Missouri House of Representatives

Official Communications Page of the Republican Caucus

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Making A Difference

This year the legislature passed SB875 handled in the House by Representative Tila Hubrecht (R-Dexter) who also serves her community as a nurse.  SB 875 will allow more affordable access to lifesaving medications for Missourians. This legislation, now signed into law, allows for generic biosimilar medications to be made available as an alternative to biological drug products. Biosimilar medications are to biologic medicines as generic substitutions are to prescription pills. They are safer, more affordable treatment options for patients which may have been otherwise unavailable before.

These medications are used in the treatment of chronic conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and some forms of cancer. More and more new biologic medications are developed each year. With this bill, Missourians will save money while also having wider access to healthcare products they need. Our state has created a framework to keep pace with 21st medical advancements to make them available to all.

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Making a Difference

Rejecting Tax Increases

8/19/2016

This year the legislature took action to reject a proposed tax increase on Missouri’s agricultural land by passing HCR58 Sponsored by Rep. Bill Reiboldt (R-Neosho). The Missouri Tax Commission proposed a five percent increase of taxes on farm and ranch properties. Without the legislature’s decision, this increase would have automatically been put into effect.

Agriculture is one of the state’s largest economic industries. Farmers and ranchers also face many variables from year-to-year which may affect their income. The legislature made sure one potential rising cost would not be added to their burden. We continue to support one of Missouri’s most vital professions.

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Making a Difference

This year Republican leaders in the legislature passed HB1649 Sponsored by Representative Elijah Haahr (R-Springfield) to allow Good Samaritan’s to break into a hot vehicle where a child may have been forgotten. More than 650 children have died from heatstroke in vehicles since 1998. Laws like this help raise awareness for parents about the dangers of leaving children in a car unattended.

The desire to help those in need should not require that legal consequences be faced. Missouri is protecting individuals for damages caused while trying to rescue a child in danger. We are doing our part to help prevent children from facing dangers in our state.

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Fighting for our Service Members

This year the Republican led legislature passed Senate Bill 814 to allow any active duty Missouri residents who are stationed within the state to deduct any military income from their gross state taxable totals. Under current state law, in-state service men and women have to file military income on their state tax returns.

We are better repaying our military members for the service they give to our state and country. This legislation also makes Missouri a more military-friendly state overall. It is one small deed to thank the men and women of the military.

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Protecting Paychecks of Missouri’s Workers

By Representative Holly Rehder, 148th District

Unions were created in order to provide a voice for workers and to make wages and conditions better for the working class. Recently, the House passed House Bill 1891 authorizing paycheck protection legislation to help those same working class individuals by holding public sector unions accountable to the members they serve. Paycheck protection requires that public employees give consent annually, either in written or electronic form, before any of their earnings are withheld to go towards the payment of any portion of dues, agency shop fees, or other fees paid to a public labor organization. So if a member does not believe their interests are being properly represented, they have a simple, straight forward way to keep their hard-earned money.

Our paycheck protection legislation provides workers with a greater level of transparency for where their dues are going. It requires public sector unions to follow the same financial disclosure guidelines currently required of private sector unions by the federal government. It is immensely important that union members know how their dues are being spent. The new disclosure provisions require that union members are provided an electronically searchable report of the union’s finances going back five years. Public sector unions should have the same level as transparency to their members as private sector unions.

This legislation also requires public employee unions to obtain annual consent in either written or electronic form from members in order to spend a portion of their individual fees on political activities. It is a safeguard for workers to help ensure that their money is only going to advocate for political purposes that they support.

Paycheck protection does not create any undue cost or burden for public sector unions. Individuals are still free to join or withdraw from public sector unions as they have been.  No person should be required to have a portion of their paycheck go towards political activities as a condition of representation in the workplace. Under paycheck protection, we are ensuring that workers know their rights as a member of a public sector union and feel comfortable with the decisions their union is making.  I am honored to have had the opportunity to carry this piece of legislation and will continue to advocate for workers’ freedom.

