Elektra Records, Reprise Records, Warner Records, Parlophone Records, and Atlantic Records.
Gas tax increase goes from legislature to voters on November ballot
The legislature is asking voters whether they want to increase Missouri’s gas tax to pay for road and bridge work and to boost support of the Highway Patrol.
The House voted 88-60 to complete passage of House Bill 1460. It would ask voters in November whether to increase the state’s fuel tax by two-and-a-half cents a year for four years – a ten cent total increase by July, 2022. The current tax is 17-cents per gallon.
If passed, projections are the increase would generate about $421-million when fully implemented. $128-million would be for local governments for road construction and maintenance. The remaining $293.3-million would be appropriated by the General Assembly between the Department of Transportation to be used solely for road and bridge work, and the Highway Patrol.
Representative Jean Evans (R-Manchester) sponsored HB 1460, which was amended by the Senate to include the gas tax proposal.
“This is a vote to allow the people of Missouri a vote on how they want to pay for roads and bridges, how they’d like to fund their law enforcement,” said Evans. “Send this vote to the people. This is a vote for freedom and for safety.”
Kansas City Democrat Greg Razer said he was glad to see the House considering the ballot issue that would give the state a chance to take on pressing road and bridge work.
Kansas City Republican Kevin Corlew chaired the 21st Century Missouri Transportation System Task Force. It recommended a gas tax increase to help support transportation funding. He said whether such an increase will happen should be up to voters.
The House vote sent HB 1460 to the Secretary of State, who’s office is preparing it for the November ballot. Many of the 60 “no” votes were cast by Republicans.
St. Peters representative Phil Christofanelli (R) called the proposal a “massive” and “deceptive” tax increase.
“The voters already had an opportunity to vote on raising taxes for transportation. They said, ‘no,’ and here we are, coming back today, poll testing different ideas, how can we sell this idea that the voters have already rejected?” said Christofanelli. “We’re all going to go back to our districts – many of us in this [Republican] majority – and tell people how conservative we are, we are conservatives. The voters believe that conservatives are here to shrink the size of government and not to grow the size of government, and that is exactly what we’re doing today.”
Representative Rocky Miller (R-Lake Ozark) said this measure is flawed and he will oppose it even though his district needs road maintenance and improvements.
HB 1460 was originally a bill that would waive state tax liability on cash prizes awarded to Olympic medalists. Another provision in the bill would create an “Emergency State Freight Bottleneck Fund,” that would pay for road projects costing $50-million or more that would relieve bottlenecks or delays of 20 minutes or more on Missouri roads.
The bill would also allow alternative fuels to be taxed at a substantially equivalent rate by 2026.
Because it was changed to include the ballot language for the gas tax, the language voters will see on the ballot will also ask them whether the state should waive tax liability for Olympic medal winners and could include language about the Bottleneck Fund as well.
House prepares extensive foster care reform legislation
An increased focus on issues concerning foster care in Missouri has resulted in a bill containing 11 different reforms meant to make life better for children who are in, and who leave, that care.
House Speaker Todd Richardson (R-Poplar Bluff) in January created the Special Committee to Improve the Care and Well-Being of Young People to focus on improving the state’s child welfare system. That committee is chaired by Cameron Representative Jim Neely (R), who selected 11 of the bills assigned to it to be combined into House Committee Bill 11.
Neely, a doctor, said improving the lives of children has been his priority since a young girl who’d been abused came into his office about ten years ago.
Neely said some of the things HCB 11 would change in Missouri law are “quick” or “simple” fixes that could have significant impacts, especially in situations in which foster children have been described as, “falling through the cracks.”
HCB 11 includes language that would update background checks on foster families so that the Children’s Division would know immediately if a foster parent is charged with a crime that would disqualify him or her from being a foster parent. Current law only allows checks every two years.
That portion of the bill came from House Bill 1944 sponsored by Representative Sonya Anderson (R-Springfield).
“House Bill 1944 would allow the Department of Social Services to utilize the RAPBACK program, which is the Record of Arrest and Prosecution, and so it’s a more instant update if a foster care parent or someone who resides in the house has been charged with a crime,” said Anderson. “We want to make sure that [foster] children are in the safest environment as possible.”
HCB 11 would also expand assessment and treatment services for children in foster care. It would require such services for all children in foster care – currently it is required only for those under the age of ten – and would require that those services be completed in accordance with the American Academy of Pediatrics’ periodicity schedule. Currently children are screened every two years.
