Senator Karla May's May Report for the Week of April 7, 2025

Friday, April 11, 2025

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The Week of April 7, 2025

On the Floor

This week, the Senate began floor discussion on the following bills:

  • Senate Bill 360 would establish the "Education Freedom Act" and modify provisions relating to the statewide assessment system, school accountability report cards, and the powers and duties of the State Board of Education.
  • Senate Bill 69 would modify the Higher Education Core Curriculum Transfer Act by aiming to make it easier to transfer credits.
  • Senate Bill 54 would establish the Intoxicating Cannabinoid Control Act, which states that intoxicating cannabinoid products will be considered as marijuana and regulated as marijuana is regulated by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. This bill would also establish the Hemp-Derived Consumable Beverage Products Act, which would regulate the manufacture, distribution, sale and purchase of hemp-derived consumable beverage products in Missouri. I proposed an amendment to add edible hemp-derived products, such as gummies, to this regulation. Unfortunately, the amendment failed to pass.

 

Additionally, the Senate gave first round approval to these pieces of legislation:

  • Senate Bill 80 would modify provisions of current law authorizing a high school athlete to earn or attempt to earn compensation for the use of his or her name, image, likeness rights or athletic reputation under certain conditions by transferring these provisions to a different section of law.
  • Senate Bill 120 seeks to modify provisions relating to the expenditure of money in funds by certain state departments.
  • Senate Joint Resolution 46 would authorize a property tax exemption for disabled veterans.

 

Finally, the Senate third read and passed the following bills:

  • House Bill 594 would authorize an income tax deduction for capital gains.
  • Senate Bill 266 would allow students enrolled in any virtual school or program that is part of the Missouri Course Access and Virtual School Program to take any statewide assessment virtually.
  • Senate Bill 166 would require public schools to develop a cardiac emergency response plan.
  • Senate Bill 133 would modify provisions relating to underground facilities.

 

Bills and Committees

Judiciary Committee:

The committee heard several bills this week:

  • Senate Bill 354 would add certain chemical substances, including, but not limited to, difluoroethane, trifluoroethane and tetrafluoroethane to current law prohibiting the intentional inhalation, possession or purchase of such substances. 
  • Senate Bill 453 states that any person convicted of the offense of tampering with a judicial officer and the offense of tampering with a judicial proceeding would not be eligible for parole, probation or conditional release.
  • Senate Bill 667 would modify provisions relating to workers’ compensation, including the process of changing an attorney in workers’ compensations cases, as well as provisions relating to complaints, discipline and removal of administrative law judges.
  • Senate Bill 805 would modify the factors a court must consider when awarding custody to parents, including the willingness and ability of parents to cooperate in the rearing of their child; the child's physical, emotional, educational and other needs; the mental health or substance use history experienced by either parent; the history of domestic and child abuse of any individuals involved; the distance between the residences of the parents; and the reasonable input of the child as to the child's custodian.
  • House Bill 1464 would modify several provisions relating to the protection of children.
  • Senate Bill 809 would help address the shortage of resources in juvenile detention centers by allowing a county commission or governing body of a county to provide for juvenile detention in coordination with all other counties within the same circuit court or with all counties of the same circuit court and all counties of an adjoining circuit court.

 

Commerce Committee:

The committee heard three bills this week:

  • Senate Bill 569 would modify the membership of the Missouri Clean Water Commission and states the commission must be comprised of the following members: One member, instead of at least two, must be knowledgeable about agriculture; one member, instead of at least two, must be knowledgeable about the needs of industry or mining; one member must be knowledgeable about the needs of publicly owned wastewater treatment works; and four members, instead of no more than four, must represent the public.
  • Senate Bill 601 would modify several provisions relating to sewage regulation. 
  • Senate Bill 537 would establish the Missouri Defense and Energy Independence Act and authorize a qualified company to claim a tax credit, not to exceed $6 million, for qualified conversion costs incurred by the qualified company for converting such company to produce chemicals, metals, gases or rare earth minerals that will be used for projects designed to decrease or eliminate reliance on foreign-produced materials.

 

Appropriations Committee:

This week, the committee passed two bills, Senate Bill 586 and Senate Bill 753. Senate Bill 586 states federal funds designated for highway purposes must be deposited in the Federal Road Fund, created in the act, rather than the State Road Fund. Senate Bill 753 would distribute revenue from wine excise taxes equally between the Agriculture Protection Fund and the Missouri Wine and Grape Fund, with each fund receiving $0.21 per gallon sold.

 

Additionally, the committee is preparing to hear testimony regarding each of the appropriations bills that have been passed by the Missouri House of Representatives and sent to the Senate for our consideration. The General Assembly’s one constitutionally required task during session each year is to pass a balanced state operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Our deadline this year is 6 p.m. on Friday, May 9.

 

Other News

Committee blocks testimony from abortion rights supporters 

In a stunning move unprecedented in recent memory, the chair of the House Children and Families Committee refused to allow dozens of opponents of legislation to repeal the state’s new, voter-approved constitutional protections for reproductive rights to testify at a public hearing on April 9, then ordered security to clear the hearing room when some objected to being arbitrarily and unfairly silenced.

