Missouri House of Representatives Newsroom

Bipartisan bill would help parents keep state child care assistance when receiving pay raises

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.

“Basically it came down to this. You make so much money and all of a sudden you fall off the cliff. You get one more pay raise and you get no more day care subsidy,” said Representative Dan Shaul (R-Imperial). “We found that to be counterproductive to trying to hand up. All of a sudden, what’s the motivation to continue on?”

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.

“It’s my belief that if we allow this to happen we will be essentially having more folks enter the workforce at a higher paying rate, eventually getting off of the state subsidies at every level if we’re allowing them to become productive members of society by not having to make those hard choices,” said Quade.

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.

“It cost me more than half of what I bring home in a month to provide child care for my children,” said Seipel. “We ate a lot of Cheerios and ramen noodles that month, and it took me four months to pay off that debt for one month of child care.”

“It’s a very scary thing when you’re sitting there and you’re trying to do the math and trying to figure out, if I take this raise or if I take this new job am I going to lose my child care subsidy or food stamps or something,” said Seipel. “When you’re living so close to the line, every little bit … it was a 15-cent raise. 15-cent raise killed us that 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.

“I felt punished for getting a degree and doing better, and being able to give to the workforce,” said Roetto. “I chose to move from the nice home I lived in which did not have expensive rent – it was a wonderful neighborhood – to a smaller apartment that didn’t have as nice of a neighborhood – it was not as safe – so that I could continue to work. I felt that I could move myself forward better.”

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.

“It was a good trip. We talked about kids, and parents trying to raise kids, and how we could help them with the child day care subsidy,” said Shaul.

The committee has not voted on those bills.

Bill named for sponsor’s brother, shot to death at 9, seeks better education of youth about violence

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)

The bill filed by Representative Bruce Franks, Junior, (R-St. Louis City), would ask Missourians to do those things on June 7 – the anniversary of his brother’s death.

“His name was Christopher Harris and he was nine years old. I was six,” Franks said while emotionally presenting House Bill 183 to the full House.

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.

“Two men came out the house arguing. In our community that’s what we’re used to. We didn’t pay any attention to it. We kept going, kept playing baseball, as most kids do. As my brother rounded second one of the men pulled out a gun. The other man picked my brother up simultaneously, and as the other man shot, the other one used my brother as a human shield.”

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.

“I saw this as an opportunity to bring light to a situation that has plagued my family and many other families throughout our nation. This has been my normal. This shouldn’t be anybody’s normal,” said Franks. “The issues that affect us when it comes to youth violence, when it comes to gun violence, is not just an issue in the City of St. Louis, but it’s an issue for each and every person here that represents Missourians.”

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.

“No matter what side we’re on, no matter how we feel about our Second Amendment rights; stand your ground, open carry, assault bans, bans on weapons – none of that would have kept my brother alive,” Franks told House members. “What would have kept my brother alive is those same two men, who were actually family friends who grew up in the same disenfranchised community as me and my father, who felt like they need to live the life that they live, the lack of resources, the lack of education, the lack of opportunity – that’s what would’ve saved my brother.”

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.

Legislators considering whether to criminalize protests that block highways, streets

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.

Marshall said the goal is to discourage roadway protests, “which have the intent of blocking innocent citizens which are trying to make their way home or wherever they have to go, may or may not have children in their vehicle.”

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.

Marshall said the bill would protect Missourians.

“If I’m actually trapped on an interstate, I’m surrounded by cars, I’m surrounded by angry folks that are not letting me leave, I am really having trouble – and a lot of my constituents as well back home have trouble, and those watching it on TV – have trouble distinguishing that from being unlawfully imprisoned,” said Marshall.

St. Louis Democrat Bruce Franks was among those who protested in the wake of the Michael Brown shooting. He told Marshall, “I would have had a felony if this law was in place.”

Franks said he understands Marshall’s position, but he felt the bill would interfere with people’s rights of assembly and free speech.

“It just feels to me that we do have the right to protest but only if we’re holding hands and singing Kumbaya,” said Franks.

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.

“People who might be standing in the highways and may get hit, especially on the highways and interstates where cars may be moving fairly fast, possible altercations that may take place from angry motorists, also the motorists who may have medical issues, law enforcement personnel trying to get to certain places,” said Thielemeier. “We support the concept of making sure that public safety is protected.”

