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17
June
2022
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09:55 AM
America/Chicago

Governor signs eminent domain legislation, miscellaneous other bills into law

Missouri Bar Legislative Update for June 17, 2022
 

On June 11, 2022, Governor Parson signed legislation relating to eminent domain.  On June 16, 2022, the governor signed six additional Truly Agreed bills relating to public retirement systems, higher education, ground ambulance services, criminal offense, and opioid addiction treatment.  Below are general summaries of this recently enacted legislation.  Each bill number is hyperlinked and leads to the final approved text of the Truly Agreed To and Finally Passed bill.  Unless otherwise provided in the bill itself (through an emergency clause or a delayed effective date), the provisions of any enacted legislation will take effect on August 28, 2022.    

Pursuant to the constitution, the governor will have forty-five days from when the General Assembly adjourns to act on the bills presented to him (Thursday, July 14, 2022).  The appropriations bills making up the state’s operating budget must be signed prior to the start of Fiscal Year 2023 (July 1, 2022). 

A complete breakdown of the 2022 Truly Agreed To and Finally Passed Legislation will be available to members of The Missouri Bar in the August issue of the Legislative Digest (prior to the August 28, 2022, effective date of most new laws), and Legislative Updates throughout the summer will feature summaries, breakdowns, and other information about TAFP bills, either grouped by practice area or as the governor takes action on them.   

RECENTLY ENACTED LEGISLATION 

SS HCS HB 2005 (Haffner) – Relating to eminent domain for certain utilities 
05/10/2022 – Truly Agreed To and Finally Passed 
05/18/2022 – Presented to Governor 
06/11/2022 – Signed by Governor

MERCHANT TRANSMISSION LINES (Section 523.010) (Amend) – For purposes of chapter 523, the authority for an electrical corporation as defined in section 386.020 (except for an electrical corporation operating under a cooperative business plan as described in section 393.110) to condemn property for purposes of constructing an electric plant subject to a certificate of public convenience and necessity under subsection 1 of section 393.170 shall not extend to the construction of a merchant transmission line with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission negotiated rate authority, unless such line has a substation or converter station located in Missouri which is capable of delivering an amount of its electrical capacity to electrical customers in Missouri that is greater than or equal to the proportionate number of miles of the line that passes through the state.  The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to applications filed pursuant to section 393.170 prior to August 28, 2022.

TIME LIMITATIONS ON VOLUNTARY EASEMENTS (Section 523.025) (New) – If an electrical corporation as defined in section 386.020 (except for an electrical corporation operating under a cooperative business plan as described in section 393.110) acquires any involuntary easement in Missouri by means of eminent domain and does not obtain the financial commitments necessary to construct a project for which the involuntary easement was needed within seven years of the date that such easement rights are recorded with the appropriate county recorder of deeds, the corporation shall return possession of the easement to the fee simple title holder within sixty days and cause the dissolution of the easement to be recorded with the county recorder of deeds.  In the event of such return, no reimbursement of any payment made by the corporation to the title holder shall be due. 

COMPENSATION IN EMINENT DOMAIN PROCEEDINGS (Section 523.039) (Amend) – For eminent domain proceedings of any agricultural or horticultural property by an electrical corporation as defined in section 386.020 (except for an electrical corporation operating under a cooperative business plan as described in section 393.110) for the purposes of constructing an electric plant subject to a certificate of convenience and necessity under subsection 1 of section 393.170, just compensation shall be an amount equivalent to fair market value multiplied by one hundred fifty percent, as determined by the court.  The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to applications filed pursuant to section 393.170 prior to August 28, 2022.

APPOINTMENT OF COMMISSIONERS – DUTIES – NOTICE OF PROPERTY VIEWING (Section 523.040) (Amend) – In any eminent domain proceeding involving agricultural or horticultural property, for the purposes of constructing an electric plant subject to a certificate of convenience and necessity under subsection 1 of section 393.170, at least one of the disinterested commissioners appointed by the court shall be a farmer who has been engaged in farming (as defined in section 350.010) for a minimum of ten years in the county where such property is situated.  The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to applications filed pursuant to section 393.170 prior to August 28, 2022.

