Attempt to stem catalytic converter thefts to return in 2024 session

      Legislators will again this year be asked to stem the thefts of catalytic converters from Missourians and in doing so, it is hoped, get some people into drug treatment programs that could improve their lives.

Representative Don Mayhew (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      The House in the last two years has given overwhelming approval to bills that would make such thefts a felony, while requiring additional reporting to the state from entities that purchase catalytic converters.  The same proposal will be among those filed for the 2024 session after prefiling begins on December 1.

      Representative Don Mayhew (R-Crocker) says that the bill has been refined over several sessions.

      “I think at this point we have vetted this thing to death,” said Mayhew.

      The proposal’s bipartisan support includes Representative Aaron Crossley (D-Independence), who has himself filed a portion of that language.  He said the issue has impacted his neighborhood and workplace.  

       “My neighbors have had issues with cars being stolen.  Here at my work, we’ve had cars stolen out of the parking lot the last few weeks because of this issue, so it’s practical and real,” said Crossley.

      Mayhew has become adept at explaining the issue, having presented it to his colleagues several times over the years.  It begins with the two very different ways catalytic converters are valued:  their value when stolen and scrapped, and the value to replace them.

      “While most catalytic converter thefts prior to changing this law would have fallen in the category of petty theft – most of them would have been misdemeanors because the actual salvage value of the item is less than $1,000 – the true cost of that stolen catalytic converter is a lot more than that because the person who has to replace that catalytic converter is looking at, at least, a $2,000 bill, so we have to take that into account whenever we consider the ultimate consequences of the act.”

      “To me it’s also a working person’s issue,” Crossley said.  “When somebody has to go out and replace their catalytic converter and those can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 to replace, that’s a big chunk of change for a working person to have to go put down just to get a small part for their car replaced.”

      Converters are an easy and profitable target because an experienced thief can steal one in as little as 30 seconds, and because they contain rare and valuable metals they can be sold to a salvager for anywhere from $50 to $900. 

      Even in the case of a new vehicle with full coverage insurance, the deductible cost is usually more than the cost of replacing the converter.  Mayhew says most people who are victims of such thefts have liability coverage only.

Representative Aaron Crossley (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      “I have two elderly ladies in my district who had catalytic converters stolen.  They had older model vehicles and the catalytic converter was stolen from their car.  Well, now they’re out of a vehicle because they can’t afford the $2,000 it’s going to take to put the catalytic converter back on their car and their car’s not worth $2,000.  Those are the people who are getting hurt by this.  This is not a victimless crime.  This is not a, ‘Oh, the insurance is going to pick up the cost,’ kind of thing because they don’t.”

      Democrats have been very vocal in recent years in opposing legislation that would increase sentencing in other areas of law.  Crossley says in this case, however, stiffened penalties make sense. 

      “We do a disservice when we pass laws that aren’t enforceable and don’t have some teeth … so I think finding that balance to make sure that we’re not being overly harsh to Missourians but also understanding that by not having some repercussions that we’re also harming people,” said Crossley. 

       Mayhew said there would be an element of compassion in increasing these penalties.  It could get more people into the drug treatment programs of the state’s courts, which have historically been very effective.

      “Most catalytic converters are stolen because the person who’s stealing it has a drug problem.  Well until we make it a felony then we can’t get that person to drug court.  On a misdemeanor, they don’t go to drug court, but on a felony, then our local prosecutors can, in those cases where it was a person who was simply trying to feed this habit that they’ve acquired, if we can get them to drug court maybe we can kill two birds with one stone,” explains Mayhew.  “We can help this person, turn them into a productive citizen, but also reduce the amount of crime that’s happening in our county.”

      Mayhew said the proposed changes in reporting requirements for salvagers would also increase accountability for those buyers. 

      “That accountability takes the form of once a month those who purchase catalytic converters will have to turn in a report to the Department of Revenue, the information, a lot of which they already are required to accumulate whenever they purchase a catalytic converter.” 

      That includes getting a photocopy of the seller’s driver’s license and recording the license plate number of the vehicle that brought in the converter – both of which are already required – and the proposed new requirements of getting the make, model, and serial number of the vehicle off of which the converter came; and providing a signed affidavit saying the converter wasn’t stolen.  These new requirements would only apply to individuals, rather than established businesses. 

      Crossley supports the additional reporting requirements, and it is this area with which his legislation filed in the 2023 session dealt.

      “Adding just a few more requirements to make sure that they’re receiving and buying converters that were actually lawfully obtained is the point,” Crossley said.

      Mayhew said such reporting would also let Missouri at last know how many catalytic converters are being salvaged, and “keep honest people honest.

      “Right now we are in a ‘hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil’ kind of situation.  As long as I don’t ask you if it’s stolen then I’m not going to be accountable for it, if it is.”

      Mayhew notes that in the last two years, legislation dealing with this issue has passed out of the House 153-1 and 143-2, and in at least one of those cases, he said a “no” vote came from someone who thought he was voting on a different amendment.  He said the legislation isn’t just a caucus priority, it’s a legislative priority.

      He and Crossley hope that 2024 proves to be the year that the measure makes it into statute.