Ballwin Republican Shamed Dogan asked Mark Bruns with the Fraternal Order of Police whether protesters blocking traffic truly creates a substantial obstacle.

“Everybody has to deal with traffic accidents every day, and these are kind of less common occurrences,” said Dogan. “I would think that firefighters and law enforcement could work their way around these situations.”

“They could,” Bruns responded. “I think it would be a big burden, though, for the person that needs the help.”

Franks also questioned whether the new crime would actually deter anyone who wants to protest on streets or highways.

“Do you think the punitive damages within this bill is going to deter somebody who’s passionate about whatever it is that they’re fighting for from shutting down a highway, or a street, or anything else?” Franks asked Thielemeier.

“I would like to think that possible penalties may give someone pause,” said Theilemeier. “But I understand that passions for issues that people believe in, they probably will not worry about that.”

The House Committee on Crime Prevention and Public Safety has not voted on HB 826.

Missouri Legislature approves House Bill to toughen penalties for illegal herbicide use

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.

“When you put that into a per-violation, it will become a larger penalty than we had at $1,000 an acre,” said Rone. “What I mean by that is if you look at this document that I just received at our local distributor, there’s 11 items on here that you have to do to use the compound of dicamba. Each one of those, if you don’t do that, is a violation. So this, if you didn’t do any of these things that the label requires you to do, that’s $110,000 for a field, so they really did increase the ability to fine someone for the illegal use of it.”

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.

St. Louis Democrat Tracy McCreery said that emergency clause is important.

“It’s because we’re dealing with planting seasons and growing seasons and that kind of thing, so this absolutely, for it to have any teeth, has to go into effect before August 28 or we will have missed our window of time to make a difference,” said McCreery.

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.

Earlier stories:

Missouri House proposes bigger fines for illegally applying herbicides, after Bootheel farmers’ losses

House asked to consider tougher penalties for illegal herbicide use that cost farmers crops

House votes to end tax break for low-income seniors, disabled, to fund in-home care for elderly, disabled

The Missouri House has voted to end a tax break for low-income seniors and disabled residents who live in rental housing.

House Budget Committee vice-chairman Justin Alferman speaks in favor of HCB 3 on the House floor. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Backers say the proposal will allow the legislature to fund a Medicaid program that provides in-home care to poor elderly and disabled people. Opponents say there were other places to look for the approximately $55-million for that program.

House Committee Bill 3 narrowly passed the House, 85-72, and now goes to the state Senate.

The plan was a response to Governor Eric Greitens’ budget proposal that would cut the Medicaid program by adjusting a point system used to determine when a patient is eligible for in-home or nursing home care based on his or her needs.

Hermann Republican Justin Alferman is the vice chairman of the House Budget committee. He said ending the tax break was necessary to help people like a woman he visited at a nursing home in Hermann, who recently turned 100.

“She grabbed my arm and said, ‘I need the services to stay in this home. (If) we go to 27, I’ve already been assessed – I’m at 21 points – I will be kicked out of this nursing home,’” said Alferman. “She probably wouldn’t have been kicked out, but that’s beside the point. She said, ‘People like me who need care at this point level are not going to be able to get the services that they need if we go to 27.’”

Representative Donna Lichtenegger (R-Cape Girardeau) said some people who benefit from both programs told her passing HCB 3 was the right thing to do.

“They did so because they know that getting their points back to 21 was more important that getting a tax break on the rent because the drugs are costing them much more than the 500-and-whatever dollars that they would get back from the tax credit,” said Lichtenegger.

Lawmakers who opposed HCB 3 came from both parties. Many among them said they support restoring money to the Medicaid program but they believe there are other places from which to take money to do it.

Joplin Republican Bill White said he could not support it cutting the tax credit.

“When you’re at your senior centers, you talk to these people, there are people you’re going to meet when you go to those that this is the difference between them getting to stay independent, in a place where they’re not living in a home where they’re sharing a room with somebody that they don’t know, where they don’t have their own furniture, where they don’t have anything of their own really but the clothes they have on, that isn’t really very private because people wander in and out of your room – it’s a dignity component. They’re going to lose that,” said White.

