Shamed Dogan – Page 2 – Missouri House of Representatives Newsroom

House passes proposal to increase access to long-acting birth control, save Missouri money

The state House has again voted for a measure aimed at increasing women’s access to birth control while saving the state money.

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

House Bill 1499 would let health care providers use a long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) for a patient other than the one to whom it was initially prescribed.

When a woman in Missouri chooses to have a LARC implanted her doctor must order that device and the woman must return for another office visit to have it implanted. If the woman changes her mind before the second visit and doesn’t want the device, Missouri law doesn’t allow it to be used for another patient. It must be returned to its manufacturer and often it is destroyed.

The sponsor of HB 1499, Representative Shamed Dogan (R-Ballwin), said because Medicaid pays for those devices, the passage of his bill would save the state money.

“The State of Missouri currently wastes hundreds of thousands of dollars every year as well as very expensive devices every year, and this bill will allow those devices to be reassigned which will save taxpayer money and will help to save women time and money with extra doctor’s visits,” said Dogan.

Dogan said in Fiscal Year 2017 about 1,800 LARCs were “abandoned” by patients in Missouri. About 1,000 of those could have been used for other patients and that would’ve saved Missouri about $220-thousand.

The proposal has been sent to the Senate 133-10. Last year it was passed as an amendment to other legislation, but was not passed in the Senate.

Earlier story:

Backers say bill to allow reassignment of birth control devices would save money, increase access

House endorses minimum age for Missouri marriage licenses

The House this week voted to set a minimum age at which people in Missouri can get a marriage license, but the bill met more resistance than last year.

Representative Jean Evans (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Marriage licenses can now be issued to persons younger than 15 under certain conditions. House Bill 1630 would increase that age to 17 and require a court hearing on whether the marriage is advisable. No licenses would be issued when either party is younger than 15, or when one party is 21 or older and the other party is younger than 17.

Bill sponsor Jean Evans (R-Manchester) began offering the legislation last year as a way to fight human trafficking; particularly cases in which abusers bring young trafficking victims to Missouri to marry them.

“Currently we do not have a minimum age of marriage in Missouri and this bill seeks to correct that,” said Evans. “In addition it will protect young people from predators and those who might do them harm with forced marriages.”

The bill had bipartisan support, including from St. Louis Democrat Michael Butler, who said it’s appropriate for the legislature to set a minimum age for things like marriage.

“A decision to get married … is a very important decision, and minors in a lot of cases, we know, generally don’t have complete control when that decision is made. To create a way for young people in our state to be protected from tough decisions that aren’t made by themselves, and we know this is occurring, is something that we should be doing,” said Butler.

Shamed Dogan (R-Ballwin) who argued that Missouri has a serious problem with human trafficking.

“If someone over the age of 21 – someone 30 years-old comes to a high school and engages in sexual activity with a 15 year-old or a 12 year-old or anyone under the age of consent that’s statutory rape, and right now that person can legitimately get married. That’s a problem,” said Dogan.

Similar legislation passed out of the House last year 139-1, but this year many Republicans opposed the bill. Some, including Lincoln Republican Wanda Brown, don’t like the requirement that a court hearing decide whether a marriage license should be issued for someone between the ages of 15 and 17.

Representative Wanda Brown (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

“I’m not opposed, necessarily, to raising the age limit for marriage. What I’m opposed to is telling every parent in this state they’re not fit to make a decision for their child without asking a judge, and of course paying an attorney,” said Brown. “The bill was brought forward in the name of stopping human trafficking. This is a made-up concept. This does nothing to stop the traffickers. This only takes the parental rights of good, law abiding citizens.”

Others like David Wood (R-Versailles) expressed concern the bill might affect religious populations living in their districts.

“I have a very large Mennonite population. Mennonite population typically marries relatively young,” said Wood. “My court could get really backed up waiting on a judge to approve a lot of these weddings when they’re approved by the family, they’re approved by the church, and they’re welcomed in the community.”

Regarding concerns like those of Wood, Evans said her bill is very similar to one in place in Pennsylvania where there are significant, similar religious populations.

