Last week, we saw a few great bills from our Jackson County representatives move out of the House over to the Senate and through committee. I'm hopeful to see them hit the senate floor soon.
Below is a list of important actions taken last week. Click on the bill number to go to the official bill page. You'll find my votes above in the menu. Please reach out to our office if we can help you in any way.
HJR 23 sponsored by Rep Caton requires all county assessors to be elected. This is a joint resolution and will amend the state constitution if it passes. It will require Missouri voters to pass it at the ballot box in order for it to take effect. This bill passed through our Local Government committee and will hopefully be placed on the senate calendar for debate on the floor very soon. I'll be handling this bill on the senate floor.
HB 999 sponsored by Rep Fowler gives the state tax commission authority to withhold certain revenues from counties for noncompliance. This bill has now passed the Senate's Government Efficiency commitee and I hope this, too, is seen on the calendar for debate. I'll be handling this bill on the senate floor as well.
HB 594 sponsored by Rep Perkins authorizes income tax deductions for capital gains and includes other tax provisions as well. A senate substitute for this bill was 3rd read and passed on the senate floor. It will now go back to the House.
SJR 46 sponsored by Senator Carter was perfected on the senate floor. This joint resolution would amend the state constitution to exclude disabled veterans from paying property taxes on their residence if Missouri voters approve.
SJR 35, which I sponsored, is joint resolution that would amend the state constitution to require all county assessors to be elected. Missouri voters would be required to pass it at the ballot box in order for it to take effect. This resolution also passed our Local Government committee and is ready for the senate floor.
SB 485 sponsored by Senator Schroer would move school board elections to November. It was laid over.
SB 360 is The Education Freedom Act sponsored by Senator Carter would modify assessments of our public schools and allow them options other than the MAP test. It was laid over.
SB 230 sponsored by Senator Ben Brown would modify prior authorization required by insurance companies in order to help patients receive tests and treatments more quickly. It was laid over.
SB 166 sponsored by Senator Kurtis Gregory requires schools to develop a cardiac emergency response plan. It was third read and passed the senate.
SB 133 sponsored by Senator Fitzwater modifies requirements for underground facilities. It was third read and passed the senate.
SB 120 sponsored by Senator Bean modifies provisions relating to moneys in certain state departments. It was third read and passed the senate.
SB 80 sponsored by Senator Kurtis Gregory modifies provisions relating to the compensation of high school athletes. It was perfected in the senate.
SB 69 sponsored by Senator Henderson modifies the Core Curriculum Transfer Act for Missouri colleges. It was laid over.
SB 54 sponsored by Senator Schroer modifies provisions relating to cannabis. It was laid over.
SB 47 sponsored by Senator Trent modifies provisions relating to class action suits. It was third read and passed in the House.
SB 4 sponsored by Senator Cierpiot modified provisions relating to utilities. It was signed by the Governor.
This list covers the significant actions taken by the senate on legislation since we returned from spring break on March 24th. Of course, there were many other actions taken in our senate committees as well as senate bills moving through the process in the House so it doesn't tell the whole story, but it does reflect the legislative work that has been done on the senate floor in the last two weeks.
As always you can see my votes by clicking "My Votes" in the menu at the top. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to our office.
SB 4 - delivered to Governor kehoe
SB 23 - additional protections to bear arms was laid over
SB 45 - pharmacy related provisions was laid over
SB 54 - relating to cannabis products was laid over
SB 61 - relating to professional licensing passed the senate
SB 79 - farm bureau insurance & healthcare provisions passed the senate
SB 107 - relating to peer review committees was laid over
SB 110 - Kappa Alpha si week passed the senate
SB 111 - Ovarian cancer awareness month passed the senate
SB 125 - modified provisions for waterways & ports fund passed the senate
SB 152 - pertaining to foreign investments in ballot measure elections passed the senate
sb 189 - definition of emergency vehicles changes to include park rangers passed the senate
sb 190 - tax credit for engineering degrees was laid over
sB 223 - permission required for student surveys was laid over
SB 225 - judges unable to apply death sentence was laid over
SB 348 - state designations passed the senate
SB 396 - fiscal year changes for libraries passed the senate
SJR 62 - modifies provisions related to property taxes was laid over
HB 495 - public safety was signed by governor kehoe
HB 594 - capital gains tax reduction & other tax provisions was third read and passed in the senate
Saturdays at 3:00pm on RealTalk 93.3 FM, you can join my chief of staff and I on The Senator's Office where we share updates on legislation and what's going on inside the Capitol. You can catch the replays here on the website if you aren't able to listen live.
