House Republicans and Democrats agree: FRA must pass

      One thing Republicans and Democrats in the Missouri House agree on is that the legislature must renew Federal Reimbursement Allowance (FRA) legislation this year, or a massive hole will be blown out of the state’s operating budget.

House Speaker Dean Plocher and Minority Floor Leader Crystal Quade agree the legislature must pass an FRA extension this year. (Photos: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      The FRA has been passed 17 times since 1992.  It is a tax paid by Medicaid providers in Missouri which the federal government more than matches in paying it back to the state.  That helps to cover the MO HealthNet program, and additional allowances also cover nursing facilities, pharmacy costs, and ambulance services.

      House Speaker Dean Plocher (R-St. Louis) said failing to renew the FRA this year “would result in an almost 3.5 to 4-billion dollar hit to our annual state budget.  I ask you [to join me] in passing the FRA because we simply cannot let Missourians down.”

      House Democrat leader Crystal Quade (D-Springfield) agreed, “If we do not pass the FRA we will be out so much money, and where is that money going to come from?  Public education, general revenue, and so when we have the conversation about the FRA it’s not just about making our Medicaid program solvent, it’s about making sure that we are funding all of the things necessary.”

      For many years legislators described FRA renewals as non-controversial, but Quade pointed out that was not the case in 2021.

      “It is deeply concerning.  The last time the FRA was up we weren’t able to get it done [during the regular session].  We had to go to a special session,” Quade said during a media conference on the opening day of the 2024 session.

      Plocher, asked during the Republicans’ media conference about the importance of FRA renewal, responded with his own question, “How vital is 3.5 to 4-billion dollars on a $50-billion budget?  If we don’t get it passed I don’t think our budget can absorb a 3.5 to 4-billion dollar hit.  I think it’s important.  We passed it a couple of years ago.  I look forward to tackling that issue now, but I don’t think we can’t afford not to pass it.”

      The current FRA expires at the end of September.   

Blair’s Law against ‘celebratory gunfire’ back for 2024 session

      For the twelfth time, Missouri legislators will be asked by the mother of a little girl killed by a stray bullet to increase penalties for the careless firing of guns. 

Blair Shanahan Lane

      The legislature this past session sent “Blair’s Law” to the desk of Governor Mike Parson (R).  It was the first time that proposal reached the desk of a governor.  Parson expressed support for it calling it something he’d “like to sign into law,” but it was only one measure among several that were combined into one bill, Senate Bill 189.  He had issues with some of the other measures, and so it was vetoed. 

      Blair’s Law is named for Blair Shanahan Lane, who was 11 when she was hit by a stray bullet while celebrating Independence Day, 2011, with her family.  Someone more than half a mile away carelessly fired their gun into the air and one of those bullets struck Blair in the neck.  She died the next day. 

      The man who fired that gun served 18 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter.  No state law directly addresses what is often called, “celebratory gunfire.”  Every legislative session Blair’s death, her mother has come to Jefferson City to change that. 

      Michele Shanahan DeMoss said since Blair’s Law was vetoed, after being passed for the first time after more than a decade of work, she has been, “thoughtful. 

      “Thoughtful that I know the processes.  I knew that in July [when the governor vetoed that bill] the process had already started again.  The conversations were happening.  Just thoughtful that the wheels are turning and we’re headed in the right direction.”

      The “processes” to which she refers are the renewed efforts to see Blair’s Law become part of Missouri law.  That is a top priority for two state lawmakers, and that is why the proposal was again among those prefiled on December 1; the first day that bills could be filed for the 2024 session.

      One of those legislators is Representative Mark Sharp (D), who will be carrying that proposal for the fifth straight year.  He said even though it was vetoed, he and other supporters see its passage last year as a win.

      “The House has vetted it as much as it can … I believe this is the second session in a row where the Senate has had debate on Blair’s Law on the Senate floor.  That’s a long way away from where we were four or five years ago with Blair’s Law, so I do think that all indicators are pointing the right direction.”

Representative Mark Sharp (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      Joining the list of legislators who over the years have sponsored Blair’s Law is Belton Republican Sherri Gallick, who is in her second year in the Missouri House.  Gallick met DeMoss while campaigning in 2022 and that’s when she first heard Blair’s story.

      “I was knocking on doors for campaigns … and happened to knock on Blair’s mother’s door and she told me all about it, and by the time we were leaving we were all in tears, so when Mark (Sharp) filed it last year I had told him … ‘I will do whatever I can to help you.’”