      “It’s a growing issue that we have to tackle because nobody is served by not doing anything,” said Crossley.

      The new legislative session begins January 3.

Families no longer have to pay for highway memorials for fallen first responders and service people

      Memorials for fallen veterans, police officers, and firefighters, and for those missing in action, will no longer be paid for by the families of those individuals, under legislation that became law this year.

LCPL Jared Schmitz (Photo courtesy of Mark Schmitz)

      It’s called the “FA Paul Akers, Junior, and LCPL Jared Schmitz Memorial Sign Funding Act,” and it stemmed from the efforts to memorialize those two men, both of whom died while serving their country.  When legislators learned that their families were billed for the signs honoring them, they proposed the language that would have those costs paid for by the Department of Transportation.

      “Most people in Missouri didn’t like the idea, just like I didn’t … that once we honor a fallen hero, we didn’t realize the paper trail behind the scenes was to send these invoices to their family members,” said Representative Tricia Byrnes (R-Wentzville). 

FA Paul Akers, Junior

      Representative Don Mayhew (R-Crocker) said what was happening was “a shock to, in fact, everyone who’s ever gotten a memorial sign done.  A lot of times what they have to do is they go around and they get donations from the VFW and other places in order to pay for the sign because, many of them, they don’t have $3,000 laying around for a memorial sign for the highway.”

      Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz, of St. Charles, was among 13 U.S. Service Members and more than 100 others killed in a suicide bombing at a Kabul airport during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.  His family wanted to honor him with signs to designate an overpass on I-70 in Wentzville as a memorial bridge bearing his name. 

      His father, Mark Schmitz, said the family got a bill for those signs.

      “That’s when I started pushing back.  How the hell can you charge any grieving parent or person who lost a loved one who died in the line of duty, whether it be police or fire or paramedic or military?  I said that just doesn’t seem right.  So I reached out to some of the [parents of the other 12 U.S. service members who died in that same bombing] and three of them in California never had to pay for their signs either, so I’m like, this is kind of disgusting.”

      Schmitz, who lives in Byrnes’ district, said he supported her legislation not so much due to his family’s experience (donations covered their $3,200 cost in a matter of hours after an online fundraising effort was launched). 

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

      “I was thinking about the wife of a fallen police officer or the widow of a soldier or marine that’s killed, and maybe [the family doesn’t] embrace trying to honor them so quickly.  Maybe they take three, four, five years to finally get past that grieving point where they want to do something like that, and then the state’s going to bill them for $3,200.  They would have a very difficult time trying to raise that kind of money.  Certainly I think it’s really gross or disgusting for them to have to pay the bill themselves,” said Schmitz.

      Schmitz said the passage of this legislation is, for him, in honor of his son.

      “There will be no first responder who is killed in the line of duty whose family or loved one will have to pay that bill again moving forward, which is a total victory.  I think that’s the right thing to do.  It’s the least that they can do when somebody has literally given everything they have for this country, in the case of the military; or for their town, if they’re a police officer, fireman, paramedic.”

      Mayhew’s experience with the issue began with an effort to honor Fireman Apprentice Paul Akers, Junior, who was killed in the January, 1969 explosion and fire on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, CVAN-65, off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii.  Akers was also from Crocker. 

      “I was nine years old at the time and they had the funeral in the high school, and I remember it like it was yesterday.  The entire gym was full, completely full, and that might not sound like much but pretty much everybody in town was at that funeral and the memories are very vivid,” said Mayhew.  “I’ve known the family my entire life and so I’m very proud to not only be a part of getting the [memorial sign with his name] put up but also a part of making sure that families in the future don’t have to go through this ever again.”

      Mayhew is just glad the proposal finally became law.

      “I also want to apologize to those families who have lost loved ones in service to our nation and our state who had to pay for these signs over the years.  I hope that they can take solace in the fact that no other family will have to suffer from the cost of these signs ever again,” said Mayhew.  “These Gold Star families have already given all in service to the country.  The least we could do is pay for a memorial sign.”

Representative Don Mayhew (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      Byrnes said the legislation was the subject of very little opposition, and for good reason.

      “There was a moment on the House floor where somebody said that MODOT’s budget is already pretty tight enough.  Do we really want to force MODOT, and I was like, yes because I’m really not going to support selling signs to family members so that we can charge them for grass cutting along the highway.”

      The family of LCPL Schmitz isn’t finished honoring him.  His father said they are now working to raise money for a series of 100-acre recreational retreat camps, one in each state, for veterans and their families to use for free.  Each will have 13 available houses, one for each of the U.S. service people killed in the attack in which his son died. 

      “[We want to get a] lot of bonding going on, that’s kind of our mission here, is to get a bunch of veterans together that served in different times, different conflicts, different branches, just get them comingling again and have them be around guys like themselves,” said Schmitz. 

      Advocates who deal with veteran suicide and mental health issues say one of the best outlets for veterans, especially those who have experienced combat, is other veterans. 

      Byrnes and Mayhew sponsored identical bills.  When Byrnes’ version, House Bill 882, came to a House vote, it passed 153-0.  The language later became law as part of Senate Bills 139 and 127.