Columbia Representative Kip Kendrick (D) said the legislature was being presented with a “false choice,” brought on by measures passed by the legislature in recent years.

“When you look at Missouri’s economy we’ve actually done fairly well over the last few years. We’ve definitely seen some improvements. We’ve seen unemployment tick down, we’ve seen wages tick up. We’re not necessarily in an economic downturn – we’re actually recovering, still. We should not be having to cut $450-million out of our budget … but it is decisions we have made and people before us have made,” said Kendrick.

The bill goes to the Senate which will consider whether to pass it and incorporate it into its budget plan. The House, meanwhile, will resume after the legislative spring break working on the budget proposal it will send the Senate.

House advances ban on lobbyist gifts to local government and school officials

The state House is close to passing another ethics reform proposal – this one aimed at the influence lobbyists have on local elected officials.

Representative Shamed Dogan has proposed banning lobbyist gifts to local government officials since 2015. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications) — Representative Shamed Dogan has proposed banning lobbyist gifts to local government officials since 2015. In 2016 it was added to a proposed ban on gifts to legislators and statewide elected officials. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Bill 229 would bar gifts from lobbyists to local government officials, superintendents, school board members, members of charter school boards, and the staff and family members of such people.

The proposal is described as extending to local elected officials the same ethical reforms the House has proposed for members of the legislature and statewide elected officials, most recently in House Bill 60 which was sent to the Senate in January.

“It would simply bring local elected and appointed officials into the same standards that we’ve set for ourselves in terms of banning lobbyists gifts for them,” said the bill’s sponsor, Representative Shamed Dogan (R-Ballwin).

“It clears up the definition of local government lobbyists, which is somewhat murky right now. Not everyone who gives gifts to local government officials right now is required to register as a local government lobbyist, so this requires them to do that,” said Dogan.

The bill originally extended its prohibitions only to governments and school districts with annual operating budgets of more than $10-million. It was amended to remove that cap.

Representative Deb Lavender offers an amendment removing a provision that extended the gift ban only to officials in local governments and school districts with annual operating budgets of $10-million or more. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

That amendment was offered by Kirkwood Democrat Deb Lavender.

“I think you can make a case the smaller you are – county, city, town or village – operating with a budget of $10-million or under that, you might actually be more apt to consider taking a gift or have your vote influenced,” said Lavender.

Odessa Republican Glen Kolkmeyer said he is glad the proposal would extend to superintendents, after an incident he said happened in the Wellington-Napoleon School District.

“The superintendent lobbied hard to put in a computerized climate control system in the school. It was a quarter of a million dollars. By the time they paid interest, because they had to finance it, it was a third of a million dollars, for them to use it for two or three years and for the next superintendent to walk in the door and scrap it,” said Kolkmeyer. “I’m glad that this includes school superintendents because I think some of our superintendents are living pretty high on the hog by some of the perks that are given them.”

Dogan said he’s seen similar situations unfold in St. Louis-area school districts.

Dogan has also cited, in promoting his bill, an experience he had while a Ballwin Alderman. He learned the city administrator had accepted World Series tickets from a trash company that had a no-bid contract up for approval with the city.

Just as HB 60 would allow lobbyists to contribute money to events to which all state elected officials and legislators are invited, HB 229 would allow lobbyists to pay for events to which all members of a political subdivision or all members of the General Assembly are invited.

HB 229 has broad bipartisan support. One more favorable vote will send it to the Senate.

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

A top Department of Corrections official has told a House subcommittee poor training, bureaucracy, and the Department’s growth have contributed to problems with harassment and retaliation among Missouri prison employees.

Dave Dormire is the Director of Adult Institutions in the Missouri Department of Corrections. After more than 40 years with the Department, he will retire April 1, amid allegations his department's culture was rife with sexual harassment and retaliation against those who complained. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications) — Dave Dormire is the Director of Adult Institutions in the Missouri Department of Corrections. After more than 40 years with the Department, he will retire April 1, amid allegations his department’s culture was rife with sexual harassment and retaliation against those who complained. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Dave Dormire is the Department’s Director of Adult Institutions and has been in the Department more than 40 years. He has announced he will retire April 1.

He talked to the House Subcommittee on Corrections Workforce Environment and Conduct after it had heard testimony from several other department officials, employees, and former employees.

