Commonsense Unemployment Benefit Reform

With the end of Session approaching, the House is putting the finishing touches on several important pieces of legislation. One of these Senate bills, SB 28, modifies eligibility requirements for unemployment benefits.

Current law states that in order to qualify for benefits, an individual must lose their job through no fault of their own, or they must quit for a good cause related to their work or their employer. If a person is fired because of misconduct, they do receive unemployment. The trouble is that the current definition does not specify what offenses constitute misconduct. This results in abuse of the system.  Senate Bill 28 simply places into statue what is already common sense: there are certain behaviors that reasonably result in termination, and the state should not pick up the tab for these individuals.

Under the revised law, misconduct occurs when an employee knowingly violates the standards of behavior expected by the employer. The clarified definition of misconduct also includes chronic absenteeism or tardiness. This is an essential provision of the bill, because chronic absenteeism hurts a company’s productivity, and makes the worker a liability, not an asset, to the workplace environment. We should not be rewarding such behavior with unemployment benefits.

If an individual is working for a state-licensed entity, misconduct also includes knowingly violating state laws or regulations. These kinds of violations not only harm the employer’s interests, but could result in the workplace having its license or certification revoked. Again, these actions should not be rewarded. 

Reform of our unemployment benefits system is a necessity in the present economy. Missouri’s unemployment insurance system is currently more than $500 million in debt. By reasonably tightening the eligibility requirements for unemployment insurance, Senate Bill 28 will allow this program to become financially sound more quickly.

Unemployment insurance, like other state benefits, was created as a safety net. This particular safety net is for those employees who are terminated because of company-wide cuts, for unjust cause, and for other reasons that are not the fault of the employee. By preventing just anyone from falling into the net, we are strengthening the system for those who need it.

HJR 14 – The Fifth State Building Fund

We in the Missouri House strive to be good stewards of the public interest and the people’s money. When times got tough several years ago, we tightened our belts and made difficult and often painful cuts. Today, an opportunity has arisen to invest in Missouri’s future through rebuilding the infrastructure of our state facilities.

The House recently perfected House Joint Resolution (HJR) 14, which will create the Fifth State Building Fund. This is the hour for such a resolution. Last October, we made our final payment on the 30-year, $600 million Third State Building Bond. That bond was approved by the people of Missouri in 1982, when interest rates were between eight and nine percent.

Today, the need for a public works program is great. So is the opportunity for implementing this program at the lowest possible rates. Interest rates are historically low. At 3.3%, they are one-third of what they were in 1982. In fact, these are the best rates this country has seen since the mid-1800s.

We have the chance to make an exceptional deal. We have the AAA credit rating to obtain the bond with the low interest rates. We have workers across the state ready to immediately begin work on massive construction projects. We strive to run this state like a business, and any business would say this is a no-brainer.

Upon voter approval, HJR 14 would allow Missouri to raise up to $1.2 billion to be used for various construction, renovation, and rebuilding projects at state facilities. Up to $600 million would be invested in our higher education facilities. It would allow community colleges and universities to acquire new land on which to build facilities, such as medical training clinics and energy research centers, areas where we anticipate growth in the coming years.

At least $40 million will go toward preserving and maintaining our 85 state parks. New funds will help the parks system build new public facilities, upgraded campgrounds, and boardwalks, which will in turn bring about new and increased tourism. Up to $100 million will be reserved for improvements to the Missouri State Capitol. This building is not only the workplace of the Missouri Legislature—it is a state treasure, a museum of magnificent art and architecture, and an inspiration to the thousands of schoolchildren who come here each year.

The building bond will also provide up to $20 million for renovating the public elementary and secondary schools our children attend every day. Two-hundred million dollars will be set aside for a new mental health facility in Callaway County. The current Fulton State Hospital facility is dilapidated, an unsafe place to work, and an impossible place to heal. HJR 14 would finally provide the funds for not just improvements, but a whole new building at which to treat the criminally mentally ill individuals in our state.

The remaining portion of the $1.2 billion bond will go toward various building and infrastructure projects, from other state buildings to rural water districts. To give an idea of the many projects that can be aided by a new building fund, we look at the 1982 bond. It provided money for soil and water conservation projects, group homes in Jackson County, storm water control grants, and the construction of the Western Missouri Correction Center, along with the myriad improvements and expansion to higher education facilities.

This is the largest jobs-creation bill of this session, even of the decade. It will move to the Senate along with the 2014 budget. If the Senate takes this opportunity, the people of Missouri will be able to make the final decision through their votes on the long-term growth for our state.