House legislation enables safe place to surrender newborns in Missouri

The first Baby Box in Missouri has been installed, and more are coming. 

Representative Jim Murphy (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      Baby Boxes are an extension of the Safe Haven law, which allows parents to relinquish a newborn up to 45 days old without fear of prosecution.  That law, in place in Missouri since 2002, allows for babies to be dropped off at places including hospitals and fire stations, but Baby Boxes offer an option for parents who don’t want face-to-face contact.

      “The whole idea of the Baby Boxes is [for there to be] no interaction with one human to another, so if you just want to do it and you want to do it anonymously, this is a method of doing it,” said Representative Jim Murphy (R-St. Louis), who sponsored the language that made Baby Boxes an option in Missouri.

      For mothers in need of help, the Safe Haven Crisis Line is (866) 99BABY1, or visit shbb.org

      The first Box in the state is in his district, at Mehlville Fire Protection District Station 2.  There is a commitment for a second Box at Mehlville, and more fire stations in the state are expressing interest.

      Murphy said the Safe Haven Law is saving the lives of children. 

      “It’s happened time and time again where we’ve discovered babies in alleyways or in dumpsters and so forth.  For a woman to give up her child after birth has got to be a traumatic decision to make.”

      The box is built into an outer wall at the Mehlville Fire Station.  A parent can open it, place a baby inside in a bassinet, and close the door.  Alarms will alert personnel on duty, who will remove the bassinet and take the baby to a hospital.

      “I think the most important thing is that we try to deliver a message to mothers who are in this situation that their baby will be taken care of, and that’s the whole, entire goal of this thing is that the child shall have a good life from that day on and that we don’t villainize the person that gave the baby up.  We actually honor them for making a decision that if they can’t care for their baby that they gave it up in a proper way.” 

      Murphy said since his language became law two years ago, the state had to develop language to ensure Boxes would be safe.

      “Everything’s inspected properly, everything’s wired properly, the bassinet’s correct, there’s nothing in there that could endanger the baby, the alarms are set so that there are people readily available to retrieve the child … there’s all kinds of regulations that had to be promulgated to make sure that within a minute or two that that baby is put into care.”

      Founder and CEO of Safe Haven Baby Boxes Monica Kelsey helped guide the legislation that allows for these Boxes in Missouri and other states.  So far more than 160 have been installed.

      “I introduced baby boxes to allow parents anonymity so they can place their infant in an electronically monitored box that calls 911 on its own.  It’s heated, it’s cooled, and the infants are only in these boxes for right about two minutes.  With the amount of stories that we’re having across this country right now with babies being abandoned, these boxes are saving the lives of these kids now where before they were being thrown in dumpsters, trash cans, alongside highways, and stuff like that.”

      She said there are many reasons a parent might want to give up a child, including factors like financial struggles, mental health issues, or domestic abuse.  She wants people to support those who utilize the Safe Haven Law.

      “Every story is different.  Every story is unique, and every person handles crisis differently, but the one thing that all of these parents that are surrendering are doing is they’re putting their child first, and we should celebrate that.”

      Babies who are dropped off under Safe Haven receive immediate care, and Kelsey said they are adopted within 30 to 45 days. 

      “Every baby that has come through the Baby Box program and the Safe Haven program has been adopted.”

      For those who drop off a baby under Safe Haven, there is time to change their mind and reclaim their child. 

      “I don’t think our intent is to take babies away from parents.  Our intent is to protect children,” said Murphy.

      “They can get their children back as long as the termination of parental rights has not happened and that usually takes between 30 and 45 days,” said Kelsey.

      The installation of this Baby Box has gotten a lot of attention, but Murphy and Kelsey want to stress that it is not the only place in the state to drop off a child.

      “Every hospital in America – every hospital in the State of Missouri – is a Safe Haven location, and most [states’ Safe Haven laws also] have fire stations, Missouri is one of them, so every fire station that is manned – that is also another avenue for women in the State of Missouri,” said Kelsey.

      Murphy’s Baby Box language was introduced in 2021 as House Bill 76, which was approved by the House 151-1.  It was later amended to and became law as part of, House Bill 432 sponsored by Representative Hannah Kelly (R-Mountain Grove). 

      Since its installation in August, the Box in Mehlville hasn’t been used.  Since the Safe Haven Law was adopted in Missouri in 2002, 61 babies have been surrendered.  

      Kelsey said those who want to see a Baby Box installed in their community can contact her organization for help.

      “We’ll walk alongside you, or contact Mehlville Fire.  Talk to Chief [Brian] Hendrix.  See what his process was, see what he’s learned along the way … contact us if you want to get started.  We’ll help you raise the funds so the government doesn’t have to pay for it.  Mehlville Fire was 100% not tax dollars, so donors stepped forward for that … and that’s what we like to see.  We like to see the communities come together and do this on their own.”

      For mothers in need of help, the Safe Haven Crisis Line is (866) 99BABY1.  Kelsey’s organization, Safe Haven Baby Boxes, can be found online at shbb.org. 

Missouri adds historic Hawken rifle to list of State Symbols

      A rifle that was created in St. Louis and was integral to the shaping of the West is now Missouri’s Official State Rifle. 

