Mid-Missouri's state representatives pre-filed numerous bills for lawmakers to consider this year, under the state Constitution's provision allowing bills to be pre-filed on or after Dec. 1.
With six bills pre-filed, Rep. Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City, has health-related legislation he wants to push forward in 2016.
One bill would create a Prescription Abuse Registry - a database of Missourians misusing prescription pills. Unlike prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) recently touted by Rep. Holly Rehder and other supporters, Barnes' proposal would not put all Missourians using prescription narcotics into the registry system.
Instead, Barnes' idea would place only those with a criminal conviction of abuse on a registry.
"I understand the concern that they have, but there are better ways to do that. My bill creates a registry that is based on particular actions that people have taken. If a person shows that they have a drug problem, then they can be placed into the registry."
Missourians also could place themselves on the registry - or someone could suggest a person be put on the registry - but the alleged substance abuser would have the option for a hearing.
Missouri is the only state without any PDMP.
Barnes said another bill, nicknamed the "Medicaid Monitorization Act," is a step toward Medicaid reform with revisions to telehealth. It would allow Medicaid providers to engage in telehealth the same way they do for private insurers, which he said "saves money and leads to better results."
He added he would like to see statutes eliminate the fee-for-service Medicaid model while also giving the Department of Social Services flexibility to choose delivery models that would ensure positive outcomes and lowered costs.
"Right now, the model of the day seems to be managed care," Barnes said. "I don't think it's good policy to have the department stuck with one particular care management model - and I think it's important that we have statutes that outline the goals and the metrics by which the department should make decisions on who they're going to manage care and Medicaid, but we shouldn't have a cookie-cutter business model set in statute."
Generally, Rep. Mike Bernskoetter, R-Jefferson City, said he'd like to work toward improving the economy through job creation and advancing Missouri's road and energy grid infrastructure.
He hasn't pre-filed any legislation yet, but he is working on a bill regarding conceal and carry permits. Bernskoetter said it's come to his attention that people applying for conceal and carry permits - which he said are supposed to cost no more than $100 - were being charged extra fees for services such as fingerprinting. His legislation would make it so sheriff departments can only charge a flat rate of $100 per permit.
Rep. Travis Fitzwater, R-Holts Summit, pre-filed legislation that would allow marriage and family therapists to be reimbursed under Medicaid. He said the bill no longer would allow Medicaid to "discriminate" between types of professional counselors.
"In theory, it will reduce costs because instead of pulling each of the children out and doing a Medicaid counseling session individually, the family does counseling together."
As long as the child is eligible for Medicaid, Fitzwater said, the family can receive counseling.
Another one of Fitzwater's bills would give municipalities in counties of a first or second classification - that are not adjoining - to consolidate. In his district, this would allow Holts Summit to connect with Lake Mykee, causing the two entities to share a sewer system.
Carrying over from the 2015 session, Fitzwater again filed a bill that would give a presiding judge power to appoint a circuit court marshal. He and Sen. Jeanie Riddle, R-Mokane, both filed similar legislation last year, but Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed the bills on which their proposals were attached.
During the session, Fitzwater said he plans to file a bill that would allow banks to establish Prize Link savings accounts. Customers who create these accounts could be entered into a sweepstakes, win cash or prizes as an incentive for saving money.
Fitzwater also hopes to initiate two educational programs. He said he would like to create a pilot project in middle schools that would educate students about careers in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. Fitzwater said a nonprofit organization would supply the nationally-recognized curriculum. He added it's "cost-effective and highly functional."
For high schools, Fitzwater, who has the Callaway Nuclear Energy plant in his district, would like to find an organization to train teachers about nuclear energy, allowing schools to integrate the subject into their curriculum. A senator in Washington state, he said, has proposed something similar, and the program would come at no cost to the state.
In terms of energy, Fitzwater said Missouri has an old regulatory environment and would like to see changes there. Fitzwater said energy companies want to invest in their infrastructure more frequently, which would be made possible by steadily increasing rates instead of one large increase every so often.
"It makes them put off maintenance in areas that really need the maintenance because they're in a regulatory environment that makes it really hard," Fitzwater said.
Rep. Rocky Miller, R-Lake Ozark, pre-filed 16 bills, but he will push harder for three.
