Missouri House adopts bill that would eliminate vehicle inspection requirement

The Missouri House has advanced a proposal to join 35 other states in eliminating the requirement that motor vehicles be inspected in order to be licensed.

Maysville Republican J. Eggleston said he was originally opposed to eliminating vehicle inspections in Missouri, but his research caused him to change his mind and be a sponsor of the idea. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Bill 451 is sponsored by Maysville Republican J. Eggleston, who said when the idea was introduced to him he was opposed to it.  Then he started doing research and found himself convinced that eliminating the state’s vehicle inspection program wouldn’t make Missouri roads any less safe.

“My daughter, my son, my wife, who drive on our roads, who I love more than life itself, I do not want to endanger them one iota.  If I thought for a second this would harm their safety I would not bring this forward,” said Eggleston.

Eggleston said in his research he found no direct correlation between whether a state requires inspections and the number of crashes that occur there or how high its insurance rates are.  He said the 15 states that still require inspections actually have a slightly higher rate of fatal accidents.

Eggleston said eliminating the program would lift significant burdens from Missourians, who pay $30-million a year in inspection fees, and must take time off from work and make other sacrifices to get inspections done.

“The other pushback is sometimes, ‘Well if it just saves one life then wouldn’t it be worth it to inconvenience everybody?’  I’m not sure that taxing or inconveniencing everybody on the odd chance you might help somebody, even though we can’t prove we’re going to help anybody, is sound government policy,” said Eggleston.  “I think if the government’s going to make you go through some hassle or pay some fee they better have some stats to back it up that it’s actually making a positive difference.”

Boonville Republican Dave Muntzel said based on reports to the Missouri Highway Patrol from vehicle inspections done in the state, 18-percent of vehicles 5 or more years old do not pass inspection, and 25-percent of vehicles 10 or more years old don’t pass.

“Now we’re wanting to take vehicle inspections away and put these vehicles on the road?  I don’t want any of them coming down the road at me and steering going one way or the other, or if they have to stop, or if my grandchildren happen to walk out in the street and they get hit by a car that’s got defective brakes on it.  I don’t want that to happen,” said Muntzel.

Representative Donna Baringer (D-St. Louis) said no one came to testify in favor of this bill before a House committee but many people came from throughout the state to testify against it.  She noted that in 2017, 15 people died in accidents related to vehicles with safety defects; and more than 15-thousand people were cited for failure to register a vehicle with the Department of Revenue.

“If we already have almost 16,000 people who do not want to get their cars inspected and we already have 15 people who have died in this state, if we do away with the safety inspections do we triple that number, or is it going to be a free-for-all, and it won’t be 15 Missourians.  Will it be 50, 85; at what point does each one of those lives count?” asked Baringer.

Other lawmakers said mechanical problems with vehicles will be caught in a timely manner by regular visits to mechanics for things like oil changes, making state-required inspections unnecessary.

Ash Grove Republican Mike Moon said regular maintenance shouldn’t be mandated by the state.

“It’s our responsibility as individuals to make sure that our vehicles operate properly and safely on the roadways, and if they don’t it’s our responsibility to make sure those repairs are done in a timely manner, not waiting for an inspection,” said Moon.

The House has given initial approval to HB 451.  Another favorable vote would send it to the Senate.

House moves to lift hospice care death investigation requirement; change aimed at comforting families

Legislation in the Missouri House would lift the requirement, under certain circumstances, that the death of a person under hospice care be investigated.

Representative Bill Kidd (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Backers of House Bill 242 and an amendment added to House Bill 447 say that Missouri law requiring coroners and medical examiners to investigate a death in a home doesn’t account for the increase in the use of hospice care for terminal patients.

“The coroner does not have to come out and see that person who we all know is dead from cancer or a well-documented terminal illness,” said the proposal’s sponsor, Cameron Republican Jim Neely.

The legislation would allow the physician treating a patient or the hospice director to certify when a patient has died due to natural causes relating to a disease or known illness.  A coroner or medical examiner must be notified within 24 hours of such a death.

