VIDEO: House sends Governor a Bill to Block Landfill near Kansas City-area Neighborhoods

The state House has voted to send to the Governor a bill that would prevent the construction of a landfill in a residentially zoned area near the Kansas City border.

House Bill 1751 would require approval of nearby municipalities within a one-mile radius of a proposed solid waste processing facility, demolition landfill, or sanitary landfill, in addition to already proposed restrictions on solid waste disposal areas.

The issue has been a top priority for several years for Pleasant Hill Republican Mike Haffner, who said today’s vote is a victory for the property rights of Missourians.

“I am thrilled that HB 1751 has cleared the Missouri House and is one step closer to becoming law,” said Representative Haffner. “This legislation is a victory for the people of Missouri, who have spoken loud and clear about the need to defend their property rights and preserve the well-being of their communities.”

Majority Floor Leader Jonathan Patterson, a Lee’s Summit Republican, expressed pride in the work of Haffner and other colleagues in the House and Senate in at last guiding this issue through the legislature.

“The business owners that worked to build this landfill are decent, well-intentioned people who want to better their community and provide a service. I commend their actions to work with the community, the City of Raymore, and the legislature to come to an amicable agreement to draw this issue to a close,” Patterson said.

The House voted 121-25 to send that legislation to the governor, who can sign it into law, veto it, or allow it to become law without any action.

House Approves Plan to Reduce Wait Times, Costs for Healthcare

      House lawmakers have voted to decrease the time Missourians must wait for some medical procedures, increase quality of and access to healthcare, and decrease costs.

      Insurance entities require health care providers to seek prior authorization before performing some procedures before they will agree to cover those procedures.  If House Bill 1976 becomes law, health care providers who reach a 90 percent approval rate for a given procedure over a six month period will then not have to seek prior authorization for the following six months.

Representative Melanie Stinnett (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      “Insurance companies and their prior authorization standards are getting in the way of health care for everyday Missourians,” said bill sponsor Melanie Stinnett (R-Springfield).

      She said the passage of HB 1976 would mean “better access to care for patients and, potentially, decreased cost for patients, because the prior authorization process, itself, increases costs within the healthcare system.”

      Stinnett said without knowing it, many patients have likely had a negative experience that involved prior authorization.

      “Often, [patients] feel like it is something that the doctor hasn’t done or needs to do, but in reality it’s something that the health insurers lay over on top of what the health care provider has to do,” said Stinnett.  “It’s a challenge that the health care provider has to deal with, but often the patient doesn’t realize who’s imposing it or where that’s coming from.”

      “As someone who has spent hours and hours and hours trying to get preauthorization for patients that need physical therapy, I cannot support this enough,” St. Louis Representative Jo Doll (D), who has worked as a physical therapist, told her colleagues.  “The process is burdensome, it takes hours and hours of – people that are there to provide patient care – takes them away from patients and makes them calling, writing, submitting countless forms to get visits approved.”

Representative Jo Doll (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      Health care industry workers and those patients who know of the prior authorization process view it as little more than “red tape” that drives up costs and slows care, and Representative Patty Lewis (D-Kansas City) agrees, and said some doctors report that the delays it causes lead to worse outcomes and even deaths.

      “Some of the witnesses who came through committee talked about the additional [workers that must be hired to do prior authorization paperwork].  We know we have a workforce shortage in the State of Missouri, so putting additional workforce just to go through red tape when they end up providing the care that’s needed … this is the right thing to do to increases access to care,” Lewis said.  

      The legislation made its way to the House after being approved by the Committee on Healthcare Reform.  Chairman Kent Haden (R-Mexico) noted that panel gave it a bipartisan, unanimous vote.

      “The only people that testified against it were the insurance people and [pharmacy benefit managers],” Haden said.  “It is really good for all of our clients, all of our constituents.  Not many bills we see effect everybody in the House and all their constituents.  This bill will effect virtually everyone and their constituents immediately.  It’s a great bill.” 

      Stinnett told her fellows the prior authorization process gives power to insurance companies and leaves providers fighting to get the best care and outcomes for their patients.  Her legislation aims to change that, and to allow providers to focus more on patients’ needs rather than what insurers will allow.

      “I think that this bill really puts a highlight on prioritizing the physician and patient relationship, and allowing the physician or the other health care provider and that patient to make their health care decisions.”

