Rick Brattin – Missouri House of Representatives Newsroom

House passes ‘pain capable’ abortion ban

The state House has proposed barring abortions in Missouri of any fetus a doctor determines is capable of feeling pain.

Representative Donna Lichtenegger (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications – click for larger version)

House Bill 1266 would prevent such abortions unless they are found to be necessary to avert the mother’s death or if there is a serious risk to the mother of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function. In such cases a doctor would be required to end the pregnancy in a way that gives the fetus the greatest chance of survival without posing such risks to the mother.

The bill requires reporting of such abortions to the Department of Health and Senior Services, and would make a doctor who performs an abortion in violation of the bill’s provisions subject to discipline.

Sponsor Donna Lichtenegger (R-Cape Girardeau) calls it the “Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.” She and other backers of the bill argue there is scientific evidence that a fetus can feel pain at 22 weeks.

“The most significant reason that [an abortion after that stage is painful for a fetus] is because at 5-months this child literally needs to be torn apart, limb for limb, in order to be aborted. It is much safer for the mother and for the fetus to be able to have a C-section and it’s much faster than the abortion,” said Lichtenegger, “so there are other ways that this baby can be delivered without tearing it from limb to limb.”

Representative Cora Faith Walker (D-Ferguson) questioned proponents’ arguments about when a fetus can feel pain, and argued that there is an “abundance” of scientific data to the contrary.

Representative Cora Faith Walker (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications – click for larger version)

“The actual pathways – the neurological pathways – that are necessary to feel pain in fetuses is typically not developed until well after the 20-week development state,” said Faith Walker.

St. Louis Democrat Sue Meredith said when the bill was heard by a committee, lawmakers heard from parents who had abortions because their children were not forming properly in the womb and faced short and/or painful lives if brought to term.

“These people weren’t getting these abortions because they were getting rid of an unwanted pregnancy … we are telling people who have these abnormally developing fetuses that you have to carry this fetus full-term. You have to put that baby through that agony of whatever it is – not being able to breath, not being able to think properly – not being able to do the things that one needs to do to live,” said Meredith.

Harrisonville Republican Rick Brattin said he “begrudgingly” supports HB 1266. He is frustrated that the legislature is debating at what times during a pregnancy it can be terminated rather than seeking to make abortion illegal altogether.

“It’s just mind boggling to me that we are having to even go with something like this and that there’s even debate on a bill like this,” said Brattin. “I just look for the time and I pray for the time that people are actually awakened by the egregious act of this horrible procedure and this life-ending act and actually ban abortion, not just pain capable.”

The House voted 117-31 to send HB 1266 to the Senate for consideration.

Legislature passes Real ID legislation as session’s end nears

The state House has voted to send to Governor Eric Greitens (R) a bill that would let Missourians choose whether to get an ID that complies with the federal Real ID Act of 2005. Compliant licenses are needed to do things like board airplanes and enter military bases and federal buildings.

Representative Kevin Corlew (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Real ID was passed in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In 2009 Missouri adopted a law barring compliance, citing concerns over citizens’ privacy because the Act required citizens to produce source documents that would then be stored electronically. After January 2018, however, those who lack compliant IDs will not be able to get through federal security such as at airports and federal courthouses.

The sponsor of House Bill 151, Kevin Corlew (R-Kansas City), said the bill gives Missourians an option.

“We’ve heard from our citizens from our military bases, from our businesses, from people who travel and fly, from people who access military bases to visit their loved ones or to go to the grave sites or those who do business on them, they’ve requested that we provide this as an option so they can use their Missouri driver’s license. They don’t have to get a national identification in the form of a passport. Instead they can use their state-issued identification to access these, but also recognizing … there are some who would say I want my regular old Missouri driver’s license. I don’t need the Real ID compliant, don’t want my source documents stored, whatever it be, then they have the freedom to choose the other one,” said Corlew.

Many lawmakers said the issue was the one they felt the most pressure from the public to solve.

Representative Charlie Davis (R-Webb City) told Corlew, “You would think that this year being such a tough budget year the number one number of emails I would’ve got was from the budget … 12 emails. Real ID? 327 emails from my constituents, not from people across the state of Missouri.”

Corlew said the bill calls for the storage of documents required by Real ID to be done on a system that is not connected to the internet, making them more difficult to access.

“You know the scene from Mission Impossible with Tom Cruise dropping down [on a wire]? I would think that’s what you would need to get it,” said Corlew.

Representative Rick Brattin (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Still the measure faced some opposition from lawmakers who remain concerned about the privacy of citizens. Representative Rick Brattin (R-Harrisonville) told Corlew that when the Jay Nixon Administration was learned to have shared information on Missouri concealed carry permit holders with the federal government, the internet was not involved.

“They scanned and had a disc made,” said Brattin. “It’s still capable to have that scanned and sent off, so the problem that we already faced and encountered in the State of Missouri occurred and can still occur with this sort of system.”

Corlew said that is why the Senate put tougher provisions in the bill for punishing those who violate the privacy of those documents.

“The first of which is up to a year in prison under a Class-A misdemeanor and then it goes up from there with substantial jailtime for felonies,” said Corlew.

Still, the legislation passed 112-39 with broad bipartisan support. It’s now up to Governor Greitens whether it will become law.

