During the recent veto session, the Republican-controlled General Assembly voted to override Gov. Jay Nixon's veto of legislation that its supporters claim will make it easier for neighborhood associations to pursue civil legal action against the owners of nuisance properties. However, the measure, Senate Bill 731, will instead severely weaken the ability of neighborhood associations and individual property owners to combat nuisance and neglected properties that can adversely affect property values in the area.
Among the changes, it prohibits neighborhood associations from brining nuisance actions if they charge members annual dues of more than $25. Many associations find it necessary to levy dues in excess of $25 a year in order to have the financial resources to bring nuisance actions and perform their other basic functions.
As a result, SB 731 creates a paradox for neighborhood associations. If they charge dues sufficient to cover the costs of doing their jobs, they won't have legal standing to file nuisance claims. If they lower their annual dues to $25 per member, they will have legal standing to bring such claims but might not have the financial resources necessary to do so.
SB 731 also restricts ability of individual property owners to file nuisance claims. Under the old law, anyone who owns property within a "reasonable distance" of a nuisance property has legal standing to bring a nuisance claim. SB 731 limits standing to those who own property within 1,200 feet of the alleged nuisance, a distance of less-than a quarter-mile. This change precludes suits by property owners in a neighborhood in which property values are adversely affected by a dilapidated or neglected property but whose property is outside of this arbitrary and restrictive boundary.
SB 731 was brought up for an override vote in the House of Representatives shortly before 3 a.m. on Sept. 11. When I attempted to raise the above concerns, House Speaker Tim Jones, R-Eureka, ignored my effort to seek recognition and called for a vote on the bill without allowing any discussion from opponents. As a result, SB 731 was enacted in the dead of night with no debate on its negative implications.
Although we are stuck with the bad portions of SB 731 for now, they can be undone when the new legislative session begins in January. Success, however, will require your strong and vocal support. I hope you will join with me to fix this ill-advised and harmful change in state law.
LAWMAKERS OVERRIDE 10 BILLS DURING VETO SESSION
The Republican-controlled General Assembly overrode 10 of Gov. Jay Nixon's but failed to reverse his rejection of most of the slew of measures containing special tax breaks Nixon had dubbed the "Friday Favors" because they were passed with little debate during the waning hours of the regular legislative session in May. Nixon, a Democrat, said those bills would have cost the state and local governments a combined $776 million a year in lost revenue and knocked the state operating budget out of balance.
As a contingency in the event lawmakers overrode his vetoes of those bills, Nixon instituted budget restrictions at the start of the fiscal year on July 1 to account for the potential loss of revenue. After the legislature sustained on all but a couple of the lower-cost bills, Nixon on Sept. 11 released $143.6 million in spending restrictions for local school districts and public colleges and universities and plans to consider lifting other spending restrictions in the coming weeks. School districts in the 26th State Representative district are projected to receive more than $2.2 million in funding. That includes projected amounts of $2,168,980 for Kansas City Public Schools and $118,072 for the Center School District.
The legislature's annual veto session began the morning of Sept. 10 and stretched into the early hours of Sept. 11 as lawmakers reconsidered many of the 33 bills and 160 budget items Nixon had vetoed. Republicans hold veto-proof supermajorities in both legislative chambers, outnumbering Democrats 23-9 in the Senate and 110-52 in the House of Representatives.
Significant veto overrides included legislation to triple Missouri's mandatory waiting period for an abortion from 24 hours to 72 hours, making it just the third state to impose a waiting period that long. Supporters say the extended waiting period will give women considering an abortion more time to reflect on the decision, while opponents say it imposes an unwarranted and unnecessary burden.
Another major bill to be overridden allows local school district to authorize teachers to carry concealed firearms in the classroom and require the identities of armed teachers be kept secret from students and their parents. That bill also lowers the minimum age for obtaining a conceal-carry permit from 21 to 19 and invalidates local ordinances that prohibit the open carrying of firearms.
Lawmakers also reversed the governor on bills prohibiting the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors, while barring such products from being regulated or taxed as tobacco products; banning local regulation of installment lenders; allowing small municipalities to cancel elections for uncontested offices, thus precluding the possibility of write-in candidates; and requiring the state revenue department to prove that businesses claiming tax exemptions aren't legally entitled to them.