      The House voted 146-6 to send that legislation to the Senate.

House Anti-Bullying ‘Childhood Hero Act’ gets Unanimous Passage to Senate

      A House bill passed this week aims to keep students who stand up to bullies in Missouri from being punished along with those bullies.   

      “Our goal is to make sure that a victim of violence, an immediate act of violence, isn’t automatically suspended from school for being involved.  It also allows a teacher to act in good faith to help a victim of immediate violence,” said Representative Tricia Byrnes (R-St. Charles), the sponsor of House Bill 1715, the “Missouri Childhood Hero Act.”

Representative Tricia Byrnes (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      Byrnes said the language is meant to, “address some of the bullying and violence that we have seen in our schools across the state, and quite honestly in schools across the country, and I’m very proud that [we], in a bipartisan fashion, have come together to stand up for kids.”

      “This bill is very timely and it is appropriate,” said Representative Raychel Proudie (D-Ferguson).  “I believe this bill prevents victims of bullying and physical violence from being victimized twice, both by the altercation and by being suspended pending investigation.”

      The Act would require that public and charter schools have anti-bullying policies and that those policies meet certain requirements.  It would restrict the use of “zero-tolerance” provisions that would punish a victim acting in self-defense, and require that administrators considering punishments consider a statement from any student who engaged in self-defense.   

      The bill specifies that a school employee or volunteer who intervenes in an incident of bullying or other violence is immune from liability when following certain procedures, and that a district or charter school is immune to civil liability for disciplinary actions if following specified procedures.   

      The bill would also extend school districts’ efforts to counsel and educate victims of bullying to those students who engage in bullying.  That provision was added by Marshfield Representative John Black (R), the sponsor of House Bill 2630, which has been paired with HB 1715.

      “As was mentioned in committee by one of the committee members, ‘hurt people hurt people.’  This tries to address the situation by addressing both the student being bullied and to try to get help to the student doing the bullying,” Black told his colleagues.   

      “As a teacher and school counselor myself, we are professionals, we are practitioners, and in as much, should have to answer for making sure that we are keeping eyes on children, and making and cultivating a safe learning environment for children,” said Proudie, who is a certified teacher and school counselor. 

Representative Raychel Proudie (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communication)

      “[The legislation] really does put the onus on schools and school districts to do the appropriate amount of investigation to get to the bottom of what happened, and it also holds individual teachers or adults who are responsible for supervising children to account and to answer for where they are and some of the actions taken.  Anyone who’s been a parent and who has had to go to a school or a school district to continuously ring the alarm about their student being bullied and getting into these physical and even verbal altercations, and the school or school district kind of throwing their hands up and saying, ‘Well, both of them were participating,’ it’s just not fair.”

      Regarding investigations, the legislation would shorten the time in which a district employee who witnesses a bullying incident must report it from two days to one, and require that the report be in writing. 

      Results of investigations would have to be presented to all involved students and include a description of any interventions, initiatives, techniques, or disciplines.  In cases in which an investigation finds that bullying occurred the parents of the instigator must be notified.  If the finding is that the incident rose to the level of 2nd degree harassment, law enforcement would be notified, or in cases involving a student younger than 11, the state Children’s Division would be notified. 

      “I think we’re all familiar with the scenario where two kids get into a fight and they’re both kicked out of school, and that’s what we’re trying to prevent, and I think that’s what this bill prevents,” said Representative Ian Mackey (D-St. Louis). 

      “It’s going to require a little more work on the part of administrators and on the part of adults in the school setting to actually investigate what happened, to actually make sure that perpetrators are suspended if they need to be, but that victims are not kicked out of school simply as a result of being bullied.”

      The House voted 150-0 to send that bill to the Senate.

House Honors Creator of State Flag with Induction into Hall of Famous Missourians

House Speaker Dean Plocher and the Missouri House of Representatives are honored to announce the induction of Marie Watkins Oliver into the Hall of Famous Missourians.

Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher stands alongside the newly unveiled bust of Marie Watkins Oliver with her great-great grandson, Jack Oliver. (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Marie Watkins Oliver, hailed as the “Betsy Ross of Missouri,” played a pivotal role in crafting the Missouri State Flag. In 1908, Oliver, the wife of Senator Robert Burett Oliver and a resident of Cape Girardeau, headed the committee formed by the Daughters of the American Revolution and took on the challenge of creating an official state flag.

