MISSOURI SEN. KINDER SAYS HE'S WATCHING LIFE-MINUTE PROPOSALS

JEFFERSON CITY -- With the May 13 adjournment date of the 87th General Assembly getting closer, state Sen. Peter Kinder says he is finalizing last-minute legislative proposals he wants to push and trying to keep some bad proposals from moving forward.

The Cape Girardeau Republican said that last week he joined with colleagues to defeat a Senate bill that would have authorized collective bargaining for public employees.

The perennial bill was estimated to cost Missouri taxpayers more than $86 million the first year, and much more after that. One provision of the bill mandated non-union employees to pay union dues for potential benefits received from job-related negotiations.

"This was a brazen attempt by the union to overturn democracy and strip the decision-making process out of the hands of citizens, taxpayers and their elected officials," said Kinder.

In his second session in the Senate, Kinder said he also is keeping watch on Senate bill 809, an environmental regulation proposal passed out of the Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Environment Committee on a 7-1 vote last week.

Kinder's legislation would require the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to inform the public on how much new environmental regulations will cost. It would also require that a cost-benefit analysis and risk assessment be performed before DNR could impose new regulations.

"My proposal is a simple way to restore balance and guarantee common-sense environmental protection for our state," Kinder said.

Because it is late in the session, Kinder said he hopes to attach his bill as an amendment to another measure to improve its chances of passing this year.

He is also working with other senators to get action on Senate Bill 717, which passed a Senate committee on a 10-0 vote weeks ago but has not been taken up for debate. Democratic leaders in the House and Senate and Gov. Mel Carnahan contend that lawmakers should not pass a workers' compensation bill this year so that one approved last year will have time to work.

Kinder and most other Republicans argue that the bill passed last year does not go far enough and that rates for small businesses continue to climb.