Missouri House of Representatives Newsroom

House endorses new abortion provider regulations; sends bill to the Missouri Senate

The Missouri House has passed a Senate bill that proposes new restrictions on abortion. The House made several changes to the bill, so it goes back to the Senate for consideration.

Representative Diane Franklin carried Senate Bill 5 in the House during the legislature’s second extraordinary session of 2017. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

The bill would allow the attorney general to prosecute abortion law violations without first involving local prosecutors; repeal a St. Louis ordinance that bars discrimination in housing and employment against women who have had an abortion, use birth control, or are pregnant; and require annual, unannounced state inspections of abortion facilities, among other provisions.

“The bill that we received from the Senate, we thought, was a good framework but it did not really specifically meet the governor’s call, so we re-put in provisions that helped to provide for the health and safety of women,” said Representative Diane Franklin (R-Camdenton), who carried Senate Bill 5 in the House.

Democrats argue the legislation is not about women’s health and safety, saying it is about making it more difficult for women to get abortions in Missouri.

“For the entire last week the only word I’ve heard was, ‘abortion,’” said Representative Deb Lavender (D-Kirkwood). “It’s actually a scam that we think – we’re saying – that we’re protecting women when actually all we’re doing is putting additional hurdles in their way for them to access healthcare.”

Franklin said a key provision for her is language that would require that all tissue removed after an abortion is sent to a pathologist, rather than a sample as is required now. A pathologist would have to account for all tissue and note any issues. The Department of Health would follow up any inconsistencies with an investigation. It would also report annually to the legislature all information it gathers regarding fetal tissue handling.

Franklin has carried various forms of such language going back several sessions, after a series of videos emerged alleging that Planned Parenthood was selling fetal tissue after abortions.

“I think that especially important that I worked on have been the fetal tissue portion of that – the tracking of that – so that we have the assurance that it is indeed going where it should be going and that our department is able to keep track of that,” said Franklin.

The bill also aims to bar laws that would interfere with the operations or speech of alternatives to abortion agencies. Representative Hannah Kelly (R-Mountain Grove) says those agencies do a lot to help pregnant women.

“They offer pregnancy testing; ultrasounds – I’ve heard many, many, many stories directly from young mothers who … were in a place where they didn’t have any other options. They needed alternatives and they needed help, and coming back to me, in particular, and saying, ‘I saw my baby. I saw my baby move,” said Kelly.

Democrats are critical of information given out at alternatives to abortion agencies, saying it is medically inaccurate and skewed toward discouraging a woman from having an abortion. Republicans say the agencies give women information with which they can form their own decisions.

Representative Cora Faith Walker offered an amendment that would have required quarterly reporting from alternatives to abortion agencies, but it was voted down. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Ferguson Democrat Cora Faith Walker also questioned the effectiveness of those agencies.

“In total there are about 70-plus alternatives to abortion agencies that exist here in the state of Missouri and yet we still have issues with infant mortality rates and maternal mortality rates that surpass national averages,” said Walker. “In specific areas of Missouri where there seem to exist several alternative to abortion agencies that are supposed to be providing healthcare and other services to women as an alternative to abortion, we still have these very, very high infant mortality rates.”

The legislature returned to Jefferson City in a special session to consider abortion legislation at the call of Governor Eric Greitens (R). Democrats used debate of SB 5 to criticize the governor for what they said was a stunt meant to help him politically.

“Make sure we’re not letting a governor bring us back to special session for political gain,” said St. Louis City Democrat Bruce Franks, Junior. “I know how passionate you (Republicans) all are about this issue. I would never take that away from you. I know how passionate we (Democrats) are. But we’re not paying attention to how we’re being played … Now just because this is one of our particular issues that we feel so strongly about doesn’t mean it’s right that we’re here.”

Republicans called the session an important opportunity for the state to reaffirm a commitment to protecting unborn children and making sure women receive proper care from abortion providers.

House Speaker Todd Richardson (R-Poplar Bluff), when asked about lawmakers’ attitudes toward the governor, said, “I think we’ve been focused here in the House on issues, and I think the issues that we’ve worked on back in regular session and through these two special sessions are issues that are of particular importance to the House, and they’re of particular importance to members of the Senate as well, so the fact that we’ve got a governor that’s willing to engage on these issues has been positive and helpful.”