Representatives Doug Clemens and Mazzie Boyd, at the recent Hawken Classic, got to fire an original 190-year old Hawken as well as a replica.

      The Hawken muzzle-loading rifle was created by Jacob and Samuel Hawken, brothers who learned gunsmithing from their father before opening a shop in St. Louis in 1815.  As the Rocky Mountain fur trade was getting underway, the brothers created the rifle meet the needs of fur trappers, explorers, traders, and others venturing out into then-largely unexplored parts of what today is the United States, west of Missouri.

      Legislators hope that by making this one of the symbols of the state, it will draw people to learn more about this part of history. 

      “With the fur trade era, this just opened up the entire West, and the fact that it started right here in Missouri, I think is just incredible.  People couldn’t just go to Wal-Mart and just go buy clothes,” said Representative Mazzie Boyd (R-Hamilton), who sponsored the idea.  “I think it’s just a whole different world that sometimes people just don’t even think about.”

      Representative Doug Clemens (D-St. Ann) also carried the state rifle legislation, after a gunsmith friend of his approached him about the idea.  Clemens, who has a minor in history, said the Hawken gave those in the frontier a reliable, high-quality weapon that was effective at very long range.

      “Between the rifling and the hair-trigger that you create by the double-trigger setup it actually makes the weapon, according to the National Rifle Association, accurate to 400 yards.”

Representatives Clemens and Boyd (back row, at left) were joined in the Capitol by several historians and enthusiasts who testified on their Hawken rifle legislation .

      House members this past session heard from historians who said giving the Hawken this state designation would be appropriate.     

      “It’s about more than just the gun.  It’s about the history of the western fur trade and how that was the economic engine for the State of Missouri around 1825, first coming out of the mountains into St. Louis and then being shipped all over the world to be used in beaver hats and fur hats and things like that,” said Paul Fennewald, former state Homeland Security coordinator and historian. 

      He said it was actually one of the state’s first executives who spurred the rifle’s creation. 

      “The first Lieutenant Governor [of Missouri] William Ashley, for his Rocky Mountain Fur Trade company, he knew that they needed to have a better rifle, so he approached the Hawken brothers about building one … and that kind of was the springboard for the Hawken rifle.”

      “It was a change from the long guns … the Pennsylvania guns.  Once they started going west, that gun needed to be stouter because it had to go so far on horseback and survive in the mountains and so forth,” said Historian and Dekalb County Commissioner Kyle Carroll.  “There’s nothing that would compare to the reputation that the Hawken had, the significance of it.”

      Representatives Boyd and Clemens both, at the recent Hawken Classic event in Defiance, had to chance to fire both an original Hawken and a replica.  Both say they shot well with it, and they were given plaques for supporting the rifle’s state symbol designation this year.  Both said it was an honor to fire the 190 year-old original, which Boyd notes, is very valuable.

Representative Mazzie Boyd holds an original Hawken rifle that was brought to her office in the Capitol on the day her bill was heard in committee.

      “If you want to get an original Hawken it’s over six figures now.”

      The replica Hawken they fired is expected to go on display in the Missouri Capitol, as an addition to the State Museum on the Capitol’s first floor.  Clemens is looking forward to having fun with that.

      “I’ve been joking that’s going to be one of my ‘old man’ things,” he said.  “I’m going to go in the Capitol and I’m going to point at that rifle behind the glass and I’m going to say, ‘I shot that gun!’”

      Missouri becomes at least the 10th state to have a firearm among its state symbols.  That Hawken rifle language was added to Senate Bill 139, which was signed into law in July.

Birth Certificates language will help escapes from domestic violence

      Escaping domestic violence in Missouri might have gotten a little easier, under legislation that became law August 28. 

Representative Chris Dinkins (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      One of the greatest obstacles facing victims of domestic violence involves possession of the documents they need to start their lives over.  A provision in Senate Bill 28 will provide free copies of birth certificates when those are requested by victims. 

      The idea came out of the Southeast Missouri Family Violence Council, who brought it to Representative Chris Dinkins (R-Lesterville), and she immediately saw its importance.

      “When the SEMO Family Violence Council brought this to my attention, [I could see that This was a real-life issue that people were facing on a daily basis and it was a good thing to get done for the people,” said Dinkins.  “We want to do everything we can, everything in our power, to help them move on and get out of these situations.”

      Tracy Carroll is the Assistant Director and Case Manager for the Council.  As a case manager she has seen, countless times, people trying to get out of abusive situations but struggling to do so because they needed documentation. 

      “About 90 percent of them didn’t have a birth certificate or a driver’s license because part of the abuser’s M.O. is to keep those important documents from them so that they can’t leave … and every time we needed to get one, of course they don’t have any money – they come to us with very little – so we would either have to take it out of general funds or we would scrounge up in our purses $15 for the birth certificate.”

      Often, victims escape from an abusive home in the middle of the night and even perhaps during a violent incident.  They leave with little more than the clothes on their back and the backs of their children, only to later realize that they need documentation to do things like get a job or enroll children in school.

      “A lot of these women have four and five kids and we have to get birth certificates for them so that they can go to school and different things like that, so it’s not just the mother, it’s all their children we get birth certificates for.  That was really important to us, that we could help them in that first step,” said Carroll. 