Missouri House proposes giving Missourians choice of whether to get Real ID-compliant licenses

The state House has proposed a bill that would allow Missourians to choose whether to get a state ID that complies with the federal Real ID Act of 2005, so they can use it to do things like enter military bases and board planes.

Representative Kevin Corlew said House Bill 151 will give Missourians a choice on whether to get a state-issued ID that complies with the federal Real ID Act of 2005. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Bill 151 is sponsored by Representative Kevin Corlew (R-Kansas City), who called it a compromise, allowing Missourians to keep non-compliant IDs if they wish. His Republican caucus was divided over the legislation, though, with some saying the Real ID Act threatens individuals’ privacy and personal information.

The Act was passed as part of the federal government’s response to the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. In 2009 the Missouri legislature and then-Governor Jay Nixon (D), citing privacy concerns, adopted a law barring the state from issuing compliant IDs. After January 2018, however, those without non-compliant IDs will not be able to get through airport security, and some federal facilities already enforce such a restriction.

It is that deadline that prompted Corlew’s legislation.

“We need to allow our citizens to choose a Real ID-compliant license so that they’ll be able to get on an airplane to fly across the United States or to fly to another state without having to go to the expense and time and burden of getting a passport, or passport card, or producing additional identification,” said Corlew. “We need to be able to do that so that our businesses who service our military basis, also our family members who have military families throughout the country, that they can go and visit their loved ones, to see their graduations, to be a part of those ceremonies.”

Representative Steve Lynch’s (R-Waynesville) district includes Fort Leonard Wood, which quit accepting non-compliant IDs last year. He said he has seen, as much as anyone in the House, how the issue is impacting Missourians.

“Everywhere I go, every weekend, I run across people that stop me and tell me we need to fix this issue. People are angry. They are frustrated,” said Lynch.

Opponents of the bill include Representative Robert Ross (R-Yukon), who called the choice proponents say the bill presents a “total joke.”

Representative Robert Ross was one of 35 Republicans that voted against the Real ID bill. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Ross said the state is being “coerced” to adopt Real ID compliance by being told, “Your citizens are not going to be able to fly, they’re not going to be able to step onto a nuclear facility, we’re not going to let you into a military installation – which is completely false too. If you’ve got a Missouri ID and a social security card, birth certificate, any other piece of identification, you can go in.”

Representative Rick Brattin (R-Harrisonville) said he is concerned the personal documents and information used to get a compliant ID will land in a government database.

“Everybody may think that this is a black helicopter mentality, but I do not think that this sort of information on a database, especially when it becomes completely nationwide, in the hands of a government, will ever be used for good,” said Brattin.

Others, like Representative Kevin Engler (R-Farmington), said voting against HB 151 would be denying constituents the ability to get a state-issued ID they can use to exercise their rights.

“I would suggest this: If you look up and you see a ceiling, vote ‘Yes.’ If you look up and you see what might be the bottom of an alien spacecraft that’s coming down, and will beam us up to probe us, then vote, ‘No,’” said Engler.

The bill was passed with bipartisan support, 99-40, and now goes to the state Senate.

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.

Missouri House again endorses less time for unemployment benefits

The Missouri House has again voted to reduce the length of time people can claim unemployment benefits.

House Budget Committee Chairman Scott Fitzpatrick again carried unemployment fund reform legislation as he did in 2015. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Bill 288, sent to the Senate Thursday, would cut that time period from 20 to 13 weeks if the state’s unemployment rate is less than 6-percent. It could increase if the jobless rate increases, reaching a maximum of 20 weeks if that rate exceeds 9-percent.

Republicans said the measure is meant to keep the state’s unemployment fund solvent when the economy takes a downturn. Missouri has had to borrow money from the federal government to cover benefits in past economic slowdowns, and business owners have had to pay millions of dollars in interest on those loans.

“Missouri’s the only state that’s had to borrow in the last five recessions, so we’re trying to fix that,” said bill sponsor Scott Fitzpatrick (R-Shell Knob).

Democrats including Gladstone representative Jon Carpenter called the bill unnecessary. He pointed to other states with Republican leadership that offer 26-weeks of benefits and pay more each month.

“Don’t vote yes on this bill because we’ve got to keep the fund solvent. Don’t let that be the argument unless somebody proves to you why that is – why that’s necessary when all these other states can do it,” said Carpenter.

Fitzpatrick said many of those states likely make getting benefits more difficult than does Missouri, allowing them to do more with fewer funds.

Representative Jon Carpenter urged his colleagues to vote against changes to Missouri unemployment benefits. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Representative Rick Brattin (R-Harrisonville) and other Republicans said 20 weeks is plenty of time for a person to find another job.

“Everyone here can do their due diligence and walk, and go through your districts and you will find ‘help wanted’ signs everywhere,” said Brattin. “We don’t have a ‘jobs’ problem. We have a ‘people willing to work problem’ within our districts.”

Representative Bruce Franks, Junior, (D-St. Louis City) said that isn’t true in his district, and said it can often take more than three months for a person to learn the skills or earn the certification needed to take on a new job.

“When we’re talking about bills – especially unemployment compensation, that affects every single Missourian – only thing I ask is the thing that I’ll continue to ask every time I stand up here and talk about any bill, is that we take all communities into consideration,” said Franks.

The measure mirrors one the legislature endorsed over the veto of former Governor Jay Nixon in 2015 that the state Supreme Court threw out on a procedural issue.