“Paycheck
Protection” Bill Receives House Approval (HB 1891)
The
House gave approval this week to legislation meant to give workers the
authority to annually opt-in rather than opt-out of paycheck deductions for
union fees. Often referred to as “paycheck protection” legislation, the bill
would require annual written consent from a public employee before any amount
could be withheld from the earnings of the employee for the payment of any
portion of dues, agency shop fees, or other fees paid to a public labor
organization.
The
legislation also would require public employee unions to obtain annual written
consent in order to spend a portion of the fees on political activities. Unions
for first responders, such as police and firefighters, would be exempted from
the requirements of the bill.
Supporters
of the change say it is a matter of protecting the rights of workers and giving
them a say in where their money goes. They say unions sometimes support
political causes not endorsed by their membership and the bill would give
members the authority to prevent their fees from being used for these purposes.
Opponents
say contributions already are voluntary and requiring this annual authorization
will increase costs to public employers and school districts in particular.
They believe the authorization requirement is an unnecessary intrusion into the
inner workings of a private organization and another administrative burden
placed on unions by state government.
The
General Assembly approved similar legislation two years ago but saw the bill
vetoed by the governor. This year’s version of the legislation received 110
votes in the House, which is one more than needed to override a potential veto
by the governor.
House Approves Legislation to Address Misuse of ASARCO
Settlement Dollars (HB 2187)
The House approved legislation that would force the
Missouri Department of Natural Resources to sell land it had acquired in Oregon
County for use as a new state park. Many House members had taken issue with the
decision of the executive branch to acquire the Frederick Creek Ranch land with
funds that were meant for important remediation efforts such as clean drinking
water projects in Missouri’s lead mining district.
During
the 2015 interim, the House formed a committee to look at what members said was
an inappropriate use of settlement funds that were intended to be utilized to
remediate the damage done by the ASARCO mining conglomerate at five sites in
southeast Missouri’s lead mining district, which includes St. Francois,
Reynolds, Iron and Madison counties. Instead, the trustees of the ASARCO
settlement determined it was appropriate to use funds to acquire land several
counties away and in a different watershed.
Now,
with the legislation approved by the House, members hope to undo the decision
made by executive branch to prioritize the purchase of Frederick Creek Ranch
over the remediation projects in areas that were actually impacted by ASARCO’s
actions. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.
House Approves Resolution Encouraging an Audit of the
Federal Reserve (HR 71)
The
members of the Missouri House of Representatives approved a resolution calling
on Congress to pass the Federal Reserve Transparency Act to require a complete
audit of the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States. As the sponsor of the
resolution said on the House floor, the Federal Reserve has loaned trillions of
dollars to bail out foreign banks without the consent of Congress, and it
refuses to fully disclose the details of its lending practices. He also noted
that the Federal Reserve has never received a complete audit.
The
resolution approved by the House notes that the Federal Reserve has inflated
the money supply and manipulated interest rates since its inception in 1913,
which has eroded the purchasing power of the dollar by approximately 95
percent, and contributed to boom and bust business cycles. It also points out
that Federal Reserve has operated the nation’s monetary system without full
disclosure and transparency, which has led to a lower quality of life for the
American people and abuse verified by the United States Government
Accountability Office in its 2011 Report to Congress.
The
bill’s sponsor hopes that a complete audit will finally provide the American
people with answers about how their money is being spent, where their money is
being spent, and at what cost.
Promoting Civics Education (HB 1646)
The Missouri House approved legislation to promote
American history and civics education in Missouri classrooms. The bill would
create the Missouri Civics Education Initiative to require students in public,
charter, and private high schools to receive a passing grade on a standardized
civics test in order to graduate.
Supporters said ensuring a thorough knowledge of the
country’s history and system of government is a key first step in creating an
engaged and active citizenry that will vote and take active roles in the
political process.
Under HB 1621, exams would consist of the same 100
questions used on the civics portion of the United States Citizenship and
Immigration Services’ U.S. Naturalization test that is taken by immigrants
looking to gain American citizenship. The questions would cover topics ranging
from the United States Constitution to American history to geography. The test
could be retaken by the student an unlimited amount of times until a passing
grade is obtained.
If
passed into law, Missouri would join states such as Arizona, North Dakota,
South Dakota, Utah, Idaho, Tennessee, South Carolina, Louisiana and Wisconsin,
which all passed Civics Education Initiatives earlier in the year.
If approved by both chambers and signed by the
governor, the Missouri Civics Education Initiative would take effect Aug. 28,
2016, and all students entering ninth grade after July 1, 2017, would be
required to receive a passing grade on the civics test.
House Approves Returning Heroes’
Education Act (HB 2156)
The Missouri House took action this week to fix an issue with the Missouri
Returning Heroes’ Education Act that will help veterans to more easily afford
the cost of a college education. The bill changes existing law to ensure the
tuition benefit created by the act is applied correctly.
The Missouri Returning Heroes' Education Act was created by Senate
Bill 830 in 2008. The act limits tuition charged to qualified combat
veterans to $50 per credit hour for any program leading to a Bachelor's degree.
Under the act, a "combat veteran" is any person who served in
armed combat after September 11, 2001, who was a Missouri resident when first
entering the military, and who was discharged from military service under
honorable conditions.
While the program has been beneficial for combat veterans, several filed a
lawsuit alleging some state universities were misapplying the benefit. The
universities were using the other financial aid available to the veterans to
pay for tuition before capping the cost of classes at the $50 limit. The
veterans who brought suit said the $50 cap should be applied first so that
other financial aid could then be used to cover the other costs associated with
attending college, which have increased significantly in recent years.
The legislation approved by the
House changes
the law to require the tuition limitation be provided before all other aid is
applied and repeals the provisions prohibiting a veteran from receiving more
than the actual cost of attendance when the limitation is combined with other
available aid. The bill also will clarify how the law should be interpreted so
that every university in Missouri will apply the act in the same way.
Supporters said the goal of the legislation is to support veterans in Missouri
and to help them to obtain their degrees without accumulating excessive student
loan debt.