A high-profile override failure came on an otherwise popular omnibus agriculture bill made controversial by a provision that would have stripped the Missouri Department of Conservation of its regulatory authority over captive deer herds. Supporters of the bill claim the department is intent on putting commercial deer breeders out of business, while opponents say the department's regulations are necessary to prevent the spread of diseases that have decimated deer herds in other states. Although the Senate successfully overrode on the bill, the House fell one vote short of the needed two-thirds majority.
LEGISLATURE OVERRULES NIXON ON 47 BUDGET VETOES
Lawmakers on Sept. 10 overrode 47 of the 160 line-item vetoes Gov. Jay Nixon made to the fiscal year 2015 state operating budget. The spending authority restored by lawmakers includes $35.5 million in general revenue, plus another $17.9 million in federal and other funds. However, the money is unlikely to be spent since Nixon is expected to exercise his constitutional authority to restrict the spending.
When the budget process begin in January, Nixon, a Democrat, and the Republican-controlled General Assembly relied on separate revenue projections that both turned out to be overly optimistic by the time lawmakers finished work on the budget in May. As result, Nixon exercised his line-item veto authority to put the budget into balance. The line-item veto allows the governor to strikes spending items from a budget bill while signing the remainder of the bill into law.
Nixon's budget vetoes focused on eliminating spending authority for new programs created by lawmakers and increases that he didn't request to existing programs. However, many of the budget items he rejected are popular among lawmakers, such as funding for various education, health and social programs.
The House of Representatives overrode 55 line-item vetoes, but the Senate acted on only 47 before adjourning for the year. The override votes in both chambers were strongly bipartisan.
A budget appropriation, however, is not actual money but merely the legal authority to spend money. Since the state isn't expected to have sufficient revenue to cover the restored spending authority, Nixon is likely to institute spending restrictions on the overridden items.
SUPREME COURT STRIKES DOWN PUNITIVE DAMAGE CAP
The Missouri Supreme Court on Sept. 9 unanimously ruled that a statutory cap on punitive damages is unconstitutional in the case of a woman who sued an auto dealer for fraud because the cap infringes on the right of trial by jury. The court reinstated a $1 million punitive damage award against the auto dealer that a judge had lowered to statutory cap of $500,000.
Although the court in 2012 upheld the cap on punitive damages in a case involving a statutory cause of action created by the legislature, it rejected the cap in this case because it involved a common law cause of action. The Missouri Constitution says that right to trial by jury as it existed under the common law prior to adoption of the state's first constitution in 1820 "shall remain inviolate." Since juries had the power to determine punitive damages in fraud cases under the common law, the court said the legislature can't limit that authority.
As a result, SB 731 creates a paradox for neighborhood associations. If they charge dues sufficient to cover the costs of doing their jobs, they won't have legal standing to file nuisance claims. If they lower their annual dues to $25 per member, they will have legal standing to bring such claims but might not have the financial resources necessary to do so.
SB 731 also restricts ability of individual property owners to file nuisance claims. Under the old law, anyone who owns property within a "reasonable distance" of a nuisance property has legal standing to bring a nuisance claim. SB 731 limits standing to those who own property within 1,200 feet of the alleged nuisance, a distance of less-than a quarter-mile. This change precludes suits by property owners in a neighborhood in which property values are adversely affected by a dilapidated or neglected property but whose property is outside of this arbitrary and restrictive boundary.
SB 731 was brought up for an override vote in the House of Representatives shortly before 3 a.m. on Sept. 11. When I attempted to raise the above concerns, House Speaker Tim Jones, R-Eureka, ignored my effort to seek recognition and called for a vote on the bill without allowing any discussion from opponents. As a result, SB 731 was enacted in the dead of night with no debate on its negative implications.
Although we are stuck with the bad portions of SB 731 for now, they can be undone when the new legislative session begins in January. Success, however, will require your strong and vocal support. I hope you will join with me to fix this ill-advised and harmful change in state law.
LAWMAKERS OVERRIDE 10 BILLS DURING VETO SESSION
The Republican-controlled General Assembly overrode 10 of Gov. Jay Nixon's but failed to reverse his rejection of most of the slew of measures containing special tax breaks Nixon had dubbed the "Friday Favors" because they were passed with little debate during the waning hours of the regular legislative session in May. Nixon, a Democrat, said those bills would have cost the state and local governments a combined $776 million a year in lost revenue and knocked the state operating budget out of balance.