The legislation is personal for at least a couple of representatives.        Republican Bill Kidd (Buckner) told his colleagues his wife died after about three weeks in hospice care.  He said hospice care allows a terminally ill person and his or her family a great deal of comfort and assistance

“At the end of that it is an emotional experience to have a coroner want to come into your house and look at the body – and by the way, the body has to stay there untouched, which means that hospice cannot clean the body, cannot prepare it, which also means that the funeral home cannot come in and take the body away.  The family has to stay there with the body in the house … because you haven’t called the coroner,” said Kidd.

“If any of you, I hope never, have to go through a hospice in-home death experience, but the last thing you want is the intrusiveness of a coroner coming in and accusing you of maybe doing something nefarious, and that’s kind of what it is,” said Kidd.

Kansas City Democrat Richard Brown said his wife battled cancer for 12-years.  She was in hospice for two weeks before she died in 2018.

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

“The one thing that she wanted was death with dignity.  That’s what this amendment does, is it allows those person that are in hospice to die with a sense of dignity,” said Brown.  “My wife did not want to go to a coroner and be subjected to an autopsy when we knew what the cause of death would be.”

“I’m asking that for all Missourians who want to die with dignity that you allow them to do so when we know what the imminent cause of death will be when they are in the care of hospice providers,” said Brown.

“In a hospice situation hospice is there on doctor orders, hospice has their own doctors and physicians that come in and access the patient.  They already know – everybody has come to the conclusion that this is a terminal case, and it is not necessary for the coroner to intrude into your private home at such a fragile time,” said Kidd.

Neely’s stand-alone bill, HB 242, has been approved by two House committees and could soon be brought to the floor for debate.  HB 447, to which the language of 242 has been amended, has received initial approval in the House and could soon be sent to the Senate.

House committee: Missourians not properly warned about possible smaller refunds, greater taxes owed

House members investigating the Department of Revenue say it hasn’t prepared Missourians for owing more income tax debt or getting smaller tax refunds this year, and that many Missourians could suffer because of it.

Missouri Department of Revenue Director Joel Walters testifies to the House Special Committee on Government Oversight (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

An error in Missouri tax code that dates back at least to 2004 was only recently discovered.  Its end result is that while changes in federal tax code will cause Missourians’ overall tax debt to decrease, they could see a greater remaining income tax bill or a smaller refund than they anticipated.

Members of the House Special Committee on Government Oversight looked back over the Department of Revenue’s efforts to alert Missourians about how the tax code has changed and what it could mean for them.  House Minority Leader Crystal Quade (D-Springfield) said those efforts were off message.

“I’m not seeing anywhere in here saying, ‘Hey, you might not get as much money back as you thought,’” said Quade.  “We’ve had enough conversations to understand how we got here and where we’re at, but ultimately a lot of the legislators’ concerns lies with the people who are expecting to get money back, who have budgeted their lives around this money coming back and they may not get it.”

“Are you going to do anything to make sure that people know that what they’re expecting to receive may not be the case?  ‘Cause your tweets aren’t,” Quade added.

Chairman Robert Ross (R-Yukon) said his committee’s chief goal is to make sure Missourians aren’t faced with a similar situation again, and that means the Department must do a better job of communicating.

“The Department was proud to send out press releases to talk about the bicentennial license plate that we switched over to … they spread the news whether it be on social media, whether it be in press releases, you read about that in the paper, there were different TV interviews; there was a lot of notoriety about a new license plate, however now that this mistake has occurred the Department of Revenue does not want to ‘fess up,” said Ross.  “Let the taxpayer know that an error occurred and what they should be expecting as we get closer to April.”

Lawmakers have been asking the Department for examples of how taxpayers might be affected.  Director Joel Walters said his Department has declined to offer examples because the many variables in filing means any two people filing the same way, with the same annual income, could see wildly different impacts.

Representative Robert Ross chairs the House Special Committee on Government Oversight (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Legislators told Walters they still want examples so they have a better idea what some Missourians might face.  Quade said the impact the changes will have on one Capitol employee are alarming.

“A staffer who makes about $30-thousand a year – single mom of three.  In last tax cycle she received $128 back from the state and $7,240 in federal.  This year she owes $304 to the state and [will get back $4,275 from the federal government], so that’s a $3,500 swing, and that’s for someone who works here,” said Quade.

