TAMPERING WITH ELECTED COUNTY OFFICIALS
House Bill 405 (McGaugh, R-Carrollton) creates the offense of tampering with an elected county official, a class D felony, unless the violation results in bodily injury or death to the official or a member of the official’s family, in which case it is a class B felony. HB 405 was heard by the House Judiciary Committee on March 6. A person commits the offense of tampering with an elected county official if the person, with purpose to harass, intimidate or influence the official in the performance of his or her duties, disseminates the elected county official’s or the elected county official’s family’s personal information. Testimony in support of HB 405 was presented by the Missouri Association of County Clerks and Election Authorities and the Missouri Association of Counties. There was no testimony in opposition. The committee took no action on the bill.HIGHWAY PATROL RECORDS FEE
The House Transportation Infrastructure Committee convened Tuesday morning to consider HB 443, sponsored by Representative Kyle Marquart (R- Washington). The bill requires the Missouri State Highway Patrol to charge a minimum cost of six dollars anytime an individual requests a crash record. During committee discussion, substitute language was adopted to include HB 731, modifies provisions relating to child safety seat requirements. Additionally, the substitute included HB 207, modifies provisions relating to motor vehicle inspection requirements prior to sale. During committee discussion, Representative Gretchen Bangert (D- Florissant) further amended the substitute to reduce the vehicle inspection exemption from 50,000 miles to 40,000 miles. Once modified, the committee passed the bill by a 13-0 vote.
DELETE PUBLIC NOTICES FROM NEWSPAPERS
House Bill 1118 (David Casteel, R-High Ridge) provides that any public notice required by law to be published in a newspaper instead must be published on the Secretary of State’s website. The Secretary of State must develop procedures for submission of the notices and create a specific page on its website that will contain all the notices in a searchable format. HB 1118 was heard by the House Government Efficiency and Downsizing Committee on March 8.
Rep. Casteel said the purpose of the bill is to save money for government and bring notices into the digital age. He suggested possibly putting notices on cities’ or counties’ websites or on social media platforms. He said he was not trying to kill the newspaper industry. Newspapers are struggling because of low circulation, he said. “I’m trying to get us into the modern age,” Casteel said. Rep. Darin Chappell (R-Rogersville) said he too approved of lowering costs for political subdivisions and suggested possibly giving local communities the option of publishing notices in newspapers or online.
Rep. Dean Van Schoiack (R-Savannah) asked Casteel if he knew how many legal notices are required by state law in newspapers. “Not as many as you think,” Casteel answered. Van Schoiack disagreed, saying this legislation would require a massive undertaking by the Secretary of State’s office, and it will “cost hometown newspapers.” How would citizens find public notices on the internet? he asked. Rep. Jim Murphy (R-St. Louis), chairman of the committee, said former Sen. Paul Wieland decided to take this on a few years ago. Murphy said Wieland’s bill listed every public notice in Missouri law, and “the bill was 7-1/2 inches thick.” What’s the purpose of notices? Murphy asked. Transparency, he said. Newspapers are the source of information for those living in rural areas, he remarked. “We tell the public we’re going to put those notices out there in newspapers for transparency,” Murphy said. Rep. Kemp Strickler (D-Lee’s Summit) said the legislation would disenfranchise older folks. Rep. Chantelle Nickson-Clark (D-Florrisant) said she supports new traditions, but is concerned of putting another entity out of business.
Testifying in favor of the bill was the Missouri County Collectors Association.
Testifying in opposition were: Beth Durreman, president of the Missouri Press Association and publisher in Lebanon, Mo. She said newspapers create conversations, and one fueling conversations is a public notice. Transparency to the public by third-party, independent newspapers means notices are distributed. Mark Millsap, general manager of newspapers in Jefferson City, Fulton, and California, Mo., also focused on transparency and asked, how will the public know that online notices are correct or are incorrect? “Newspapers are the clearinghouse for transparency,” he said. He also mentioned the fiscal note tied to the bill estimates the Secretary of State would be required to add two full-time employees to handle public notices. Millsap noted that most of the 207 Missouri newspapers have one person each on staff in charge of public notices. That’s hundreds of staff, and the fiscal note is not accurate. Mark Maassen, executive director of the Missouri Press Association, noted that some public notices require authentication by the newspaper with affidavits confirming they were published correctly. He cited a letter from Blue Ridge Bank in Kansas City that said such a bill would require more staff for its bank. Maassen also said the press association has operated its website, www.mopublicnotices.com, for more than a decade where public notices published in newspapers are posted at no charge. The website received more than 478,000 page views last year, Maassen said.
Information only testimony was presented by Trish Vincent of the Secretary of State’s office, who said such legislation would, for instance, move all of the State Treasurer’s unclaimed property listings onto the Secretary of State’s website. Those listings are now on the State Treasurer’s website. Vincent said the staff would not be in a position to review all the posted notices. The committee took no action on the bill.
DELETING NEWSPAPER NOTICES FROM SELF STORAGE SALES
House Bill 1120 (Hardwick, R-Waynesville) modifies requirements of the public notice for sale by an operator of a self-service storage facility for the sale of personal property of an occupant in default. HB 1120 allows the storage facility operator to advertise in the classified section of a newspaper prior to the sale, OR the operator may instead advertise in any other commercially reasonable manner such as online. The advertisement is “commercially reasonable” if at least three independent bidders attend the sale. The House Emerging Issues Committee voted “do pass” on HB 1120 by a vote of 12-0 on March 8.
CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES WOULD NEED OK IN MAJORITY OF SENATE DISTRICTS
House Joint Resolution 19 (Black, R-Marshfield) would require amendments to the state’s Constitution to need approval from a simple majority of the votes cast, as well as a majority of votes cast in a majority of State Senate districts, in order to pass the amendment. Currently, amendments to the Constitution that have been placed on the ballot require approval from a simple majority of statewide votes cast to pass. HCS for HJR 19 was voted “do pass” by the House Elections and Elected Officials Committee by a vote of 10-5 on March 7. The House Committee Substitute deleted the “official summary statement” or “ballot language” for the resolution that was in the original bill.
STATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM PROJECTS
The Senate Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee convened Wednesday morning to discuss passage of SB 191, sponsored by Senator Tony Luetkemeyer (R-Parkville). This act specifies that the Highways and Transportation Commission shall publish on the Department of Transportation’s official website project cost estimate and project completion date. After brief committee discussion, the bill was passed by a 5-0 vote.
SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS
The Senate Education and Workforce Development Committee met Tuesday morning to discuss SB 234, sponsored by Senator Ben Brown (R-Washington). The bill proposes to move elections to the office of school board to November general elections instead of being held during spring municipal elections. During committee discussion the sponsor cited increased awareness and participation in school board elections should they be moved to November. Missouri Century testified in support. The Missouri School Boards Association, St. Louis Public Schools, Greater KC School District, North Kansas City Schools, and Missouri NEA testified in opposition stating the school board elections would get lost in the November ballot.
SINGLE SUBJECTS REQUIRED IN AMENDMENTS
Senate Joint Resolution 12 (Cierpiot, R-Lee’s Summit). Under current law, an initiative petition proposing a Constitutional amendment must contain a single subject and associated matters properly connected. SJR 12, if approved by the voters, would additionally stipulate that an initiative petition proposing a Constitutional amendment contains a single subject only if it does not extend beyond one sole purpose and only contains additions or changes that are necessary to effectuate a single legislative change. Requires a simple majority for approval. SJR 12 was voted “do pass” by the Senate Local Government and Elections Committee by a vote of 6-0 on March 12. |