CONDEMNATION OF AGRICULTURAL LAND (Section 523.256) (Amend) – For condemnation of any agricultural or horticultural property for the construction of an electrical transmission line designed to transmit electricity at 345 kV or greater (but not for condemnation of such property by an electrical corporation operating under a cooperative business plan as described in section 393.110) for the purposes of constructing an electric plant subject to a certificate of convenience and necessity under subsection 1 of section 393.170, a condemning authority shall be deemed to have engaged in good faith negotiations if the total compensation package offered was no lower than the amount reflected in an appraisal performed by a state-licensed or -certified appraiser for the condemning authority multiplied by one hundred fifty percent.  The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to applications filed pursuant to section 393.170 prior to August 28, 2022. 
 

SB 655 (Crawford) – Relating to the Missouri Local Government Employees’ Retirement System 
05/13/2022 – Truly Agreed To and Finally Passed 
05/18/2022 – Presented to Governor 
06/16/2022 – Signed by Governor

ADDITION OF PUBLIC SAFETY PERSONNEL MEMBERS TO LAGERS – ALL POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS (Section 70.631) (Amend) – Currently, the provisions of section 70.631 (county election to cover certain employees as public safety personnel members of the Local Government Employees’ Retirement System) only apply to third class counties and “any county of the first classification with more than seventy thousand but fewer than eighty-three thousand inhabitants and with a city of the fourth classification with more than thirteen thousand five hundred but fewer than sixteen thousand inhabitants as the county seat” (Cape Girardeau County).  This limitation is repealed, permitting a political subdivision (as defined in section 70.600) to elect to cover these employees as public safety personnel members. 
 

HCS SB 718 (Washington) – Relating to higher education 
05/11/2022 – Truly Agreed To and Finally Passed 
05/18/2022 – Presented to Governor 
06/16/2022 – Signed by Governor

HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY WEEK (Section 9.170) (New) – The third week of September in every year is designated as “Historically Black College and University Week” in Missouri.

COMMUNITY-BASED FACULTY PRECEPTORSHIPS (Section 135.690) (New) – For all tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2023, a physician or physician assistant who serves as a community-based faculty preceptor for a medical student core preceptorship or a physician assistant student preceptorship may claim a tax credit in an amount equal to $1,000 for each preceptorship, up to a maximum of $3,000 per tax year, if the physician or physician assistant completed three preceptorship rotations during the tax year and did not receive any direct compensation for the preceptorships.  Such tax credits shall not be refundable or transferable, and they shall not be carried forward or backward to any other tax year.  The Department of Commerce and Insurance and the Department of Health and Senior Services shall jointly promulgate rules to implement the provisions of this section.    

The tax credit program shall be funded from a license fee increase of $7.00 per license for physicians and surgeons and an increase of $3.00 per license for physician assistants.  The license fee increases shall take effect beginning January 1, 2023.  The moneys shall be deposited in the “Medical Preceptor Fund.”  The total amount of tax credits authorized in a given year shall not exceed $200,000.  However, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services is authorized to exceed the cap in any amount not to exceed the amount of funds available in the Medical Preceptor Fund. 

DUAL CREDIT ENROLLMENT COURSES (Sections 160.545, 173.2500, and 173.2505)

A+ School Program Established – Reimbursement for Higher Education Costs for Students (Section 160.545) (Amend) – Subsection 9 of section 160.545, relating to the reimbursement of the costs of tuition and fees for any dual credit or dual enrollment course, is repealed. 

Dual Credit Providers – Definitions (Section 173.2505) (Amend) – For purposes of this section, the terms “approved dual enrollment provider” and “dual enrollment course” are defined. 

Dual Credit and Dual Enrollment Scholarship Act – Eligibility – Amount of Scholarship, Limitation – Fund Created (Section 173.2505) (Amend) – Formerly the “Dual Credit Scholarship Act,” this section shall be known as the “Dual Credit and Dual Enrollment Scholarship Act.”  The scholarship is created to provide financial assistance to high school students enrolling in dual credit or dual enrollment courses offered by an approved dual credit or dual enrollment provider.  To be eligible to receive the dual credit or dual enrollment scholarship (or both), a student shall: 

  • Be a United States citizen or permanent resident;
  • Be a Missouri resident (as defined by the Coordinating Board for Higher Education pursuant to section 173.005);
  • Be enrolled in a dual credit or dual enrollment course offered by an approved dual credit provider or an approved dual enrollment provider (as defined in section 173.2500);
  • Have a cumulative high school grade point average of at least two and a half on a four point scale or equivalent; and 
  • Meet one or more of the following indicators of economic need:
    • Be individually eligible to be enrolled in a federal free or reduced-price lunch program, based on income levels established by the United States Department of Agriculture;
    • Reside in a foster home, be a ware of the state, or be homeless as defined by Subtitle VII-B of the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act; or
    • Receive as part of such student’s immediate family low-income public assistance (such as the Supplemental Assistance Program or the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, infants, and Children) or live in federally subsidized public housing.