 

After shutting down testimony, over strong protests from committee members, the panel approved the measure on a straight party-line vote of 11-3, with the majority party in support and the minority party opposed.

 

House Joint Resolution 73 is the latest iteration of the effort to repeal Amendment 3, which Missouri voters ratified in November to enshrine strong protections for reproductive rights in the state constitution after the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated federal abortion rights in 2022. Members of the majority party have had difficulty agreeing on how best to structure a proposed constitutional amendment to overturn Amendment 3, with two different House committees producing five different versions of the legislation in a little more than a week.

 

The ballot language written into the current version falsely claims HJR 73 would “guarantee the right to reproductive freedom” when it actually would completely repeal Amendment 3 and constitutionally ban abortion in nearly all circumstances. House Joint Resolution 73 also includes unrelated provisions to ban gender-affirming care for minors.

 

The measure could be brought up for debate in the full House of Representatives in the coming days. If approved by both the House and Senate, it automatically would go on the November 2026 ballot for voter approval.

 

House narrowly passes rules for unregulated slot machines

With just one vote to spare, the Missouri House of Representatives on April 9 approved legislation to legalize, regulate and tax unlicensed video slots machines, which have proliferated at gas stations, bars and other locations around the state in recent years. The bill advanced to the Senate on a vote of 83-73. A minimum of 82 votes is needed to pass legislation out of the House.

 

Both the Missouri Gaming Commission, which oversees the state’s licensed casinos, and the State Highway Patrol consider the machines, known as “video lottery terminals,” to be illegal gaming devices under existing state law. While some local prosecutors have successfully brought cases against VLT companies, most have chosen not to, claiming they fall into a legal gray area.

 

However, legislative efforts to bring clarity to the law have proven difficult, with some lawmakers wanting to regulate and tax the machines, others wanting to maintain the current unregulated environment and others wanting to ban them outright. With the tight House vote, it seems broad legislative consensus on the issue remains elusive.

 

House Bill 970 would grant authority for regulating VLTs to the Missouri Lottery Commission and require game manufacturers, distributors, operators and retailers to be licensed. The bill also would require establishments to keep the machines in a separate area and prohibit access to those under age 21.

 

The bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate, which has blocked similar legislation in the past. Although the most outspoken Senate opponent of VLT legislation in recent years departed the Legislature last year, Senate opposition remains and could prevent HB 970 from passing in the final weeks of the legislative session, which ends May 16.

 

Governor signs omnibus utilities legislation into law

On April 9, the governor signed omnibus utilities legislation into law that supporters say is vital to modernizing and upgrading services in the state but that critics contend will result in large rate increases for customers. The bill takes effect Aug. 28.

 

Both support for and opposition to Senate Bill 4 was bipartisan in both legislative chambers. The bill passed on votes of 22-11 in the Senate and 96-44, with three lawmakers voting “present,” in the House of Representatives.

 

A key SB 4 provision authorizes power companies to charge customers upfront for so-called “construction work in progress,” circumventing a nearly 50-year-old, voter-approved prohibition against power utilities passing on the cost of building new facilities until they are online and generating power.

 

The bill also allows the Missouri Public Service Commission, which regulates investor-owned utilities, to set rates based on a company’s predicted cost of providing service in a “future test year.” The PSC traditionally has based rates on a company’s actual costs in prior years.

 

In addition, SB 4 expands the so-called “hot and cold weather” rules that protect vulnerable populations from losing service at critical times. Currently, the rules prohibit utilities from disconnecting service within 24 hours of an extreme weather event; SB 4 extends that period to 72 hours. Furthermore, the bill authorizes the PSC to create tailored utility rates for senior citizens, low-income families and certain other customers.

 

Net general revenue down 1.4% so far in FY 2025

Year-to-date net state general revenue collections decreased 1.4% through the first nine months of the 2025 fiscal year compared, to the same period in FY 2024, going from $9.32 billion last year to $9.18 billion this year. The rate of decrease held steady at the same level it had been through the first eight months of the fiscal year.

 

Net general revenue collections for March 2025 declined 2.2%, compared to those for March 2024, going from $898.6 million year last to $878.9 million this year. While sales and use tax collections enjoyed strong growth for the month, declines in individual and corporate income tax revenue, as well as collections and various other taxes, resulted in a net revenue decrease for the month.

 

House approves guns on buses, lowering conceal-carry age

The Missouri House of Representatives sent legislation to the Senate on April 10 that would authorize conceal-carry permit holders to possess firearms while riding public transit, which currently is illegal under state law. The bill also would lower the minimum age for obtaining a concealed weapons permit from 19 to 18.

 

The House approved House Bill 328 on a largely party-line vote of 106-45, with two members voting “present.” Members of the minority party uniformly supported the bill, while all but a couple of members of the minority party opposed it. 

 

CONTACT INFORMATION

Thank you for your interest in the legislative process. I look forward to hearing from you on the issues that are important to you this legislative session. If there is anything my office can do for you, please do not hesitate to contact my office at 573-751-3599.