“If you’re under 18 you have to have parent permission and go before a judge, and the judge just has to basically say there’s nothing – there’s no ill will here. There’s not somebody taking advantage of someone. This is a good fit, the families support it, and go forward and get married,” said Evans. “It’s very similar to that and it’s worked very well in Pennsylvania where, again, they have much larger communities of Amish and Mennonite even than we do here in Missouri.”

Evans also said the bill does nothing to prevent a religious wedding ceremony.

Despite increased opposition over last year, a bipartisan 95-50 vote sent the bill to the Senate. Last year Evans’ similar legislation was approved by a Senate committee but advanced no further.

Another measure backers say will help fight human trafficking became the first bill sent to the governor’s office in 2018. Speaker Todd Richardson (R-Poplar Bluff) signed House Bill 1246. The bill, sponsored by Adrian Republican Patricia Pike would require the development of posters displaying information on human trafficking.

House rejects greater penalties for assaulting, killing police dogs, following emotional debate

The Missouri House has defeated a bill to increase penalties for assaulting or killing a law enforcement animal amid emotional debate led by black Democrats, who emphasized what they say those dogs represent to their communities.

Representative Robert Cornejo (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Bill 1649 would increase those penalties as high as a class-C felony, which carries up to ten years in prison, for killing a police dog or injuring it to the extent it cannot continue to be used as a police dog.

The sponsor of House Bill 1649, St. Charles Republican Robert Cornejo, has offered similar legislation for several years. He said the penalties for hurting or killing a police dog are too lenient.

“Even if you treat it as property, with the tens of thousands of dollars that are invested in this property I don’t think that the punishment should be the same as failing to return a library book that’s worth ten bucks. I think this is something that is right-sizing the punishment,” said Cornejo.

The bill was given initial approval last week but only after many Democrats spoke against it saying that police dogs have, in the words of Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty (Kansas City), “been used as a weapon against black citizens.”

House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

During debate before the vote whether to send the bill to the Senate, Representative Bruce Franks, Junior, (D-Ferguson) spoke with Cornejo about what police dogs meant to him.

“I can remember when I was in elementary school how much I would hate watching civil rights videos because of what they did with those dogs,” said Franks.

Some Republicans also talked about issues they had with the legislation. Shamed Dogan (R-Ballwin) said under HB 1649 the penalties for killing or disabling a police dog would be greater than those for second degree rape or assaulting a person in a nursing home. He also said the bill leaves no room for self-defense against a police dog and does not account for incidents in which a dog might be used improperly by police.

“This piece of legislation does not allow me to stand my ground against a police dog,” said Dogan. “It is the irony of all ironies that those of us who support the Second Amendment would say that I have a right to self-defense, that I have a right to use deadly force against other people when I believe that my life is in jeopardy from them, but if I’m being charged at by a police dog then that right just goes away and I have to take whatever that dog is going to give me.”

Some Republicans said the issues that were raised caused them to change from favoring the bill in last week’s vote to opposing it. Rolla Republican Keith Frederick told Beatty the legislation needs to be reconsidered.

Representative Shamed Dogan (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications

“I think if I were in the African American community and hearing the discussion that you’ve done today, I would very much be saying to myself, ‘You know, this is not good optics, for sure; it’s not a good perception,’” said Frederick.

The vote on the bill was 73-68, short of the 82 needed to send it to the Senate. Cornejo noted that there were 14 members absent for that vote and said the bill could be brought up again for consideration, or that the issue should still receive attention.

“I think if we had full attendance the bill would’ve passed,” said Cornejo. “I know, speaking with somebody already since the vote, there may be a motion to [reconsider] or we could revisit this issue as an amendment on the floor in the future.”

Beatty said she was, “a little bit,” surprised that the bill failed.

“I was very impressed by the fact that folks actually listened,” said Beatty. “I don’t think when we did the perfection [vote] that people understood the deep-seeded anguish that people felt over this particular bill, particularly when we were basically saying that animal’s life takes precedent.”

Democrats also called for other bills dealing with police matters to be advanced.