The Great Seal of the State of Missouri depicts a crescent moon. When the seal was designed in 1822, the crescent moon symbolized the hope that our state – small at the time, but with a wealth of natural resources – would continue to grow. Today we have an opportunity to fulfill our forebears’ hopes. The Fifth State Building Fund will create jobs, invest in education and health, and move to preserve and grow Missouri.

House Advances Major Tax Reform

The Missouri House took a considerable step toward sweeping tax policy reform to achieve and promote an economic rebound this week, perfecting and passing HCS SS SCS SB 26, 11 & 31. This bill reduces income taxes at all levels, not just for large corporations.

Missouri must have a friendly business climate in order to compete in the global economy, and attract businesses to our state. But this measure goes further and rewards the hard work of individuals and the risks of entrepreneurs. Through SB 26, the House aims to make Missouri not only business-friendly, but family-friendly, entrepreneur-friendly, and job-creator-friendly.

Over a five-year period, this legislation will reduce the individual income tax from the current 6% rate to 5.33% and Missourians with incomes under $20,000 will receive a $2000 income tax deduction. For businesses, the current corporate income tax rate of 6.25% will go down to 5.5% and the businesses first $25,000 of corporate income will not be taxed at all. The most important cut, however, is the 50% reduction on the business “pass through” income tax. These “pass through” corporations – the sole proprietorships, partnerships, and S-corporations – generate more than half of the business income in the United States. Small businesses are truly what keep this country – and this state – moving.

Missouri will make up for the revenue difference by phasing in a 0.6% sales and use tax over the next five years. Opponents of tax reform say this will devastate the poorest Missourians, but this is false. Necessities like food, gasoline, and mortgages will not see any sales tax increase. Meanwhile, individuals who have the means to buy new cars every year will make their contribution through an increased sales tax.

To ensure Missouri does not have a revenue deficit crisis, the bill has a built-in stopping device. Each phase of the individual and corporate income tax cut is dependent on a revenue increase of at least $100 million from the previous fiscal year. Simply put, if the tax cut does not work as expected, we will not continue it.

Overhauling our tax structure will undoubtedly mean some changes, but these will be rewarding changes. A cap on revenue will force future legislators to be true stewards of Missourians’ tax dollars, instead of jumping to create a new government program every time a problem arises. New programs often start with good intentions, but more often than not, half the money allocated to programs for the less-fortunate goes to administrative costs.  In other situations the programs produce little benefit with less than promised results.

The legislature should not be in the business of creating government jobs. Bureaucratic jobs often outlive their use and under-employ their workers. In the past few months we have seen federal employees – educated, hardworking individuals – lose their jobs due to sequestration. The only way to stop this trend is to encourage businesses to open up in every town and city. We have to remove the barriers for smart, dedicated individuals to set up their own shops and furthermore, we need to encourage families to reinvest in the local economy by allowing them to keep more of their money.

That is what SB 26 does for our state. It enables entrepreneurs to fulfill their dreams of starting a local business. It attracts corporations to relocate to Missouri, bringing with them hundreds of positions for good, family-sustaining jobs. And it gives Missourians a break, allowing them to keep more money and spend it as they like, on goods and services in their local economies, and giving their own neighbors a helping hand.

SB 26 now returns to the Senate for final legislative approval before heading to the Governor’s desk. This measure is something both the House and Senate believe in. No matter the Governor’s action, your Republican-led House will continue to pass similar legislation to help our state rebound, and place more of your hard earned dollar back in your family’s budget.

DSS Policy Change a Win for Taxpayers

You may have recently heard that the Missouri Department of Social Services was contracting with private corporations to move people off of temporary state aid programs with work incentives and offloading them to the more permanent federal disability program.  Their basic idea was simple: save Missouri tax dollars in the short term by dumping people off onto the 100% federally financed permanent disability programs.  The Governor and his administration endorsed the idea, but the practice came under the ire of the media.  Once it was reported, the legislature moved quickly to investigate.

After repeated inquiry by Rep. Jay Barnes’s committee on Government Oversight & Accountability and Rep. Sue Allen’s committee on Appropriations – Health, Mental Health, & Social Services, the Department has retracted major components of this policy.  The bottom line is that government programs for the disadvantaged should serve the truly disadvantaged.  State government should not contribute to the waste, fraud, or abuse found in federal programs.  This contract had strong incentives for companies (they are to be paid $2,300 per person shifted!) to push people onto the disability roles where there is no motivation to work.  Federal dollars or not, they are taxpayer dollars and we all pay them.  Your government, regardless of whether it is local, state, or federal, should be frugal with your dollars and consider the total impact of its actions, and the House’s actions have forced the Nixon administration to do just that.  I will continue to do all I can to keep government accountable to the people and to bring reform to any bureaucratic agencies that need it.