Subject to appropriation, each eligible student shall be offered a scholarship equal to the tuition and fees paid by the student to enroll in a dual credit or dual enrollment course.  The current limits on the amount received by each student per course and annually for all courses taken are repealed. 

Finally, the “Dual Credit Scholarship Fund” is renamed the “Dual Credit and Dual Enrollment Scholarship Fund.” 

CAREER AND ACADEMIC PLANNING (Section 167.908) (New) – Through rulemaking, the Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development shall establish a procedure for providing the means and capability for high school students enrolled in career and technical education programs to complete an application for aid through the Employment and Training Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor under the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.  The department shall ensure that the following percentages of all Department of Elementary and Secondary Education area career centers that deliver career and technical education programs have the required means and capability for students to complete the application:

  • For the 2022-2023 school year, fifty percent;
  • For the 2023-2024 school year, seventy percent;
  • For the 2024-2025 school year, ninety percent; and
  • For the 2025-2026 school year and every school year thereafter, one hundred percent.

COMPUTER SCIENCE, ACADEMIC CREDIT FOR MATH, SCIENCE, OR PRACTICAL ARTS (Section 170.018) (Amend) – For purposes of section 170.018, the term “computer science course” is amended to include (but not be limited to) a stand-alone course at any elementary, middle, or high school, or a course that embeds computer science content within other subjects at any elementary or middle school.

For all school years beginning on or after July 1, 2023, each public and charter high school shall offer at least one computer science course in an in-person setting or as a virtual or distance course option.  Any course or instruction offered under subsection 5 shall:

  • Be of high quality (as defined by the State Board of Education);
  • Meet or exceed the performance standards developed and adopted by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education under this section; and
  • Be offered in the public high school or charter high school’s course catalog, when offered by any such school.

One or before June thirtieth of each school year, each school district shall submit to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education a report for the current school year that includes specific information about the courses, student demographics, and instructors.  On or before September thirtieth of each school year, the department shall post associated statewide aggregated data on its website.  On or before June thirtieth of each school year, the department shall publish a list of computer science course codes and names with a course description and an indication of which courses meet or exceed the department’s computer science performance standards.  The department shall appoint a computer science supervisor, who shall be responsible for implementing the provisions of this section. 

For all school years beginning on or after July 1, 2023, a computer science course successfully completed and counted toward state graduation requirements shall be equivalent to one science or practical arts credit for the purpose of satisfying admission requirements at any public institution of higher education in Missouri.

COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION TASK FORCE (Section 170.036) (New) – An eighteen-member “Computer Science Education Task Force” within the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education shall develop a state strategic plan for expanding a statewide computer science education program, with specific components, including:

  • A plan for expanding computer science education opportunities to every school in the state within five years and increasing the representation of students from traditional underserved groups in computer science;
  • A plan for schools serving any student in grades kindergarten through eighth grade to provide instruction in the basics of computer science and computational thinking;
  • A plan for ensuring teachers are well-prepared to begin teaching computer science; and
  • A plan to ensure long-term sustainability for computer science education.

The task force shall hold its first meeting within three months of the effective date of this section.  Before June 30, 2023, it shall present a summary of its activities and any recommendations for legislation to the General Assembly, and it shall dissolve on June 30, 2024.

COMPENSATION OF STUDENT ATHLETES PERMITTED, WHEN (Section 173.280) (Amend) – A postsecondary educational institution or any officer, director, or employee of such institution (including a coach or any individual associated with an athletic department) may identify or assist with opportunities for a student athlete to earn compensation from a third party for the use of the student athlete’s name, image, likeness rights, or athletic reputation.  However, such individual shall not:

  • Serve as the student athlete’s agent;
  • Receive compensation from the student athlete or a third party for facilitating or enabling such opportunities;
  • Attempt to influence an athlete’s choice of professional representation related to such opportunities;
  • Attempt to reduce an athlete’s opportunities from competing third parties; or
  • Be present at any meeting between a student athlete and a third party who provides for a student athlete’s compensation, where the student athlete’s name, image, likeness rights, or athletic reputation contract for compensation is negotiated or completed.