“Until we face this issue head-on and look at the legislation that’s out there and really deal with the issue little pieces like this are not going to fix it and there’s going to be unintended consequences,” said Beatty.

Backers say bill to allow reassignment of birth control devices would save money, increase access

Proponents say a bill in the Missouri House would expand access to birth control and save the state hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

House Bill 1499 would allow health care providers to use a long-acting contraceptive device for a patient other than the one for whom it was initially prescribed.

In Missouri when a woman goes to a health care provider and elects to use a long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC), her provider must order that device and implant it on a subsequent office visit. Often women don’t return to have the device implanted, and Missouri law doesn’t allow that device to be used by another patient – it must be returned to its manufacturer and is often destroyed.

In Fiscal Year 2017 approximately 1,800 LARCs were so “abandoned” in Missouri. About 1,100 of those could have been used in other patients, saving the state approximately $220-thousand dollars.

Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri, Alison Dreith, told the House Committee on Health and Mental Health Policy, “By redistributing the device two things can happen. Money is saved. LARC devices are very expensive and this allows for the product to be utilized which overall saves the state money; and due to having stock on their shelves that can be used for another MO Health Net patient, providers are able to insert the IUD or implant that same day rather than having to wait for the person to return.”

Bill sponsor Representative Shamed Dogan (R-Ballwin) said the issue is one of fiscal responsibility.

“We’re wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars on pretty expensive birth control devices when in any other case with a pharmacy, with a product that someone orders and they don’t pick it up, you can reassign that to another patient,” said Dogan. “This bill just allows MOHealthNet to do that with these devices and it has the potential savings to the state of a quarter of a million dollars a year.”

The proposal was passed out of the House in 2017 as an amendment to other legislation but did not become law. No one testified in opposition to it in the Committee’s hearing.

The committee has not voted on HB 1499.

Representatives urge on Yom HaShoah remembrance, education about the Holocaust

Two state representatives have asked Missourians to remember the Holocaust on Yom HaShoah, the day Israel commemorates the six million Jews killed in that event.

Representatives Shamed Dogan (left) and Stacey Newman speak in the Missouri House about Holocaust remembrance. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communication)

St. Louis Democrat Stacey Newman and Ballwin Republican Shamed Dogan spoke on the House Floor on Monday, as Yom HaShoah was being observed. In Israel, the day is marked by ceremonies, the closing by law of entertainment facilities, and a two-minute moment of silence during which most people stop what they’re doing for solemn reflection. This includes motorists stopping and standing by their vehicles in the roadway.

“The overwhelming theme that runs through all of these observances worldwide, with reformed, conservative, orthodox Jews, lay leaders of all faiths, is the importance of remembering,” said Newman. “Recalling the victims of the catastrophe and ensuring that this tragedy never happens again.”

Newman’s husband’s father, aunts, uncle, and grandmother are Holocaust survivors who escaped Nazi Germany in 1938. Many of his grandmother’s sisters, brothers-in-law, and other family members, were never accounted for.

She and Dogan, whose wife is Jewish, say they will spend the next year working together to revive the Missouri Holocaust Education and Awareness Commission Act of 2006.

Dogan said the commission was created to, “Educate the public of the crimes of genocide in an effort to deter indifference to crimes against humanity, and human suffering wherever they occur.”

Missouri House members observe a minute of silence in remembrance of the victims, survivors, and heroes of the Holocaust. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Dogan said he and Newman would work with the St. Louis Holocaust Museum & Learning Center and the state’s universities and public schools to keep the Act alive.

“We’ve seen enough antisemitism in our own state, and unfortunately nationwide we’ve seen the continued existence of Holocaust denial, which is a lie, and all of those things make this – the education of the Holocaust – even more urgent,” said Dogan.

At the request of Newman and Dogan, the House observed a minute of silence on Monday to remember the victims, survivors, and heroes of the Holocaust.

House advances ban on lobbyist gifts to local government and school officials

The state House is close to passing another ethics reform proposal – this one aimed at the influence lobbyists have on local elected officials.