This week, we discussed:
- Philipeans 1
- Senator Nicola's first filibuster
- SB 10 - removing sunsets on several bills
- SB 35 - tax credit for historical buildings
We hope you find it valuable and informative. Let us know what you'd like to hear about!
Thank you to Pete Mundo for having me on his show to discuss large corporations buying up residential properties across Missouri, how it's affecting our ability to own homes and what I'm trying to do about it.
the truth about the bills
One of my greatest hopes here in The Digest is to be as transparent as possible and to educate Missouri citizens regarding policy that effects the lives of all Missourians. There are two bills this session, SB 14 & HB 544, that have gotten a lot of attention with our citizens due to the millions of dollars being spent in advertising. Unfortunately, the advertising has been very deceptive, which is so often the case. I'd like to clarify what this legislation actually does and why I oppose it.
These bills are referred to around the Capitol as "The Bayer Bills," because they are mainly written for the benefit of the company who produces a pesticide product called glyphosate, which you probably know as RoundUp. Monsanto is the company that created this product and you are likely familiar with that name as well. However, Bayer bought Monsanto in 2018 for nearly 60 BILLION dollars.
Monsanto was an agricultural company based in St. Louis. Bayer is a German chemical and pharmaceutical company. Bayer kept RoundUp and the glyphosate products but dropped the Monsanto name. There have been over 150,000 claims made against Bayer, mostly alleging that RoundUp caused cancer. These court cases have cost the company millions of dollars and they'd love to put a stop to that by prohibiting their product users from filing winnable lawsuits.
WHAT THE BILLS SAY
SB 14 & HB 544 are identical bills. They both add one paragraph of new language to our statutes in chapter 281 on Pesticides. The new paragraph would be added to section 281.260, on Registration of Pesticides. Below, you'll see screen shots of the new language in both bills. The first photo is page 5 lines 122 through 130 of SB 14. The second photo is page 3 lines 79 through 84 of HB 544.
WHAT THIS NEW LANGUAGE MEANS
As you can see, the language underlined in red states the EPA label shall satisfy any requirements for warning labels regarding cancer. The practical effect is that a victim of cancer has no ability to hold the company responsible. You can see an example of a label below.
If this bill should pass, a simple label such as this would remove ANY possibility of ANY Missourian to file a winnable liability suit against Bayer (or any other pesticide company) if it could be proven RoundUp (or any other pesticide product) was a cause for a cancer diagnosis. In essence, this bill would give blanket immunity to Bayer and all other pesticide companies.
The only winnable liability case regarding glyphosate is a "failure to warn" case. This is the underlying cause of action in these cases. If passed, these bills would make it so that the current label is correct and no suit could be brought for this purpose.
I believe every Missourian deserves to have their day in court when their rights have been infringed upon.
I believe no company should ever have immunity from wrongs they might have caused.
When you lose your right to have your day in a court of law in front of a jury of your peers when you've been harmed or your rights infringed, I believe you cease to have those rights. It's the government's purpose to protect the rights of the people and it's the duty I swore an oath to do. For this reason, I will work to defeat this legislation in every way possible in my seat as a Missouri senator.
killing these bills will not...
- force Bayer to quit producing RoundUp.
- force farmers to quit using RoundUp or glyphosate products.
- force farmers to buy Chinese or other foreign products.
- mean that Bayer will lose every suit brought against them.
if these bills pass
If passed, these bills would...
- give blanket immunity to Bayer and other pesticide companies when their glyphosate products cause harm.
- put Missouri citizens at risk of great loss without a path to recoup their losses
my thoughts
for more info
If you'd like even more information or if you have any questions, please reach out to our office.
