May News4U

News4U May 2017

UPCOMING EVENTS

NCRA 2017 Annual Convention 8/10 - 8/13

Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Las Vegas

MCRA's representative will be Melissa Hannah. If you plan on attending and would like to join Melissa, you can contact her at 417-827-4712.

NVRA 2017 Annual Convention 8/2 - 8/5

Intercontinental Kansas City on the Plaza

MCRA's representative will be Brett Harrison. If you plan on attending and would like to join Brett, you can contact him at [email protected]

WELCOME OUR NEW CCRs!

The Missouri CCR Examination was held in Blue Springs, MO on April 21-22, 2017.

Missouri has 5 new CCRs!

Congratulations to the new MO-CCRs:

Sarah Davison

Carrie Hooper

Karen Lynn

Linda Miller

Nicole Witt

UP ON THE HILL

On Friday, May 11th, with an hour and 12 minutes left in the session, Missouri legislators passed the MCRA proposed statute change so that appeal rates are the only statutory rates. This allows reporters to charge expedited and daily copy rates based upon market, demand, and agreement with attorneys. The bill still awaits the governor's signature, but there is no anticipated issue with the bill. Once signed, the bill becomes law as of August 28, 2017. The bill SB 169 can be read here 488.2250.

We have a lobbyist who kept on top of this bill every step of the way. A week ago the bill was in the finance committee for review. The lobbyist called me asking why there would be an estimated $100,000 cost attached to the proposed change. He and I did some digging and found the error. The public defender's office had estimated that that would be the cost to them if all page rates were not at the appeal rate and that this would be an increase from $2.00 to $2.60. Obviously, that was incorrect. We were able to provide information that shows that currently a PD asks for a transcript, the reporter quotes the price (whatever the market/whatever the reporter charges) and then the PD gets approval and then the reporter does the transcript. The lobbyist was able to track down that the PD had no basis for their number of $100,000. They just thought that that sounded "about right." Also, that the $2.60 was not an increase and, in fact, there has been no increase for a number of years to the indigent rate.

So with no backing for their number and our explanation of the process, we actually had three representatives who spoke on our behalf in favor of our bill and it passed quickly through committee. It is key to have a great lobbyist and be able to respond quickly when he calls with a question. Otherwise, this would have died in committee. So thanks to all MCRA members. Your dues support the lobbyist. Also thanks to our wonderful lobbyist David Klarich, who works so hard on our behalf, we were able to pass our legislation.

Also, during the legislative session a constituent went to his senator's office and demanded to know why court reporters earn more than 50 cents a page. That senator reached out to David Klarich, who contacted me for an opinion. MCRA was able to provide several reasons to the senator immediately and that issue was quickly laid to rest. There are so many issues that arise during a legislative session that are unanticipated and when David Klarich is able to get them handled quickly, they are kept from becoming bigger issues.

WEBSITE CONTEST

It's time to make MISSOURI shine! Let's upgrade, bedazzle, and be the best! We need a new Website Logo picture. Submit your entry to [email protected] by July 4th! We'll pair it down to the three finalist and SurveyMonkey for the Winner!

MEET YOUR BOARD 2017-2018

President Brett Harrison, CCR