Representative Shamed Dogan has proposed banning lobbyist gifts to local government officials since 2015. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications) — Representative Shamed Dogan has proposed banning lobbyist gifts to local government officials since 2015. In 2016 it was added to a proposed ban on gifts to legislators and statewide elected officials. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Bill 229 would bar gifts from lobbyists to local government officials, superintendents, school board members, members of charter school boards, and the staff and family members of such people.

The proposal is described as extending to local elected officials the same ethical reforms the House has proposed for members of the legislature and statewide elected officials, most recently in House Bill 60 which was sent to the Senate in January.

“It would simply bring local elected and appointed officials into the same standards that we’ve set for ourselves in terms of banning lobbyists gifts for them,” said the bill’s sponsor, Representative Shamed Dogan (R-Ballwin).

“It clears up the definition of local government lobbyists, which is somewhat murky right now. Not everyone who gives gifts to local government officials right now is required to register as a local government lobbyist, so this requires them to do that,” said Dogan.

The bill originally extended its prohibitions only to governments and school districts with annual operating budgets of more than $10-million. It was amended to remove that cap.

Representative Deb Lavender offers an amendment removing a provision that extended the gift ban only to officials in local governments and school districts with annual operating budgets of $10-million or more. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

That amendment was offered by Kirkwood Democrat Deb Lavender.

“I think you can make a case the smaller you are – county, city, town or village – operating with a budget of $10-million or under that, you might actually be more apt to consider taking a gift or have your vote influenced,” said Lavender.

Odessa Republican Glen Kolkmeyer said he is glad the proposal would extend to superintendents, after an incident he said happened in the Wellington-Napoleon School District.

“The superintendent lobbied hard to put in a computerized climate control system in the school. It was a quarter of a million dollars. By the time they paid interest, because they had to finance it, it was a third of a million dollars, for them to use it for two or three years and for the next superintendent to walk in the door and scrap it,” said Kolkmeyer. “I’m glad that this includes school superintendents because I think some of our superintendents are living pretty high on the hog by some of the perks that are given them.”

Dogan said he’s seen similar situations unfold in St. Louis-area school districts.

Dogan has also cited, in promoting his bill, an experience he had while a Ballwin Alderman. He learned the city administrator had accepted World Series tickets from a trash company that had a no-bid contract up for approval with the city.

Just as HB 60 would allow lobbyists to contribute money to events to which all state elected officials and legislators are invited, HB 229 would allow lobbyists to pay for events to which all members of a political subdivision or all members of the General Assembly are invited.

HB 229 has broad bipartisan support. One more favorable vote will send it to the Senate.

Republican plan would allow pharmacists to prescribe birth control pills

The sponsor of legislation that would allow pharmacists to prescribe birth control pills says his bill is both pro-choice and pro-life.

“It’s pro-choice in the sense that we are trying to give women more control over their reproductive health and over their family planning, and it’s pro-life in the sense that the bill is intended to reduce unintended pregnancies and abortions,” said Ballwin Republican Shamed Dogan.

He said House Bill 233 could help reduce Missouri’s unplanned pregnancy rate by as much as 25-percent.

HB 233 would let pharmacists prescribe oral contraceptives to those 18 or older regardless of whether that person has a previous prescription. Those younger than 18 who have evidence of a previous prescription could also be prescribed the pill by a pharmacist.

The legislation is projected to save Missouri money, and Dogan said it would save women money and time by negating the need for some visits to their doctor.

Several groups testified in favor of the bill, including the Teen Pregnancy and Prevention Partnership. Its Executive Director Meg Boyko said HB 233, “would just be one step in the right direction to lowering barriers to access to care to those teens so they can take responsibility of their health and their health outcomes and prevent teen pregnancy.”

Representative Cora Faith Walker (D-Ferguson) said a similar plan in California didn’t have the results backers hoped it would.

“This is just a different barrier. By making it behind the counter, making it a requirement for pharmacists to write the prescription, it just kind of shifts the barrier,” said Walker.