The original sponsor of that language is Representative Lauren Arthur (D-Kansas City), who said it would ensure that children in foster care receive more appropriate care, and the comprehensive screenings will in turn save the state money by catching medical conditions earlier and aiding in preventative care.
“This would change the requirements so that every child in foster care is receiving these kinds of screenings, not just children under the age of ten. Additionally it means that they’ll receive more appropriate care, so according to the experts – the American Academy of Pediatrics – our children in foster care will go to the doctor according to their recommendations and that schedule as opposed to the legislature saying they have to go every two years,” said Arthur. “For older kids in foster care, often when they are pulled out of school more than their peers it adds to a feeling of stigma – they feel like they’re different from their classmates – and we certainly don’t want them to feel different or have to go to the doctor more than anyone else just because they’re in foster care.”
Another portion of HCB 11 comes from House Bill 1862 sponsored by Representative Phil Christofanelli (R-St. Peters). It would enable investigations of abuse of children in foster care in Missouri when it happens outside of the state.
Current law prevents Missouri Social Services workers from investigating reports of abuse of Missouri children in foster care if the abuse doesn’t occur in Missouri, and prevents them from communicating with counterparts in other states about abuse or potential abuse. Christofanelli said his bill would remove those barriers and fix what he called a, “bureaucratic technicality.”
“This is just eliminating some loopholes that have resulted in some unfortunate situations in the past and making sure that we have full communication across state lines to protect kids,” said Christofanelli.
He said HCB 11 is combining a number of efforts to fix situations in which lawmakers are told, all too often, that children are being “left behind.”
“It’s one of the most rewarding parts of being in the legislature and it’s such an easy fix. It’s shocking to me that this hasn’t been done yet because we’ve seen case after case where problems like this arise across state lines,” said Christofanelli. “Our kids are our greatest asset here in Missouri and if there’s anything that we can do to help keep them safe then we’re going to do it as the legislature, so I’m honored to be a part of that process.”
Some lawmakers expressed concerns with the portion of the bill because other states might release information about abuse claims – particularly unsubstantiated claims – that Missouri would not release. They expressed a desire to see that concern addressed before the bill could become law.
The House is prepared to vote on whether to send HCB 11 to the Senate. The bill is broadly supported, including by Columbia Democrat Martha Stevens, who sits on the Special Committee to Improve the Care and Well-Being of Young People.
Stevens said she’s glad to be on the committee but says it has more work to do even if HCB 11 becomes law, “particularly with children aging out of the foster care system, so I’m hopeful that in the interim, with stakeholders and advocates and experts and folks on both sides of the aisle we can bring forward more solutions next year to help address issues around foster care and support the Missouri youth that are aging out of foster care.”
Other parts of HCB 11 would:
– Provide free birth certificates to children in foster care, making it easier for them to become independent (found in House Bill 1470 sponsored by Representative Mike Kelley, R-Lamar)
– Allow more time for a case management plan to be developed for a child entering foster care (found in House Bill 1637 sponsored by Representative Neely)
– Allow foster children aged 16 years and older to open a checking or savings account with the consent of the Children’s Division or juvenile court, giving them the ability to cash paychecks and better access to jobs (found in House Bill 1715 sponsored by Representative Don Phillips, R-Kimberling City)
– Make closed under law any records regarding placement of children into foster care or kinship placements, and specify who can access those records and when (found in House Bill 1966 sponsored by Representative Robert Cornejo, R-St. Peters)
– Allow a child who is homeless or in the custody of the Children’s Division, but the whereabouts of his or her immunization records is unknown, to be enrolled in school for up to 30 days while efforts are made to find those records, and if needed, another 30 days after that for the child to get caught up on immunizations (found in House Bill 2139 sponsored by Representative Lynn Morris, R-Nixa)
– Define when juvenile courts have jurisdiction over a child under 21, streamlining situations in which a child is in a safe situation but juvenile court involvement is interfering with the family (found in House Bill 1728 sponsored by Representative Bill Lant, R-Pineville)
– Establish guidelines for educating children in court-ordered group homes or institutions for delinquent or neglected children (found in House Bill 2625 sponsored by Representative Lyle Rowland R, Cedarcreek)
– Create the “Trauma-Informed Care for Children and Families Board” to encourage cooperation between agencies that deal with children and utilize trauma-informed treatment programs (found in House Bill 2217 sponsored by Representative Cora Faith Walker, D-Ferguson)