The subcommittee was formed after news articles shed light on cases in which Department employees alleged they’d been harassed and, in some cases, retaliated against. Several of those cases have gone to court, and several of those resulted in settlements costing the state millions of dollars.

Since September, 2011, Dormire has been responsible for some staff appointments, overseeing the safety of staff and inmates, and for disciplinary decisions.

Dormire was asked why some of the people who had been involved in those incidents still work for the Department. He told lawmakers some allegations go unsustained, and some efforts are made to correct employees rather than fire them after a first incident.

“I’ll blame the culture a little bit. As you know, correction officer is a tough job,” Dormire said. “We train them specifically to continue to watch and address behaviors. Then they become supervisors, and that’s the behavior they’ve learned – to address behaviors. They’re not well trained – I acknowledge that – not well trained on being a good supervisor.”

Representatives Bruce Franks, Junior (left), and John McCaherty (right) (photo, Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Dormire told subcommittee member John McCaherty (R-High Ridge) the Department has not tolerated its employees committing harassment or unprofessional behavior repeatedly.

“I know that’s your feeling, but we do tolerate it,” McCaherty responded. “It’s going on in the Department, it’s going on now, and that’s why we have a committee because we’ve been tolerating it, so I know your hope is that we don’t tolerate it but as a department we do tolerate it.”

“I understand your opinion, sir. Obviously when I have my records to show what we’ve done and how we’ve addressed things,” Dormire said.

“And we have court cases to show the other side of it,” said McCaherty.

Dormire said the Corrections Department has grown to eight times the size it was when he started there, to more than 32-thousand inmates and roughly 8,000 staff throughout the prison system.

“That’s created all kinds of bureaucracy and things like that, and management issues. I’m not here to make excuses but other departments have not faced that type of growth,” said Dormire.

Subcommittee members told Dormire it has been reviewing reports of harassment and retaliation that date back as much as 20 years.

“It looked like our employees would’ve been better off behind bars,” said Chairman Jim Hansen (R-Frankford). “They would’ve been safer there than they would from some of their supervisors, and it’s disturbing.”

Committee members also asked Dormire about reports they’ve heard of nepotism in the Department’s hiring and promotion practices. At an earlier hearing, they heard from a former employee that wardens often ignore the recommendations of panels assigned to recommend employees for promotion. The system was described as one of “good ol’boys” hiring and promoting friends and relatives.

Dormire told lawmakers the Department used the state’s Merit system, created in state law to prevent favoritism, political influence, or arbitrary decisions in hiring and other employment decisions.

Representative Kathie Conway (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Representative Kathie Conway (R-St. Charles), who said she has heard of, “so much nepotism,” in the department, challenged Dormire on that claim.

“We have to use the Merit system,” said Dormire.

“You have to not sexually harass people, too, but that didn’t seem to be the case,” said Conway.

Committee members asked Dormire about allegations raised by recent articles by Pitch.com suggesting that he had been involved in retaliation against employees, and had been deceptive in his answers in some investigations. Dormire denied those allegations.

Asked specifically whether he testified that disciplining two guards accused of harassing two nurses would have been “moot” because the nurses had quit, Dormire said, “I don’t remember making that statement in particular. I don’t normally use that word. It’s possible. I don’t remember that.”

Committee members again indicated they are looking to those at or near the top of the Corrections Department’s hierarchy – wardens and administrative officials – as being largely at fault.

Hansen said of the cases of harassment he’s read about wardens seemed to be involved in some, and “totally incompetent,” in others.

“I think you’ve got good wardens,” Dormire told Hansen. “Some of them need some help.”

“They need help? We don’t have time. This is costing the state taxpayers millions of dollars,” Hansen responded. “We got people who are supposed to be head of the parade that are playing out of tune and out of step with the marching band.”

Representative Bruce Franks (D-St. Louis City) said he feels the committee still isn’t being told who it must talk to, to get to the nucleus of issues in the Department.

“We talked about the culture, we passed the buck today two or three times, we said we can blame the culture, we can blame the growth, we can blame all of these different things, except for blaming ourselves – the people who are actually in charge,” said Franks. “We have a lot of people up top who aren’t held accountable and who aren’t holding those right up under them accountable, who make 90-thousand, 50-thousand, 100-thousand, 85-thousand, so maybe we need to take about seven or eight of these particular jobs out and distribute their salaries to those who are making nothing to do most of the work.”

