(Missourinet) – The Missouri Senate finally gave initial approval to utility legislation Thursday night that was years in the making.

The measure, which passed out of committee by a bipartisan 9-1 margin, was approved on the Senate floor in a voice vote and will require one more favorable vote before the House could consider it.

The measure alters the way the Public Service Commission (PSC) regulates the state’s largest utilities which are investor owned.

The key components would allow those power companies, including Ameren Missouri, Kansas City Power & Light and Empire District, to invest more than $1 billion in infrastructure upgrades while limiting their rate hikes to customers.  Spire Inc., a St. Louis based natural gas provider, also falls under the legislation as a regulated utility.

Among the key compromises that pushed the bill forward was a change in the cap on the customer rate increase allowed, on average, per year.  The cap would now be reduced from 3%-to-2.85%.

The compromises were hashed out in an amendment offered by Republican Senator Gary Romine of Farmington, one of the four members of the upper chamber who kept the filibuster going during the overnight hours Wednesday and into Thursday.

Romine was joined in the delay tactic by Republican Senator Rob Schaaf of St. Joseph, Republican Senator Doug Libla of Poplar Bluff and, later on Thursday morning by Democratic Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal of University City.

The bill also includes accounting provisions in which the utilities would track certain costs, such as depreciation on investment, that they can bring to the table during rate cases before the PSC.

The bill’s sponsor, Republican Senator Ed Emery of Lamar, contends these “trackers”, which also include property taxes, transmission and cyber-security, will keep the utilities honest by bringing rates down if their expenses are reduced.

David Woodsmall with the Midwest Energy Consumers Group has said the utilities made sure the legislation only called for the tracking of expenses that constantly increase so they can recover those costs during rate cases.

Midwest Energy Consumers Group (MECG) represents the interests of large commercial and industrial operations.  The senators who spearheaded the marathon debate often targeted other lawmakers for favoring a bill that is opposed by numerous large employers in their districts, often those represented by MECG.

Emery, who has sponsored similar utility legislation for the past several years, says there’s a growing consensus that the state’s 100-year-old energy regulations are hurting Missouri’s economy and impeding modernization of the power grid.

He worked with the utility companies in crafting the legislation.

Ameren Missouri is the state’s largest utility with nine power plants serving 1.2 million customers.  The company has a strong presence at the state Capitol. During the filibuster, Senator Schaaf claimed Ameren had given “$1.2 million to the politicians in this building.”  He later corrected himself, noting Ameren contributed more than $800,000, while the two other utilities donated the balance of the $1.2 million he referenced.

Ameren Missouri Vice President Warren Wood issued a statement late Thursday night praising the upper chamber’s accomplishment.

“This bipartisan Senate approval reflects the balanced approach this rate cap bill takes towards upending the status quo,” said Wood.  “We look forward to ongoing discussions in the coming weeks to ensure that this important legislation becomes a reality for customers.”

An important change to the utility bill came early on during the filibuster Wednesday night.  The amendment contained language that would ensure large sums of money the utilities will realize from a corporate tax cut passed by Congress will pass on to customers.

Ameren says the change in the bill speeds the process for those savings to reach consumers.

“This rate decrease will save our customers more than $100 million within 90 days of this bill becoming law” said Ameren Vice President Wood in a statement.

The final Senate vote on the utility legislation won’t come until next week as the entire legislature adjourned for the week on Thursday.

(Missourinet) – A man accused of killing a west-central Missouri police officer in August could face the death penalty.

A notice has been filed by Henry County Prosecuting Attorney Richard Shields seeking the highest penalty against 39-year-old Ian McCarthy, who has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Clinton police officer Gary Michael, Jr.

McCarthy is suspected of opening fire and shooting Michael during a traffic stop in front of the Henry County Library.

Shields tells KDKD/KXEA News that McCarthy has two serious assault convictions that date back to 1998 and 2002 in New Hampshire.

McCarthy is still at the Henry Co. Jail and has asked for a change of judge and venue for his trial. Co-defendants Jacob Johnson is also at the jail while William and Brandie Noble have bonded out.

(Missourinet) – Several Republicans filibustered the Missouri Senate well into Thursday morning over legislation they claim is a hand-out to investor owned utilities.

The legislation, which applies to regulated utilities Ameren Missouri, KCP&L and Empire District, allows them to upgrade their power grids while it also caps customer rate hikes.

Senators’ Doug Libla of Poplar Bluff and Rob Schaaf of St. Joseph often targeted various fellow Republicans, including Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard of Joplin, for favoring a bill that is opposed by numerous large employers in their districts.

Schaaf criticized the chamber for focusing on the utility measure instead of legislation that most Republicans agree would slash wages on public works projects.

“How come prevailing wage isn’t the bill that we’re right here negotiating right now,” said Schaaf.  “But no, we have to do a bill for Ameren, which has given $1.2 million to the politicians in this building.”

Schaaf later corrected himself, noting Ameren contributed more than $800,000, while the other two utilities donated the balance of the $1.2 million.