A postsecondary educational institution or any officer, director, or employee of such institution or entity shall not compensate a student athlete, prospective student athlete, or the family of such individuals, or cause compensation to be directed to a prospective student athlete, or the family of a student athlete or the family of a prospective student athlete, for the use of the student athlete or prospective student athlete’s name, image, likeness rights, or athletic reputation. 

The required financial development program conducted by postsecondary educational institutions that enter into commercial agreements that require the use of a student athlete’s name, image, likeness, or athletic reputation shall (at a minimum) include information concerning financial aid, debt management, and a recommended budget for student athlete’s based on the current year’s cost of attendance.  The workshop shall also include information on time management skills necessary for success as a student athlete and available academic resources. 

WORKFORCE DIPLOMA PROGRAM (Section 173.831) (New) – The “Workforce Diploma Program” within the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education shall assist students with obtaining a high school diploma and developing employability and career technical skills, which program may be delivered in campus-based, blended, or online modalities.  Before September 1, 2022, and annually thereafter, the department shall issue a request for qualifications for interested program providers to become approved program providers and participate in the program.  The department shall announce the approved program providers before October sixteenth annually, with authorization for the approved program providers to begin enrolling students before November fifteenth annually.  Approved program providers shall maintain approval without reapplying annually if the provider has not been removed from the list.  Before July sixteenth of each year, each provider shall report required metrics to the department for each individual cohort, on a cohort-by-cohort basis.  Before September sixteenth of each year, each provider shall conduct and submit to the department the aggregate results of a survey of each individual cohort, on a cohort-by-cohort basis, who graduated from the program.  Beginning in the second fiscal year of the program, the department shall review data from each approved program provider to ensure that each is achieving the required minimum program performance standards.  A “Workforce Diploma Program Fund” is established, which shall consist of any grants, gifts, donations, bequests, or appropriated moneys.  The director of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is granted rulemaking authority for the administration of this section.  The program shall automatically sunset on August 28, 2028, unless reauthorized by the General Assembly for an additional twelve years.  This section shall terminate on September 1, 2029. 

SUICIDE AND CRISIS LIFELINE INFORMATION (Section 173.1200) (Amend) – Beginning July 1, 2023, a public institution of higher education that issues student identification cards shall have printed on either side of the cards the three-digit dialing code that directs calls and routes text messages to the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (988).  This requirement shall apply to cards issued for the first time to a student and to cards issued to replace a damaged or lost card. 

ADVANCED PLACEMENT EXAMINATION CREDIT (Section 173.1352) (New) – Any in-state public community college, college, or university that offers postsecondary freshman-level courses shall adopt an implement a policy to grant undergraduate course credit to entering freshman students for each advanced placement examination upon which such student achieves a score of three or higher for any similarly correlated course offered by the institution at the time of such student’s acceptance into the institution. 

BANKRUPTCY EXEMPTIONS – MISSOURI EDUCATION SAVINGS PROGRAM AND MISSOURI HIGHER EDUCATION DEPOSIT PROGRAM (Section 513.430) (Amend) – The current statutory list of property exempt from attachment and execution is amended to include (as a new subdivision 13) any moneys accruing to and deposited in individual savings accounts or individual deposit accounts under sections 166.400 to 166.456 (Missouri Education Program) or sections 166.500 to 166.529 (Missouri Higher Education Deposit Program).  Subdivision 13 shall apply to any proceeding filed on or after January 1, 2022 or filed before January 1, 2022, which was pending or on appeal after January 1, 2022.  If the designated beneficiary of a qualified individual savings or deposit account is a lineal descendant of the account owner, all moneys in the account shall be exempt from any claims of creditors of the account owner or designated beneficiary.  However, this exemption shall not apply to claims of any creditor of an account owner as to amounts contributed:

  • Within a two-year period preceding the date of the filing of a bankruptcy petition under 11 U.S.C. Section 101 et seq., as amended; or
  • Within a one-year period preceding an execution on judgment for such claims against the account owner. 
     

SS SCS SB 725 (Hegeman) – Relating to ground ambulance services 
05/13/2022 – Truly Agreed To and Finally Passed 
05/18/2022 – Presented to Governor 
06/16/2022 – Signed by Governor

EDUCATIONAL TRAINING REQUIRED FOR AMBULANCE DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS (Section 190.053) (Amend) – With respect to board members elected after August 28, 2022, any ambulance district board member who fails to attend the training session required under subsection 1 of this section shall be ineligible to run for reelection for another term of office until the member satisfies the requirement.  