House Seeks to Protect Women and the Unborn

This week the Missouri House third read and passed House Bill 400, sponsored by Representative Jeanie Riddle (R-49). This legislation will ban web-cam abortions in the state of Missouri and ensure that women will meet with a doctor, in person, in the same room while receiving an RU-486 abortion. This legislation protects women from an industry that is seeking to make a profit by providing sub-standard care to women.

During a web-cam abortion, a doctor can sit in front of a computer at a remote location – even in another state – and give the thumbs up for the abortifacient, RU-486, to be administered by a nurse. A woman takes the first dose of this drug, which starves the baby, at the office. She then is sent home with a second pill that induces labor.

The tragedy is that women seeking abortions of any kind are already in a difficult situation. Proponents of chemical abortions say that women can expel their baby surrounded by who they choose. But the truth is these women are often alone. Web-cam abortions only intensify that isolation. If complications arise because of the side effects that RU-486 can cause, the woman has no trusted doctor to call. Meanwhile, she is charged the same amount of money for the chemical abortion as for a surgical abortion, while the clinic saves all the expense of getting a doctor to come and supervise. Clinics are turning a profit at the expense of women—that is unacceptable.

 
HB 400 is about protecting women’s health and safety. While it is tragic if a woman makes the choice to abort her baby, she should still have access to the utmost quality care of a physician. It is already heartbreaking to lose one life – why put the life of the woman at risk, too? One hundred and fifteen members of the House of Representatives, in a veto proof bipartisan manner, agree and have sent this bill to the Senate.

Rep. Davis’s Veteran’s Proposal Moves to Senate

If there is one thing we can all agree on in Missouri, it is that we respect and should honor our veterans. Our state has many young veterans - women and men fresh from Afghanistan and other posts around the globe. These new vets have sacrificed four or more years of their lives serving their country, even as their peers attend college and raise families. These service members are there for us in national crises and in natural disasters, and it is important that we are there for them when they return to civilian life.

House Bill 114, sponsored by Representative Charlie Davis (R-128), aims to recognize the training veterans receive in the military. Beginning in January 2014, every university, college, and vocational or technical school will be required to award academic credit to students who have already taken equivalent courses as part of their military training.

This bill also makes it easier for nurses and other health-related professionals to keep their civilian certification while serving in the armed forces. Active duty healthcare professionals will be exempt from license renewal fees and, under certain conditions, from continuing education requirements. If a person is assigned to a combat area, it is unreasonable to expect them to take continuing courses: they are already on the scene in the classroom of experience. If a serviceman or servicewoman is continuing their professional training through the military, this bill allows those courses to meet the licensure board’s requirements.

We need qualified employees in this state and country. Who better than veterans to fill that role? Veterans have the discipline and commitment to take full advantage of higher education. Here in the Missouri House, we are working to fund those educations, and to remove the barriers that might discourage veterans from seeking more training. They have served us and it is our responsibility to do our best to serve them.

House Bill 114 passed the House this week and is now awaiting a hearing in the Senate Veterans’ Affairs and Health Committee.

House Honors 2nd Amendment

Protecting our Second Amendment rights has never been more salient than this session. With the US Congress and President Obama striving to limit Americans’ access to firearms and ammunition, we must do everything within our power to protect our rights. The Missouri House recently gave final approval to several pieces of legislation that protect our rights to defend ourselves, our homes, and our families.

House Bill 436, sponsored by Representative Doug Funderburk (R-103), establishes the “Second Amendment Preservation Act.” This act declares that self-defense is an unalienable right, which cannot be corroded by any level of government. In the Declaration of Independence our Founders made “Life” the foremost of our unalienable rights. The right to self-defense is paramount in guaranteeing the right to life.

House Bill 170, sponsored by Representative Casey Guernsey (R-002), nullifies any federal laws that seek to cripple Missourians’ right to self-defense. This bill, called the “Firearm Protection Act”, specifies that no official shall enforce a federal firearm law when the firearm is manufactured, sold, and owned solely in Missouri. This is an important protection against future federal government overreach.

For too long, the federal government has expanded its powers through the “interstate commerce clause.” This clause was written to ensure a unified currency in this nation and to encourage business among the states. It was never meant as a means to regulate values or infringe on rights.

 
We must always remember that the true chain of authority in this country starts with the citizen, who loans power to the state. The national government is the child – not the big brother – of the states. We in the state legislature have the direct responsibility to ensure the safety and well-being of you, the citizens who granted this authority. That is our goal in the Missouri House.