Republican Senators’ Bill Eigel of Weldon Spring and Gary Romine of Farmington also played roles in the marathon which was still going after 7 a.m. Thursday.

(Missourinet) – The first piece of legislation to pass through the Missouri General Assembly is a bipartisan bill aimed at helping the fight against human trafficking.

The measure requires the Department of Public Safety to develop a poster containing information, such as the human trafficking resource center hotline phone number, by January 2019.

The Senate sponsor of the bill, Republican Bob Onder of Lake St. Louis, says the poster will be displayed at locations where victims of human trafficking are most likely to be found.

The signage is to be posted in conspicuous locations at 17 different types of businesses and public establishments. Among them are hotels that have been cited as nuisances for prostitution, strip clubs, train and bus stations, emergency rooms, women’s health centers and pregnancy resource centers.

Missouri, with its location at the crossroads of the country, ranks among the top 20 states for human trafficking.

According to Senator Onder, the legislation was one of the main recommendations of an interim committee on human trafficking. It passed through several House committees unanimously before receiving approval on the House floor by a 139-5 margin.

At least two other measures dealing with human trafficking have been produced by the Missouri legislature in recent years. In 2015, January was designated as human trafficking month. Also, advertising the availability of human trafficking victims was linked to the crime itself in 2016.

Democratic Senator Jamilah Nasheed of St. Louis is sponsoring a bill in the current session that would allow those forced into prostitution to have their criminal records relate to the practice expunged. Nasheed helped organize a human trafficking rally at the state capitol last week.

The legislation requiring the display of posters passed on the Senate floor 31-0 Thursday. Senator Onder said it’ll provide a vital service to human trafficking victims.

“This bill will allow victims of human trafficking to get the information they need to escape the hellish human existence created for them by those who would exploit them for profit,” said Onder.

The House sponsor of the bill is Republican Patricia Pike of Adrian, who stepped in after the measure’s original champion, Republican Representative Cloria Brown of St. Louis, became seriously ill and was unable to shepherd it through the legislature.

Democratic Senator Scott Sifton of Affton, whose district includes Brown’s House district, gave an emotional tribute to the representative on the Senate floor Thursday.  He said Brown had tirelessly and relentlessly supported noble causes in her community.

“Those of you who are there and know her, know how true that is,” said Sifton.  “You cannot turn around in the Genesis Banquet Center. You cannot at a Mehlville School function. You cannot turn around at a Lemay Housing Partnership function without Representative Brown being right there. And that has been true for a very, very long time.”

Democratic Senate Minority Floor Leader Gina Walsh also threw her support behind the ailing Representative Brown.

“I hope that she’s at home,” said Walsh. “I hope she reads something about this in her local paper. And I hope that she’s as proud of these chambers today as I am of her for moving this legislation forward.”

The human trafficking poster bill is the first piece of legislation this year to head to the governor’s desk for signature, having done so less than a month into the current session which started January 4th.

The issue itself has also attracted attention with Missouri lawmakers in Washington. Democratic U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill spoke at a Capitol Hill press conference recently, urging passage of a federal bill called the “Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act.” That measure is aimed at making sure websites like Backpage can be held liable.

(Missourinet) – Governor Eric Greitens, R, has released a $28.7 billion dollar proposed state budget that begins July 1 – a roughly $200 million increase compared to the current year’s budget.

Here are some of the key points in the governor’s fiscal year 2019 budget outline:

Education
A move the governor says he did not make lightly was slicing about $70 million out of higher education’s budget for fiscal year 2019. Greitens’ recommendation for Missouri’s colleges and universities represents about a 7.7% drop in state funding compared to the current budget year.

State Rep. Deb Lavender, D-Kirkwood, a member of the House Budget Committee, tells Missourinet, higher education would be taking major hits for two consecutive years. She says the current budget includes a decline of at least $120 million from the previous year. The reductions sparked hundreds of layoffs at Missouri’s institutions of higher learning in 2017.

Under the governor’s budget blueprint, Missouri’s K-12 public schools would get a record $6.1 billion in funding. The figure falls about $48 million short of fully funding elementary and secondary education.

Agriculture
One of the Missouri agriculture community’s top priorities this year is increasing funding for the state’s roads and bridges to help farmers and ranchers move their goods swiftly. Greitens’ proposed budget includes a nearly $163 million increase in infrastructure funding for Missouri’s 34,000 miles of roads and 10,000 bridges. The plan involves launching a $25 million matching grant fund for local communities to make infrastructure improvements. Greitens also wants to invest $7.6 million in port improvements.

“This is an important investment. It will help our farmers and other businesses to sell Missouri goods around the country and around the world,” he says.

Greitens says a tax proposal he plans to release next week during a statewide tour does not suggest a state fuel tax increase to help fund Missouri’s transportation system. The gas tax has not been increased in more than 20 years – leading to deteriorating infrastructure throughout the state. The Missouri Legislature is considering proposals involving a fuel tax hike.

Another major focus for Missouri agriculture is increasing high-speed internet access in the state’s rural areas. The governor is continuing his efforts to put broadband in Missouri’s rural schools by budgeting $6 million for the initiative.