Quade noted that it is illegal for a state worker to owe the state income tax.  She said that is just one way the situation could impact individual Missourians that they must be informed about.

Walters told the committee he agrees that communication should be improved.  He also stressed that he believes it is a minority of Missouri taxpayers who will experience a significant change in their tax returns, “but those are important people and people that we stand ready to work with.”

“We’ve created a dedicated phone line to help individuals with this.  We consistently work with taxpayers who need more time to pay their taxes or are struggling to pay their taxes, and we’ve put a page right up front on our website where immediately you go there, you can say if you need assistance – here’s where you can go to get assistance,” said Walters.

Ross said the committee will also be exploring what options are available to taxpayers who might be facing increased tax debt, “Maybe deferred payment plans … what actually the Department has the authority right now, without statutory changes occurring, but then what other options may possibly need to be addressed through statute.”

One legislator raised the question of some kind of tax debt forgiveness on the grounds that the Department made a mistake, but Ross said for such an idea to move forward seems unlikely.

The committee will meet again next week when, Ross said, it will ask more questions of Walters and review the examples that legislators have requested, which he urged the Department to at last prepare.

House pushes mental health awareness after death of members’ family friend

The sponsor of mental health legislation said that issue hit close to home for her on the day her bill came to the House floor.

Representative Chrissy Sommer (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

St. Charles Republican Chrissy Sommer said that during her drive to the Capitol on Monday she received the tragic news that the mother of her daughter’s best friend had committed suicide.

“You may have noticed I’m a little shaky and nervous, and the reason is because on my way here today I found out that a friend of mind committed suicide, and I’ve been thinking about her a lot,” said Sommer.  “It really struck me that this [bill] was pulled up today … because it can affect everyone.”

The House gave initial approval to House Bill 108, which would have Missouri join the federal government in making May “Mental Health Awareness Month,” and in making July “Minority Mental Health Awareness Month.”

“I’m thinking of her and I’m doing this in her honor, and I hope that we will pass it … I don’t mean to get emotional … but I hope that we will pass this not only in her honor but in the honor of everyone who has lost someone to suicide,” said Sommer.

Sommer said untreated mental health contribute to things like unemployment, disability, homelessness, incarceration, substance abuse, and suicide.

“Early identification and treatment of mental illnesses have proven to be vital to any recovery process.  Stigma association with mental illness prevents many individuals from seeking the necessary treatment,” said Sommer.

The House heard that there are particular stigmas and disparities within minority communities regarding mental health.

St. Louis Democrat Bruce Franks, who speaks openly about numerous traumas in his life including seeing his brother fatally shot when they were both children, said he has contemplated suicide in the past.  He said there is a stigma in the African American community about getting help and what “mental health” is.”

Representative Bruce Franks (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

“I talk on the floor about the funerals I’ve gone through and some of the things that I’ve seen, and even a couple of my Republican colleague friends on the other side have been to my district to see some of these traumatic things, so just imagine when folks are going through this each and every day and it plays on you mentally and you never get the help that you need because the people in your community and society sees this as a stigma,” said Franks.

Franks said the legislation is “very important, and it’s not just about an awareness month.  It’s about education and empowering people to let them know it’s okay to not be okay but it’s okay to seek help.”

Jefferson City Republican Dave Griffith said he hopes raising awareness will cause more struggling veterans to get help.

“Many of you may not have heard ‘hashtag-22.’  Hashtag-22 stands for the 22 veterans that commit suicide every day.  It is for real.  These men and women are suffering from PTSD and from many other mental illnesses and having a day or a month that we can recognize them is something that I stand for,” said Griffith.

“The perception of mental illness won’t change unless we act on it, and one way to do this is for us in Missouri to enact the Mental Health Awareness Month,” said Sommer.

With the House’s action on Monday, one more favorable vote would send HB 108 to the Senate.

Missouri House sends prescription drug monitoring proposal to the Senate

The Missouri House has voted to create a statewide monitoring program for drug prescriptions.  Backers hope such a law would combat the abuse of prescription drugs and help prevent conflicts between medications.  Opponents say it would violate Missourians’ constitutional right to privacy.