House passes bills meant to halt ‘venue shopping’

The Missouri House has passed a trio of bills meant to put an end to “venue shopping” in lawsuits, particularly in the St. Louis area.

Representative Glen Kolkmeyer (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Proponents said House Bills 460, 461, and 462 would stop the practice of attorneys to seek to have cases involving people not from Missouri, alleging injuries that didn’t happen in Missouri, and against companies not from Missouri, heard in St. Louis based on the belief they’d have a better chance of winning there.

“St. Louis has become the nation’s courtroom,” said the bills’ sponsor, Representative Glen Kolkmeyer (R-Odessa).

Kolkmeyer said there are more than 8,400 plaintiffs from outside of Missouri involved in 140 cases pending in St. Louis.

“That’s overcrowding our dockets, we have judges coming from all over the state to fill in the St. Louis Courts, and it’s time that we pull back a little bit,” said Kolkmeyer.

He said the bills aim to make sure more such cases are heard in venues more appropriate to their circumstances.

Each of the bills passed with 97 or more votes, but they faced bipartisan opposition. Parkville Republican Nick Marshall said it would hurt Missourians’ ability come together across county lines in cases against large companies.

“We have swept up into this bill someone that we didn’t meant to sweep up into this bill, and that’s the small plaintiffs throughout rural Missouri that have a common, large-pocketed defendant – either corporation or deep-pocketed insurance company,” said Marshall. “We have these little Davids out there that cannot fight Goliath by themselves.”

The bills are the latest in a series of courtroom reforms passed out of the House this session, including new standards for who would be considered an expert witness in a trial.

Those bills have been sent to the state Senate.

Republicans move quickly to give state final say on minimum wage

House Republicans are fast-tracking bills meant to assert that only the state can set a minimum wage, while Democrats say the bills are a rushed effort that goes back on a promise legislators made two years ago to the people of St. Louis.

The state Supreme Court last week threw out 1998 language that prevented local governments from setting a minimum wage exceeding that set by the state. In response, Representatives Dan Shaul (R-Imperial) and Jason Chipman (R-Steelville) introduced on March 1 House Bills 1193 and 1194, respectively, both of which would bar political subdivisions from requiring a minimum wage exceeding that of the state.

“What I’m trying to do is ensure that a community doesn’t become fragmented and businesses don’t continue to move out of the State of Missouri or the City of St. Louis due to fragmentation,” said Shaul, who said having the minimum wage vary in different parts of the state would hurt businesses and cause confusion.

“The state minimum wage is called ‘the state minimum wage’ because it is the state minimum wage,” said Shaul.

Gladstone Democrat Jon Carpenter said the bills ask the legislature to reverse a decision it made two years ago.

House Bill 722, passed in 2015, also had language barring the setting of a higher minimum wage by local governments. It included a “grandfather clause,” allowing previous wage agreements between private vendors and the City of St. Louis to stand if they were enacted prior to August 28 of that year.

St. Louis enacted an ordinance on August 28, 2015, increasing its minimum wage first to $10 per hour this year and then to $11 per hour next year. Lawsuits delayed implementation of that ordinance, which is now set to take effect later this month.

Carpenter said lawmakers in 2015 agreed the grandfather clause would also allow to stand the new St. Louis minimum wage ordinance, and argued that pending pay hike is why the bills are being moved so quickly. Normally legislation goes through two committees before reaching the floor for debate, but these will go through only one. They also include “emergency clauses,” which would make them effective immediately upon being signed by the governor.

“The reason for not waiting is so that we can pass the bill before people get their raises,” said Carpenter. “If we do nothing, in a few weeks people in St. Louis are going to get a raise. It’s the only reason to pass the bill this week. It’s the only reason to attach an emergency clause to the bill.”

St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay (D), who traveled to the Capitol to testify against the bills, called it “unbelievable,” that the proposals were offered.

“This legislative body just two years ago gave St. Louis the okay to raise the minimum wage. Something happened in between. There was a lawsuit that, of course, we won, and within a couple of days a bill is introduced in this board and it’s on the fast track,” said Slay.