      The $15 apiece fee to get a copy of a birth certificate often presents a huge obstacle for someone in a crisis situation.  Shelters, then, have typically covered that fee, but Carroll said that adds up quickly and takes away from other things shelters aim to provide.

      “I don’t think people realize those kinds of things are not in our grants.  We have to come up with that money out of our general revenue or … we have been in here counting [one dollar bills] and stuff trying to get a birth certificate for somebody,” said Carroll.  She said in one case, “A lady, she had seven children … and needed to all get enrolled in school.  Well at $15 a pop times seven children plus herself, and then to top it off they came in at Christmas … that family, we just shelled out a large chunk of money that could be used for other resources for them, had we not had to purchase all those.”

      The Council’s Executive Director, Stephanie Bennett, said after they met with Rep. Dinkins at an event in the capital city and brought up the issue, she recognized its importance and asked them to bring her some legislation.

      “We drove home from Jefferson City and literally sat at my kitchen table and Googled how to write a bill, because it’s not something we had ever done.”

      Later, the Missouri Coalition for Domestic and Sexual Violence, the membership of which includes the Council and other shelters around the state, picked up the issue and advocated for it.  Dinkins said that helped get the proposal the traction it needed.

      “Missouri wants to be a helping hand and that’s exactly what we’re doing in this situation.  We don’t want to be a stumbling block keeping people from being able to move forward, especially when they’re coming out of these domestic or sexual violence situations,” said Dinkins.

      While this could make an immeasurable difference for many victims, Bennett hopes the passage of this language in SB 28 is only the beginning.

      “The end goal would be for this to be a federal law, because we often get clients who aren’t even born in the state, so you might pay $25 to Oklahoma for one but then you might pay $110 to New Jersey, so every state’s amount differs.”

      Carroll said cost isn’t the only issue regarding certificates from other states.  She said different lengths of delays in getting documents mean victims can be forced to sit idle, sometimes for months, before they can begin rebuilding their lives and the lives of their children.

      “We did one in California, it took us ten weeks to get the birth certificate.”

      The language in SB 28 authorizes a waiver of the fee for a Missouri birth certificate when a victim of domestic violence or abuse requests it, documentation signed by a victim advocate; attorney; or health or mental health care provider who has assisted that person accompanies that request. 

Enhanced distracted driving law sends message: don’t text while driving

      Missouri’s newly-enhanced distracted driving law takes effect on Monday, and House members say it’s a message to drivers in the state:  put your phones down.

Representative Jeff Knight (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      After years of the General Assembly considering and rejecting bans on texting while driving, the legislature this year agreed to a ban that covers holding a phone; the typing or sending of text-based messages; video calls or broadcasting or otherwise recording and sharing videos; and watching videos or movies.  The language was part of Senate Bill 398, signed into law last month.

      It’s called the “Siddens Bening Hands Free Law,” named for two Missourians who died in separate distracted driving incidents. 

      Representative Jeff Knight (R-Lebanon) handled that proposal in the House.  He knew the history of the texting while driving issue was one of a long time lack of consensus.  This was based, in part, on conservative lawmakers’ desire not to infringe on individual liberties.  So, Knight had concerns when it was amended to another bill he was carrying and wanted to get passed.  After talking to some of the opponents of the issue and others with a stake, he decided to let it stand.

      He said as technology has evolved, any need to let people keep holding their phones has diminished.

      “I have my first vehicle that I can answer the phone by touching a button on my steering wheel and I never thought that was a big deal, and it’s a big deal.  I like it.  I think the more the technology in these vehicles advances, and the technology of the actual cell phones, I think in the near future you won’t see a need for people to pick their phones up while they’re driving,” said Knight.

      Representative Lane Roberts (R-Joplin) has an extensive background in law enforcement, including as a former Joplin Police Chief and Director of the Department of Public Safety.  He agreed that this year’s proposal included the right provisions at the right time.

      “Finding that balance between individual liberty for one person when it begins to encroach on the safety or the liberty of another is not a bright line.  It’s always a challenge to find the balance, and I think that’s what this bill does,” said Roberts.  “It recognizes that we’ve grown to the point where the use of technology is so prevalent that misuse of it puts other people at risk, and then given the fact that there is the availability, so many alternatives for hands-free use of technology, it’s just time to think about how we go about limiting that.”

      Also on the language’s list of bipartisan backers is Representative Steve Butz (D-St. Louis), whose background is in the insurance industry.  He said distracted driving has long been a concern for that industry.

Representative Steve Butz (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      “It’s exceptionally bad in Missouri, and part of that problem is … inattentive driving due to texting, Facebooking, emailing, everything else on your phone while you’re driving, so the more we can hammer, ‘Put the stupid phone down while you’re driving,’ which we’ve been saying for a while but it’s got to have some teeth,” said Butz.

      Knight and Roberts, like others in their caucus, said they still hold personal liberties as important, but said those concerns were tempered by the fact that the bill makes phone use a secondary offense.  That means a traffic stop can’t be triggered just by phone use.  A person has to be stopped for something else before they can be cited.

