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Lathrop GPM Consulting LLC
314 East High Street
Jefferson City, MO 65101
+1 573.469.4172
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Week 15: Budget Work Continues in House, Senate |
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The House of Representatives has completed its work on the supplemental budget (House Bill 3015), the FY 23 budget bills (HB 3001-3013), and the American Recovery Plan (HB 3020). The House Budget Committee is now working on the capital improvement budget bills (HB 3017-3019) and has held a public hearing on HB 3021 that would provide taxpayers a one-time, non-refundable tax credit of $500 for individuals and $1,000 for married couples.
The Senate Appropriations Committee Thursday passed HB 3015 with some changes and next week will begin budget work in earnest when it starts mark-up on HB 3001-3013 and HB 3020. The Senate will then take the bills to the floor during the week of April 25. Once passed, the House and Senate will meet in conference to finalize the budget and move it on to the Governor’s Office. The FY 23 budget (HBs 3001-3013) must be passed by May 6.
MAJOR BILLS TAKEN UP IN BOTH CHAMBERS
A bill creating the “Parents’ Bill of Rights Act of 2022,” an omnibus education bill compiling nearly a dozen other bills dealing with education, was perfected by the House on Tuesday, as the bill nears its departure to the Senate. House Bill 1858 (Baker, R-Neosho) lists parents’ and students’ rights in school districts and touches on discussion of topics in the classroom. The bill gives parents transparency in education, requiring easy access to what is being taught in schools. Parents could bring civil lawsuits against school districts on issues contained in the bill. Teachers and students would not be forced to adopt ideas concerning race, ethnicity, color, or national origin. School administrators’ and teachers’ salaries would be posted on the Missouri accountability portal, and public comment regulations required at local school board meetings are enacted. The bill needs another House vote before moving to the Senate.
In the Senate, Senate Bill 756 (White, R-Joplin), a 124-page bill dealing with public utilities, was third read and passed Thursday. Next stop is the House. Senator White noted his legislation will benefit utility companies and consumers alike through grid modernization efforts, affordable energy rates, quicker outage support, and other utility measures. The bill allows rural electric cooperatives to receive funds from the Missouri Disaster Fund. SB 756 specifies that no deed restrictions or similar binding agreements shall prohibit installation of solar panels on roofs of any property or structures. Records of residential customers of municipally owned utilities are closed under the bill.
UNITED KINGDOM OFFICIAL VISITS STATE CAPITOL
On Tuesday, James Cleverly, the United Kingdom’s minister of state for Europe and North America, addressed the morning session of the House of Representatives and met with Gov. Mike Parson and Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe. Later, he traveled to Fulton where Winston Churchill gave his historic Iron Curtain speech in 1946. Cleverly said more than 60 British companies do business in Missouri, while nearly 30 Missouri companies are active in Great Britain. Last month Gov. Parson visited the U.K. on a trade mission.
SHORT WEEK NEXT WEEK
With Easter being observed this coming Sunday, the General Assembly is taking Monday off as a holiday. The House of Representatives will convene at 12 noon on Tuesday, April 19, while the Senate will convene at 4 p.m. that day.
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House Bill 1608 (Wiemann, R-O’Fallon) prohibits the modification of summary statements or ballot language approved by the General Assembly for Constitutional amendments or statutory measures. Courts will not have jurisdiction to rewrite or edit such language prior to placing it on the ballot. House Committee Substitute for HB 1608 was voted “do pass” by the House Public Policy Committee by a vote of 5-1 on April 12. A committee amendment was added giving courts the ability to return the ballot language to the General Assembly for possible rewriting if the General Assembly is in session. If the General Assembly is not in session, the courts would send the language to the Secretary of State. On April 14 the House Rules-Administrative Oversight Committee voted HCS for HB 1608 “do pass”.
House Bill 1712 (Pollock, R-Lebanon). A person commits the offense of trespass in the first degree if he or she knowingly or intentionally enters and refuses to leave a vacant property or vacant structure of another tenant, owner, or others authorized by the owner after having been prohibited from entering and asked to leave the property or structure by a police officer. A police officer shall not be held liable for acts or omissions made under the bill. A House Committee Substitute for HB 1712, with minor changes, was voted “do pass” by the House Crime Prevention Committee by a vote of 9-0 on April 11. The House Rules-Administrative Oversight Committee met on April 14 where HCS for HB 1712 was voted “do pass”.
House Bill 2510 (Simmons, R-Washington) The bill expands the current definition of telemedicine to include health care providers and physicians licensed in another state, a territory of U.S., or the District of Columbia. Substitute language was adopted to establish measures to hold practitioners accountable for patient care. On April 14 the House Rules-Administrative Oversight Committee voted HCS for HB 2510 “do pass”.
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT LEGISLATION
On April 13, a joint hearing was held on House Joint Resolution 79 and House Joint Resolution 91 by the Senate Local Government and Elections Committee.