“We’re a different state than California,” Dogan responded. “I think one of the issues that we might have that they don’t face nearly as much is rural folks … I think the fact that many people in rural areas don’t have access to a doctor in the same way that they have a lot more pharmacists in their areas … Yeah there’s still somewhat of a barrier, but it’s not nearly what the barrier is right now.”

Dogan said he favors making birth control over-the-counter, but noted such proposals have not been adopted in states that are more politically progressive than Missouri, and he doesn’t feel such a bill would be likely to pass in the Missouri legislature.

Shannon Cooper testified against HB 233 on behalf of Blue Cross/Blue Shield and the Missouri Coalition. He said their primary concern was that without the need for a prescription, women would make fewer visits to their doctors.

“Under the [Affordable Care Act] and insurance policies, we provide a free exam once a year and we feel like for a lot of the invincibles that we talk about who don’t think they’re ever going to be ill or have any problems, when they receive these birth control pills and the prescriptions that does drive them back to the physician to get that exam,” said Cooper. “I think we all know that early detection of any type of disease is one of the best cures for that disease.”

Cooper also expressed concern that HB 233 would allow up to a 12-month supply of birth control pills to be prescribed under certain circumstances.

“We feel like there will be certain individuals who could take advantage, get that supply and then drop off our policies with that 12-month supply,” said Cooper. “Obviously there’s a cost concern there.”

Others expressed concern that allowing a 12-month supply could lead to wasted pills, such as in cases in which a woman only uses them for a while and then stops for some reason.

Representative Mike Stephens (R-Bolivar), himself a pharmacist, said he hopes the proposal represents a larger effort to expand the availability of medical services.

“If there is a saving grace to the health care system it must include a greatly expanded role in health care delivery and health care access by a wide variety of health care professionals,” said Stephens.

The committee has not voted on HB 233.

Last year similar legislation was passed by the House 97-50, but stalled in the state Senate.

MO House again asked to require independent investigators in officer-involved deaths

A House Republican is again proposing that independent investigators be required whenever a law enforcement officer in Missouri is involved in someone’s death.

Representative Shamed Dogan (right) listens as Michael Bell testifies in favor of a bill that would require independent investigations of all deaths involving law enforcement officers. Bell's son was fatally shot by police in Kenosha, WI, in 2004. Bell later won a lawsuit against police in that case. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications) — Representative Shamed Dogan (right) listens as Michael Bell testifies in favor of a bill that would require independent investigations of all deaths involving law enforcement officers. Bell’s son was fatally shot by police in Kenosha, WI, in 2004. Bell later won a lawsuit against police in that case. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Bill 232 would require all law enforcement agencies in Missouri to have written policies on how officer-involved deaths would be handled. Those policies would have to utilize at least two investigators, with neither of them being employed by the same agency as the officer involved in the death. In the case of traffic-related deaths, the bill would require that an outside crash reconstruction team participate in the investigation.

The bill would also require the investigators issue a report to the local prosecutor. If that prosecutor decides no prosecution will follow, the investigators would make that report public.

This is the third year Representative Shamed Dogan (R-Baldwin) has offered such a bill.

“My personal interest in it came after the events in Ferguson. I was really just seeking ways to try and improve people’s trust in police,” said Dogan. “As we saw in Ferguson and other incidents in our state since then, I think there has been a diminished trust that whenever police do kill someone in their custody that there’s going to be justice done for that person.”

The bill is modeled after legislation that has become law in Wisconsin. It was backed by Michael Bell, whose son Michael was shot and killed by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 2004. Bell later won a lawsuit against police over the incident.

Bell said the legislation has been put to the test in the four states where it has been passed and he believes it has worked well and has improved the public’s trust in law enforcement. He said that would also make police safer.

“One of the things I was appalled by was the shooting of the five police officers in Dallas,” said Bell. “Those retribution-type things are occurring out there, and I think that this would help in the right direction of making those retribution-type shootings become nonexistent.”

Representative Justin Hill (R-Lake St. Louis), a former O’Fallon police officer and drug task force member, questioned whether the bill would make a difference.

