Missourians could decide whether to create a new fine against people convicted of human trafficking or (prostitution) offenses, to pay for efforts to fight trafficking and treat its victims, under legislation from the House.
Representative Jeff Coleman (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communication)
The House voted to pass House Bill 2307 and has given initial approval to House Joint Resolution 114. Together, those would create a fine of $5000 to be assessed against anyone convicted of a trafficking-related offense or of soliciting a prostitute.
Both pieces must be approved for Coleman’s plan to work. HB 2307 would create in state statutes the framework for the fine and the fund into which it would go, but the decision on whether the fine could be used as he proposes would be left to Missouri voters. HJR 114 would create the ballot question they would have to answer.
Coleman said this new fine could provide game-changing support for efforts against trafficking. In the cases of victims, they often need various services such as counseling to help them recover and lead a normal life.
Missouri House Democrats spoke to the media and fielded questions after the House finished work for the week. Many of the questions dealt with House Bill 3021, which would use $1-billion in state money to give an income tax break to some Missourians:
The state House has voted to preserve more than $69-million in federal dollars to support development of another hiking and biking trail on a former railway. That funding survived two attempts to redirect it over concerns some House members have about its use.
Representative Tim Taylor (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Governor Mike Parson (R) recommended that appropriation, which would use funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). It would pay to revitalize a 78-mile stretch of the former Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad corridor, commonly referred to now as the “Rock Island Trail.” Work would include the stabilization of tunnels and bridges.
Bunceton representative Tim Taylor (R) said his family owns property along the Katy Trail, Missouri’s other hiking and biking trail along a former railway. He said he’s seen how communities have benefitted from being along that trail.
“It has brought a sense of small prosperity to our community. When the railroad left, as it did on the Rock Island, much of the town ceased to exist. We have prospered and those towns and cities along the Rock Island are going to prosper just like the Katy Trail.”
The Rock Island corridor runs through Bland, hometown of Representative Bruce Sassman (R). He said hiking and biking trails are engines for economic development, and this is Missouri’s chance to expand them.
Representative Bruce Sassman (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
“I have been working on this Rock Island development project for 35 years, almost half of my life, and it’s a vision to create a trail system and a trail route that is unlike anything in the country and maybe in the world. I wish you could see this project through my eyes. I wish you knew the history of this project,” said Sassman.
Taylor and Sassman were among those who spoke against amendments that would have blocked that $69-million from going to the trail. One of those, offered by Chillicothe Republican Rusty Black, would have diverted that money to maintenance that has been deferred on other Department of Natural Resources’ properties.
“In my eight years up here, every year we have had this fight with DNR about maintaining what we already have. This is a one-time use of funds that, if we spend it on the trail, is going to further dilute the sales tax money that they get to use to maintain all of the other parks in the state,” said Steelville Republican Jason Chipman. “What we have already is in bad shape and we could put a big dent in the maintenance needed for all of the other parks that bring in a whole lot of people to Missouri rather than partially work on this one.”
“I think there’s arguments to be made for and against the Rock Island Trail,” said Representative Dirk Deaton (R-Noel), the House Budget Committee’s vice-chairman. “I think it’s compelling to me as a conservative, as a fiscal conservative, you’ve got to take care of what you’ve got before you start taking on new things – building new things, acquiring new things, setting up new things, and we do have a substantial maintenance backlog within our state parks and so I think we really ought to address that before we do this, and then you can get to the question of, ‘If we do this.’”
Representative Scott Cupps (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Another amendment was offered by Shell Knob Republican Scott Cupps. It proposed that the money be withheld from the project until lawsuits involving property owners along the Rock Island route are settled.
“The rationale for that is there is concern that we will spend millions and millions of dollars on this project and, depending on what happens in federal court, we may not be able to complete it until this is resolved,” said Cupps. “If you stand up for land owners’ rights and property owners’ rights … then you sure as heck better be a ‘yes’ on this.”
Cupps noted that there were similar legal disputes for people who owned property along the Katy Trail, which he says weren’t settled until 11 years after that trail opened.