Sikeston Republican Holly Rehder, who has pushed for a prescription drug monitoring program for years in response to her own family’s struggles with prescription drug abuse, hopes this is the year PDMP legislation is finally sent to the governor. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Bill 188 would create an online database that physicians and pharmacists could use to track pill purchases and pharmacy visits.  Missouri is the only state in the U.S. without such a system, statewide.  A program launched in the St. Louis region several years ago now covers 67 of the state’s 114 counties, encompassing about 87-percent of its population.

The bill cleared the House 103-53.  Republicans who opposed it were very vocal about fears that the program would create a government database that would jeopardize Missourians’ medical information.

Backers say no other PDMP database has ever been successfully hacked and say this would fall under Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act privacy protections.  Blue Springs Republican Dan Stacy remained critical, and said that to say databases won’t get hacked is, “probably somewhat naïve.”

“The bigger the database, the bigger the target, and when we, as a body decide to put all of the State of Missouri – all of these records into one database – that is helping create a large target, and that is a place in which we can get a lot of data hacked because it’s a target,” said Stacy.

Eureka Republican Dottie Bailey said she remembered being a concealed carry permit holder when, under the administration of Governor Jay Nixon, information about those permit holders was shared with the Department of Homeland Security.

“Nothing has happened to that administration since that occurred other than my name is with the federal government as a firearms owner, or permitted, so right now, not a big deal, right?  But what happens when another administration gets in that wants to weaponize those databases?  And this is where I worry, this is where my constituents worry,” said Bailey.  “This bill is very difficult because yes, something needs to be done, but an overwhelming, sweeping government program has never, ever done what we think it’s going to do and then we usually end up regretting it.”

Proponents said concerns over privacy were being overblown, and paled in comparison to the bill’s goal of saving lives by fighting prescription drug abuse.

“Hacking is a real concern, I know, for all of us,” said Representative Sheila Solon (R-St. Joseph), “however we can’t let that worry consume us or we would never use a credit card to go to a restaurant or to go shopping or go to the gas station.  We’d never use a credit card or do any shopping online.”

Other lawmakers expressed frustration that all attempts to amend the bill were rejected.  Among those amendments were proposals to require physicians and pharmacists to participate in the database – the bill would make that optional – and to create penalties for failure to participate.

Representatives Justin Hill, Jack Bondon, and Jason Chipman were among those Republicans who opposed HB 188 to create a PDMP. Chipman offered an amendment to require all physicians and pharmacists in the state to participate in the program the bill would create, but it and all amendments to HB 188 were rejected. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

“No penalties; no requirement to participate; no protection for chronic pain patients, and that is unfathomable.  I just don’t get it, why we are punishing those who actually need the help,” said Ash Grove Republican Mike Moon.

Bill sponsor Holly Rehder (R-Sikeston) responded to those critics, saying, “I disagree with those who said that we didn’t do our job because this bill hasn’t been amended.  Mr. Speaker this bill has been massaged for years on this floor.  We started this year with where we had left off with the things we had agreed with.  The ones who wanted to amend it wanted to kill it.”

Rehder, who has proposed PDMP legislation for several consecutive sessions, told opponents that one way or another Missouri will have a monitoring program.

“Over half of our counties have passed this locally.  The current program will be statewide at some point and that program does not have legislative oversight; it doesn’t have a purge; it doesn’t protect our ability to purchase or have ownership of guns.  Do you need to pick which program you want?” said Rehder.

HB 188 now goes to the Senate, where past years’ versions have run into opposition and stalled out.  While the senator who led that opposition is no longer in that chamber due to term limits, last week the Senate version of Rehder’s bill stalled in a tie committee vote.

Rehder and other backers note that all members of that committee were present for the vote, and she believes that outcome isn’t representative of the chances of passing a PDMP bill this year.

House approves ethics reforms for local officials, open records exemption changes

The Missouri House has voted to enact a number of ethics reforms for local  officials, but support for the bill was tempered by an amendment that creates exemptions to the state’s open records, or “Sunshine,” law.

Representatives Nick Schroer (left) offered an amendment adding exemptions to Missouri’s open records law to a bill sponsored by Representative Shamed Dogan that dealt with ethics reform for local officials. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Bill 445 extends to local officials the ethics policies that state lawmakers and statewide officials are now subject to.  It would bar lobbyists from making expenditures for local government officials, superintendents, or members of school boards or charter school governing boards.  Such expenditures could also not be made for those officials’ staffs or specific members of their families.