      Knight adds, “The only time they could come after your phone records was [in cases of] severe bodily injury or death, which you can kind of already do.  I thought the bill was more of a stronger message to the public that we don’t want [people to be texting while driving] than, probably, the enforceability of it.”

      Butz agrees that the most important thing this bill does is send a message that legislators, on behalf of Missouri citizens, are telling drivers that they shouldn’t be on their phones and behind the wheel at the same time.

      “Anything that just brings to the regular citizen’s mind – mine, yours, and everybody else in between – just like there was a time when very few of us wore seat belts, now almost everybody wears a seat belt.  There was a time when you didn’t put little kids in car seats, now everybody puts their little kids in car seats, texting, to me, is in that thing,” said Butz.

      “At this point I don’t believe anybody believes that texting while you’re operating a vehicle, regardless of who you are or where you are, could possibly be considered safe,” said Roberts.  “The important thing is that the law now acknowledges that [texting while driving] is problematic.  There are now some parameters in place to exercise some level of control and hopefully it will lead to some prudence in the development of technology and people’s decision making.  It’s like seatbelts.  [The state’s seatbelt law creates a secondary offense] but the fact that you’re required to wear it, the fact that it gets a lot of attention, has most definitely increased the use of seatbelts, so this is very similar.”

Representative Lane Roberts (Photo: Missouri House Communications)

      As was the case with the seatbelt law when it passed, Roberts and his colleagues expect it will take some time to see wholesale change in drivers’ habits now that the updated distracted driving law has been passed.

      The tougher law regarding phone use was long sought by road safety advocates, who are pleased with the passage.  The Missouri Department of Transportation says in the ten years up to 2021 there were nearly 200,000 distracted driving related crashes in Missouri, which caused no fewer than 801 deaths.  Some agencies think the real totals are far greater.

“States that have texting bans, phone use bans, hands free bans, they do have a reduction in serious auto accidents … to me it was a no brainer,” said Butz.

      Michael Bening of Raymore was 46 and trying to clear debris from a highway when he was hit and killed by a driver believed to have been distracted, on Interstate 49 in Cass County in May, 2021.  Randall Siddens was picking up traffic cones after a race in Columbia in May, 2019, when a woman who was driving while voice chatting swerved around a vehicle stopped at a red light and hit him.

      The bill including the law bearing their names was passed out of the House 97-40.  While the law takes effect on Monday, its penalty provisions won’t be enacted until January 1, 2025, to allow for a grace period while the public is educated on the new law.

Tax Credit Legislation Expected to Bring More Film Productions, Concerts to Missouri

      More television, movie, and concert productions could be coming to Missouri after the legislature approved tax credits targeting the entertainment industry. 

Representative Michael O’Donnell (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      The “Show MO Act” created credits for up to 30 percent of qualifying expenses for live entertainment and tour expenses, if certain conditions are met.  It created credits equaling 20 percent of qualifying film production expenses, with additional credits available if more conditions are met.

      Senate Bill 94 had broad bipartisan support on its way through the House and Senate, and was signed into law by the governor last month.

      Representative Michael O’Donnell (R-St. Louis) said with tax credits, the first consideration is always whether they are fiscally responsible.

      “I always wonder do we really get our money’s worth, and I feel like there was so much built into this one that I felt like the answer to that question was yes,” said O’Donnell.

      “We really worked hard to try to make it as conservative as possible while at the same time leveling the playing field so Missouri can compete with other states,” said Cape Fair Republican Brad Hudson regarding the concert portion of SB 94.  “These kinds of concerts could be held in numerous different places within our state, and we’ve seen when a big name entertainer comes to town, the kind of revenue that that generates for a community is definitely notable, and I expect that we will see more of that after this legislation takes effect.”

      For an artist to qualify for the credits they must perform at least two concerts in the State of Missouri.

Representative Brad Hudson (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      The only other state that offers tax credits to concert productions is Pennsylvania, which recently increased the cap on its credits due to their success.  Hudson said due to geography alone, Missouri could fare even better.

      “I am confident that this great state that we all know and love, when we can compete with other states we will win every day of the week because of where we’re located in the country, because of the people that we have here, and the resources that we have.”

      O’Donnell said Missourians could also get more opportunities to see their favorite artists.

      “They get a shot at seeing some entertainer that they wouldn’t otherwise see, who are in a lot of cases going to be doing one show on one side of the state and one on the other.”

      The state’s previous film tax credit program expired in 2013.  Since then the state has hosted little in the way of television and motion picture filming, while some major projects – even ones set in Missouri – have gone elsewhere.  The new law puts Missouri among 39 states that offer film incentives.

      Representative Steve Butz (D-St. Louis) has a brother in the film and live theater industry, who this past spring moved to Georgia to film a movie that might otherwise have been filmed in Missouri.

      “He, just as an actor, said hey, you know that Georgia has these film tax credits and the film industry has exploded in Georgia even to the point that Ozark, the show that was a huge success and was meant to be filmed, and it certainly is about, the Missouri Ozark region, was filmed in Georgia, as was this movie that my brother just filmed.  He said it absolutely is attracting and creating a film industry,” said Butz.  “He said Missouri is losing out on this.  You don’t have hardly any TV shows filmed there, you don’t have movie sets coming there.  They might use a few shots like to simulate something from the Midwest, or if it has to do with St. Louis or Lambert Airport or something, but they’re not actually moving the sets and the crews there.”