As a contingency in the event lawmakers overrode his vetoes of those bills, Nixon instituted budget restrictions at the start of the fiscal year on July 1 to account for the potential loss of revenue. After the legislature sustained on all but a couple of the lower-cost bills, Nixon on Sept. 11 released $143.6 million in spending restrictions for local school districts and public colleges and universities and plans to consider lifting other spending restrictions in the coming weeks. School districts in the 26th State Representative district are projected to receive more than $2.2 million in funding. That includes projected amounts of $2,168,980 for Kansas City Public Schools and $118,072 for the Center School District.
The legislature's annual veto session began the morning of Sept. 10 and stretched into the early hours of Sept. 11 as lawmakers reconsidered many of the 33 bills and 160 budget items Nixon had vetoed. Republicans hold veto-proof supermajorities in both legislative chambers, outnumbering Democrats 23-9 in the Senate and 110-52 in the House of Representatives.
Significant veto overrides included legislation to triple Missouri's mandatory waiting period for an abortion from 24 hours to 72 hours, making it just the third state to impose a waiting period that long. Supporters say the extended waiting period will give women considering an abortion more time to reflect on the decision, while opponents say it imposes an unwarranted and unnecessary burden.
Another major bill to be overridden allows local school district to authorize teachers to carry concealed firearms in the classroom and require the identities of armed teachers be kept secret from students and their parents. That bill also lowers the minimum age for obtaining a conceal-carry permit from 21 to 19 and invalidates local ordinances that prohibit the open carrying of firearms.
Lawmakers also reversed the governor on bills prohibiting the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors, while barring such products from being regulated or taxed as tobacco products; banning local regulation of installment lenders; allowing small municipalities to cancel elections for uncontested offices, thus precluding the possibility of write-in candidates; and requiring the state revenue department to prove that businesses claiming tax exemptions aren't legally entitled to them.
A high-profile override failure came on an otherwise popular omnibus agriculture bill made controversial by a provision that would have stripped the Missouri Department of Conservation of its regulatory authority over captive deer herds. Supporters of the bill claim the department is intent on putting commercial deer breeders out of business, while opponents say the department's regulations are necessary to prevent the spread of diseases that have decimated deer herds in other states. Although the Senate successfully overrode on the bill, the House fell one vote short of the needed two-thirds majority.
LEGISLATURE OVERRULES NIXON ON 47 BUDGET VETOES
Lawmakers on Sept. 10 overrode 47 of the 160 line-item vetoes Gov. Jay Nixon made to the fiscal year 2015 state operating budget. The spending authority restored by lawmakers includes $35.5 million in general revenue, plus another $17.9 million in federal and other funds. However, the money is unlikely to be spent since Nixon is expected to exercise his constitutional authority to restrict the spending.
When the budget process begin in January, Nixon, a Democrat, and the Republican-controlled General Assembly relied on separate revenue projections that both turned out to be overly optimistic by the time lawmakers finished work on the budget in May. As result, Nixon exercised his line-item veto authority to put the budget into balance. The line-item veto allows the governor to strikes spending items from a budget bill while signing the remainder of the bill into law.
Nixon's budget vetoes focused on eliminating spending authority for new programs created by lawmakers and increases that he didn't request to existing programs. However, many of the budget items he rejected are popular among lawmakers, such as funding for various education, health and social programs.
The House of Representatives overrode 55 line-item vetoes, but the Senate acted on only 47 before adjourning for the year. The override votes in both chambers were strongly bipartisan.
A budget appropriation, however, is not actual money but merely the legal authority to spend money. Since the state isn't expected to have sufficient revenue to cover the restored spending authority, Nixon is likely to institute spending restrictions on the overridden items.
SUPREME COURT STRIKES DOWN PUNITIVE DAMAGE CAP
The Missouri Supreme Court on Sept. 9 unanimously ruled that a statutory cap on punitive damages is unconstitutional in the case of a woman who sued an auto dealer for fraud because the cap infringes on the right of trial by jury. The court reinstated a $1 million punitive damage award against the auto dealer that a judge had lowered to statutory cap of $500,000.
Although the court in 2012 upheld the cap on punitive damages in a case involving a statutory cause of action created by the legislature, it rejected the cap in this case because it involved a common law cause of action. The Missouri Constitution says that right to trial by jury as it existed under the common law prior to adoption of the state's first constitution in 1820 "shall remain inviolate." Since juries had the power to determine punitive damages in fraud cases under the common law, the court said the legislature can't limit that authority.
No comments:
Post a Comment