      Gallick said of DeMoss, “She has been steadfast … there’s been other legislators throughout the years that have tried to help and she’s still very adamant.  She wants to do this.  She wants to get it across the finish line for her daughter.”

      House Bills 1437 (Gallick) and 1477 (Sharp) would specify that a person is guilty of unlawful discharge of a firearm if they, with criminal negligence, discharge a firearm in or into the limits of a municipality.  A first offense would be a class “A” misdemeanor which carries up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000; a second time would be a class “E” felony carrying up to four years in prison; and third and any subsequent offense would be a class “D” felony, punishable by up to seven years in prison.

      Even as efforts to pass Blair’s Law continue, incidents involving stray gunfire keep happening.  Last month, while in her own bedroom in her south Kansas City home, 11 year-old Lauren Reddick was hit by two bullets.  One of those left her paralyzed.

      On New Year’s Eve, the Department’s SoundSpotter system identified more than 2,300 rounds fired between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. on January 1.  That was more than double the total detected by that sound capturing technology one year prior. 

      “We’re all gearing up for New Year’s and Christmas and the holidays and … I just hope to God that we don’t have any more incidents of somebody being hit or injured or killed by celebratory gunfire,” Sharp said.

      Over the years that Blair’s Law has been proposed, the attention it has gotten has created awareness of the dangers presented by careless gunfire, and its supporters hope that will continue to be a residual benefit of their efforts.

      “It is absolutely unbelievable, the places I go, not even in Missouri, that either somebody will learn the story, recognize me, somebody else will tell them, and a conversation [will begin] with regards to celebratory gunfire, firing a gun recklessly, and unfortunately even other tragic situations, because of the conversation continuing and that really is the biggest thing that I share,” DeMoss said.  “Year after year it would be nice to cross the finish line, have it signed into law and see the goodness that really transpires from it.  Raising the awareness is one thing but being able to actually prosecute the crime would, I think, be the game changer.”

Representative Sherri Gallick (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      Gallick, like other Republicans who have carried or spoken in support of the legislation through the years, says among other things it is an issue of responsible gun ownership. 

      “When you shoot a gun the bullet goes somewhere … you should be intentional.  When you’re shooting a gun you should have some purpose, not just to shoot it in the air,” Gallick said.

      Both representatives say they are optimistic about the legislation’s chances of passage in 2024, given its overwhelming bipartisan support and the Governor’s message.  They also commend DeMoss, who they say is “inspiring” as she has remained consistent and undaunted.

      “There are so many people that think I should be devastated that it didn’t pass and I’m not devastated,” said DeMoss.  “There are so many disappointments that I could list but … the worst things that could happen to a human being happened to Blair and changed my life forever, and I will continue lobbying.  I will continue educating, carrying on the conversation that celebratory gunfire, firing a gun recklessly is stupidity.  To continue to persevere to change the law, to make the law what we’ve been working on absolutely needs to be done.”

      The new session of the Missouri General Assembly begins January 3.

House plan would stabilize Missourians’ vehicle property tax values

      Missourians in recent years have been slapped with high and increasing property tax bills for their vehicles, and state lawmakers are going to try again this year to stem that.

Representative Rodger Reedy (Photo: TIm Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      The issue has been a top one for two legislators who were assessors before they came to Jefferson City.   

      One of them is Representative Rodger Reedy (R-Windsor), who sees his House Bill 1690 as a taxpayer protection act.

      “We are trying to do this to make it better for our taxpayers and to be more fair to them,” Reedy said.

      The other is Representative Brad Hudson (R-Cape Fair), who said when he was an assessor, “I would have never wanted to sit across the desk from someone and say, ‘Hey, you know that farm truck that you’ve got?  Yeah, it’s a year older, yeah it’s got more miles on it, but I’m going to hit you with a higher assessment this year and you’re going to have to pay more in property taxes because of that.’  That doesn’t make sense.  It’s not right.”

      The issue with vehicle valuations began in 2020 when the COVID pandemic halted supply lines.  Parts for vehicles were harder to come by this inflated the demand for, and therefore the values of, used vehicles.

      “So what the end result has been, you would have the same vehicle and it would be a year older but the trade-in value would show to be higher, so your assessment would be higher and you would pay more taxes on that vehicle that’s a year older,” Reedy explained.  “I basically, fundamentally think that if that vehicle’s a year older, typically you’ve got 20-30 thousand more miles on it, you should not be paying more taxes on it than you did the year before.”

