21
April
2023
|
11:34 AM
America/Chicago

Legislative Update: Senate Appropriations Committee approves budget

Both chambers of the General Assembly convened on Monday, April 17, 2023.  On Tuesday evening, legislators held their annual charity softball tournament, raising over $15,000.  The Senate Appropriations Committee met on April 18 and April 19, 2023, to review the House’s proposed FY2024 state budget (House Bills 1 through 13 and HB 15).  House Bills 1 through 13 are the state operating budget.  House Bill 13 provides for property leases, and House Bill 15 is the second supplemental appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2023.  On April 19, 2023, the Appropriations Committee voted all the bills Do Pass, clearing the way for them to be sent to the Senate floor for consideration.  With the exception of Senate Bill 1 (public debt), all were Senate committee substitutes.  The FY 2024 Budget Notes for each of the bills are available for review, as are the Appropriations Committee’s language and flexibility recommendations.  Notably, the Senate recommended the removal of the “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion” language placed in all House budget bills. The deadline for legislative approval of the Fiscal Year 2024 budget is Friday, May 5, 2023.  Three weeks remain for consideration of regular (non-appropriations) bills, which must be approved by both legislative chambers by Friday, May 12, 2023. 

House FY 2024 Capital Improvement and ARPA Tracking 
House FY 2024 Operating Tracking - Perfected 
FY2024 Budget Information 
FY2024 Judiciary Budget Request with Governor’s Recommendations 
FY2024 State Public Defender Budget Request with Governor’s Recommendations


CROSSOVER LEGISLATION AND FLOOR ACTION

View a complete list of legislation approved by the Senate and delivered to the House for consideration.

View a complete list of legislation approved by the House and delivered to the Senate for consideration.

View the Senate Calendar to see potential bills for floor debate and final approval (Formal and Informal Calendars – Third Reading of Senate Bills, Senate Bills for Perfection, and House Bills on Third Reading).

View the House Calendar to see potential bills for floor debate and approval (House Bills for Perfection, House Bills for Perfection – Informal, House Bills for Third Reading, House Bills for Third Reading – Informal, and House Bills for Third Reading - Consent). 


2023 MISSOURI BAR-INITIATED LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS

On the website of The Missouri Bar, members can access a list of the 2023 Bar-initiated legislative proposals, as well as links to the corresponding legislation introduced in the General Assembly.  These proposals were drafted by committees or division of The Missouri Bar and approved by the Board of Governors.  Members can also access a tracking report to see the current status of the legislation containing Bar-initiated proposals and follow their legislative progress.

Missouri Bar-Initiated Legislative Proposals
 

2023 MISSOURI BAR-REVIEWED LEGISLATION

The Missouri Bar limits its review of legislation in the General Assembly to matters concerning the administration of justice, the integrity of the judiciary, improvement of the law, or the dignity of the profession of law.  Each session, Government Relations staff identify and monitor bills of particular interest that impact Missouri courts or the legal profession.  These bills are referred to the Government Relations Committee and the Legislative Review Committee, which review them and make recommendations to the Board of Governors or its Executive Committee for potential action.  Members are encouraged to submit comments on any bills referred for review or any bills eligible for consideration by the Board or Executive Committee. 

Board of Governors or Executive Committee Actions Taken on 2023 Bills

 

FLOOR DEBATE

The House worked late into the evening on Monday, perfecting and third reading bills on its calendars.  On Tuesday, the House perfected House Bills 17, 18, 19, and 20, relating to capital improvements.  These bills were third read on Thursday and sent to the Senate for its consideration.  House Bill 20 is a reappropriation bill for projects funded last fiscal year through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), but for which funds have not yet been fully expended.

The Senate debated a broad range of topics from criminal law to street light maintenance districts to ports and waterways.   The bill drawing greatest debate was related to the foreign ownership of agricultural land.  Having resolved the matter, the Senate perfected five bills.  It took up an additional four, which were placed on the informal calendar due to controversy surrounding either their original subject matter or amendments proposed on the Senate floor.  The following bills were perfected:

  • SB 189 – Luetkemeyer, relating to criminal laws
  • SB 148 – Mosley, relating to street light maintenance
  • SB 378 – Rowden, relating to ethics, with penalty provisions
  • SB 265 – Bean, relating to funds established within the state treasury
  • SB 80 – Schroer, relating to statewide mechanical contractors licenses, with penalty provisions

Those taken up for perfection and placed on the Informal Calendar included:

  • SB 74 – Trent, relating to a driving while intoxicated diversion program
  • SB 180 – Crawford, relating to a public safety sales tax
  • SB 400 – Schroer, relating to restrictive covenants
  • SB 168 – Brown (26), relating to the rulemaking authority of the department of health and senior services  

Later in the week, three of the perfected bills were third read and passed.