Representative Steve Butz (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      The benefits of having things filmed in Missouri aren’t just financial.  There’s a boost to the very morale of communities, and that often spans generations.

      “There’s the hard to measure benefit of civic pride when a major movie comes to town.  The stars stay at your hotels, they’re seen publicly, your local people get to be the extras in the movie, and it just brings a lot of excitement.”

      The film tax credits are capped at $16-million dollars.  In addition to the 20 percent credit for qualifying film productions, another 5 percent can be earned if at least 15 percent of production takes place in a rural or blighted area; another 5 percent can be earned if a certain number of Missourians are hired; and another 5 percent is available if the production depicts Missouri or the region in a positive light.  The Department of Economic Development will decide which productions are approved.

      “It’s good for business, it’s good for the industry, it’s good for civic pride, and there is a solid return on the dollar,” said Butz.

      As with all tax credits, these will be reviewed annually by the legislature to ensure that they are benefitting Missouri.  As O’Donnell put it, “What’s the return on investment?  The state’s taxpayers are making an investment.  What are they getting back?  I think in this case we’re going to find ourselves very positive.”

      The legislation becomes effective August 28.  The new tax credits would expire in 2030 unless a future legislature and governor agree to extend them.

Expired temp tags to phase out as vehicle dealers collect sales tax under new law

      Many Missourians will be pleased to know that expired temporary license tags on vehicles could soon become a thing of the past, under one of the bills signed into law earlier this month.

Representative Michael O’Donnell (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      Those tags have, for some, been a source of anger and fodder for jokes.  Entire social media accounts have been dedicated to posting pictures of vehicles with tags that expired months or even years ago, and some openly ridicule law enforcement for not acting against drivers with outdated tags.  For others the issue has been a source of anxiety as they felt the scrutiny of peers and law enforcement while driving with them. 

      “It’s embarrassing,” said Representative Michael O’Donnell (R-St. Louis) of the system now in place in Missouri – the system that would be changed as part of Senate Bill 398.   “This [change] is long overdue … we’re only one of like three or four states that’s still doing it this way.”

      The “way” to which O’Donnell refers is the collection of sales taxes on vehicle purchases by the Department of Revenue, after the sale.  

      “We had this weird situation in Missouri where people would go buy a car and unlike anything else you buy you don’t pay the sales tax when you buy it,” explained Representative Peter Merideth (D-St. Louis).  “People get the best car they think they can afford.  Next thing they know they go to get their plates for it, they find out they owe $4,000 or $5,000, or even $1,000 or $500 if they got a cheap, used car, it’s a lot of money at once in order to get their plates, and they go, ‘Well I can’t afford that.’”

      O’Donnell was the House handler of the proposal that became part of SB 398 that will require auto dealers to collect sales tax at the time of a vehicle purchase. 

      “When [Missourians] go in to buy the car, the dealer’s going to bring it up.  ‘The sales tax on a vehicle is this.  Do you want to write a check for that or do you want to roll it into the financing?,’” said O’Donnell.

      While having dealers begin collecting taxes at the time of purchase sounds like a simple change, Merideth said it took several years for infrastructural changes that will allow it.

      “We’ve been saying for a long time that that’s the solution,” said Merideth, “and then the Department of Revenue would tell us, ‘We don’t have a technical system that can do that.’  What they told us is their computer systems that they were using were designed in the ‘80s when we barely had computers and hadn’t been updated.”

Representative Peter Merideth (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      A series of legislative and budgetary changes – some of which, notes Merideth, did not have the bipartisan support that this portion of SB 398 had – have allowed for this bill to advance and O’Donnell describes it as the last step in a long process.  The new law becomes effective August 28but it allows several months for changes to Department of Revenue systems.  O’Donnell said it could be 12 to 24 months before those buying vehicles experience the new system.  

      Many legislators in recent years have said that this issue was among those about which they most often heard complaints from constituents, but they often learned that increasing enforcement against those with expired tags was only going to hurt those who were already financially struggling and would not end the problem.

      Merideth told House Communications, “This temp tag issue is the thing I have heard maybe second most from constituents about, second only to gun violence, of anything in my district.  It shocked me how upset people are about it, but I get it.  It feels like we have a situation where all these people are running around that aren’t paying their fair share of the taxes that the rest of us are paying.”

      “I’ve heard a lot of people say, ‘Well don’t buy the car if you can’t pay the taxes,’” said O’Donnell, but he, like Merideth and others, quickly learned that it wasn’t always that simple.  He said a series of reports by a television reporter illustrated the depth of the problem.  She talked to a number of Missourians who had expired temporary tags.

      “A lot of people had hardship problems,” O’Donnell learned.  “That was a lot of money to come up with, and she would ask the question, ‘If you were able to roll it into your financing and just pay $30 extra each month would that have been more doable,’ and people were like, ‘Oh my gosh, that would’ve been so much easier and so much less stressful.’”

