House Bills Moving Forward

= Wednesday my most important child-care bill passed out of the Judiciary committee. This legislation, House Bill 1492, intends to limit the time foster children remain in the foster-care system with little to no hope of ever being re-united with their birth parent (s) due to drug or alcohol abuse. This bill will terminate parental rights (TPR) in a timely manner if the parent(s) is/are judicially determined to be detrimental to or unfit for the child because of drug abuse. It should provide incentive for any parent who is truly working toward a drug-free life. I want the child to be re-united their parent who is willing to get help for their drug addiction, but I do not want the child go into the foster care system and five to seven years later is still in the system because the parent is working the system and drawing out the time-frame to produce one drug-free, court-ordered blood test.

I filed this House Bill as a companion bill, sponsored by Senator Doug Libla, (SB 530). As a foster parent Senator Libla knows the effects of children who spend years in the foster-care system when there is little to no hope of being re-united with one or both parents because of continued drug abuse.

= This year I filed my first House Concurrent Resolution, HCR 25, which proclaims August as Oral Health Awareness Month. February is Children's Oral Health Month so I amended my original HCR from February to August as the month to recognize and focus Missourians on the crucial subject of oral health. This resolution has been reported to the Chief Clerk's office and I expect it will soon be on the House Calendar for final passage.

= House Bill 1573 commonly called the 911 bill solves a public safety issue. Many counties are still without wireless capability to locate a cell phone from which a 911 call is made. The importance of all counties having the same 911 call capability is obvious; a cross-county traveler may not be aware that their 911 call from a cell phone in one county is non functioning.

This bill also contains new funding options to accomplish these potentially life-saving measures by administering and authorizing grants and loans to counties that demonstrate a commitment to improving 911 services, and the bill allows for the following additional service board responsibilities:

ƒÞ Implementation of 911 services in counties currently without service;

ƒÞ Mapping and addressing all county locations;

ƒÞ Ensuring primary access and texting abilities to 911 services for disabled residents; and

ƒÞ Implementation of initial emergency medical dispatch services including pre-arrival medical instruction in counties where those services are not offered as of July 1, 2014.

= Another bill, HB 1192, was reported to the Senate this week which requires the consenting parent or guardian of a minor seeking an abortion to notify any other custodial parent or guardian in writing at least five days prior to the abortion being performed. A custodial parent does not include a parent who has been convicted of sexual abuse or a sexual offense against a minor, physical assault of a minor, a person against whom an order of protection has been entered, or a parent whose custodial or parental rights have been terminated by a court of competent jurisdiction.

The bill specifies that the constitutions and laws of the United States and Missouri must be interpreted, construed, applied, and enforced to fully protect the rights of an alternatives-to-abortion agency and its officers, agents, employees, and volunteers to freely assemble and to freely engage in religious practices and speech without governmental interference.

A political subdivision of this state is preempted from enacting, adopting, maintaining, or enforcing any measure that adversely affects an alternatives-to-abortion agency or its officers, agents, employees, or volunteers¡* assembly, religious practices, or speech. These provisions cannot preclude or preempt a political subdivision from exercising its lawful authority to regulate zoning or land use or to enforce a building or fire code regulation if the alternatives-to-abortion agency is treated in the same manner as a similarly situated agency and that the authority is not used to circumvent the intent of these provisions.

= The week of March 17 through March 21 is the Legislative Spring Break and legislators will not be in their Capitol offices. Just a reminder: I no longer have a landline phone so please contact me via cell: 573-979-1084.

= Don't miss a night out enjoying local entertainment with a performance of Almost, Maine. Nine short plays that explore love and loss in a remote, mythical almost-town called Almost, Maine. Its premiere broke box office records and garnered wide critical acclaim. Written by John Cariani. Show runs March 26th-29th at 7:30 p.m., and March 30th at 2 p.m. at the Rust Flexible Theatre at the River Campus. Cost is $10. For additional information call: 573-651-2265. (This information was kindly provided by the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau.)