Her resulting masterpiece integrated red, white, and blue, symbolizing Missouri’s federal ties while embodying local autonomy and self-governance. The central coat-of-arms denotes Missouri’s geographical significance, while twenty-four stars on the blue band mark the state’s place as the twenty-fourth state in the Union. Each color carried profound meaning: blue for vigilance, permanency, and justice; red for valor; and white for purity.

Despite setbacks, such as the loss of her original flag in a fire, Oliver’s resilience triumphed. Following numerous attempts to secure legislative approval, the Oliver Flag was officially adopted as the state flag on March 22, 1913. The silk flag she crafted stands proudly in Jefferson City, serving as a timeless testament to Oliver’s lasting legacy.

In recognition of her efforts and impact on the Show-Me State, Speaker Plocher presented the bust for Oliver as the latest member to join the Hall of Famous Missourians.

“In honoring Marie Watkins Oliver’s induction into the Hall of Famous Missourians, we celebrate not just a woman of historical significance, but a visionary who stitched together the very fabric of our state’s identity,” House Speaker Dean Plocher, R-Des Peres, said. “Like the stars on our flag, her contributions shine brightly, reminding us of the resilience and creativity that define Missouri. It’s a privilege to recognize her pivotal role in shaping our history and heritage.”

Bipartisan Array of Bills from 13 House Members would Cut Taxes on Food, Diapers, or Feminine Hygiene Products

      Many House lawmakers think Missourians need a break in the taxes they pay to the state.  Thirteen House members, nearly evenly split across party lines, have proposed doing so by cutting taxes on necessary products, particularly diapers, feminine hygiene products, and food. 

      As the legislature enters the final few weeks of its session those bill sponsors are hoping their proposals will get some traction, perhaps as amendments to other proposals, or at least legislative hearings that could spur movement in future years.  

Representatives Crystal Quade, Adam Schnelting, Maggie Nurrenbern, Ben Keathley, Patty Lewis, Chris Sanders, Barbara Phifer, Justin Hicks, Robert Sauls, Chris Dinkins, Jo Doll, Wendy Hausman, and Mark Sharp all filed proposals for the 2024 legislative session that would reduce or eliminate sales taxes on one or more products that Missourians need, generally including food, diapers, or feminine hygiene products, or some combination of the three. (Photos: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      None of these proposals have been referred to committees.

      Missouri is one of only 13 states in the nation that taxes food.  Three neighboring states do not tax food, and Kansas will join that number next year.  St. Charles Republican Adam Schnelting is one of the legislators proposing that Missouri do the same. 

      Schnelting said as inflation has skyrocketed in recent years, he has hoped that his idea would catch on amount his House colleagues. 

      “My own family, my daughter is 6 years old, my son is 18 months old, we have a growing family and we feel it in our own pocketbook.  I know I’ve got a lot of constituents and a lot of people back home that feel it in their pocketbook.  If people in my district have to live within their means then so does the government,” Schnelting said.  “My wife and I were spending almost $1,000 a month on food … every little bit helps and adds up.  If you’re talking several hundred dollars that can go toward over things, like diapers.”

      Lone Jack Republican Chris Sander said in districts such as his, which is near the border with Kansas, Missourians are taking advantage of the lower rates some neighboring states offer. 

      “Within a year or two it’ll be zero sales tax in Kansas on groceries, so if you live where I live, you can drive over the state line and get your groceries and forget [the taxes] in Missouri, and it’s then a free market competition issue, especially along anywhere on the western side of Missouri,” Sander said. 

      Robert Sauls (D-Independence) proposes exempting food not only from the state sales tax of 1.225 percent, but also from local sales and use taxes, which in some parts of the state drive the rate up to more than eight percent. 

      Sauls said, “Absolutely everybody needs food to survive.  In this particularly time, where inflation is still high, this is one of those things that I think we can actually impact the lives of people by simply taking away the tax on food.  Since Kansas has done it and many other states have done it I think it’s something that we should do as well.”

      Representative Chris Dinkins (R-Lesterville) said she and other legislators are seeing more and more of their constituents struggling, and they want to help.   

