The Missouri House has given initial approval to a bill that proponents say would protect alternatives to abortion agencies and their employees’ rights to assembly, religious practices, and speech.
It targets a St. Louis ordinance that the bill’s opponents say protects from discrimination women who have had abortions, use contraceptives or artificial insemination, or have become pregnant out of wedlock.
The sponsor of House Bill 174, Representative Tila Hubrecht (R-Dexter), said that ordinance penalizes agencies that refuse to hire a woman who would counsel a woman to have an abortion or refer a woman to get an abortion.
Newman said the bill would also protect those agencies’ dissemination of “medically inaccurate” information to women, aimed at discouraging them from having an abortion or using contraception.
The state House has given initial approval to a repeal of Missouri’s “prevailing wage” law, which sets what local governments and school boards must pay for construction or maintenance work.
The wage is set on a county-by-county basis based on wage surveys for each type of work, such as carpentry, bricklaying, or electrical work. When a county does not have adequate wage data, the union rate for that trade is used.
Republicans supporting House Bill 104 say the prevailing wage law drives up the cost of projects, making local governments postpone work or forgo it altogether. The sponsor of HB 104, Representative Warren Love (R-Osceola), said his bill would allow more projects to move forward.
Love gave the example of an ambulance district in his district that was based in a house, which needed roof repair after a hailstorm. Love said other, similar repairs in the area were costing about $22,000, but because the ambulance district must pay prevailing wage, it would cost more than $63,000.
Grandview Democrat Joe Runions said eliminating prevailing wage would lead to more jobs going to contractors from other states, who would take their pay back out of Missouri.
Opposition to HB 104 was bipartisan, but it was given first-round approval on a 93-60 vote.
Another vote could send HB 104 to the state Senate. It would be the continuation of the House Republican Supermajority’s labor reform efforts this year, which have also included passage of a bill to require annual permission from a worker before union dues could be taken from his or her pay, and a right-to-work bill that has been signed into law by Governor Eric Greitens (R).
The latest version of the House’s proposed budget would restructure the Department of Corrections, in light of how it handled cases of harassment and retaliation against employees.
House Budget Committee Chairman Scott Fitzpatrick (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
House Budget Committee Chairman Scott Fitzpatrick (R-Shell Knob) said his plan would redirect money that goes to the Department’s offices of Inspector General and Human Resources, and create an Office of Professional Standards.
Fitzpatrick said he worked with Corrections Director Anne Precythe in developing his proposal.
The House in January announced the creation of the Subcommittee on Corrections Workforce Environment and Conduct after a news article revealed the Department had settled numerous lawsuits filed by former employees who had been harassed. Those settlements were costing the state millions of dollars.
The subcommittee’s chairman, Representative Jim Hansen (R-Frankford), said the committee came to a similar conclusion about the job that the inspector general had been doing.
Missouri Department of Corrections Director Ann Precythe (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Precythe did not speak to House Communications for this story, but the Department did supply a memo from her dated March 14. In that, she said the Office of Professional Standards will be made up of the Civil Rights Unit (formerly Human Resources), the Employee Conduct Unit (formerly the office of Inspector General), and the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Unit.
She said new processes would “begin soon” and, “we are still fine tuning the remaining details,” but said, “We are changing our investigative processes to allow institutions to handle most offender-related incidents. This change allows us to reallocate resources into the Civil Rights Unit. The Civil Rights Unit will conduct investigations into allegations of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and unprofessional conduct. With additional resources, the Human Relations Officers will be able to conduct and complete investigations even faster than they do now.”
“In addition, Human Relations Officers will soon be conducting training statewide for all employees and will be doing additional outreach and follow up with employees who feel that they have been subjected to discrimination, harassment, retaliation or unprofessional conduct. More Human Relations Officers also means more opportunities for them to visit institutions and offices throughout the state and interact with employees outside of the investigative process.”
Precythe explained the Employee Conduct Unit would investigate employee violations of procedure, unexpected offender deaths, suicides, and potential homicides. Those investigations would be assisted by law enforcement in certain cases.
Fitzpatrick’s budget also removes the “E” found on many lines in the budget. Those Es represents an open-ended spending limit on funds in which legislators expect money beyond what they allocate might be needed before the next budget is created. One such E was found on the budget line from which comes money for settlements the state must pay.
Fitzpatrick and others have said it is because that line had an “E” that legislators were unaware for years of the settlements involving the Department, and the harassment and retaliation issues that caused them. By removing the E, agencies must now come to the legislature and explain why they would need additional money for court settlements. That could shed light on recurring problems such as the Corrections Department had.
Fitzpatrick said he also proposes putting an appropriation for legal expenses in the budget of each state agency, whereas before the money for settlements across all agencies came from one line.
The House continues work this week on a budget proposal to send to the Senate. Once the House and Senate agree on a spending plan it must still go to Governor Eric Greitens (R).