Representative Jay Barnes (left) talks with House Speaker Todd Richardson. Barnes offered several amendments that contributed to the final form of Senate Bill 5. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Democrats note courts have ruled against laws that placed similar restrictions on facilities that provide abortions, and say this legislation will likely be thrown out as well.

“You already know this is going to straight to litigation once it goes into effect, and you also know the [financial cost to the state of defending it],” said St. Louis Democrat Stacey Newman.

Richardson believes if the bill the House passed is challenged in court, it will be upheld.

“This is obviously a very highly litigated area of the law. It will continue to be a highly litigated area of the law in every state, but I’m very confident that the state of Missouri, if this law is challenged, will prevail,” said Richardson.

The state Senate is expected to debate the House’s changes to SB 5 in the coming days.

Work underway in House in special session on abortion issues

The state House has started work on the second extraordinary session of 2017; this one called by Governor Eric Greitens (R) for the legislature to deal with issues related to abortion.

Representative Hannah Kelly (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Republicans say the special session is an important chance for the state to reaffirm a commitment to protecting unborn children and making sure women receive proper care from abortion providers. Democrats say it is about attacking women’s healthcare in the face of recent court decisions.

Representative Kathy Swan (R-Cape Girardeau), who has a nursing background, is sponsoring House Bill 3, which would change the laws regarding the conditions and care at abortion providers. She said it is based in part on violations of medical procedures and protocols that have occurred at those facilities.

“Such as expired drugs, or single-use drugs that were still there – single use drugs obviously are to be utilized on a single patient and then discarded – dusty equipment, rusty equipment, that sort of thing,” said Swan. “That’s what I have been saying for the last four to five years is that those standards need to be maintained regardless of the procedure, regardless of the facility.”

Swan’s bill would require facilities that provide abortions to prove that doctors performing abortions are physicians licensed in Missouri; to be subject to rules at least equal to those for ambulatory surgical centers; and be subject to unannounced on-site inspections at least once a year. HB3 would also create the misdemeanor crime of “interference with medical assistance,” for preventing or seeking changes in medical care to a patient.

Democrats including Stacey Newman (D-St. Louis) note the Supreme Court struck down a Texas law regarding regulations of abortion providers in that state, and a court has placed an injunction against a similar law in Missouri. She argues that the additional regulations Swan and others propose will also prove unconstitutional.

“This is up to a court to decide, but that’s again another waste of time and money that we’re wanting to pass more things that are really going to fit under that same purview,” said Newman.

Representative Hannah Kelly (R-Mountain Grove) has filed House Bill 9 that she said aims to protect pregnancy resource centers and maternity homes from undue discrimination and ensure protection of women’s healthcare. She is also concerned additional abortion clinics could open in St. Louis thanks in part to a law passed by St. Louis earlier this year.

“If we don’t put a stop to it, it will be in two words an ‘abortion sanctuary,’ that we will be responsible for and the blood will be on our hands because we didn’t do anything to protect the lives that have the promise in the Declaration of Independence of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” said Kelly.

Representative Crystal Quade (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Democrats defend the St. Louis statute as preventing discrimination in housing and employment against women who are having or have had abortions, are pregnant, or use birth control. Springfield Democrat Crystal Quade said her constituents view that less as an issue of being for or against abortion, and more about local governments being able to govern.

“If my city council members and our mayor, or by a vote of the people, determine that something for our city is best, the fact that the legislature comes in and will look at a specific city and a specific thing that their people have decided is best for them and say, ‘No, you can’t do that,’ is worrisome,” said Quade. “I think that we have a real concern – I know I do – with just the separate branches of government and if we’re actually following what we should be, and I think that goes to the governor’s call as well – how he was so very specific to what statutes he wanted us to look into. I personally feel like he was legislating through that call.”

The House has held a committee hearing Wednesday on some of its legislation dealing with these and other abortion-related issues, but has not met as a full body. Several House members say it will seek first to take up any legislation the Senate is successful in passing and debate whether pass that.

The House is anticipated to take up the Senate’s legislation next week.

House budget committee names first target in tax credit reform: wine & grape producers tax credit

The House Budget Committee has taken the first step in what could be a longer, broader process of tax credit reform.

Representative Justin Alferman (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

The committee must annually clear state agencies to authorize tax credits. When it met this year, it recommended that issuance of the wine & grape producers tax credit not be continued.