      O’Donnell also learned how anxious many of those drivers were because of their expired tags.  “It wasn’t like it’s no big deal, nobody cares.  They were always nervous that they were going to get pulled over and get questioned about it … [this legislation] will reduce that stress of thinking that the eyes of the world are upon you because you’ve got this temp tag.”

      The end result was a much-needed change that lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle will be glad to talk about to their constituents.

      Said Merideth, “I’m tired of seeing the expired temp tags and I’m tired of, honestly, hearing from so many people about the expired temp tags.  It’s a frustrating problem and honestly I’m glad we’re finally going to collecting the revenue that we need to have and we’re going to do it in a way that people are going to know what they’re getting into when they buy their car.”

      O’Donnell said four or five years from now there might still be some stragglers out there, but most expired tags should disappear over the next couple of years.

Production note: due to a technical issue, the audio from Rep. Merideth was not of good quality. Those who wish to access it may contact House Communications.

911 Dispatchers get ‘First Responder’ status, more mental health help options

      Missouri 911 dispatchers will now be considered “first responders” in state statute under legislation that becomes effective next month.  That will bring a lot of changes, including increased access to mental health resources. 

Representative Robert Sauls (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      Language in two bills signed into law by Governor Mike Parson (R) will add emergency telecommunicators to the definition of “first responders,” which previously included people like firefighters, police, and emergency medical personnel.  The change in designation will mean, among other things, that dispatchers will have access to the same mental health supports as those in those other jobs.

      Sarah Newell, Polk County 911 Director, says that’s something from which she and others in her field can definitely benefit.

      “I hear it every day.  I hear it happen.  I hear overdoses, I hear suicides, I hear fatality accidents in children.  It happens all the time,” Newell told House Communications. 

      She said a dispatcher’s emotions can be constantly in transition.  “We don’t stay consistent.  We drop to a one, and then we’re at a nine, and then okay we’re back to a two, and here we are, ten, ten, ten, and so it’s hard for your body to adjust to those heightened adrenaline changes so often throughout the day.”

      “Sometimes it’s minute-by-minute,” said Jamie Taylor, President of the Missouri Chapter of the National Emergency Numbers Association (MO NENA).  “[A dispatcher] could be on a really serious call with somebody that’s wanting to harm themselves and they’re having to try to talk them down, talk them through it … they could get right off of that call and deliver a baby on the next call.”

      Taylor said the proposed re-designation has been considered for years while legislators and state agencies worked to consider what changings it would bring, and how to best implement it, but he said legislators always seemed to favor the change.

      Representative Robert Sauls (D-Independence) has proposed such language for several years.  In his time as a Jackson County Prosecutor and later as a public defender he listened to a lot of 911 calls.

      “Having seen many of the videos and listened to many of these 911 calls, I know they’re stressful, and this is something that should have always been the case.  Opening that door for mental health is so important,” said Sauls.  “These people are the absolute first point of contact in most instances involving a crime and what could potentially be someone’s worst day of their life.  The stress that they undergo, the amount of pressure that’s placed on them at that time, these people absolutely should be treated as first responders.”

      Joplin Representative Lane Roberts (R) worked in public service for more than 40 years, including as Joplin’s Police Chief and the state’s Director of Public Safety.  He said he even did some dispatching early in his career.

Representative Lane Roberts (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      “Those people, in my mind at least, are the most underappreciated element of public safety there is,” said Roberts.  “Everybody sort of takes them for granted.  They’re in this windowless environment.  Nobody sees them, they don’t get to see anybody, they deal with all the emotion, they deal with all the psychological trauma, but they don’t get to do anything except move on to the next calls.  But, when you’re the guy in the field and you get yourself in trouble, that dispatcher’s your lifeline and suddenly they become the single most important person on the planet.  There is just no way to express your appreciation for a good dispatcher.”

      Taylor said like anyone who has done the job, he has experienced calls that he’ll never forget – the kinds of calls that take a toll.

      “The one that really hits me most is during a Christmastime several years ago I took a call on a non-breather who ended up being a newborn … and the outcome wasn’t the outcome that we wanted.  The infant didn’t make it.  During the holidays, and whenever you have kids of your own, that stuff really starts to set in, and you don’t have an avenue to get rid of those emotions or be able to talk about it or seek help.”

      He hopes this change will help to slow what has been a notably high turnover rate in his field.

      “Our pool of people that want to do this job is getting smaller and smaller, so we really have to take care of those people that are here doing that job today and to be able to provide for those new people coming in,” said Taylor.

      He added that as much as anything, though, it will feel good for dispatchers simply to have this acknowledgement. 

      “It’s going to be huge for the folks that sit in a dark room or sit behind the scenes and deal with the public off and on, and handling those phone calls, and sometimes those dispatchers don’t get the recognition that they need.  I know departments try to recognize them within the department but being recognized by the state, now, as a first responder, it just brings smiles to my face.  Finally we get that ‘job well done’ piece that we’ve needed for a long time.”

      The change could also create access to grant dollars that could see local agencies expand the latest forms of 911 access in areas of Missouri that don’t have it.  Newell and Taylor expressed their thanks to the legislators who worked for so many years on this issue.

      That change in designation will take effect August 28.