Some Missouri lawmakers think you should be able to send text, photos, videos, or data to 911, and they want to put the state on a schedule to achieve that goal.
Representative Lyle Rowland (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
A House Committee has been asked to consider House Bill 1094, offered by Cedarcreek Republican Lyle Rowland after he was approached by a friend who sits on the Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. He was told people who are deaf could use text to communicate with 911 operators.
Rowland’s bill would require the Advisory Committee for 911 Service Oversight to develop a plan and target dates for Missouri to test, implement, and operate a next generation 911 system.
The Committee heard from Opeoluwa Sotonwa, the Commission’s executive director. He explained what it could be like for a person who is deaf or hard of hearing to use 911 in most of Missouri.
Steve Hoskins, the Vice President of Association of Public Safety Communications Officials, told the committee his organization also backs the bill. He said a next generation 911 system wouldn’t just help those with hearing problems.
Representative Bruce Franks, Junior (D), has been chosen by House Speaker Todd Richardson (R) and Representative Don Phillips (R), the chairman of the House Committee on Crime Prevention and Public Safety, to chair the newly formed Subcommittee on Police/Community Relations.
Franks discusses why the House Republican supermajority’s leadership considers him an “ideal choice” to head this committee, even though he is a member of the Democratic minority. He also talks about the work the committee will do and how he plans to approach that task.
Franks sits down to discuss the new subcommittee with House Communications’ Mike Lear.
The House Budget Committee Chairman is proud of a budget proposal that would accomplish what’s been his top goal since taking that job.
House Budget Committee Chairman Scott Fitzpatrick (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Shell Knob Republican Scott Fitzpatrick said in August when he became the budget chairman that his number one priority was to fully fund Missouri’s public schools. He recently unveiled budget bills that included fully funding the K-12 school formula.
If that part of the budget were to become law, it would be the first time the formula’s current form has had full funding since it was created by Senate Bill 287 in 2005.
Some have noted that the full funding would come one year after the legislature reinstated a cap on how much the formula could grow, year-to-year. Fitzpatrick said without those caps, the growth in the formula was unsustainable.
Fitzpatrick’s budget is based in part ON passage of a bill that would end a tax break for low-income seniors and disabled renters. The money the state would save from that repeal would go to a program that provides in-home care for the elderly and disabled.
Fitzpatrick believes a property tax credit should be for people who own their homes and are working to pay it off, “especially because people who are receiving nursing home services being completely paid for by Medicaid are eligible to receive the renter’s portion of the credit, so somebody could be in a nursing home that’s already being completely paid for by the state and then on top of that the state will write a check to them for what’s supposed to represent a credit for property taxes that they paid, and that seems to me to not make a lot of sense.”
The House has passed the legislation repealing that portion of the credit. It must next be considered by the Senate.
Fitzpatrick’s budget also restores some of the state aid to colleges and universities that the governor proposed reducing. Fitzpatrick said he wanted to minimize the impact reductions would have on students in Missouri.
When legislators return next week from spring break, the full House Budget Committee will debate changes to Fitzpatrick’s proposal before sending it on to the full House, which could make further changes. It then faces debate in the Senate before going to Governor Greitens, who could sign it into law, veto it in part or in whole, or make spending restrictions.
Bipartisan legislation in the Missouri House seeks to help families stave off what’s called the “cliff effect,” with child care.
Representatives Cryscal Quade (left) and Dan Shaul decided to work together, across party lines, on a bill to help working parents keep needed child care subsidies when they earn a pay increase, while the two were on the state tour for freshmen legislators. (Photo; Chris Moreland, Missouri House Communications)
The “cliff effect” refers to a person receiving a pay increase that puts him or her over the income limit for receiving a state benefit.
Shaul, whose wife is a social worker, and Representative Crystal Quade (D-Springfield), who herself is a social worker, are sponsoring identical legislation that would launch a pilot program in Green, Jefferson, and Pemiscot Counties. It would allow individuals to participate in an existing transitional program.
That program offers tiered levels of childcare subsidies based on the individual’s income level, but requires participants to start at its lowest income level. Under Quade and Shaul’s bills, a participant could enter the program at his or her current income level, rather than have to take a lesser-paying job.
Quade said the program would keep working parents from having to make tough choices about whether to accept better pay, or to decline it because it would not offset the cost of losing government assistance.
The House Committee on Children and Families held a hearing on those bills, House Bill 712 (Shaul) and House Bill 713 (Quade). They heard testimony from several Missourians including Leann Seipel of Sparta, who told representatives she had to turn down a 15-cents per hour raise to avoid losing her child care subsidy. She still lost the subsidy for one month.
Meghan Roetto of Republic moved from Montana to Missouri after her husband returned from serving in Iraq and left her and her daughter.