Vice-chairman Justin Alferman (R-Hermann) described the decision as a “test run,” because some believe that when the legislature chooses to end a tax credit, it will likely be sued by someone who wants to get the involved credits.

“What does happen? We’re going to eliminate this. If a year goes by and we say, ‘Look, we eliminated this one and everyone respected the legislature and their choice here,’ then maybe we can start going after some of these bigger ones like low-income housing, like historic tax credits; some of the ones that are causing the biggest strain on our budget,” said Alferman.

The wine & grape producers tax credit offers a break on income taxes equal to part of the purchase price for equipment used in making wine or growing grapes. In each of the past two years between $14,000 and $17,000 worth of the credits have been issued, and more than $14,700 was waiting to be redeemed at the end of Fiscal Year 2016. More than $575-million was redeemed across all tax credits in Fiscal Year 2016.

Alferman, whose district includes numerous wineries, said it is an important credit to eliminate.

“It is a great example of a tax credit that has worked but has long outlived its usefulness in our state,” said Alferman. “I believe all tax credits should have a sunset … regardless of if it’s doing good things for our state or if they are simply pork barrel spending, which I believe a lot of them are nothing more than pork barrel spending.”

Alferman said the credit was created to help build the state’s wine industry, and that’s been done. He said now there are people using the credit but creating subpar wines that hurt the industry as a whole, or using imported juice or grapes that would not grow here yet labeling the products as Missouri wines.

He hopes after this the legislature can proceed with more reform of tax credits, which he said have “run rampant.”

“Representative [Don] Rone did a great job of going through and analyzing along with our budget staff. We have over $1.5-billion – with a ‘B’ – of tax credits that have been issued but have not been redeemed. Well what would happen if those all got redeemed in one year? We get just under $10-billion of general revenue taxes in the State of Missouri every year. If those all, for whatever reason, got redeemed in one year, that’s 10-percent of all of our state revenue for GR. That would devastate the state,” said Alferman.

Meanwhile, Governor Eric Greitens (R) created a committee to look at the state’s tax system, including tax credits, and recommend changes. Alferman is hopeful the legislature will be able to work toward tax credit reform along with that committee.

Effort to reaffirm House support for sheltered workshops led by lawmaker whose son works in one

A representative who says sheltered workshops make a huge difference in his son’s life spearheaded an effort to signal the legislature’s continued backing for those facilities.

Representative Rory Rowland (right) introduces his son JP on the Missouri House Floor (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Independence Democrat Rory Rowland offered House Concurrent Resolution 28, which was adopted by both the House and Senate and declares those chambers’ support for sheltered workshops.

Rowland’s son JP has Down syndrome and works in a Kansas City-area workshop.

“A sheltered workshop is a great opportunity. For my son, he loves it. I actually asked him to come down and lobby with me on a variety of days for this resolution and he actually would rather go to work at a sheltered workshop, and I found that remarkable,” said Rowland. “It was a great testament to the success of sheltered workshops for people with disabilities. It gives him something that he feels is worthwhile and gives him a sense of accomplishment.”

Rowland said he was inspired to propose the resolution in response to the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. He was told by relatives of sheltered workshop employees, and by workshop managers, that the Act was having unintended consequences.

Rowland said the Act makes it more difficult for people with intellectual disabilities between the ages of 21 and 25 to get employment at a sheltered workshop.

“They really created what I call a, ‘bridge to nowhere.’ Between the age of 21 to 25 there’s no way that these young people can get in there unless they jump through a number of hoops that I think are really unrealistic in regards to what they have to do,” said Rowland.

Rowland believes the Act’s aim is to get more people with intellectual disabilities into competitive employment, but he said that doesn’t work for everyone – including his son.

“We tried to get competitive employment for my son and he got rejected time after time after time. He’s just not one of those people that’s eligible for competitive employment … we then sought out a sheltered workshop and found out the limitations in regards to the Workforce Innovation Act and how difficult it is now to get into a sheltered workshop if you’re under the age of 25,” said Rowland.

Rowland said he filed the resolution to raise attention about the impacts of the Act.

“The resolution was really designed to give the opportunity family members [of employees], and managers of sheltered workshops the opportunity to talk to their federal legislators and say, ‘I think we need to rethink the Workforce Innovation Act,’” said Rowland.