Republicans acknowledge the bill is being fast-tracked, but say that is to protect businesses from disruption.

“I think you have to ask the business owners are they prepared to have their labor costs increase overnight without adding value to what they’re producing,” said Chipman. “That’s a hard thing for a business to do, especially if you’re a business that’s wondering about, ‘Should I renew my lease in my building because I don’t know if I’m going to be able to afford the cost increase of labor? Am I going to have to inflate my prices and then watch my competitors, who may be bigger than I am, not have to do it, and then I lose market share and they gain market share, then I end up having to lay people off?’”

The House Committee on Rules – Administrative Oversight heard, too, from some St. Louis restaurant owners who said the minimum wage hike would force them to chair their business models and let go of some staff, as well as from some St. Louis workers who said they struggle to survive on their current salaries and said the wage increase is needed for many people to pay for basic needs.

The committee, after more than three hours of testimony and debate, voted 10-4 along party lines to advance the bills.

Republican plan would allow pharmacists to prescribe birth control pills

The sponsor of legislation that would allow pharmacists to prescribe birth control pills says his bill is both pro-choice and pro-life.

Representative Shamed Dogan (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

“It’s pro-choice in the sense that we are trying to give women more control over their reproductive health and over their family planning, and it’s pro-life in the sense that the bill is intended to reduce unintended pregnancies and abortions,” said Ballwin Republican Shamed Dogan.

He said House Bill 233 could help reduce Missouri’s unplanned pregnancy rate by as much as 25-percent.

HB 233 would let pharmacists prescribe oral contraceptives to those 18 or older regardless of whether that person has a previous prescription. Those younger than 18 who have evidence of a previous prescription could also be prescribed the pill by a pharmacist.

The legislation is projected to save Missouri money, and Dogan said it would save women money and time by negating the need for some visits to their doctor.

Several groups testified in favor of the bill, including the Teen Pregnancy and Prevention Partnership. Its Executive Director Meg Boyko said HB 233, “would just be one step in the right direction to lowering barriers to access to care to those teens so they can take responsibility of their health and their health outcomes and prevent teen pregnancy.”

Representative Cora Faith Walker (D-Ferguson) said a similar plan in California didn’t have the results backers hoped it would.

“This is just a different barrier. By making it behind the counter, making it a requirement for pharmacists to write the prescription, it just kind of shifts the barrier,” said Walker.

“We’re a different state than California,” Dogan responded. “I think one of the issues that we might have that they don’t face nearly as much is rural folks … I think the fact that many people in rural areas don’t have access to a doctor in the same way that they have a lot more pharmacists in their areas … Yeah there’s still somewhat of a barrier, but it’s not nearly what the barrier is right now.”

Dogan said he favors making birth control over-the-counter, but noted such proposals have not been adopted in states that are more politically progressive than Missouri, and he doesn’t feel such a bill would be likely to pass in the Missouri legislature.

Shannon Cooper testified against HB 233 on behalf of Blue Cross/Blue Shield and the Missouri Coalition. He said their primary concern was that without the need for a prescription, women would make fewer visits to their doctors.

“Under the [Affordable Care Act] and insurance policies, we provide a free exam once a year and we feel like for a lot of the invincibles that we talk about who don’t think they’re ever going to be ill or have any problems, when they receive these birth control pills and the prescriptions that does drive them back to the physician to get that exam,” said Cooper. “I think we all know that early detection of any type of disease is one of the best cures for that disease.”

Cooper also expressed concern that HB 233 would allow up to a 12-month supply of birth control pills to be prescribed under certain circumstances.

“We feel like there will be certain individuals who could take advantage, get that supply and then drop off our policies with that 12-month supply,” said Cooper. “Obviously there’s a cost concern there.”

Others expressed concern that allowing a 12-month supply could lead to wasted pills, such as in cases in which a woman only uses them for a while and then stops for some reason.

Representative Mike Stephens (R-Bolivar), himself a pharmacist, said he hopes the proposal represents a larger effort to expand the availability of medical services.

“If there is a saving grace to the health care system it must include a greatly expanded role in health care delivery and health care access by a wide variety of health care professionals,” said Stephens.

The committee has not voted on HB 233.

Last year similar legislation was passed by the House 97-50, but stalled in the state Senate.