Local legislators share plans for upcoming session

A few local lawmakers have filed bills before the upcoming session of the Missouri Legislature.

The session officially begins at noon Jan. 8 in Jefferson City, but senators and representatives can file legislation starting this month. The session ends May 16.

State Rep. Donna Lichtenegger, R-Jackson, and state Sen. Wayne Wallingford, R-Cape Girardeau, both so far have filed several bills. A few are repeats from the 2013 session that did not pass, including one from Lichtenegger pertaining to burn bans in Missouri counties and one from Wallingford

Wayne Wallingford

designating a day as Medical Radiation Safety Awareness Day.

Lichtenegger also has filed bills she said would change requirements of employees by labor organizations and would require notification of a vote that would cause water fluoridation to cease.

Wallingford's new bills include one that would limit the requirements of an applicant for a professional license renewal in sharing his or her Social Security number; a bill that would require faster payments to contractors on public works projects; and two bills pertaining to elections.

Kathy Swan

Wallingford's first election bill would allow representatives of political candidates who are in the military or disabled to send a proxy for a drawing that establishes the order that names are placed on the ballot. The second bill would allow military and overseas voters to register to vote past the general deadline in certain circumstances.

Another local lawmaker, state Rep. Kathy Swan, R-Cape Girardeau, plans to file multiple bills in the first weeks of the session.

Lichtenegger's bills

Lichtenegger's burn ban and emergency management bill stems from a situation that arose in 2012 when much of the state experienced extreme drought conditions. County officials could call a burn ban during dangerous weather conditions, but "there was no teeth behind it," she said.

The bill would give counties the authority to set and enforce penalties for unlawful burning. The bill did not make it through during the last session, Lichtenegger said, because it became part of an omnibus bill containing regulatory changes for the Department of Natural Resources that was opposed in the Senate.

Lichtenegger's union-related bill, she said, would "basically give anyone who wants to work for a company that has a union a chance to work there and not pay the union."

Lichtenegger also plans an amendment to the bill, she said, which she believes unions will like -- "if a person chooses not to be a union member, and they get fired or whatever, that person has to pay their own attorneys to handle that. They shouldn't expect all the things that a union provides if they aren't willing to pay the dues," she said.

The overall bill would likely need voter approval to change state law.

The reason for the fluoridation removal notification requirement bill, according to Lichtenegger, was filed because she said she believes there are dental health benefits from the use of fluoride in drinking water and that the substance should not be removed without public support.

Wallingford's bills

A bill Wallingford said he thinks reflects a need to guard Missouri residents against identity theft is the one he has filed that would limit the requirements for submitting a Social Security number on a professional license renewal application.

"It's just another way I think we could keep things from happening," he said.

Under the bill, a Social Security number would only need to go on file once for an application.

The bill that pertains to payments for public works projects would put measures in place to stop money from being withheld from contractors as they finish phases of a project.

"In talking to a lot of companies, I hear about money being held back when it shouldn't be," Wallingford said. "I think this bill will help protect small businesses and people in the contracting industry."

The bills Wallingford has filed on elections would provide a needed fairness for candidates and voters, he said, some of which have limited access to the election process.

On the bill that would allow a representative to participate in a drawing that establishes ballot order, Wallingford said the change can make a difference -- or would at least be thought to make a difference in the outcome of elections for candidates who cannot participate in the drawing themselves.

"It is possible that the order names are on the ballot can change things by up to a couple percent of the vote," Wallingford said. "I don't want someone to not get the votes they should because they are finishing a tour of duty or for another reason can't get to a drawing."

The other bill would allow military and overseas voters to register to vote a few days later than a deadline for in-state voters that normally falls during the week leading up to an election.

Wallingford, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, said he has visited with Secretary of State Jason Kander about the bill, and it has Kander's support. Kander is an Army veteran.

Swan's bills

Up to three of the bills Swan plans to file in January pertain to education: One would create flexibility for school districts on compensation of teachers based on professional experience; one would install new requirements for failing schools to create and use response teams of local people to seek improvement; and another would require schools to notify parents of a school's performance compared with the requirements of the Missouri School Improvement Plan.

Other bills Swan plans include one that would allow the telecommunications industry an easier expansion of services; a resolution that would exempt disabled veterans from paying property taxes that would need voter approval; a "pro-life" bill that would tighten regulations on medical facilities that provide abortions; and legislation that would send approval of tax-credit spending through the General Assembly instead of only a budget committee.

"I'm interested in a lot of different things and the impact on us and the impact on the state," Swan said of the plethora of issues she plans to work on in the session.

Bill tracking

Legislation filed in the Missouri Senate and House of Representatives can be tracked through the session on each chamber's website.

To check the status of a bill in the Missouri House, visit house.mo.gov and click on "bill information," followed by "bill list." After choosing a bill or representative, actions can be viewed for each piece of legislation.

To check the status of a Missouri Senate bill, search for the bill by keyword or assigned number at senate.mo.gov.

eragan@semissourian.com

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Cape Girardeau, MO

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