GROUND AMBULANCE REIMBURSEMENT ALLOWANCE (Sections 190.800, 190.803,190.806, and 190.815) (Amend) – Each ambulance service’s reimbursement allowance shall be based on a formula established by the Department of Social Services by regulations and rules as provided in section 190.836 (rather than based on its gross receipts using a formula established by rule).  The ambulance reimbursement shall be consistent with permissible health care related taxes, as defined in 42 CSR 433, Subpart B, as amended.    
 

SCS SB 799 (Hegeman) – Relating to escape from custody, with penalty provisions 
05/13/2022 – Truly Agreed To and Finally Passed 
05/18/2022 – Presented to Governor 
06/16/2022 – Signed by Governor

OFFENSE OF ESCAPE OR ATTEMPTED ESCAPE FROM CUSTODY – ARREST FOR OFFENSE OR PROBATION OR PAROLE VIOLATION (Section 575.200) (Amend) – A person commits the offense of escape from custody or attempted escape from custody if, while being held in custody after arrest for any offense or violation of probate or parole, the person escapes or attempts to escape from custody.  The amended offense remains a class A misdemeanor unless the person escaping or attempting to escape is under arrest for a felony (class E felony) or the offense is committed by means of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument or by holding any person as hostage (class A felony).  
 

SS#2 SCS HCS HB 1472 (Pike) – Relating to the offense of money laundering, with penalty provisions 
05/12/2022 – Truly Agreed To and Finally Passed 
05/18/2022 – Presented to Governor 
06/16/2022 – Signed by Governor

OFFENSE OF MONEY LAUNDERING – CRYPTOCURRENCY (Section 574.105) (Amend) – For purposes of section 574.105, the following additional terms are defined:

  • “Cryptocurrency”
  • “Financial transaction”
  • “Monetary instruments”
  • “Transaction”

A person commits the offense of money laundering if the person:

  • Conducts or attempts to conduct a financial transaction with the purpose to promote or aid the carrying on of criminal activity; or
  • Conducts or attempts to conduct a financial transaction with the purpose to conceal or disguise (in whole or in part) the nature, location, source, ownership, or control of the proceeds of criminal activity; or
  • Conducts or attempts to conduct a financial transaction with the purpose to avoid financial transaction reporting requirements under federal law; or
  • Conducts or attempts to conduct a financial transaction with the purpose to promote or aid the carrying on of criminal activity for the purpose of furthering or making a terrorist threat or act.

The offense remains a class B felony.  
 

SS HB 2162 (Deaton) – Relating to opioid addiction treatment 
05/13/2022 – Truly Agreed To and Finally Passed 
05/18/2022 – Presented to Governor 
06/16/2022 – Signed by Governor

ADDICTION MITIGATION MEDICATION (Section 195.206) (Amend) – This section is amended to include a definition of the term “addiction mitigation medication” (naltrexone hydrochloride that is administered in a manner approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration or any accepted medical practice method of administering).  The Director of the Department of Health and Senior Services (if a licensed physician) may issue a statewide standing order for an opioid antagonist or an addiction mitigation medication, or the department may employ or contract with a licensed physician who may issue such statewide standing order with the express written consent of the department director.  Any licensed pharmacist in Missouri may sell or dispense an opioid antagonist or an addiction mitigation medication under physician protocol or under a statewide standing order issued by the director or a physician with the consent of the director.  A licensed pharmacist who (acting in good faith and with reasonable care) sells or dispenses an opioid antagonist or an addiction mitigation medication and an appropriate device to administer the drug, and the protocol physician, shall not be subject to any criminal or civil liability or professional disciplinary action for prescribing or dispensing the antagonist or medication or any outcome resulting from the administration of the antagonist or medication.  Likewise, a physician issuing a statewide standing order shall not be subject to any criminal or civil liability or any professional disciplinary action for issuing the order or for any outcome related to the order or the administration of the antagonist or medication.  Notwithstanding any other law or regulation to the contrary, any person is permitted to possess an opioid antagonist or an addiction mitigation medication.    

OPIOID ADDICTION TREATMENT AND RECOVERY FUND (Section 196.1050) (Amend) – Money in the Opioid Addiction Treatment and Recovery Fund shall be used by the Department of Mental Health, the Department of Health and Senior Services, the Department of Social Services, the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Corrections, and the judiciary to pay for opioid treatment and prevention services and health care and law enforcement costs related to opioid addiction treatment and prevention.