She told lawmakers she was frustrated when after going to college and getting a bachelor’s degree, she was offered a $10 an hour job, and that meant she would not be eligible for child care assistance.
Shaul said he and Quade decided to work together on the issue after discussing it, “somewhere between Poplar Bluff, Missouri, and Rolla,” during the tour for freshmen legislators, held between the November election and before the start of session.
Missourians would be asked to remember children killed by violence in the state, and to work to prevent more such deaths, under a bill passed out of the state House.
Representative Bruce Franks, Junior, asks fellow legislators to support a bill filed in the name of his brother, who was shot to death at the age of 9. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Franks told his fellow legislators about how his brother was killed on that day in 1991, while the two were playing baseball on the street they grew up on.
Franks said the bill would make June 7, “Youth Violence Prevention Day,” in Missouri. He said it would be more than, “having another day where we name a day after somebody, but we spark a day of advocacy, a day of action, and a day against youth violence.”
Franks, as he has done with many other issues, urged his fellows not to think of gun violence as an issue limited to any one part or few parts of the state.
Missouri House members listen quietly as Representative Bruce Franks (yellow shirt near center) asks them to support increased education about youth violence, in a bill named for his brother, who was shot to death at the age of 9. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Franks asked that the legislators remember what happened to his brother and work to educate others statewide about youth violence prevention.
He recalled that when he and other freshmen members of the legislature toured the state, they saw the statue of his brother that stands outside of SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis.
Franks’ bill was passed out of the House 156-1. He received a standing ovation from the rest of the chamber’s members after presenting it on the floor.
The bill would encourage Missourians to observe June 7 through education related to safety and violence prevention. It now goes to the state Senate.
A state legislator has proposed making it a crime to block streets or highways during protests or riots.
State Representative Nick Marshall (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Parkville Republican Nick Marshall said he filed the bill in response to protests in recent years, such as those in Ferguson in the wake of the Michael Brown shooting and the decision by the St. Louis County prosecutor not to file charges against the Ferguson police officer that shot him.
House Bill 826 would create the crime of, “unlawful traffic interference,” for walking, standing, sitting, laying in, or placing an object on a street, highway, or interstate highway with the intention of interfering with traffic. Penalties would range from up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine for first offenses, to up to seven years in prison and a $10,000 fine for blocking traffic while part of an unlawful assembly.
The bill has the support of the Missouri State Trooper’s Association, the Fraternal Order of Police, and the Missouri Sheriff’s Association.
Brad Thielemier with the Trooper’s Association said it is concerned about safety issues raised by protests on roadways, for both drivers and protesters.
Ballwin Republican Shamed Dogan asked Mark Bruns with the Fraternal Order of Police whether protesters blocking traffic truly creates a substantial obstacle.
The legislature has passed a House bill that would toughen penalties for those who illegally apply herbicides.
Representative Don Rone says hundreds of farmers in the Bootheel suffered damage due to illegal herbicide use. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
House Bill 662, sponsored by Portageville Republican Don Rone, was filed in response to incidents last year in which farmers applied the product dicamba, resulting in damage to neighboring farmers’ crops that used seeds not resistant to that herbicide. With Thursday’s vote, the bill goes to Governor Eric Greitens (R) for his consideration.
Under the bill if the Department of Agriculture finds someone has used a particular herbicide on a crop for which its manufacturer did not intend its use, the Department can fine that person up to $10,000. If that person violates the bill’s provisions twice in three years, the fine can be up to $25,000.
The House had proposed fines up to up $1,000 per acre on which the herbicide had been applied and up to $2,000 per acre for what the bill terms “chronic violators.” The Senate changed those fines and the legislature adopted the Senate’s version.
Rone explained the Senate’s proposal could actually be tougher on a violator.
Rone said farmers whose crops are damaged by improper herbicide application could still go to court to seek civil penalties against those responsible.
After the House agreed with the senate and approved House Bill 662, House Speaker Todd Richardson signs it so it can be sent to Governor Eric Greitens for his consideration. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
The bill includes an emergency clause, which means it would become effective immediately upon being signed by Governor Greitens. Normally legislation goes into effect on August 28 unless otherwise specified.
The bill also gives the Department additional powers to investigate claims of illegal uses. Farmers penalized for illegal uses would be liable to the Department for its expenses and for personal property affected.
Fines collected under HB 662 would go to the school district local to the effected farms.
A University of Missouri Extension plant sciences expert told lawmakers 150 or more farmers last year lost an average of 35-percent of the crops when wind and temperature changes caused illegally applied herbicide to spread onto nearby fields.
Though such improper use of herbicides is illegal, Rone said many farmers would still do it if it offered them an advantage because current fines are not enough of a deterrent.
The House voted to pass HB 662, 143-12. Governor Greitens could sign the bill into law, veto it, or allow it to become law without taking action on it. Rone and other legislators are hopeful he will sign it into law in time for farmers to begin work toward planting season.