“There’s no direction [in the bill] as to how far and wide you seek other law enforcement investigators,” said Hill. “In St. Louis County, I mean we have like 30 agencies within, I don’t know, 20 square miles probably. Don’t you fear that you get the same thing there? I mean, ‘Hey buddy, come on over here and investigate this?”

As in past years, some have questioned what the cost of Dogan’s proposal would be on law enforcement agencies, especially in rural areas.

Hill also said many law enforcement agencies in Missouri already use an outside investigator in officer-involved deaths.

“There was an independent investigation in Ferguson and the city still burned,” said Hill.

Dogan said after the House last week endorsed legislation that would increase penalties when certain crimes are committed against law enforcement, following up with his legislation makes sense.

“We had a very productive and very heartfelt debate over bills concerning how we can protect law enforcement officers, and we definitely stood up as a body and said, ‘We have your backs,’ to law enforcement, all the people in our communities ask is that we have their backs,” said Dogan.

The bill would allow the agency an officer involved in a death works for to conduct its own investigation as long as it would not interfere with the independent investigation that the bill requires.

Missouri House asked to consider multiple ethics reforms

House lawmakers continue to lay out a slate of proposed ethics reforms they believe would help restore the public’s trust in Missouri’s elected officials.

Representative Kip Kendrick (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Columbia Democrat Kip Kendrick presented to the House Committee on General Laws, House Bill 217, an omnibus bill encompassing a series of measures offered by other members of his caucus. He said each proposed reform is based on promises made by candidates during the recent campaign cycle – promises that he says were endorsed by voters based on which candidates made those promises and won.

“There is the appearance, obviously, of corruption. There’s a lack of trust – I believe that we all see it – a lack of trust that the people have in how the processes unfold here at the State Capitol, at the federal level as well,” said Kendrick. “The bill before you, make a strong argument that it’s an aggressive and comprehensive anti-corruption, reform bill.”

Two key provisions would build on work already done by the House toward ethics reform that House Democrats say they want to take farther than earlier proposals. One aims to ban gifts and monetary donations from lobbyists to elected officials.

Kirkwood Democrat Deb Lavender is carrying the Democrats’ version of a proposed gift ban, House Bill 212. She told lawmakers her bill would be tougher than House Bill 60, passed two weeks ago by the House.

Kirkwood Democrat Deb Lavender is carrying the Democrats’ version of a proposed gift ban, House Bill 212. She told lawmakers under House Bill 60, passed two weeks ago by the House, organizations could exploit a provision that lets them provide meals for legislators at events as long as all members of the General Assembly and all state lawmakers are invited.

“I have been invited to a Bar Association Dinner in Kansas City. I’ve now been invited to one in Jefferson City and I’ve been invited to one in St. Louis. A year ago I was invited to the one in St. Louis,” said Lavender. “So as the entire General Assembly has now been invited to all three events, and perhaps more, here is how the Missouri Bar Association is already working around a bill that has passed on our floor; how they can still take you out and buy a meal and report it to the General Assembly so there’s no individual accountability.”

The other provision proposes extending the prohibition on elected or appointed officials or legislators becoming lobbyists from six months to five years after their term has ended, and would apply that to certain legislative staff. It is also found in House Bill 213, sponsored by Representative Joe Adams (D-University City).

“This is what [Governor Eric Greitens] suggested in his campaign as he was running for the office, head of the state, so basically using his words,” said Adams.

Other provisions in HB 217 propose prohibiting any candidates’ committees from transferring their funds to their candidate’s family members; requiring former candidates to dissolve their candidate committees; and letting the Missouri Ethics Commission prosecute criminal cases and initiate civil cases if the state Attorney General declines to pursue either regarding an alleged ethics violation. Those provisions are found in House Bill 214 (Tracy McCreery), House Bill 215 (Mark Ellebracht), House Bill 216 (Crystal Quade), respectively.

Republicans have their own proposals to further reform Missouri ethics laws. Ballwin Representative Shamed Dogan wants to ban gifts from lobbyists to local government officials.

Dogan said such officials are held to a much lower standard than legislators.