He said the resolution’s path through and adoption by the legislature generated a great deal of news coverage and other attention that he thinks could be its greatest effect – to generate attention.

Meanwhile JP Rowland is doing well at the workshop he works at.

“If he didn’t have a sheltered workshop he literally would be home today watching TV or playing video games, and I don’t think any of us after a while would feel like we should leave high school and be retired,” said Rowland. “He now gets a chance to go to work, develop some skills, but also from a family member’s standpoint, you know he’s got three brothers and sisters and they get to talk about their job when we have family gatherings, and now they get to ask him about his job and he feels like he’s a contributing part of society. I think that’s an important key – for him to have that sense of accomplishment, that sense of achievement, that sense of belonging.”

Rowland’s resolution passed out of the House 152-1.

He said that during the 2018 session he anticipates the possible formation of a task force to delve into issues faced by those with intellectual disabilities when seeking competitive employment.

Despite Governor’s call, House postpones utility modernization debate to another day

The state House has worked to answer Governor Eric Greitens’ (R) call to an extraordinary session on one of the two issues he set before it, but not the other.

Representative Jay Barnes (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

It sent to the Senate on Wednesday a bill that would let the Public Service Commission (PSC) consider lower rates for new facilities that use more than 50 megawatts of electricity per month. It was prompted by two companies – one looking to restart an aluminum smelter near Marston; the other saying it will build a new steel mill at New Madrid. Both are in Southeast Missouri where lawmakers agreed jobs are needed badly.

Earlier story: House uses special session to pass bill aiming to bring jobs to Bootheel

The House did not include language that would give utilities more leeway to set new rates ahead of new infrastructure investments. That was part of Greitens’ call, but the issue is considered controversial and lawmakers in the House thought including it would keep the rest of the legislation from passing in the Senate.

Some lawmakers, however, said the issue is one that needs to be discussed.

“I think our state needs to have a conversation about energy policy for the next 40 years and not just the next four months,” said Representative Jay Barnes (R-Jefferson City), who brought the infrastructure-related language to the floor in order to have legislators discuss it before he withdrew it.

Barnes said the language that was originally in House Bill 1 was too broad, and instead supports legislation that would allow the PSC to consider increasing rates ahead of improvements to power grids and other infrastructure in order to pay for those improvements.

“At least for one utility in this state there are four coal plants that are on average at least 50 years old. Some of those need retrofitting and there are those in American society who would want those closed down altogether,” said Barnes. “Half of the substations for the utility company that services my area are over 40 years old … much of the electrical infrastructure underground in St. Louis that supports our state’s biggest city is 80 to 100 years old. As a state we are living on the investments of our grandparents … there are tough decisions to be made about how to modernize that infrastructure.”

Critics like St. Louis Democrat Tracy McCreery say what Barnes is discussing would give a “monopoly utility” the chance to get “extra money.”

“That’s what grid modernization is. It’s the ability for them to get money ahead of time and faster in order to do things that I think they should be doing already,” said McCreery.

Representative Tracy McCreery (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Barnes said he hopes the legislature will revisit the discussion of grid modernization incentives. House Speaker Todd Richardson (R-Poplar Bluff) agrees.

“I think the State of Missouri needs to have a longer-term conversation about energy policy and what that needs to look like. The status quo with energy policy right now isn’t working particularly well,” said Richardson. “Our ratepayers in Missouri are seeing significant increases almost every 12 to 18 months.”

Richardson said the House in this week’s special session was focused on passing the other issue called for by the governor so those two companies would not pull out of plans to come to Missouri. Barnes noted grid modernization legislation in the past has been “stymied” in the Senate.

House uses special session to pass bill aiming to bring jobs to Bootheel

The Missouri House worked quickly this week to let the Public Service Commission (PSC) clear the way for some 500 or more jobs in Southeast Missouri.

Representative Don Rone (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

The House has passed to the Senate a bill that would let the PSC consider lower utility rates for two companies – one that says it will reopen the Noranda aluminum smelter near Marston; the other saying it will to build a new steel mill at New Madrid, both in Southeast Missouri.

Both companies want lower utility rates that would allow those facilities to be profitable. House Bill 1’s main provision would allow the PSC to consider whether to grant those rates.