The bill would also keep elected or appointed local officials from becoming lobbyists for two years after leaving office.  It would limit to $5 per day the amount a gift to such officials can cost, and cap at $2000 any campaign contributions for municipal, political subdivision, and special district office races.

Bill sponsor Shamed Dogan (R-Ballwin) has proposed that language for several years, based on how he saw local officials being lobbied while he was a city councilman in Ballwin.

“This is simply making sure that that same ethical standard to which we hold ourselves is also going to apply to our local elected officials, who have the same level of public trust, who are also trusted with taxpayer dollars, and who we also expect not to profit from their public service,” said Dogan.

A previous year’s version of Dogan’s bill received 149 votes when the House sent it to the Senate.  This year’s version passed out of the House on Thursday, 103-47.  Democrats said the lessening of support was due to an amendment to Dogan’s bill that they say “guts” Missouri’s open records law that has been in place since 1973.

“I appreciate [Representative Dogan] and his quest to make Missouri a better place and also improve the perception that people have and the confidence that folks have in their elected officials,” said Kansas City Democrat Jon Carpenter.

“But at the same time I’m going to vote against House Bill 445 today because unfortunately it doesn’t just do those things.  It also upends almost five decades of open records and transparency law in this state.  In fact almost unquestionably, when this bill passes it’s going to be the most radical undermining of open records and transparency law in state history,” said Carpenter.

The amendment, offered by Representative Nick Schroer (R-O’Fallon), would add to exemptions from the Sunshine law any personal cell phone numbers, social security numbers or home addresses; records of constituent case files including any correspondence between an elected official and a constituent; and any document or record “received or prepared by or on behalf of” an elected or appointed official “consisting of advice, opinions, and recommendations in connection with the deliberative decision-making process of said body.”

“I took a massive interest in trying to protect the integrity of our positions,” said Schroer.

Schroer discussed with Representative Steve Helms (R-Springfield) incidents in the news that he said are the types of things he wants to prevent.

Representative Jon Carpenter and other Democrats said the changes HB 445 would make to Missouri’s open records law go too far. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications

“The Huffington Post ruined an entire family for one person’s tweets, doxing them,” said Schroer.

“So you mean the Huffington Post printed private, personal information out on social media because they disagreed with a tweet that one of the family members made?” asked Helms.

“Correct,” said Schroer.  “They accessed personal information just like I am trying to protect here.”

Democrats were largely unmoved by the concerns Schroer cited.

“I believe [Representative Schroer] protests way too much,” said Representative Deb Lavender (D-Kirkwood).  “I don’t think the statute we have currently in place allows half of what he’s just told us is sunshineable … I don’t hand out people’s social security numbers.  I won’t give addresses.  I’m covered in the law that we have today.”

Dogan said he felt the provisions offered by Schroer regarding constituent information were necessary.

“I am concerned about people’s e-mail addresses, phone numbers, other personal information being a part of the public disclosure and us not being able to redact that information really is concerning,” said Dogan.  “With that said I’m not sure about the portion that has been the most controversial where it’s talking about all communications.  I think that might have been an unintentional kind of overreach, so I’m a little bit concerned about that section and I would be willing to work on toning that language down somewhat.”

Several Republicans voted against HB 445.  Dogan said most or all of those were likely opposed to campaign finance limits, which many Republicans believe limit free speech.

Today’s vote sends the legislation to the Senate, where several lawmakers in both parties said they expect it will undergo further revisions.

Representative and daughter push for celiac disease awareness

Celiac disease is an immune disease that leaves a person unable to eat wheat, rye, or barley.  A person with celiac can go through a broad variety of uncomfortable symptoms, but a lack of awareness about the disease can cause it to go undiagnosed for years.

Grace Tate and her father, Representative Nate Tate, presented House Bill 72 to the House Committee on Tourism on January 31, 2019. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

That’s the thought behind House Bill 72 offered by St. Clair Republican Nate Tate.  Tate’s daughter, Grace, suffers from celiac disease, often referred to as “gluten intolerance,” and she actually suggested the proposal.