Lawmakers who want work on the trail to proceed argued that those lawsuits’ outcomes will have nothing to do with Rock Island’s development.
Representative Jason Chipman (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
“This is not about converting it back to ownership by these folks who are suing. They simply seek to reclaim the money for land that was never part of their farm in the first place, whenever they purchased it,” said Representative Don Mayhew (R-Crocker). “These lawsuits, this is a red herring. It has nothing to do with it. The state can proceed with this.”
In the end the House voted down those amendments 53-81 and 62-70, respectively, and then voted to keep the money for the trail project in the budget.
“When I leave here I think it’d be nice if I could look at one thing and say, ‘We did this for the future. We did this for this state. It’s long lasting. We didn’t spend it on frivolous things. We didn’t buy shiny objects. We built something that our citizens can use now and in the future,” said Murphy.
The House voted today to advance that spending plan to the Senate.
When Missouri Task Force 1 was deployed to Louisiana last August in response to Hurricane Ida and in December after tornadoes hit Kentucky team members knew that when they came home they would be able to return to their jobs. When they were deployed to Joplin after an EF-5 tornado devastated that community, they couldn’t be as certain. The Missouri House has voted to change that.
Representative Cheri Toalson Reisch (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
When Task Force 1 is deployed out-of-state its members are protected by the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). Deployments in-state aren’t covered by such a law. House Bill 2193 would change Missouri law to mirror USERRA. This would mean the Task Force’s more than 200 volunteers’ jobs would be protected no matter where they go.
The House has voted to make several changes in state law meant to make victims of domestic violence safer. It’s sponsored by a man who, during his career in law enforcement, was often frustrated by how laws limited what he could do to help victims.
Representative Lane Roberts (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
A key provision of Roberts’ House Bill 1699 would specify that a defendant in an abuse case will be considered to have been notified of an order of protection if they are notified in any reasonable way. In effect, this would make clear that orders of protection remain place until otherwise ordered by a court.
Another portion would allow victims in domestic violence cases to testify via video conference. Roberts says often, domestic cases are dismissed because victims refuse to testify.
She said another hurdle for victims testifying for an order of protection, sometimes, is finding childcare, and video conferencing could negate that issue.
HB 1699 would also specify that courts cannot make a victim or their family reveal in court the victim’s current address or workplace unless necessary.
Earlier versions of the legislation had caused concern for some lawmakers, specifically that the video testimony provision would violate the constitutional right of accused abusers to face their accusers in court. Roberts worked with other legislators to deal with issues in the bill leading to the version the House passed.
Representative Ian Mackey (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
HB 1699 would also specify that when a defendant is ordered to pay the victim’s attorney fees, that order covers the entire proceeding; and that a person convicted of domestic assault who is ordered to attend a batterer-intervention program will be responsible for paying for that program.
Carter Dochler said the legislation would make a number of small changes in Missouri law each of which would make a big difference in the lives of victims.
The House has voted to better equip the state’s children for working in tech industries that demand an education in computer science.
Representative Travis Fitzwater (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
House Bill 2202 would require the state’s public high schools to offer some form of computer science class and allow students to count such classes toward graduation requirements for science and practical arts credits, to satisfy admission requirements at colleges and universities.
The bill expands on legislation approved in 2018 that allowed computer science courses to count toward math, science, or practical arts credits needed to graduate high school. That bill, like HB 2202, was sponsored by Holts Summit Republican Travis Fitzwater.
Kara Corches with the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry told House members Missouri is a top state for technology jobs with high rankings in both diversity, and women, in the tech workforce, and said HB 2202 would help build on that.
That task force would be one entity that would receive demographic data to be collected under the bill. Walsh Moore said she was glad to see the inclusion of that effort toward ensuring that children of color and girls are encouraged to enter the computer science and STEM fields.
HB 2202 also defines “computer science course” as any elementary, middle, or high school course that embeds computer science content with other subjects.