      Hudson agreed, “Around COVID with supply chain issues, things going on, there was just this perfect storm that created what some would call a ‘funky market,’ or a ‘false market,’ and that actually put assessors in a position where if they were going to do their job according to state statute, many of them felt like they would have to be raising the assessed value of vehicles.”

      The state statute to which Hudson refers dictates that assessors must use the October issue of the National Automobile Dealers Association’s (NADA) Used Car Guide to determine the value of a motor vehicle.  Reedy’s bill would allow the State Tax Commission to designate a different nationally produced automobile guide to be used by assessors.  His proposal would also establish a depreciation schedule to be applied to the values set forth in that automobile guide.   

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

      “It makes sure that these used vehicles depreciate in value for taxation purposes,” Reedy said. 

      Hudson said the issue of inflated vehicle valuations has the potential to negatively impact every household in Missouri.

      “People from all over our state pay personal property taxes, and in many cases they pay a lot in personal property taxes, and they expect their taxes to go up when they get a new vehicle … but when they have the same vehicles, when those vehicles are older, when those vehicles have more miles on them, they don’t expect their taxes to go up because of their vehicles’ value, and they shouldn’t have to.  It’s just common sense that these vehicles should be going down in value every year,” Hudson said.

      Reedy said the problem hasn’t abated on its own the passage of time, “I can give you a case where a vehicle that had a value of $7,300 in 2021 went to $7,600 in 2022.  Even now, in ’23 that same vehicle has just dropped back to $7,500, so [the owner of] that particular vehicle will pay more taxes in 2023 than [they] paid in 2021.”

      Both lawmakers said this is exactly the kind of issue Missouri lawmakers should be addressing on behalf of their constituents.

      “It is common sense.  You have folks that are working, struggling to make ends meet, some of them on fixed incomes, they have to plan ahead, and then they get hit with a higher tax bill because of something that was beyond their control.  No, that’s not right and that’s something that the Missouri legislature should be fixing,” said Hudson.

      This year’s version of this legislation was passed out of the House 150-0 before stalling out in the Senate.  In 2022, Hudson carried a version of the bill that cleared the House 146-0 but also did not clear the Senate.

Prefiling for the 2024 Legislative Session Opens with More Than 300 Bills

Representative Willard Haley prefiles a piece of legislation for the 2024 legislative session. (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

As the Missouri General Assembly prepares for the 2024 legislative session, House members are revealing their legislative agendas for the upcoming year.  While the official commencement of the legislative session is in January, December 1st marks the true beginning for many legislators, who are allowed on that date to start filing bills for the forthcoming session. On this first day 343 bills were prefiled.

Bills that are prefiled are officially introduced on the first day of the session, January 3.  Members have the ability to introduce bills until March 1. 

Historically, the first day of prefiling witnesses a substantial influx of bills.  For the 2023 legislative session, House members submitted 336 bills on the inaugural day, contributing to a cumulative total of 578 bills during the entire pre-filing period.  Comparatively, for the 2022 session, legislators initiated the pre-filing process with 372 bills on the first day en route to total of 770 bills, deviating from the 688 bills filed for the 2021 legislative session and the record-breaking 776 bills for the 2020 session.

Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications

For the 2024 session, legislators will propose bills covering a diverse range of topics, aiming to enhance the state’s policies to better serve the needs of all residents.  Some say the pre-filing process sets the tone for session.  It’s when lawmakers can make their priorities known before the session begins.  While that is true, it doesn’t mean those bills have a better chance of making it into law.  As the statistics show, pre-filed bills are on virtually the same ground as those filed later on in the process.  There is no significant practical advantage to having a low bill number, but House members still strive to be the first to file their bills.  Bills are typically referred to legislative committees in numerical order, which potentially gives prefiled measures a better chance of being heard in committee.

Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications

One change that members will be subject to in the 2024 legislative session is a new provision added in the House rules during the 2023 legislative session.  This new provision, outlined in House Rule 39, restricts members from submitting more than 20 bills without obtaining prior approval from the Speaker of the House.  Officially implemented on July 1, 2023, this marks the first legislative session wherein members must adhere to the newly imposed cap on the number of bills they can file.

To stay informed about pre-filed bills in the House, please visit the official website of the Missouri House of Representatives at house.mo.gov and click on the “Pre-filed Bills” link.  The upcoming legislative session’s first day is scheduled for January 3, 2024.

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.