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Missouri Leads the Promotion of Civics Education

By State Representative Kathryn Swan, 147th District

Missouri has long been a leader in the promotion and encouragement of American history for students in the high school education system. In-depth instruction on topics such as the United States Constitution, the Missouri Constitution, and American history has been a part of the social studies curriculum for decades. Knowing our history is not the only step towards molding more engaged citizens. That’s why I have worked with legislative leaders on both sides of the aisle to pass House Bill 1646 creating the Missouri Civics Education Initiative.

In 2012, Missouri was one of only five states specifically testing students over civics and American government. The Missouri Civics Education Initiative would commend Missouri for the work they have already done in the promotion of civics education as well as add to statute the requirement that students must pass an American civics test in order to graduate. This would help ensure our students are retaining their awareness of the governmental process. The state already requires students pass tests on both the United States Constitution and Missouri Constitution in order to graduate from high school. This new test would be 100 questions long and would have similar questions to the naturalization test given by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Should House Bill 1646 be signed by the Governor, it will become effective for students entering the ninth grade after July 1, 2017. This new test will not replace the tests over the United States Constitution and Missouri Constitution. School districts may choose to incorporate these questions into existing exams or give them as a separate test.

Our citizens deserve to attain as much knowledge of the governmental process as they can. They need to be encouraged to participate in that process and shown the enjoyment that comes with it. As former United States Senator Jon Kyle once said, “The success of our republic depends on an informed and engaged citizenry.” For decades, Missouri has been at the forefront of promoting that engagement and we continue to be at the forefront today.

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Ensuring Proper Verification of Welfare Recipients

By State Representative Marsha Haefner, 95th District 

The number of Missourians on welfare has increased rapidly over recent years, and so too has the cost for taxpayers.   On Thursday, the House passed House Bill 1795, which will help to combat fraud and waste and ensure those receiving benefits are truly in need. The bill allows the Department of Social Services to hire a third-party vendor to verify that applicants are eligible for programs such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary and Needy Families program (TANF), Missouri HealthNet, and others as well as to ensure that those already on the programs are still eligible.

While the Department of Social Services only has access to government databases in determining eligibility for these programs, a third-party vendor has the ability to access credit bureaus, legal research, and other databases to make a determination. Under this bill, vendors will conduct data matches to verify income, resources, assets, employment, and more for recipients on a quarterly basis. Vendors will also be tasked with tracking records for people who have passed away, moved out of state, or have been incarcerated. This system will provide a more thorough evaluation of welfare recipients and applicants and crack down on fraud in these programs.

Outside vendors will only verify applicants and recipients for eligibility and will report any irregularities for further investigation by the department. This will free up case workers to spend more time managing cases and less time chasing down information for verification.

Outsourcing the verification process will improve efficiency and save the taxpayers money. Millions of dollars in fraudulent payments will be saved each year. Several other states are already ahead of Missouri in the verification process. Recently, Illinois found 120,000 people on their welfare programs that didn’t qualify, while flagging another 240,000 as potentially ineligible. These kinds of cost-savings will help make sure that taxpayer money is going only to those who qualify.

The Department of Social Services is already accepting bids from different verification vendors. We owe it to our citizens to quickly and efficiently get those in need the help they deserve. We also need to have as strong a system of verification as possible so that those attempting to defraud our taxpayers are unsuccessful. Under this bill, I believe we have accomplished our goals and am happy to see our state improving efficiency, saving taxpayer money, and safeguarding our government assistance programs from abuse.

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Saving Money on Biologic Medicines

By State Representative Tila Hubrecht, 151st District

In recent years, biologic medicines have been at the cutting edge of research in the biomedical field. Advances in the field are helping us to find new treatments and, in some cases, cures for chronic conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and even cancer. These medicines have a complex molecular structure grown from living cells and are becoming more commonly used every day. I have worked with Representative Sheila Solon to pass House Bills 1366 & 1878 in an effort to make tools like this more available for our medical professionals to use in treatment of these serious conditions. One Democrat on the House floor described the bill as a unicorn bill, one of the mythical few that everyone can get behind.

