Rehder pleased to get PDMP past the finish line

Few lawmakers in Jefferson City have labored longer and more doggedly for a single piece of legislation than state Sen. Holly Rehder of Scott City.

Rehder (R-27) has pushed for the establishment of a statewide prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) since her earliest days in the Missouri House, where she served eight years before moving to the General Assembly's upper chamber in January.

During the most recent legislative session in the state capital, which ended Friday, the bill finally made won approval in both chambers and now awaits action from Gov. Mike Parson.

The freshman senator said Tuesday she expects Parson will sign the bill.

"It's been nine years of working for passage," said Rehder. "A lot of people didn't like (PDMP) and even folks in my conservative club didn't at the beginning, but I put in the time making sure my constituents knew what a PDMP was, and what they are used for in all other states but Missouri."

In the Missouri House, the legislation was affirmed by a 91 to 64 vote with the local delegation split on the measure.

Jamie Burger (R-148) of Benton and Rick Francis (R-145) of Perryville voted yes.

Barry Hovis (R-146) of Whitewater and Wayne Wallingford (R-147) of Cape Girardeau voted no.

Rehder's Senate Bill 63 creates the Joint Oversight Task Force of Prescription Drug Monitoring within the Office of Administration.

Under the provisions of the legislation, a task force will find a vendor through competitive bidding to collect and maintain patient data -- data which would be deleted after three years.

"Our rural communities have been overrun by opioid drugs," Missouri Farm Bureau president Garrett Hawkins told the Missouri Times.

"(PDMP) will not solve the problem alone but it can make it much harder to people to get addicted to pain medication in the first place (and) we thank Sen. Rehder for her tireless work on this issue over the past decade as well as all those legislators who voted to give our doctors this needed tool," he said.

The measure's provisions specifically restrict the PDMP database from being used to prevent Missourians from owning firearms.

Assuming Parson's concurrence, Missouri would become the last U.S. state to develop a statewide PDMP, although St. Louis County has its own program which is said to cover 85% of the state.

"The opioid epidemic has taken a back seat to COVID but (opiate) addiction has soared," Rehder said.