Medicaid
Greitens wants to reduce Missouri’s social services budget by about $40 million.
His FY19 plan includes $11 billion in Medicaid spending – an increase of about $300 million from the current budget year. Greitens did not elaborate on the details other than to say he thinks reductions could be made through administrative overhead costs.

“The state of Missouri spends more money on healthcare than we do on K-12 education, community colleges, technical colleges, domestic violence shelters, veterans programs, our judicial system, public safety and our correction system combined,” says Greitens.

Rep. Lavender says the rhetoric is that Medicaid costs keep going up every year but what is forgotten is inflation and population growth.

State Worker Pay
Greitens is calling for a roughly $600 pay increase for state employees who make $50,000 or less annually. Missouri, which has the lowest paid state workers in the nation, would give the eligible employees a pay hike if the legislature passes changes this year to the state’s hiring structure. He wants $4.5 million in targeted pay adjustments that aims to offer competitive wages for specific jobs. The governor’s fiscal blueprint also includes not filling 90 vacant state positions from the workforce of about 54,000.

Greitens says an additional $61.2 million would go to state employee healthcare and worker pension contributions would be fully funded with $14.4 million.

More than 14,000 state employees work in Jefferson City, making state government the city’s top employer by a wide margin.

The House Budget Committee will begin working on the fiscal plan Wednesday morning.

(Missourinet) – A state lawmaker from southwest Missouri has filed numerous pieces of legislation for the 2018 session, but has made a bill involving AMBER Alert his priority.

Representative Curtis Trent, R-Springfield, is focused on getting “Hailey’s Law” to the governor’s desk.  It’s named after 10-year-old Hailey Owens, who was kidnapped, raped and murdered in Springfield in 2014.  After local police responded to a child abduction call, there was a two-hour delay before an AMBER Alert was issued statewide.

The measure, which will be debated Tuesday morning in a committee hearing, does two things.

First, it calls for AMBER Alerts to be integrated with the state Highway Patrol communications service (MULES).  The service interacts with all law enforcement agencies, and the region’s criminal justice database (REJIS).

Representative Trent goes on to say that all the departments responsible for activating the system have made adjustments and have vastly improved delivery of AMBER Alerts. He says the legislation ensures the improvements remain intact over time.

“So, if we have system upgrades, (or) hardware wears out and has to be replaced, any new replacement system that might eventually be put in place would have this capability built into it,” says Trent.

Secondly, the bill would require Missouri’s AMBER Alert Oversight Committee to meet on a regular basis. The current state law has no frequency requirements. Trent says the regular meetings would allow the committee to review Amber Alert procedures on a “regular” basis.

“We want to continue to evaluate the effectiveness of the Amber Alert system, to make sure that if there are areas that could be improved, we identify those proscriptively to improve them before something goes wrong,” says Trent.

After the bill moved through the House in a timely manner in 2017, it stalled in the Senate when wrangling among various lawmakers grounded the chamber’s activity to a halt.

In early May, as the legislative session was winding down, a breakfast rally and press conference were held at the state capitol in an effort to propel Hailey’s Law to the finish line. It featured the parents of Hailey’s convicted killer, Craig Wood, and Hailey’s mother, Stacey Barfield.  The two sides had joined forces to rally behind the legislation.

Representative Trent says the bill actually ended up passing out of both the House and the Senate, but did so as an attachment to different pieces of legislation in each chamber. Any bill must be approved in the exact same form in both bodies in order to advance to the governor’s desk.

Hailey’s Law was approved in the House with overwhelming bipartisan support by a margin of 141-1. Trent says the one no vote from Representative Jeff Pogue, R-Salem, may not have been cast in opposition to the bill itself.

“I don’t know what the reason was,” Trent says. “I do know that that gentleman frequently votes no. So, I think that it may have been a broader statement than any commentary on Hailey’s Law.”

This year marks the third attempt to get the measure through the legislature, as Trent’s predecessor in Springfield’s House District 133, Republican Eric Burlison, first filed it in 2015. Trent plans to find a committee chairman who’s receptive to fast tracking Hailey’s Law in 2018.

“Everyone that I have talked to so far indicates that they have no problem trying to accelerate this,” says Trent. “So, hopefully we’ll get it done before other issues start taking up too much bandwidth.”

Representative Trent says he’s optimistic the bill will make it to the finish line this year, after narrowly falling short in 2017.

“This is a process that takes a long time. And some bills take years to pass, many years, not just one or two or three. So, I’m actually very pleased that we were able to get this close on our first time out with me doing it,” says Trent.

Trent pre-filed his bill on December first, the first day annually that such action is permitted in the Missouri Legislature. Senator Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, sponsored the measure in the upper chamber last year, and plans do the same in 2018.

“I’ll do everything in my power to make sure 2018 is the year Hailey’s Law becomes law in Missouri,” Rowden told Missourinet in May of 2017.

Craig Wood was convicted of first degree murder in Hailey Owen’s death during a high-profile trial in Springfield in late October. Earlier this month, he was sentenced to death.