  • SB 189 – Luetkemeyer, relating to criminal laws (An emergency clause, which would have allowed the bill go into effect immediately upon the governor’s signature, was defeated.) 
  • SB 148 – Mosley, relating to street light maintenance
  • SB 378 – Rowden, relating to ethics

Seven additional bills were approved by the Senate, and sent to the House for consideration:

  • SB 128 – Thompson Rehder, relating to costs and fees in divorce proceedings
  • SB 542 – Eigel, relating to vaccination of members of the Missouri National Guard
  • HB 903 – Haffner, relating to foreign ownership of real property, with an emergency clause
  • SB 190 – Luetkemeyer, relating to tax relief for seniors
  • SB 275 – Trent, relating to utilities
  • SB 398 – Schroer, relating to the motor vehicle franchise practices act
  • SB 129 – Brattin, relating to judicial proceedings involving the parent-child relationship

 

COMMITTEE HEARINGS OF INTEREST

Senate

N.B.:  The “Witnesses” links for Senate committees will lead to the “Committee Minutes” page of the relevant committee.  On the “Committee Minutes” page, scroll to the appropriate bill number in the middle column of the page and click the “View” button.

The Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee met on April 17, 2023, and held public hearings on the following legislation: 

The committee did not convene in executive session.

The Senate General Laws Committee met on April 19, 2023, and held public hearings on the following legislation: 

  • SB 570 (Bernskoetter), relating to pesticide certification and training – Witnesses
  • SB 630 (Bernskoetter), relating to closure of certain public safety records – Witnesses
  • HB 688 (Bernskoetter), relating to fire protection services – Witnesses
  • SB 706 (Koenig), relating to fire protection services in St. Louis County – Witnesses
  • HCS HB 442 (Wright), relating to cost-sharing under health benefit plans, with a penalty provision – Witnesses
  • HCS HJRs 33 & 45 (Coleman), relating to property tax assessments – Witnesses

The committee took action on the following legislation in executive session:

  • SCS HB 802 (Dinkins), authorizing the conveyance of certain state property – Do Pass by a vote of 5 to 0.
  • HB 447 (Davidson), relating to educational expenses – Do Pass by a vote of 5 to 0.

House

N.B.: For House committee hearings, witnesses testifying in person may not be reflected in the file available through the Electronic Witness Form link, but these individuals will be noted on the Committee Bill Summary on the webpage of the relevant bill.

The House General Laws Committee met on April 17, 2023, and held public hearings on legislation that included the following:

Archived Video of Committee Hearing

The House Rules Committee – Legislative Oversight met in executive session on April 17 and 19, 2023, and considered legislation that included the following:

  • SB 75 (Black), relating to retirement systems – Voted Do Pass.
  • SB 187 (Brown - 16), relating to financial affairs, with penalty provisions – Voted Do Pass.
  • HB 1185 (Hovis), relating to retirement systems – Voted Do Pass.

The House Rules Committee – Administrative Oversight met in executive session on April 17, 2023, and considered legislation that included the following:

  • HB 77  (Kelley - 127), relating to collection of court costs – Voted Do Pass.
  • HB 628 (Christofanelli), relating to consumer activities regulated by the Division of Finance, with penalty provisions – Voted Do Pass.
  • HB 968 (Thompson), relating to trust and estate administration – Voted Do Pass.
  • HB 1074 (Cook), relating to civil detention procedures – Voted Do Pass.

The House Rules Committee – Regulatory Oversight met in executive session on April 17, 2023, and considered legislation that included the following:

  • HB 272  (Riley), relating to the statute of limitations for personal injury claims – Voted Do Pass.

The House Children and Families Committee met on April 18, 2023, and held a public hearing on the following legislation:

Archived Video of Committee Hearing

The House Local Government Committee met on April 18, 2023, and held public hearings on legislation that included the following:

Archived Video of Committee Hearing

The House Pensions Committee met on April 18, 2023, and held a public hearing on the following legislation:

The committee met in executive session and took action on legislation that included the following:

  • HB 35 (Billington), relating to retirement of judges, with a contingent effective date for certain sections – Do Pass by a vote of 7 to 1.