“I was an alderman in my city before being elected to this position, and we had a trash contract that was before our city. I subsequently found out, after we’d passed this trash contract on a no-bid basis, that our City Administrator had been lobbied by that trash company by taking him to game seven of the World Series in 2011,” said Dogan of his proposal, House Bill 229.

Republican Tom Hurst (Meta) presented House Bill 150, which would exempt individuals not paid to lobby from having to register or report as a lobbyist.

Hurst said he wants members of the public to know that they can talk to elected officials about issues that concern them without having to file as a lobbyist, and without fear of being prosecuted for failing to file.

“The gray area tends to make people that I talk to wary about what they think happens in this Capitol and what they can do, legally, without getting in any trouble,” said Hurst.

Republican Jean Evans said the bill could raise more issues.

“So what’s to keep someone who’s not registered as a lobbyist, who’s not paid, from, say, giving lavish gifts to a legislator that’s not being reported in order to affect some sort of change in legislation or in order to, say, perhaps influence a decision on procurement whether it’s at the state or local level?” asked Evans.

The committee has not voted on any of those bills.

House Speaker Todd Richardson (R-Poplar Bluff) and other legislative leaders have said ethics reforms would continue to be a priority in the 2017 session.

Missouri House advances right-to-work bill, rejects sending it to voters

The state House has advanced a right-to-work proposal but rejected Democrats’ attempt to have Missourians vote on it.

Representative Doug Beck offered an amendment that would have had a right-to-work proposal go to a vote of the people, if passed by the legislature and signed by Governor Eric Greitens. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Right-to-work is a priority for the Republican super majorities in both chambers and of Governor Eric Greitens (R). The plan the House voted on would bar union membership or the paying of union dues from being a condition of employment. It would make violators of that prohibition guilty of a Class “C” misdemeanor and would require county prosecutors and the state Attorney General to investigate complaints of violations.

Most Republican House members say the bill would make Missouri more competitive against neighboring states, would increase wages, and argue that requiring union membership violates employees’ rights.

Democrats say right-to-work will lower wages and would be a government overreach into contracts between unions and employers.

St. Louis Democrat Doug Beck proposed an amendment that would put right-to-work before voters if it is passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Greitens.

“A bill of this magnitude which will affect every working person in Missouri – everybody who makes a paycheck like I do, union and non-union alike – deserves to go to a vote of the people,” said Beck.

Representative Holly Rehder (R-Sikeston) is sponsoring right-to-work legislation in the Missouri House. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Republicans like Paul Curtman (R-Union) say voters spoke on the issue when they elected a Republican governor to go with Republican supermajorities.

He said Democrats are calling for a vote on the bill now that there is a Republican governor who won’t veto it, but years ago they opposed a Republican bill that would have put the issue to voters at a time when Democratic Governor Jay Nixon would have vetoed it.

“They’re only using this amendment strictly for political exploitation of the rights of the people,” said Curtman. “When it’s convenient to special interests you let the people vote. When it’s not convenient to special interests you don’t let them vote, or you let them vote – whatever the case may be.”

Representative Clem Smith (D-Velda Village Hills) said the argument that the election of a Republican governor means the people want right-to-work doesn’t hold up.

“I didn’t hear anybody use that argument when we had a Democratic governor and he was vetoing bills,” said Smith. “Some of the same individuals were saying, ‘Oh, that’s not what the people want.’ But the people elected him, so we can’t use that logic.”

Ballwin Republican Shamed Dogan said to put the issue to voters would defeat the purpose of having elected representatives.

“If you’re going to put a referendum clause on this piece of legislation it could also be put on every piece of legislation that this body takes up,” said Dogan. “The purpose of a representative government, which we have here, is that we represent the will of our districts, the will of our people, collectively the will of the State of Missouri, and if we’re going to put referendum clauses on every piece of legislation that comes across here we might as well just get up and leave.”

Republican-led opposition carried a vote defeating Beck’s amendment, and the House then voted to advance the right-to-work bill 101-58. Another vote for the bill would send it to the state Senate.