Perspective: Softball can resemble legislative process

The Missouri House held its annual charity softball tournament this week and raised more than $3,400 for the Samaritan Center. Ten teams competed. In some ways, it resembled the legislative process. The teams with the best fundamentals excelled. Everyone played hard and had a great time. The tournament lasted until one in the morning. In the end, just like often happens in the legislature, there was no clear winner. Two teams claimed victory.

Like softball or other sports, to succeed, the legislature must engage in more than flashy bills. We must execute fundamentals. This week, the House passed dozens of basic but necessary bills.

An example: House Bill 463, sponsored by Rep. Dave Hinson fixes pension issues for emergency dispatchers and medical personnel. I added an amendment that would fix an issue with the division of local government pensions in a divorce. When a couple divorces, the judge must divide their marital property, including pension benefits. Typically, the parties agree to what's called a "qualified domestic relations order," which directs the pension plan administrator to divide the benefit. Unfortunately, a few local government pension systems are prohibited from making such a division.

The divorced parties are left with two bad options. Either make an upfront cash payment to equalize the benefit or rely on the ex-spouse with the pension to cut monthly checks when they're finally able to draw on it. The second option cannot be legally enforced.

The purpose of a divorce is to separate the parties. Qualified domestic relations orders are good because they don't require people to come up with cash that may not be available now to equalize benefits that won't be paid out for several years. My amendment will ensure they're available for local government pensions.

Other than here, there's small chance this amendment would find its way into a newspaper. It doesn't impact everyone. It's not novel or provocative. It's bi-partisan and non-ideological. It's just nuts-and-bolts government. And it's the type of thing that actually occupies the majority of our floor time in the General Assembly.

State energy plan

The House also passed House Bill 923 this week, which would require the General Assembly to approve any state energy plan before taking effect. This bill was made necessary by a combination of expensive new regulations on power generation by the Obama administration and actions Gov. Nixon took to exclude the legislature from the state's plan on how to deal with those new regulations.

In 2014, Nixon issued Executive Order 14-06 directing the Division of Energy in the Department of Economic Development to compile a comprehensive energy plan to deal with these new regulations. The division then formed a 55-member steering committee to facilitate the process - but did not include a single elected official.

If fully implemented, President Obama's EPA Clean Power Plan will cost an estimated $30 per month per Missouri household. Missouri families, rich and poor, will pay substantially more to heat their homes and businesses. Schools and small businesses will too. It also, of course, affects large manufacturers and big box retailers.

If President Obama's clean power plan is not defeated by challenges in federal court, everyone's utility bills will rise substantially. The only issue will be who will bear the biggest burden of the increase?

How will regular Missourians fare? It's fair to assume that the largest consumers of electricity in our state will argue that a heavier burden for the cost of compliance should be placed on residential ratepayers and small businesses. They'll make hyperbolic claims about competitive disadvantage in Missouri if they have to pay their equivalent portion, and will hope that the decision-makers ignore the fact that every other state has to deal with the same onerous new rules.

When the plan hits the legislature, it will be a battle. These are powerful groups who will likely seek to shift costs onto Missouri families and small businesses. They're publicly-traded companies worth billions. House Bill 923 will ensure that your elected officials have a voice in the process. As your representative, I will work to protect Missouri families and small businesses first.

Senior Savings Protection Act

The House also passed the Seniors Savings Protection Act. It seems, however, that there's some confusion over the scope of the bill. It does not allow brokers to stop what they believe are merely bad investments by their clients. Instead, it permits them to notify their supervisor, who then has the ability to place a hold on transactions that they reasonably, and in good faith believe, involve fraud.

The supervisors must believe more than just their client might lose some money. They must, in good faith, believe their client is about to have all their money stolen from them. It's the difference between buying a stock on a shaky foreign stock exchange versus sending funds to someone who claims all they need to do to claim their share of Nigerian lottery winnings is send a check for $10,000.

If they place a temporary hold on a transaction in bad faith, they will very likely face disciplinary action and a lawsuit. If they do it to stop a competitor from getting business, their competitor could sue them.

Under current law, financial professionals have no ability to notify any third-party of requested transactions that they know to be fraudulent. And once the money's gone to a scam artist, it can never be recovered. House Bill 636 saves the money before it's gone.

State Rep. Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City, represents Missouri's 60th District.