House Joint Resolution 79 (Henderson, R-Bonne Terre) is a proposed state constitutional amendment that if approved by voters would require a two-thirds supermajority vote for passage of an amendment to the state’s Constitution. HJR 79 requires initiative petition signatures to place a measure on the ballot as a Constitutional amendment to be collected in each of Missouri’s eight U.S. Congressional districts using a percentage requirement of 10 percent. Statutes may be placed on the ballot using the current percentage requirement of 5 percent. (Currently, a Constitutional amendment may be placed on the ballot by initiative petitions signed by eight percent of legal voters in six of Missouri’s eight Congressional districts, and the ballot issue currently would take effect if a simple majority of votes cast approves the issue.) The bill would require the Secretary of State to administer public forums in each Congressional district at least 15 days before the measure is voted on a statewide ballot to give members of the public an opportunity to review and comment on the initiative petition. HJR 79 also has an effective date of Jan. 1, 2023, if approved by voters.
House Joint Resolution 91 (J. Eggleston, R-Maysville). Upon voter approval, this proposed Constitutional amendment would require the sponsor(s) of initiative petitions proposing Constitutional amendments or laws to collect signatures in each of Missouri’s eight Congressional districts. After collecting signatures, hearings in the General Assembly would be held on the initiative petition proposal. Then, when placed on the statewide ballot, a two-thirds majority vote of the people is required for approval of a new amendment, or a majority vote is required to amend or to repeal Constitutional provisions enacted before Dec. 10, 2022. The resolution specifies that the Constitutional phrase "legal voter" is defined as a person who is a U.S. citizen, a resident of Missouri, and who is properly registered to vote. The resolution has an effective date of Jan. 1, 2023.
Testimony in support of both HJR 79 and HJR 91 was presented by the Missouri Farm Bureau. Testimony in opposition to both HJR 79 and HJR 91 was offered by Empower Missouri, Missouri Healthcare for All, the Missouri NAACP, Service Employees International Union, League of Women Voters of Missouri, Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, Sierra Club of Missouri, Missouri Alternatives to the Death Penalty, American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, Health Forward Foundation, Missouri National Education Association, League of Women Voters of Kansas City, Pro Choice Missouri, Missouri Faith Voices of Jefferson City, Jobs With Justice Voter Action, and individuals from University City, O’Fallon, Independence, Jefferson City, Columbia, St. Louis, Milo, Mo., and Kansas City. The committee took no action on the resolutions.
House Joint Resolution 132 (Kidd, R-Buckner). Upon voter approval, this proposed constitutional amendment requires that any constitutional amendment must receive both a majority of statewide votes and a majority vote in more than one-half of the state’s House of Representative districts in order to become effective. These requirements would also apply to constitutional changes or amendments proposed during a constitutional convention held under Article XII, section 3(c) of the Constitution of Missouri. On April 13 the House Fiscal Review Committee held an executive session where HJR 132 was voted “do pass”.
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House Bill 2149 (Shiels, R-St. Joseph) This legislation modifies the timeline graduating physical therapists can apply for licensure. The bill still requires an examination be completed by a quality standard Board before licensure issuance. During debate, the sponsor offered substitute language to change the title to “relating to professional licensing” in order to include provisions from multiple bills. Specifically, SB 830, allows nurse practitioners and physician assistants to sign off on home health care plans instead of only physicians; SB 1153, exemptions active duty or reserve members, a professional that currently practices the same occupation or profession, or a professional that is engaged in the practice of a profession through a partnership with the federal Innovative Readiness Training program within the DOD from the Missouri licensure requirements; SB 1001, changes the name of a person licensed as a land surveyor-in-training to a land surveyor intern; SB 993, authorizes the Missouri Dental Board to approve pilot projects to extend care to under-served populations dental board pilot projects; SB 938, provides some fixes to the assistant physician statutes that were not foreseen at the time they were originally passed; and SB 978, allows those wishing to practice speech-language pathology or audiology to apply for a provisional license from an accredited program and also enters Missouri into an "Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Interstate Compact”. During debate on the Senate floor on April 12, numerous Senator’s expressed concern with the inclusion of SB 830. After considerable debate, the sponsor offered an amendment to remove the language. Senator Justin Brown (R-Rolla) further amended the bill to include SB 1058, which specifies that the General Assembly preempts any political subdivision from enacting, maintaining, or enforcing any order, ordinance, rule, regulation, policy, or other similar measure that prohibits, restricts, limits, regulates, controls, directs, or interferes with the practice of veterinary medicine. Finally, Senator Rick Brattin (R-Belton) successfully amended the bill to include compromise language from SB 1133, which prohibits that Board of Pharmacy from denying, revoking, suspending, or otherwise take any disciplinary action against a pharmacist who lawfully dispenses ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine sulfate tablets for human use. Once modified, the Senate passed the bill by a 22-11 vote. The language includes an emergency clause that makes bill provisions effective upon Governor Parson’s signature. The bill now will be sent back to the House for acceptance or refusal of Senate changes. On April 14 the House Fiscal Review Committee held an executive session where SS for HB 2149 was voted “do pass”. |
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Click the button below to access your 2022 Tracking Report |
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Senate-Gubernatorial Appointments
04/20/2022 9:00 AM
Committee Hearing, Senate Lounge
APPOINTMENTS:
Shelia Solon, as Director of the Division of Professional Registration for the Department of Commerce and Insurance (Luetkemeyer)
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Lathrop GPM Consulting LLC
314 E. High Street
Jefferson City, MO 65101
T: +1 573.469.4172
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