LEGISLATIVE REPORT: MANY BILLS ON THE HOUSE FLOOR

The House began Floor work on bills that have passed out of various committees. Following is a brief description of some bills that the House has debated and given first-round approval.

HB 1469 -- allows the State Board of Education to suspend, revoke, or refuse to renew a teaching certificate if a person pleads or is found guilty of a felony or crime of moral turpitude. Certificates must be revoked or not issued if a person pleads or is found guilty of first degree murder, a dangerous felony, certain sexual offenses, and certain pornography offenses. Substitute teachers are included in these requirements. The bill also requires the Board to adopt a Code of Ethics for teachers. An amendment, I supported, was defeated which would have required teachers to be trained in the teaching of phonics as one method of teaching students how to read.

HB 1167 requires that any Department of Corrections inmate who commits third degree assault against a correction employee must be placed in segregation for at least one year. An inmate who commits first or second degree assault is to be segregated for at least three years. There have been many assaults on correction employees by inmates. Currently, prosecutors' only option is to prosecute the inmate and have their sentence lengthened. Supporters of this bill say that does nothing to discourage inmates who are already serving life sentences from assaulting employees. However, segregating inmates and confining them to their cells, except short periods each day for exercise, is a more appropriate punishment and will discourage inmates from assaulting employees.

HB 1519 established the Missouri National Guard Trust Fund to provide funding for veterans' programs and, among other things, allows National Guard members to be eligible for some educational assistance. This bill also authorizes Governor Carnahan's plan to establish elementary school-based child care for three and four year old children.

Instead of creating this new program for schools to implement an amendment was offered to appropriate the nearly $24 million to the schools for transportation, special education, gifted programs, and vocational education. I feel that the State has already committed in law to support these programs financially, however, funding has declined in recent years and tax dollars should be used to fulfill existing commitments before any more new expensive programs are created. The amendment was defeated. The bill created.

The amendment was defeated. The bill was amended to allow assistance to parents who care for toddlers in their own homes and allow day care centers that are not located at schools to qualify for assistance.

The measure (HCR 3) is a response to a property tax assessment increase for agricultural land proposed by the State Tax Commission. The commission's proposal would increase property taxes between 12 and 17 percent in 1999.

The legislature felt that increase would be excessive in relation to the income increase Missouri farmers can expect in the coming years. HCR 3 rejects the increase and calls for a review of the commission's procedure for determining agricultural land values.

Every two years, the commission reviews how it assesses property taxes. The process normally used by the commission base agricultural assessments on how much the land will produce. That process was altered by also factoring in the rent farmers can charge for crop and pasture land.

In other Capitol news, a group was in this week to ask for taxpayer financed election campaigns. As one legislator puts it, "Isn't it bad enough that politicians get their hand in your wallet after they're elected, do we really want every wanna' be politician's hand in your pocket before they are elected?" In another committee, House Bill 1257 was heard.

This bill would establish state-run universal health care funded by an income tax surcharge to all Missourians and a 9 percent payroll tax on employers. While a fiscal note was not available to me at press time, it could cost as much as $5 billion, 1/3 of our state budget. We have had this bill before us for the last several years and been able to kill this "Hillary-style" health care bonanza.

If you have any questions or comments on these or any other issues please contact me.