“My intent for this bill would be to help raise awareness for everyone including doctors, because it seems like it takes doctors a long time to say, ‘You know what, it might be celiac disease,’” Tate told the House Committee on Tourism.

HB 72 would designate the second Wednesday in May as “Celiac Awareness Day” in Missouri.  That would fall during national Celiac Awareness Month.

Tate told the committee it took more than five years for Grace to be diagnosed, during which time she endured the symptoms of celiac while going through a series of treatments and tests that did nothing to ease them.

“The last four, five, six visits before he decided to do the blood test, he was like, ‘Well it might be celiac but let’s try this.’  The next visit, ‘Well it might be celiac but let’s try this first,’ and that happened five, six, seven times,” said Tate.  “A simple blood test – whenever she was already getting blood tests done for other types of things – would have detected it.”

There is no treatment or cure for celiac disease.  The only thing Grace and other sufferers can do is closely watch what they eat and avoid even the smallest amounts of gluten.

“It is stressful,” Grace told the committee.  “If I have gluten – even just the littlest thing – I will be in so much pain for hours and hours.  It used to be a lot more stressful because there was almost no gluten free food that we could find back when I was young, 5 and 6, but now there’s a lot more restaurants you can eat at and a lot more gluten free foods that you can find.”

Like her father, Grace hopes that passing HB 72 would make more people – particularly doctors – aware of celiac and shorten the time it takes for a person to be tested for it.

She told the committee, “Please support this bill so I can help keep others from going through the pain I had to endure.”

The committee has voted 8-0 to advance the legislation.

State lawmakers to ask governor for clemency for man sentenced as teen to 241 years

A growing body of Missouri legislators wants to ask Governor Mike Parson (R) to act on behalf of a man in state prison with a sentence that they feel far exceeds his crimes.

Bobby Bostic is currently in the Jefferson City Correctional Center serving a 214 sentence for crimes he committed in one night in 1995. (photo supplied by Representative Nick Schroer)

Bobby Bostic is serving a sentence of 241 years in prison.  Now 40, he would be eligible for parole at the age of 112.  Appeals filed on his behalf have been denied, even one on the grounds that the Supreme Court ruled in 2010 that people under 18 who didn’t kill anyone couldn’t be sentenced to life without parole.  That didn’t apply to Bostic because he wasn’t sentenced to life; he was sentenced for 18 crimes.

Bostic was 16 in 1995 when he and an 18-year-old accomplice robbed a group of people delivering Christmas presents for the needy.  Each man shot a victim, leaving one slightly injured.  The pair carjacked another woman and put a gun to her head.  The accomplice robbed and groped her before she was let go.

“When you look at the cases from around that time – the late ‘90s – there are murderers that are already back out on our streets that were sent [to prison],” said Representative Nick Schroer.

Schroer, an O’Fallon Republican, says he happened upon the case when someone posted an old story about Bostic on Twitter.  He sent Bostic a letter and the two began talking, and shortly thereafter Schroer and other representatives met with Bostic at the Jefferson City Correctional Center.  It was then that Schroer decided he wanted to see the man given a chance at freedom.

Representative Nick Schroer (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communciations)

“I think he should do time for the mistakes that he made and the choices that he’s made, but to put him there on a taxpayer dime for 241 years I think is unjust,” said Schroer.

One of the lawmakers that joined Schroer in that visit to JCCC is Representative Barbara Washington (D-Kansas City).  She came to the same conclusion – that the sentence was too harsh.  She and Schroer agreed to work with their respective parties to get as many lawmakers as possible to sign a letter to Governor Parson asking for clemency for Bostic.

“That’s all he has.  That’s the only thing he has.  The Supreme Court did deny his brief.  They denied to hear the case on the U.S. Supreme Court level.  I believe he’s had some appeals that have been denied on the state court level, and so at this point this is the only opportunity that this young man has had,” said Washington.  “He’s lost his whole life for 24 years.  Had he not been tried in adult court he probably would’ve been out at 25.”

Schroer and Washington say Bostic has worked to better himself during his time in prison.