People who are convicted of killing a parent or parents while driving drunk in Missouri could have to pay child support to surviving children, under a proposal now before a House committee.
Representative Mike Henderson (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
House Bill 1954 is also known as “Bentley’s Law.” It would require that such convicted persons would have to pay maintenance to surviving children until they turn 18, or if they enroll in college, until they complete a degree or turn 21.
The bill specifies that a judge weighing a maintenance order should consider the financial needs of the children; the resources of the children’s caregivers, if any; the standard of living the children would have had; the children’s physical and emotional condition and needs; their physical and legal custody arrangements; and any child care expenses of surviving caregivers.
Henderson was presented the idea for Bentley’s Law by Cecelia Williams. In April of last year her son, his fiancée, and their 4 month-old son were killed in an accident involving an allegedly drunk driver. She named the proposal after one of their surviving children, whom she is now raising.
She told the House Committee on Crime Prevention that after the accident she did some research and found what she called a “ton” of repeat offenders.
The bill specifies that if surviving parents or guardians bring a civil suit against the person convicted of drunk driving, no maintenance will be ordered or it will be offset by any civil award that is granted.
The committee is scheduled to vote next week on that bill.
The House has given initial approval to a plan to lessen the increases Missourians will see in their property taxes due to rising vehicle values.
Representative Brad Hudson (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Representative Brad Hudson (R-Cape Fair) is a former county assessor. He explained to his colleagues that the values of vehicles in the National Auto Dealers Association price guide have increased significantly. This guide is what assessors must, by statute, use to assess the values of Missourians’ cars.
The State Tax Commission testified in favor of the bill when it was in a House committee. Its legislative liaison, former state representative David Wood, explained that statute requires assessors to base vehicle values on NADA prices from each October. He’s seen reports that vehicle sales prices year-to-year have increased as much as 40-percent.
He explained that assessors use average trade-in values and not sales values, but those will still cause significant increases for taxpayers. Wood told his former colleagues that even a 10-percent increase in used car values would equal an increase of about $100-million in collected taxes statewide. A 15-percent increase would equal an increase of about $165-million.
House Bill 2694 would allow assessors to, instead of being restricted to using October’s NADA values, use the trade-in value for a given vehicle from that edition or either of the last two years’ October NADA guides.
HB 2694 would allow assessors to make similar determinations of the assessed value of recreational vehicles and agricultural equipment using values from the past two years, as those vehicles have seen similar increases in value.
The House has perfected the bill. Another favorable vote would send it to the Senate.
Missouri’s current sex offender registry would be expanded to include a registry of individuals who are on probation or parole for first or second degree murder under a bill being considered in the House.
Representative Lane Roberts (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
The legislation would not simply add such individuals to the existing registry, according to bill sponsor Lane Roberts (R-Joplin).
Legislators on the committee asked whether such information is already available to the public through avenues such as the Missouri Court System’s Case.net website. He said that isn’t always an avenue for an average Missourian.
Further, he said such state-based resources won’t list such individuals when they come to Missouri from other states through the interstate compact, and most Missourians don’t even know that can happen.
Testifying for the bill was Mona Lisa Caylor, who said it was a man on parole for a 1983 murder in Tennessee who murdered her sister, Willana “Anita” Dunn in 2016 and dropped her body down an abandoned mine shaft.
Caylor told legislators her sister allowed her killer into her life and was even renting her home from him. She and her family knew nothing about his criminal background, or that the life story he had told them was a lie.
Representative Rasheen Aldridge Jr. (D-St. Louis) wondered what this registry would accomplish, and what it would mean for individuals who are trying to reintegrate into society after serving their prison time.
Roberts acknowledged Aldridge’s concerns. He said that while no one should assume that because someone has committed one murder that they will commit another, he feels that if someone has overcome their conscious to kill once it raises concern they could do it again.
The bill, House Bill 1705, specifies that individuals on this new registry would come off of it when they complete their probation or parole. The committee voted 7-1 to advance the bill, which now faces another committee before it could go to the full House.
