Kansas City Democrat: GOP legislators push through laws weakening consumer protection, repealing motorcycle helmet requirement

(From Rep. Ingrid Burnett, D-Kansas City)

FINAL WEEK OF THE 100TH MO HOUSE

Well, it couldn’t have come too soon for me, and on Friday, May 15, the 100th assembly of the MO House of Representatives adjourned for the final time. 

Although there will be some technical sessions to allow for procedural requirements, we are done. 

I am happy to report that the Medicaid work requirement bill I talked about last week did not get passed, and I am proud to be part of the team that pushed it back. The fight may not be over, however, as there is the possibility that we could be called back into a special session to focus on that. 

Rest assured, I will keep you updated, but today I will hit a few highlights of the final versions of bills that were passed, and provide you with links to more comprehensive stories for you “policy wonks” out there.

REVERSAL OF CLEAN MISSOURI REFORMS WILL GO ON THE BALLOT

In a rebuke to Missouri voters, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted 98-56 this week in favor of a proposed constitutional amendment that seeks to reverse the Clean Missouri redistricting reforms voters overwhelmingly ratified in 2018. 

The measure, which the Senate approved in February, will go on the Nov. 3 statewide ballot, however, the governor does have the authority to move it to the Aug. 4 primary.

Under the voter approved version of “Clean Missouri,” a nonpartisan demographer is charged with drawing new House and Senate districts based on constitutional criteria that emphasize maximizing the numbers of competitive districts. 

The first time it would be used is for the upcoming redistricting cycle in 2021, which will create districts to be used starting with the 2022 legislative elections.

SJR 38 proposes to restore Missouri’s old redistricting system where partisan commissions of Republican and Democratic loyalists drew district lines. Then, if they fail to compromise, a panel of six state appellate judges make the maps. 

However, a major deviation from the old system is that SJR 38 erects hurdles that would make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to challenge the constitutionality of redistricting plans in court. 

This is a significant change given that, following the last redistricting cycle under the old system, the Missouri Supreme Court struck down the initial Senate map because it violated constitutional requirements. It ordered the process to start over in order to create a valid Senate redistricting plan.

Another big change is SJR 38 would require legislative districts to be drawn based on a “one person, one vote” standard instead of the total population of the state. This could exclude children and adult Missouri residents who aren’t registered voters from being counted for redistricting purposes, and skew the composition of district sizes. 

Densely populated areas where there are a disproportionate number of non-registered voter residents could have larger numbers of overall population. 

LAWMAKERS RAISE THE LEGAL BAR FOR PUNITIVE DAMAGES

The House of Representatives voted 98-51 on May 12 to grant final passage to Senate Bill 591 which will make it more difficult for successful plaintiffs in civil lawsuits to recover punitive damages. SB 591 also weakens the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, which is the state’s main consumer protection law.

MASSIVE OMNIBUS BILLS 

In spite of the fact that only 31 bills were actually passed, don’t be fooled into thinking that not much got through. This Missouri Times article provides links to omnibus bills that were passed on the last day.

 From there you can dig further into other massive bills that were taken up and passed last week. This article from the Columbia Missourian covers some of the legislative hot topics that didn’t cross the finish line including the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, education concerns and gun violence legislation. 

MissouriNet provides brief descriptions and links to key bills that passed. Many of the bills that were passed were massive omnibus bills that included repealing the motorcycle helmet requirement in the same bill as the use of eminent domain. 

In some cases these bills ballooned into 200 pages with very little information provided about the fiscal impact and other provisions of law that would be impacted, and for that reason, I was a no vote on many of them. 

A prime example of the consequences of rushing legislation through without proper examination is the so-called “Transportation Bill,” SB782, which originally was a short bill limited to boating safety identification cards but was transformed by the House of Representatives into a massive omnibus measure containing dozens of other provisions loosely relating to transportation. 

In a highly unusual turn of events, the Senate on May 14, voted to grant final passage, but then killed it before sending it to the governor for consideration because of deceptively worded language that was discovered in the bill that could have blocked the Grain Belt Express power transmission project across northern Missouri and increased costs for all other power utilities in the state. 

After years of court challenges, the Grain Belt project has been cleared to proceed, but some conservative lawmakers are still trying to stop it on behalf of property owners who don’t want the power lines to run through their property. 

Once the deception was discovered, the Senate voted 29-0 shortly before 11 p.m. to reverse its previous vote, thus killing not only the offending provision but every other piece of legislation that had been rolled into SB 782.

SCHOOL START DATE UP IN THE AIR

The Missouri State Board of Education on May 12 voted to allow districts the option for an earlier start to the school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the strong possibility of a second wave hitting in the fall that could again force schools to close for several weeks.

In spite of a state law enacted last year that prohibits public schools from beginning the academic year no earlier than two weeks before Labor Day, a provision in the law empowers the state school board to waive the requirement if there are “highly unusual and extenuating circumstances justifying exemption.”