144th House District Capitol Report

I hope everyone enjoyed the Christmas season and is looking forward to 2024. The older I get, the quicker these new years seem to roll around. It has been a busy last couple of months for me visiting with constituents and attending district meetings. As I head back to the capitol this week, I will have less time in the district to personally meet with constituents and attend meetings. But please keep me informed of happenings, and I will do my best to attend or help address issues in any way I can.

• Sexual assault kit tracking growing across the nation: More states are now committing to taking on the backlog of sexual assault kits, with more than 40 states establishing an online tracking system over the past decade. Missouri joined this movement, responding to the outcry from survivors and their advocates in an effort to not only see that justice is done but to also increase accountability and transparency in the investigative process.

Missouri first passed a law requiring the state to develop procedures to gather, transmit and store rape kits back in 2018. In 2020, the legislature passed SB 569 into law, which established the protocols for a tracking system, including a survivor portal, and the tracking system went live in 2021. Last year, Missouri passed HB 3020, which allocated more than $4 million for crime labs' sexual assault kit testing. This was in direct response to reports which showed that Missouri had a backlog of DNA case testing, growing from roughly 2,500 cases in 2019 to 4,000 in 2020. As more states look to address the issue of backlogs, the ability given to survivors to access and track their kit is just one more way to provide security, accountability, and some measure of reassurance that these victims are not forgotten. As of August, the Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) Crime Laboratory Division shows 1,725 kits awaiting testing, which includes 1,000 kits tested by private labs. All of the kits received by MSHP are tested at no cost to the submitting agencies.

Thanks to the legislation passed, and the implementation of this tracking system, Missouri is taking the right steps forward to ensure that we are helping victims become survivors, and take back some control and power in their lives.

• Missouri's first infant rescue box dedicated: Missouri is taking more strides to ensure the safety and well-being of newborns by implementing the first and only Safe Haven Baby Box in operation just a few years after passing legislation to allow another option to struggling parents. The Missouri Legislature passed language in 2021 allowing the Safe Haven Baby Box to be used, and now the first baby rescue box has been installed in Missouri at the Mehlville Fire Protection District's Station 2.

The Safe Haven Baby Box is a safety device that allows mothers in crisis to safely place a newborn into a secured incubator in the event that they are unable to care for the child. The baby box is installed on an exterior wall at a designated fire station or hospital, with an exterior door that automatically locks upon placement of a newborn inside the baby box, and an interior door that allows a medical staff member to secure the surrendered newborn from inside the designated building. According to Safe Haven Baby Boxes, the company responsible for the incubator box, there are 152 active baby boxes currently in the United States; and, to date, 32 babies have been safely surrendered in those baby boxes.

• New session begins: One change that members are subject to in the 2024 legislative session is a new provision added in the House rules during the 2023 legislative session. This new provision, outlined in House Rule 39, restricts members from submitting more than 20 bills without obtaining prior approval from the Speaker of the House. Officially implemented on July 1, this marks the commencement of the first legislative session wherein members must adhere to the newly imposed cap on the number of bills they can file.

To date, Missouri's 163 House members have filed more than 500 bills, combining with the 500-plus bills filed by the Senate. The legislative session officially began today, Jan. 3, but members have the ability to introduce bills until March 1.

To keep informed on the bills that are prefiled in the House, visit the official website of the Missouri House of Representatives at www.house.mo.gov and click on the "Prefiled Bills" link.

• As always, I am only a phone call or email away if my office can assist you in any way. Please feel free to reach out at any time by contacting me at (573) 751-2112 or chris.dinkins@house.mo.gov. Happy New Year!

CHRIS DINKINS represents Missouri's 144th House District. The district includes Bollinger, Iron, Madison, Reynolds, Shannon, Washington and Wayne counties.