Up to this point, biologics have not been able to be substituted with an interchangeable biosimilar medicine in Missouri. Biosimilar medicines have a molecular structure similar to biologics with the same intended goal but are not exactly the same as the original biologic. Like generic substitutions for prescription pills, biosimilar medicines would save patients money while still getting them quality medications they need.  The Missouri Pharmacy Practice Act is being updated to ensure that prescribers and pharmacists work together to guarantee accurate patient records and the highest quality of care. Biosimilar medicines open up new treatment possibilities for patients which may have otherwise been unavailable.

Once the FDA has established a biosimilar product as a safe alternative, the reduction in costs for patients across the country is in the billions. The Rand Corporation projects a reduction of $44.2 billion in spending on brand name biologics between 2014 and 2024. More locally in Missouri, the passage of House Bills 1366 & 1878 is conservatively estimated to save taxpayers $5.5 million in FY2018, $12.1 million in FY2019 and even more in the future.

Biologic medicines are one of the great recent innovations in the medical field. With the legislation passed from the Missouri House, our state has laid the groundwork for improvements in medicine as they come in the future. The stakeholders of these medications worked for the past three years to find language that would enable the pharmaceutical companies, pharmacists, insurance groups, physicians and most importantly the patient groups to come together and remove the barriers to life-saving medications facing many chronically and critically ill patients. Missouri is leading the way on giving taxpayers affordable, high quality medicine and we are proud of it.

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Winning the Fight against Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is a billion dollar business in the United States and around the world. It’s hard for some to believe that a form of slavery exists here in our nation and in our state in modern times. Unfortunately, there is a lot of work left to be done. St. Louis is ranked as one of the top 20 trafficking cities in the country. Just a few months ago the F.B.I. agencies raided Dojo Pizza in connection with an alleged human trafficking ring. The business is now closed and the building is condemned, but it serves as a reminder that human traffickers can set up shop anywhere, even a pizza place.

Fortunately, Missouri has been proactive in its approach to stop traffickers. It was in 2004 that Missouri became one of the first states in the nation to put sex trafficking laws in place. Last year we formed a task force to study additional ways to strengthen our laws to further crack down on the despicable actions of traffickers. As the chairman of the task force, my eyes were opened to the enormity of the industry and the devastating impact it has on the lives of so many.

As the task force learned, one of the steps we need to take here in Missouri to shut down trafficking is to implement tougher laws against those who help traffickers advertise their services. Websites like Backpage.com are used to advertise prostitution services, which many times involve children. Children have been sold through this website and then repeatedly raped and abused.

We must continue to strengthen our laws to crack down on trafficking. And while our laws have strong penalties for actual traffickers, they do not address the issue of those who knowingly help these criminals advertise their services. That is why I am again sponsoring legislation to expand the crime of sexual trafficking of a child to include the advertisement of a child participating in a commercial sexual act. Similar to Congresswoman Wagner’s SAVE Act, the legislation would give law enforcement another tool to investigate and prosecute those who knowingly advertise the victims of sex trafficking. At a hearing of the trafficking task force in St. Louis, Sergeant Adam Kavanaugh, spoke about the urgency of adopting this legislation to bring Missouri in line with many other states.

This change to Missouri law is an important part of the comprehensive approach we want to take to fighting human trafficking here in our state. I am proud to say we have seen support from many in Missouri on this crucial issue. We may have partisan fights on issues like the budget, taxes, and education, but when it comes to trafficking, we don’t fight each other. We fight the traffickers; as one. It’s us against them. And we will win.

Elijah Haahr (R-Springfield) District 134

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Speaker Todd Richardson delivering the response to the State of the State