The first would require the Division of Energy to review the State Energy Plan, which Nixon established in 2014, every two years, Miller said, making it a "living document." The division would assess the status of the state's electricity production and how it could be improved.
Miller said he has a "holdover" bill from last year's session regarding abortions. The bill states both parents of a minor wishing to receive an abortion would need to be notified before the procedure.
"I don't have a problem with one parent being OK with it, but I do think the other parent should be notified," Miller said.
The idea for the legislation came to Miller after hearing the story of a Linn Creek woman who received an abortion as a minor. The woman's mother took her to receive an abortion, while her father was unaware. The father, Miller said, would've helped his daughter if she wanted to keep the baby.
Another bill he said that came close to being law in 2015 pertained to health insurance. It would allow a policy holder to petition the court for reimbursement for insurance costs during the pendency of divorce or separation.
Rep. David Wood, R-Versailles, has two pre-filed bills dealing with education.
He said one bill would balance out inequities between charter public schools and traditional public schools, such as charters being unable to receive transfer students from unaccredited schools. The bill would also reward high performing charter schools, which undergo a reapplication process, by expediting that process.
These charter schools, when wanting to replicate, would also be given a faster process of doing so. The bill also gives sponsors more power to determine the frequency of a charter school's reapplication.
His other education-related bill takes away day limitations for school districts, giving them the power to set their own daytime lengths as long as they meet 1,044 hours within a calendar year.
"It gives them more flexibility in how they want to create their calendar," Wood said.
The bill also limits amount of time spent toward standardized testing.
"We want to keep the testing from getting out of hand, whether it be practicing for the test or taking the test," Wood said. "We want our students learning, not testing all the time."
With the bill, Wood would also like to reinstate the five percent cap on the foundation formula's adequacy target. The state has disregarded that cap and the adequacy target has risen. Because of that, Wood said there is no way for the state to ever fully fund the foundation formula at a "realistic number."
House Bill 1877, Wood said, should have priority this session as it was ready for the Senate before it went into a filibuster over right-to-work legislation. It allows foster children, once they've turned 18, to re-enter the system. He has also filed a bill that would prohibit foster care parents from smoking in front of their foster children in order to reduce cases of the common cold, asthma and other illnesses, which would lower Medicaid costs.
Rep. Tom Hurst, R-Meta, has not pre-filed any legislation, but emailed his fellow representatives to pitch a couple ideas. Their responses will determine whether or not he files bills.
Hurst said he's pondering filing legislation that would put a percentage freeze on foreign land ownership in the state. He is also considering a bill that would make it a felony for an adult to take a minor across state lines to receive an abortion without permission of a parent or guardian.
Mid-Missouri representative contact info
All written correspondence may be sent to:
Representative's NAME
201 W Capitol Ave., Room NUMBER
Jefferson City, MO 65101
All telephone numbers are in the 573 area code.
• Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City - District 60 (Cole County - primarily Jefferson City). Room 306-A; 751-2412; [email protected].
• Mike Bernskoetter, R-Jefferson City - District 59 (Cole and Miller counties). Room 414; 751-0665; [email protected].
• Travis Fitzwater, R-Holts Summit - District 49 (Callaway and Cole counties). Room 116-A2; 751-5226; [email protected].
• Caleb Jones, R-Columbia - District 50 (Cole, Cooper, Moniteau and Boone counties). Room 303-A; 751-2134; [email protected].
• David Wood, R-Versailles - District 58 (Morgan, Moniteau and Miller counties). Room 410-B; 751-2077; [email protected].
• Justin Alferman, R-Hermann - District 61 (Osage, Franklin and Gasconade counties). Room 116-2; 751-6668; [email protected].
• Tom Hurst, R-Meta - District 62 (Osage, Maries, Miller, Cole, Gasconade, Crawford and Phelps counties). Room 206-C; 751-1344; [email protected].
• Rocky Miller, R-Lake Ozark - District 125 (Miller and Camden counties). Room 233-B; 751-3604; [email protected].
• Diane Franklin, R-Camdenton - District 124 (Camden and Laclede counties). Room 206-B; 751-1119; [email protected].
• House Speaker Todd Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff - District 152 (Butler and Dunklin). Room 308; 751-4039; [email protected].
• Majority Floor Leader Mike Cierpiot, R-Lee's Summit - District 30 (parts of Jackson County and Kansas City). Room 302-B; 751-0907; [email protected].