      “I think we’re always looking at ways to help the citizens of Missouri,” Dinkins said.  “When you look at people’s income status, you find that your lowest income people spend the largest percentage of their income on food, so they are the ones that’s most impacted by the sales tax.  They spend around 30 percent or more of their income on food, whereas your middle income people only spend a little over 10 percent, so we’re impacting the people that need it the most, and we’re trying to help those that need it the most.”

      Missouri taxes diapers and feminine hygiene products at 4.225 percent.  Several neighboring states tax those products at a greater rate, but three don’t tax feminine hygiene products at all and one does not tax diapers. 

      The 4.225 percent rate is often called a “luxury” tax, as it is applied to items that are deemed non-essential.  That doesn’t sit well with many lawmakers, including Representative Mark Sharp (D-Kansas City, who proposes taxing such items at the lesser 1.225 percent.

      “They should not be taxed at a luxury rate … so reducing them down to a food sales tax, I believe, is the very least that we can do,” said Sharp.  “Many states have gone as far as just removing the tax altogether, so we have to something to at least move the needle.”

      Others, like Republican Wendy Hausman (St. Peters) want to take the extra step of eliminating the state sales tax on those items, altogether.      

      “I think it’s important because these are not luxury items but they’re sort of treated like luxury items.  You must have them, obviously.”

      Hausman, who is in her second year as a freshman legislator, said the idea was brought to her by fellow members of a businesswomen’s group, Little Black Book. 

      “These are women who, many of them, do very well, but they’re thinking about the women who have come before them, or how they were before they got in the position that they are [in] today, and I think that’s also a reflection of our community … let’s come together and let’s help other women.  I think that was the reason I like this bill so much.”

      “We want to make sure that we’re supporting Missouri families by making it easier for them, especially in a day and age where they try to tax you and gouge you everywhere.  We need to figure out ways to try to give people and families relief,” said Lake St. Louis Republican Representative Justin Hicks.  “We all know that females need feminine hygiene products, that’s a given, and with people having kids out there we all know that diapers are usually a major expense to a family.”

      Many legislators and advocates point out that difficulty affording or providing necessary products has a ripple effect, contributing to issues with both mental and physical health. 

      “From a parent’s perspective, not being able to provide an essential item for their baby [such as diapers] has a mental toll, so it impacts their mental aspect.  Also [as] a workforce issue, on average, parents in diaper need miss 5.1 days of work a month because they can’t afford diapers to send to child care with their child, so this is a workforce issue,” said Representative Patty Lewis (D-Kansas City).  “Then not to forget the physical health aspect that it has on a baby, sitting in saturated diapers hours after hours.  From UTIs to diaper rash, sometimes if they’re not cured with over-the-counter medicine they have to go to the physician or the pediatrician, so additional time off work for the parents and additional cost for the parents as well, and then there can be long-term effects, from renal failure or renal insufficiency, for these babies.”

      St. Louis Democrat Barbara Phifer points out, “Period products, especially, are very intimate and personal.  If you think about young girls who are going through puberty, and if they don’t have access to those products, their school participation drops dramatically.”

      Phifer adds, “Over the age of 65 there are many, many, many Missourians that are reliant on adult diapers, and they’re expensive.  What happens is people wear them too long and … when people, their skin, is exposed to the acids … people get lesions, they get infections, and they die.”

      Opposition to these ideas in past years has come from local governments, who say cutting taxes on these products jeopardizes services they provide, such as emergency responders. 

      “I think that kind of deterred it,” said St. Louis Democrat Jo Doll.  “Hopefully this year we can finally get [the tax cut on diapers and feminine hygiene products] across the finish line.  I think the biggest problem is that it always gets attached to something and whatever it’s attached to falls apart.” 

      “I’m hopeful, as always, and there’s so many people that file it, really on both sides of the aisle, that I’d think we could get it passed.  I am hopeful that this will be the year, but as always, you never know what’s going to happen, especially in an election year,” said Doll. 

      House Democrat leader Crystal Quade’s (Springfield) plan to cut taxes on food would let Missourians vote on a number of tax changes, including a tax on private planes and yachts, and create a fund in the state’s coffers to help local governments transition. 