Its sponsor, Representative Don Rone (R-Portageville), spoke passionately numerous times to his colleagues about the need for jobs in his region and the need for this legislation.

“On behalf of the people from my district I want to thank everybody in this body on both sides of the aisle whether you voted for it or against it, that’s fine. The outcome was good for my people,” said Rone.

House Speaker Todd Richardson (R-Poplar Bluff) said it is poetic that one of the facilities will be in an industrial park that bears the name St. Jude.

“I cannot think of anything more appropriate than to have the patron saint of lost causes be the location for this extraordinary project,” said Richardson. “If you travel across rural Missouri there are people that believe industry is never coming back to rural Missouri … but the notion that we cannot bring industry and we cannot bring business back to rural Missouri is wrong, and we’re going to show it today.”

Similar language passed out of the House during the regular session 148-2, but did not pass out of the Senate. Governor Eric Greitens (R) called legislators back to Jefferson City to reconsider the issue, and it was met with less support.

Some Democrats, including Fred Wessels (D-St. Louis), said granting lower utility rates doesn’t make sense when the state has other incentives to help lure businesses to Missouri.

“This is a nutty way to do business when you have alternative sources,” said Wessels.

Representatives Judy Morgan (D-Kansas City) and Sarah Unsicker (D-St. Louis) were among Democrats who didn’t feel comfortable with the fact that the name of the company proposing the steel mill hasn’t been shared publicly.

“I was just so uncomfortable with the fact that there was no guarantee on the number of jobs, there was no guarantee on a clawback provision, there was no guarantee on a salary … I think I would’ve supported the bill if it had some of those items in it,” said Morgan.

“We’re letting this unknown company dictate the terms of the negotiation without holding their feet to the fire to say, ‘You need to do what you’re promising,” said Unsicker.

Representative Fred Wessels (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Some Democrats also contend that if the PSC grants a lower utility rate for those two companies other Ameren customers will have to pay more to make up the difference.

“My constituents, our constituents, don’t really care whether they’re writing a check to the IRS or the Missouri Department of Revenue or to Ameren, I mean it’s still money,” said Representative Tracy McCreery (D-St. Louis). “Should we be doing economic development on the backs of people who pay their electric bills, and is that the right way to make policy for this state?”

Rone said there’s no way to know for sure whether Ameren customers’ rates will increase.

“Everybody’s assuming – they don’t know. What crystal ball are they looking at?” asked Rone. “I’ve been working this since last January and I can’t tell you what the average rate is at that location.”

The special session was called by Greitens one week after Rone called attention to the issue in a passionate floor speech, in which he called several senators “heartless,” and “selfish,” for rejecting his proposal.

Rone’s bill goes to the Senate on the strength of a bipartisan 120-17 vote. It includes a clause that would make it effective immediately upon being signed by the governor.

Legislature called back for extraordinary session to consider Southeast Missouri jobs issue

State lawmakers will return to Jefferson City next week for a special legislative session. Governor Eric Greitens (R) is calling them back to address an economic development issue in Southeast Missouri.

Representative Don Rone (at microphone) (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

The legislature did not pass in its session that ended last week language that backers say could allow one company to proceed with plans to reopen the Noranda aluminum smelter at Marston; and another company to build a new steel mill at New Madrid, both in Southeast Missouri.

Both companies hope for lower utility rates that would allow those facilities to be profitable. To consider lower rates the Public Service Commission (PSC) says it needs the legislature’s approval.

Representative Don Rone (R-Portageville) attached that language to several bills in the final days of the session, but it did not become law. He said people in that region are in desperate need of jobs, especially after Noranda closed last year eliminating nearly 900 jobs. He said these two projects could create more than 500 new jobs.

Greitens wants legislators to come back and focus on that one issue.

“I cannot thank the governor enough for the people of Southeast Missouri – all of Southeast Missouri,” said Rone. “I can’t tell you what it means to these people here to have hope, and the governor saw fit to give us hope by calling a special.”

The House voted for Rone’s language 148-2, and its support in that chamber is expected to remain high, but at least one senator who Rone said blocked it in that chamber – Senator Doug Libla (R-Poplar Bluff) – remains opposed to the proposal.

Rone said he believes the bill can get through both chambers and to Greitens.

