Legislator educates chamber crowd about recent session

State Rep. Kathy Swan offered highlights from the recently concluded legislative session during the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's First Friday Coffee event.

Between the Missouri House and Senate, nearly 2,000 bills were filed and 190 were passed, said the Cape Girardeau Republican. Many of those bills focused on taxes, health and education.

Swan, who was recently named Freshman Legislator of the Year by Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones, said slightly fewer than 20 of the bills passed had to do with taxes. One of the most debated tax measures was Senate Bill 509, which called for a gradual decrease in income taxes. The legislation was vetoed by the governor, but a successful override was mounted by the House and Senate a short time later.

Among the most notable health bills passed was one from the House requiring a 72-hour waiting period before getting an abortion, Swan said. Other approved health bills would allow physicians to prescribe certain investigational drugs to eligible terminally ill patients, legalize cannabis-derived oil for epilepsy treatments and require parental consent for those 17 and younger to use tanning beds.

Ten education bills were passed throughout the legislative session, including an early childhood bill sponsored by Swan. The measure provides state funding through the Missouri Foundation Formula to unaccredited school districts offering prekindergarten classes to "narrow learning gaps for children before they even start kindergarten," she said.

Other approved education bills focus on higher education performance funding and expanding Bryce's Law to include children with dyslexia among the special-needs students who can receive scholarships to pay for services from private facilities or public schools.

While most bills require the governor's signature to become law, the fate of eight measures lies with Missouri voters in the August and November elections. The August ballot will feature five amendments: right-to-farm, a transportation sales tax, a new lottery ticket to benefit veterans homes, electronic privacy and guns. The three issues to be determined in November concern early voting, allowing lawmakers to override gubernatorial budget cuts and using evidence of prior criminal acts against people facing prosecution for child sex offenses.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

Cape Girardeau, Mo.