      “Missourians are suffering right now when it comes to making ends meet, and it’s our job to come up with solutions that help everyone,” Quade said.  “It’s up to us to figure out ways to make up those losses and that shouldn’t be a burden on the regular taxpayer.”

      Representative Maggie Nurrenbern (D-Kansas City), who is in her fourth year on the House Budget Committee, said the state can afford to reduce these taxes. 

      “We’re looking at record budgets and we have a record surplus still in the state treasury.  What can we actually do to pass on cost savings to working families?” said Nurrenbern.  “I hate to see a mom standing in the line making that decision, ‘Do I buy this pack of diapers or that gallon of milk,’ and those are the decisions our families are faced with every single day, and it’s time now, to pass that savings on to families and cut the state portion of sales tax on essential items.”

      Chesterfield Republican Ben Keathley said the growth in support for these proposed sales tax cuts is a direct response to inflation hikes over the past several years. 

      “There’s not a whole lot we can do because we don’t impact monetary policy at any significant degree in the state of Missouri.  This is one part where we are actually raising the cost of goods by putting on sales tax,” said Keathley

      While 13 legislators contributed to this article, Keathley said more will get on board the longer such ideas are not passed.

      “I think it will continue to grow.  It’s reflective of the fact that this is becoming a real problem for people … for everybody throughout the state of Missouri, whether you’re urban, suburban, rural, everyone has to buy groceries.  Everyone has to buy these necessities … and I think you’ll see a growing number of [representatives] support it because a growing number of people in Missouri are needing this relief, desperately.”

House Acts to stop State Seizure of Benefits Intended for Foster Children

      The House wants Missouri to stop taking money from the children in its care without their knowledge, money that they could use for things like continuing education, buying a home, or otherwise bettering their lives. 

Representative Hannah Kelly (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      House Bill 2227 would end a practice legislators were “shocked” to learn the state has been engaged in, and one some called “egregious.” 

      Missouri has, for decades, taken benefits that are supposed to go to children in foster care and used them to pay its own agencies for providing that care.  Those benefits include things like Social Security funds intended for those with disabilities, or survivors’ benefits for children whose parents have died. 

      About five percent of children under the state’s control are eligible for such benefits, which often amount to more than $900 a month per child.  The intended recipients rarely know that someone else has applied for their money or that they were even eligible for these benefits. 

      As for how much money the state intercepted from children in its foster system last year alone, the bill’s sponsor, Representative Hannah Kelly (R-Mountain Grove) told her colleagues, “The fiscal note says there’s an impact of approximately $6,566,982.  That money belongs to children who are wards of the state, who have lost parents and loved ones, who are owed benefits that the state takes.”

      In 2018, the state intercepted $8.1 million; in 2020, $7.9 million; and in 2022, the figure was last checked at $7.1 million.

      The legislation would allow that money to be used for unmet needs that exceed what the state is obligated to pay.  Legislators heard that in the case of social security benefits for a child about to age out of the foster system, one year’s worth could translate to two years of books and supplies for college; ten months of rent for a one bedroom apartment; up to one year of childcare; or to offset four years of SNAP benefits.   

      As HB 2227 has progressed through the House, legislators at each step, upon hearing for the first time what Missouri has been doing, have responded with disbelief. 

Representative Raychel Proudie (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      Ferguson Democrat Raychel Proudie stressed to her fellows, “This is not something that’s coming out of general revenue or any sort of taxes.  This is money that belongs to those children.  They are our children, those are considered Missouri’s children.  No child wants to be in foster care and we certainly should not be charging children things that they are entitled to, to just give them a basal level of their living.  These are the same children who sometimes go to their foster parents’ home with trash bags, everything that they own in the world, and we are still taking, taking, taking from these children.”

      Before House members voted on HB 2227, Kelly stressed to them that passing it is the right thing to do.

      “It ensures that moneys owed children go to the children.”

      Proudie praised Kelly for bringing the legislation up, and for her continued commitment to issues concerning the safety and wellbeing of children. 

      “When we are doing the work and we are really listening like we’re supposed to in this building, these are the type of bills that happen as a result, and it’s some moments – and I have one every year – where I’m really, really proud to be a member of the body and this year’s bill is [HB 2227],” Proudie said.

      The House voted 154-0 to send that bill to the Senate. That chamber could soon vote on whether to send its version of this legislation to the House.