“[Senator Libla] can keep his position. We’ve never asked – in the many conversations I’ve had with him and his people – we’ve never asked him to change his vote. We’ve always asked him just to allow it to come to the floor and let the people in the Senate vote,” said Rone. “All we’re wanting to do is let democracy work, let the 34 senators take vote their conscience, and see where it takes us.”

Rone said the entities behind the two facilities are expected to decide soon whether to give up on progressing with their plans for those two sites. He said if the legislature can quickly pass his bill he is confident those companies will postpone their decisions until they can meet with the PSC.

“I would think that [Governor Greitens] was well aware of the timeline and how critical it is,” said Rone.

The call for the special session comes one week after Rone called attention to the issue in a passionate floor speech in which he called out Libla and two other senators, saying they were, “heartless,” “selfish,” and “egotistical,” in rebuffing his proposal.

The House and Senate will begin the extraordinary session at 4 p.m. Monday.

House panel recommends changes in Missouri Corrections to fight harassment, bullying, and favoritism

The state House is recommending the Department of Corrections make several policy changes to battle sexual harassment, bullying, retaliation, and favoritism among its employees.

Representative Jim Hansen (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

After news articles last fall brought such issues to light, as well as millions of dollars in settlements with the state by former Corrections employees who had been victims, the House formed a subcommittee to investigate the work environment in the Department.

Read the subcommittee report by clicking here.

Representative Jim Hansen (R-Frankford) chaired that subcommittee. He and other members heard what they called “disturbing” reports of harassment and treatment of employees over the last few months, as current and former Corrections employees offered testimony.

Hansen said some of the subcommittee’s key recommendations are the implementation of a zero tolerance policy toward harassment; a change in how complaints are handled; the creation of a hotline for taking employee complaints with a mandated 24-hour response to calls; and a review of how employees are promoted and trained.

Hansen said some of those recommendations have already been implemented under the Department’s new director, Anne Precythe.

“Some of them have. Not all of them,” said Hansen. “She’s also looked at the training and her approach to training new leaders. She’s got some ideas in the works there.”

Hansen expresses a lot of confidence in Precythe to improve the environment in Corrections.

“It’s in the bottom of the first [inning] or to top of the second – however you want to look at it – but so far she’s made a lot of the right moves,” said Hansen. “There’s a lot of good employees out there and we’re asking them to be part of the solution and not the problem, to help her, and with time I think that she’ll get the changes done that need to be done.”

Hansen hopes House Speaker Todd Richardson (R-Poplar Bluff) will keep the subcommittee active so that it can follow-up on the Department.

“We want to have the director come and report to us on a quarterly basis and give us updates, so I don’t see any reason to disband this committee,” said Hansen.

Other recommendations included standardizing policies and procedures across all institutions except with department director’s approval, and increasing the minimum age of employment from 18 to 21.

Hansen thanked the members of the subcommittee and said each of them took seriously the task of hearing what was going on in the Corrections Department and recommending changes.

Some earlier stories:

Number 2 Corrections official faces committee investigating sexual harassment, retaliation in department

House votes to require monthly reporting on settlements in cases against Missouri

Panel on Corrections Department environment hears of ‘vague’ harassment policies, working in ‘hell’

Subcommittee on harassment in Corrections Department frustrated by Department’s structure, process

New prison system director talks to House committee about harassment, more

House backer of prescription drug monitoring wants a special session to get program passed

The legislative session has ended without passage of a statewide prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP), but the top advocate for that issue hopes the legislature will be called back early to try again.

Representative Holly Rehder (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Representative Holly Rehder (R-Sikeston) has been pushing for a statewide PDMP for several years. Missouri is the only state that does not have one, though several of its counties are participating in a program based in St. Louis County.

She kept fighting until the final hours of the session on Friday for passage of a bill to create a program. Now she hopes Governor Eric Greitens (R) will call a special session of the legislature to focus on the issue.

“I think if there’s any hope of us getting a statewide [PDMP] passed it’s going to have to be a special [session] sooner than later, and I’m going to have to have help from [legislative] leadership,” said Rehder.

Backers of PDMPs say they help fight prescription drug abuse, particularly opioids. PDMPs 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 get as much as possible of drugs that are commonly abused.

Rehder came away from a conference between selected House and Senate members with a version of the program that would purge patient data after two years; would include reporting on all schedules II through IV drugs; and a mandate that all physicians would have to report to the system. She said she simply ran out of time Friday to educate fellow lawmakers on the measure to get it passed.