“I’m not saying he’s a model prisoner – I don’t know his whole record – but what I do know is that he’s tried to take advantage of the opportunities that you can take in prison,” said Washington.  “He didn’t even have a high school diploma or GED when he went in.  He has received a GED and he’s soon to be completing his associate degree.”

Representative Barbara Washington (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Schroer said Bostic’s efforts to get an education show he’s on the right path, and said some of his actions on the night of his crimes showed at least some of his thoughts were on the right path.

“The female victim indicated that while Bobby was driving, the 18-year-old, while he was trying to find her money, groped her and then threatened to rape her, but it was the 16-year-old Bobby Bostic … that stopped any rape from occurring and got her out of the car,” said Schroer.

“It’s interesting to note,” Washington adds, “that he was 16, his co-defendant was 18, and his co-defendant will be up for parole next year.”

The judge who handed Bostic his sentence has said publicly that she now regrets, “deeply,” that decision, and wants to meet with Bostic.  Schroer believes something another judge – Missouri’s Supreme Court Chief Justice Zel Fischer – said in his State of the Judiciary Address this week also applies.

“He indicated that we should be using our prisons to house the most serious – the criminals that we, as a society, are afraid of, not the ones that we’re mad at,” said Schroer.  “I think listening to our chief justice it’s time that we give this man a second chance.”

By Thursday afternoon around 15 lawmakers had signed on to the letter started by Representatives Schroer and Washington – lawmakers from both parties and from both the House and Senate, with more having agreed to sign it.

 

Family of MoDOT worker killed in work zone asks lawmakers to toughen license revocation law

More than two-and-a-half years after Lyndon Ebker was struck and killed while working on a MoDOT Road Crew, the man that struck him was still driving.  Ebker’s family, the Department of Transportation, and Representative Aaron Griesheimer (R-Washington) say that’s not right, and they’re asking the legislature to change state law because of it.

MoDOT employee Lyndon Ebker of New Haven was killed in an April 2016 accident in a work zone outside his hometown. His death prompted the filing of House Bill 499. (photo courtesy of the Ebker family)

“When I say we lost a good man, I mean we lost a good man,” Ebker’s daughter, Nicole Herbel, told the House Transportation Committee.  “A man who cared for others and always put others in front of himself.  If you would’ve been able to ask him why he would’ve told you just what he told me:  ‘I do what needs to be done,’ Let’s do what needs to be done and fix this process together.”

The man who struck Ebker was later revealed to have macular degeneration.  Even so, neither his physician, family, nor law enforcement investigating the crash reported him as an unsafe driver, to require that he take driver testing.

The committee is considering House Bill 499, which would allow a driver’s license to be revoked if that driver hits a highway worker or an emergency responder while in a properly marked work or emergency zone.  The license would be revoked upon notification by law enforcement to the Department of Revenue.

“The purpose of this bill is to, obviously, protect our highway workers,” said Griesheimer, the bill’s sponsor.  “We have a need out there.”

Backers say the bill would make sure whether drivers who have been involved in work zone accidents are competent to be on the roads.  A driver whose license has been revoked could seek reinstatement by taking and passing the written and driving parts of the driver’s license exam, or petitioning for a court hearing.

Since 2000, work zone incidents have claimed the lives of 13 employees of Director Patrick McKenna’s Department of Transportation.  He told the committee, “Justice was not operating quickly,” in the case that left Ebker dead.

Lyndon Ebker’s daughter, Nicole Herdell, recounted for lawmakers the work zone incident that killed her father in 2016 and asked them to pass House Bill 499. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

“This is a substantial problem for us.  In these cases – we are talking about at-fault crashes, not accidents.  That is a distinction, and that is a distinction that there is due process to determine.  We’re not looking to remove anybody’s rights.  We’re simply trying to be able to operate and maintain the system with safety,” said McKenna.

State Maintenance Engineer Becky Almeroth told the committee other workers in the region where Ebker was killed felt unsafe after the accident because the driver who hit him was still on the road.

“For the last 2.5 years those coworkers in this very tight-knit community had to live with the fact that they would get texts on an almost weekly basis, several times a week, letting them know that this driver was out driving at the time.  So their minds at the time, they’re not going to put a work zone in that area because they know the routes that he usually takes.  There are many times that these workers saw him in the convenience store, saw him in the grocery store, and they know this is somebody that could potentially put others in harm’s way,” said Almeroth.