Archived Video of Committee Hearing

The House Special Committee on Public Policy met in executive session on April 18, 2023, and took action on legislation that included the following:

  • HCS SB 186 (Brown - 16), relating to criminal offenses involving teller machines, with penalty provisions – Do Pass by a vote of 5 to 1.

Archived Video of Committee Hearing

The House Special Committee on Small Business met on April 18, 2023, and in executive session took action on legislation that included the following:

  • HCS SS SB 222 (Trent), relating to landlord-tenant proceedings – Do Pass by a vote of 7 to 2.  (The title was changed to “relating to political subdivisions.”)

Archived Video of Committee Hearing

The House Budget Committee met on April 19, 2023, and held public hearings on legislation, which included the following:

Archived Video of Committee Hearing

The House Judiciary Committee met in executive session on April 19, 2023, and took action on the following legislation:

  • HB 251 (Haffner), relating to offenses involving arrests, stops, and detentions, with penalty provisions – Do Pass by a vote of 12 to 1.
  • HB 138 (Richey), relating to disclosures of allegations of sexual misconduct – Do Pass by a vote of 10 to 3.
  • HB 82 (Veit), relating to alternative dispute resolution – Do Pass by a vote of 13 to 1.
  • HCS HB 776 (Cook), relating to privileged information – Do Pass by a vote of 12 to 1.
  • HB 444 (Schnelting), relating to the redaction of personal identifying information from public court automation systems – Do Pass by a vote of 13 to 0.
  • HB 750 (Perkins), relating to civil actions to protect public expression – Do Pass by a vote of 13 to 0.
  • HB 1176 (Perkins), relating to the offenses of trafficking of drugs, with penalty provisions – Do Pass by a vote of 13 to 0.
  • HB 453 (Coleman), relating to human trafficking, with penalty provisions – Do Pass by a vote of 12 to 1.
  • HCS HB 835 (Sparks), relating to the offense of use of a minor to commit a crime, with penalty provisions – Do Pass by a vote of 8 to 5.
  • HB 405 (McGaugh), relating to the offense of tampering with an elected county official, with penalty provisions – Do Pass by a vote of 13 to 1.
  • HCS HB 371 (Falkner), relating to the removal of certain court records from automated case management systems – Do Pass by a vote of 13 to 0.
  • SS SB 227 (Coleman), relating to the culpable mental state necessary for a homicide offense – Do Pass by a vote of 13 to 0.
  • HCS SCS SB 245 (Arthur), relating to the Office of the Public Defender – Do Pass by a vote of 13 to 0.
  • HCS SB 103 (Crawford), relating to court operations, with existing penalty provisions – Do Pass by a vote of 14 to 0.
  • HCS SS#3 SB 22 (Bernskoetter), relating to criminal procedures involving juveniles, with an emergency clause for certain sections – Do Pass by a vote of 13 to 1.
  • HCS SB 72 (Trent), relating to judicial privacy, with penalty provisions – Do Pass by a vote of 14 to 0.

Archived Video of Committee Hearing

The House Crime Prevention and Public Safety Committee met on April 20, 2023, and held public hearings on the following legislation:

The committee took action on the following legislation in executive session:

  • HCS HB 346 (Roberts), relating to diversion for driving under the influence of alcohol, with a penalty provision – Do Pass by a vote of 14 to 6.
  • HB 468 (Gregory - 51), relating to the offense of unlawful distribution, delivery, or sale of a drug masking product, with a penalty provision – Do Pass by a vote of 20 to 0.
  • HB 531 (Strickler), relating to the offense of unlawful tracking of a motor vehicle, with a penalty provision – Do Pass by a vote of 18 to 2.
  • HB 1228 (Evans), relating to canine search and rescue teams, with penalty provisions – Do Pass by a vote of 20 to 0.

Archived Video of Committee Hearing

The House Children and Families Committee met in executive session on April 20, 2023, and took action on the following legislation:

  • SB 199 (Thompson Rehder), relating to adult high schools – Do Pass.
  • HCS SB 213 (Beck), modifying provisions relating to child custody in paternity actions – Do Pass by a vote of 10 to 0.
  • HCS SB 198 (Thompson Rehder), modifying provisions relating to vulnerable persons – Do Pass by a vote of 9 to 1.

Archived Video of Committee Hearing