She said in order to get a statewide PDMP passed time is now of the essence, because with no program having been approved by the legislature, more counties will be looking to join St. Louis County’s system.

“We’ve kind of reached a tipping point with these counties,” said Rehder. “We can never get that type of a robust program out of both [chambers of the legislature], yet I need counties’ representatives’ votes to get it out of the House, and so … if we don’t get this out in something like a special session right away, the more counties that get added, just the more reps that are going to have to be against it.”

Rehder believes if the legislature is called back for a special session it will be able to come to agreement on a monitoring program, and she thinks it will look much like the bill that came out of the conference committee in the final days of the session.

Rehder said if a county-by-county PDMP is the only option, she’ll support that, but she still thinks it is important that a state-run PDMP be created.

“We shouldn’t be penalizing people’s safety because of their zip code,” said Rehder, saying anyone could drive until they are in a county that isn’t participating in a program.

She noted proposals for a state program would also prohibit authorities from using prescription data to prevent individuals from owning guns – a provision the St. Louis County program doesn’t have.

In order for a bill to pass the House, Rehder would likely need to regain the support of urban Democrats whose districts are covered by the St. Louis County program. Many voted against the final proposal to come before the House, viewing the program it would create as less robust than the county’s.

Southeast MO lawmaker not giving up after impassioned speech doesn’t win jobs amendment passage

A fiery speech from a state representative was not enough to propel language he proposed that aimed to secure hundreds of jobs for his district, where people are struggling after it lost 900 jobs last year.

Representative Don Rone (R-Portageville) said the legislature needed to act to allow one company to proceed with plans to reopen an aluminum smelter, and another to build a new steel plant, both in southeast Missouri. Both companies are hoping for lower utility rates that would allow the facilities to be profitable, but the Public Service Commission needed the General Assembly’s approval to even consider setting lower rates.

Rone attached language to multiple bills that would’ve given the PSC that approval, but it wasn’t passed before the session ended on Friday. That was despite an impassioned speech from Rone, who called out three senators for blocking his language.

Earlier story: Frustrated Representative calls out senators as ‘heartless,’ ‘selfish’ for blocking jobs in Southeast Missouri

“I got a little passionate there at the end and it’s because I work for the people of my district really hard and I take it very serious, and I was disappointed in the outcome,” said Rone.

Rone said the only hope now is for Governor Eric Greitens (R) to call the legislature back together for a special session to consider the issue.

“I will be reaching out to ask him to consider a special session to address this issue,” said Rone.

Special sessions are both rare and expensive and offer no guarantee of success, especially with Rone’s proposal opposed by some in the Senate. Rone points out the legislature has been called into special sessions in similar situations in the past, when economic development and jobs were on the line in the St. Louis and Kansas City regions.

Rone said the impact in his region would reach beyond the 500-plus people he said would get new jobs from the two new facilities.

“500 jobs would probably relate to 2,000 people and all of the secondary jobs that would come around. Restaurants staying open, businesses staying open, our port facilities becoming even a greater asset to us here at New Madrid because of bringing in the alumina to make aluminum, back in to bringing the scrap metal in to making steel. Our port becomes even more valuable than it is today,” said Rone.

Rone said he understands that there is little time for the entities considering moving forward with those plants to make a decision.

“The gentleman is wanting to make a decision, I understand, by the end of May for the steel plant, and the Magnitude 7 people that are dealing with the aluminum mill, they’re out money every month to maintain that facility, to put guards up to maintain that facility, and I question how long that they will be willing to have money going out and nothing coming in,” said Rone.

Rone said his district is in need of these jobs as much as any portion of the state, particularly after the closure last year of the Noranda alumni smelter. He said the major industry in the region – agriculture – is in need of fewer people to work because of advances in technology.

“I tell my friends in the legislature if they want to see poverty, come to southeast Missouri,” said Rone.

Rone’s speech last week raised eyebrows not only in the Capitol but in much of the state, when he accused three senators of being selfish, egotistical, and heartless in rejecting his proposal. Normally soft-spoken and even in his tone, Rone became so emotional during his speech that he developed a nose bleed before sitting down. In response the House overwhelmingly voted to attach his language to the bill that was before it, after giving him a standing ovation as a show of support.