Griesheimer said he is considering amending the bill to say that drivers could also have their licenses revoked for hitting utility workers in work zones.  One lawmaker suggested extending the language to cover hitting anyone in a work zone.

The committee has not yet voted on his bill.

House Committee advances prescription drug monitoring proposal

The Missouri House is again being asked to consider creating a statewide prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP), with the aim of battling the abuse of opioids and other prescription medication.

Representative Holly Rehder presents to a committee House Bill 188, which would create a statewide prescription drug monitoring program in Missouri. Behind her, Senator Tony Leutkemeyer (R-Parkville) listens to the discussion. Luetkemeyer is sponsoring identical legislation in the Senate. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Bill 188 is sponsored by Sikeston Republican Holly Rehder, who has proposed a statewide PDMP for several years.  Such legislation has passed out of the House several times but was held up in the Senate.

Rehder has been a strong proponent of PDMPs largely because of her family’s experience with opioid and drug abuse.  One of her step-fathers was a drug dealer.  Her daughter, Raychel, became addicted to pain relievers after an emergency room visit when she was 17.  She went on to abuse other substances including methamphetamine before becoming drug-free more than 5-years ago.  Rehder says other members of her family have also struggled with abuse issues.

“I know this issue inside and out, as a parent, as a kid who grew up in it, and it doesn’t matter what your background is, it doesn’t matter how you grow up or how you raise your children.  It’s not a moral failing.  Addiction is a disease,” Rehder told the House Committee on Insurance Policy.

Missouri is the only state in the nation without a PDMP.  Such programs collect and monitor drug prescription and dispensing data to look for, among other things, “doctor shopping;” the visiting of multiple doctors in an attempt to obtain drugs that are commonly abused.

Rehder and other supporters say they don’t view PDMPs as a “silver bullet,” that will end the abuse of opioids and other prescription drugs, but as a tool that will help fight such abuse.

“A PDMP allows providers to see concerning trends in their patients’ narcotic history.  That physician can intervene with options for that patient:  alternative care treatment, medication-assisted treatment – we have many options available now with excellent outcomes, but we need our medical professionals seeing their patients’ history before they get too far down the road,” said Rehder.

Opponents of PDMPs argue that they violate citizens’ rights by collecting personal data and putting it into a government database that, they say, could then be jeopardized by hacking or other breaches.

Doctor John Lilly of Springfield told lawmakers they should put privacy concerns above all others in considering PDMP legislation.

“Your job is not to make my job easier.  Your job is to protect the liberty of the citizens of this state,” said Dr. Lilly.  “I am a U.S. citizen first and a doctor second.  I care about the liberty of these citizens of Missouri.”

Lilly and others speaking against HB 188 argued that data show PDMPs in other states have not been effective in fighting opioid abuse.

Monroe County Commissioner Ron Staggs asked the committee, “After you see the data from 49 states and a death rate that continues to climb why would you want to enact the same thing?”

Proponents say a PDMP wouldn’t just address drug abuse in Missouri.  It could also help pharmacists spot cases in which patients might be prescribed unsafe combinations of medications.

Anne Eisenbeis works at a pharmacy in Moberly.  She told the committee of one such instance that she caught by chance, that a PDMP would have ensured was flagged.

“I had a patient and a friend – a young man – bring in two prescriptions from two different doctors for two almost identical narcotics … had he not brought both physical prescriptions into my store, because in Moberly we don’t have access to the PDMP … he would’ve easily overdosed.  There would’ve been an interaction with these two medications,” said Eisenbeis.  “With a PDMP this would help me prevent this kind of medication error accident.  I would’ve been able to see that he was given another prescription had he gone to another pharmacy.”

In previous years one of the proponents of a PDMP in the Senate has been Senator Dave Schatz (R-Sullivan), who is now the President Pro-Tem of the Senate.  Rehder said she and Schatz worked in past years on compromises that have been worked into HB 188, and having him in Senate leadership bolsters the chance PDMP will become law this year.

The committee voted 13-3 to pass HB 188.  It goes next to another House committee, which could vote on whether to send it to the full chamber for consideration.