Perspective: Pre-filed bills include revisiting long-term care facilities
By Rep. Dave Griffith
Greetings from your Missouri Capitol. As I write this the weather outside is anything but December-like, but I am sure this will be short-lived. We should enjoy these unseasonable temps as much as we can while they last. I sincerely hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving with family and friends and didn't eat too much, but what the heck, it is a holiday meal!
This is the beginning of a very busy December with the pre-filing of bills, perfecting language on bills yet to be filed and meeting with constituents concerning their personal issues and ways this office might be of assistance.
This past Wednesday I pre-filed six bills and have a couple more I'm working on and just don't have the language the way they need to be, but more will follow on those.
Here's a short synopsis of those bills if you want to keep track:
HB 1561 seeks to revisit a number of chapters in our constitution concerning long-term care facilities and tort actions. The father of one of my constituents was in an assisted living facility and died from asphyxiation when he slipped between the rails of his bed and calls for assistance went unanswered. Assisted living facilities have different rules from those of skilled nursing and this legislation aims at clearing up some language as far as accountability is concerned. We can't solve every problem, but I feel we can address obvious concerns in the statute and that's what this bill seeks to address.
HB 1562 will be an addition to Chapter 226 in the constitution where the military Stars and Stripes legacy will be noted and remembered in the Southeastern part of our state. Two years ago we passed a Stars and Stripes Day and this bill takes that a little further in recognizing a part of Missouri that gave birth to this historic newspaper. The Stars and Stripes is well known to all veterans and current military service members as a link to what is happening back home. For many who served, who never received mail from home, this was the only way to connect with their homeland. This bill, like many others, will face no objection from either side of the aisle and with the Southeastern part of the state playing a huge role in Veterans monuments with the Vietnam Wall in Perryville, designating that part of the state after Stars and Stripes just makes sense.
HB 1563 is another bill that seeks to expand certain chapters of our constitution when it comes to foster care and placement of children in the Missouri State Children's Division. I worked with my good friend Deanna Alonzo and her staff to expand the depth the state goes in trying to find relatives to place a child rather than just taking the first one they find. The search is expanded far beyond current standards and this is all done in the effort to find the best possible place for a child and the more children who find themselves in the situation who can be placed with family the better outcome for the child. Over the past year we have made a concentrated effort to address children's issues and this is just one more tool in the toolbox for those kids and families.
HB 1564 is dealing with the Blind Pension fund. I met with an advocacy group over the past year to craft a bill that will make receiving pensions for our blind community easier and more user friendly. Currently if there are changes in a person's pension a certified letter is sent to that person and because of their lack of sight may not, and in most cases, cannot see the notice left on their place of residence. The changes are minimal legislatively, but are huge for those affected and this bill will make life easier and quite frankly is something that should have been done years ago.
HB 1605 seeks to address inconsistencies in the salaries of county officials in both first- and third-class counties. This issue came to my attention from our local elected county officials and wanted me to look into those issues to determine if a solution could be found. The issue is that the formula used had not been looked at for over 15 years. Any time we have legislation that is that dated, looking at ways we can move that forward to today's standards is what I believe, as legislators, we are tasked to do. Compensation packages across the state should mirror one another when comparing like-sized counties. This bill will help correct those inconsistencies.
And finally, HJR 72 is a joint resolution that I filed two years ago and will continue to file until it is passed. This resolution will give 100 percent disabled veterans personal property exemptions. In my research I found that this will not have as great an impact on the counties across the state when it comes to dollars for schools, roads, etc. We are talking about 14,421 veterans that are affected and in conversations with county collectors, to the person they all agreed this was a good bill and the impact would not be a burden on their revenues nor would deprive schools and others benefiting from personal property tax. It would be of great benefit for those veterans who are living on fixed incomes and paying these taxes can be a burden on them financially.
Well, that's all the space I have for this week but, my door is always open and I encourage your emails, phone calls or personal visits. Hearing from you gives me the insight to serve you better and I am honored to be your state representative.
State Rep. Dave Griffith, R-Jefferson City, represents Missouri's 60th District and shares his perspective on statehouse issues twice a month.