Missouri Legislature Filed Bills - 2012 session

The Missouri Legislature returned to session January 4th, 2012.  As of April 2nd 2012, these are the filed bill that we are currently following.

 Issue: Bullying

HB 1049 sponsored by Rep. Sue Allen, District 092, and co-sponsored by Rep. Tom Flanigan, District 127, would repeal and replace the current Antibullying policy (Missouri Revised Statutes Section 160.775) with a more defined meaning of “Bullying”, establish minimum components for school district’s policies, require victims of bullying and their parents be made aware of other remedies available if bullying continues after the district policy and procedures have been completed and directs the state board of education to assist school districts in developing bullying prevention policies. This bill falls in line with Missouri PTA’s Resolution Bullying adopted by the general membership in 2003.

Issue: Juvenile Justice System

SB 556 Sponsor Sen. S. Kiki Curls, District 9, would allow courts to suspend imposition of an adult criminal sentence for certain juvenile offenders.  Since 1899, PTA, has long advocated for the focus of the juvenile court system to be one of rehabilitative instead of punitive.  This bill would allow the courts the flexibility to impose rehabilitative measures for juveniles convicted in the adult court system.

Issue: Distracted Driving

HB 1083 Sponsor Rep. Don Wells, District 147, HB 1419, Sponsor Rep. Mike Colona, District 67, HB 1430, Sponsor Rep. Michele Kratky, District 65, and SB 567, Sponsor Robin Wright, District 5, would prohibit all drivers from text messaging unless they are utilizing hand-free voice-recognition technology. SB 717, Sponsor Senator Bill Stouffer, District 21, this bill would add distracted driving to the current law as a class C misdemeanor unless involved in an accident then it would be considered a class A misdemeanor. At the 2011 State Convention Missouri PTA passed a Distracted Driving Resolution and supports legislation designed to curb distracted driving.

Issue: Child Abuse

HB 1102, Sponsor Rep. Terry Swinger, District 162, would add a line to the current statute requiring that individuals report child sexual abuse. Reporters of sexual abuse would be affored the same immunity from .  HB 1470, Sponsor Rep. Sylvester Taylor, District 80, would add coaches, youth leaders and any volunteers with direct contact with children to the list of persons required to report abuse.  Currently the Child Protection and Reformation act, Missouri Revised Statutes section 210.115 lists out only specific professionals who are required by law to report abuse.  Missouri PTA has long been a supporter of legislation that eliminates sexual abuse of children.  The Resolution, Sexual Abuse of Children, was recently reaffirmed in 1993.

HB 1491, Sponsor Rep. Marsha Haefner, District 100, would require mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect to directly report the abuse.  Currently the Child Protection and Reformation act, Missouri Revised Statutes section 210.115 states mandatory reporters must report or cause a report to be filed.  This would require reporters to directly report the abuse in all cases. Missouri PTA has long been a supporter of legislation that eliminates sexual abuse of children.  The Resolution, Sexual Abuse of Children, was recently reaffirmed in 1993.

HB 1565, Sponsor Rep. John Cauthorn, District 21, would strengthen the current law associated with reporting acts of child abuse.  This bill would require mandatory reporters of child abuse to report an act of child abuse while they are working or acting in their official capacity.  They would alsocapable of reporting abuse they observed or witnessed while off duty. Increasing the situations where individuals are required to report child abuse is something Missouri PTA supports.

SB 587, Sponsor Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, District 14, and HB 1650, Sponsor Rep. Churie Spreng, District 76, would allow schools to establish and implement domestic violence curriculum.  This curriculum would be age-appropriate and intended to educate students and encourage those in abusive situations to seek help.  Missouri PTA’s Resolution Prevention of Child Abuse, Neglect and Maltreatment supports this need raise awareness in an effort to prevent Child Abuse.

Issue: Vouchers and school funding

HB 1740, Sponsor Rep. Scott Dieckhaus, District 109, would establish a “Passport Scholarship Program” for students residing in unaccredited districts to be used to cover tuition expenses at a nonpublic elementary or secondary school.   Missouri PTA opposes this bill specifically because it contains a tax-credit style voucher. Missouri PTA does not approve the use of vouchers for any reason. For more information about vouchers and their harmful effects on all public schools, please see this link - The Truth About Vouchers

SJR 34, sponsored by Sen. Chuck Purgason, District 33, SJR 35, sponsored by Sen. Luann Ridgeway, District 17, and HJR 69, sponsored by Rep. Doug Funderbunk, District 12, are all resolutions to be brought before the voters designed to constitutionally change our state tax structure from an income based to a consumption based system.  Both resolutions directly relate back to consumption tax petitions that have been circulating across the state. This type of tax structure has also been referred to as the mega tax, fair tax and everything tax.  Missouri PTA recently passed a position statement opposing consumption tax initiatives due to the harm they would cause to the welfare of children.  Click here to view the Missouri PTA position statement and click here for talking points relating to these consumption tax petitions.

HB 1133, Sponsor Rep. Jay Barnes, District 114, would allow Missouri residents to claim up to a $2500 tax credit for educational expenses including school tuition from their Missouri income taxes.  Missouri PTA is opposed to this bill in its current form. Adequately funding public education has long been a top priority of PTA.  All children succeed when every child has access to well-funded quality schools.  High performing school districts are all ready suffering due to cuts in education funding.  By offering a tax credit for individuals who choose to send their child to private elementary and secondary schools the amount of revenue in the state budget will decrease and further erode the monies allotted for education.  PTA is not against parent’s right to send their child to whatever school they prefer.  However, PTA does believe it is everyone’s responsibility to ensure quality education for all children so every child has the opportunity to reach their own potential.  To reference the two current Resolutions on this topic view Financing Education and Tuition Tax Credits.

HB 1539, Sponsor Rep. Timothy Jones, District 89, and SB 706, Sen. Jan Cunningham, District 7, would allow for the creation of tax credit for money set aside in a scholarship fund to be utilized for nonpublic education.  While PTA respects the right of parents to choose the school they wish their child to attend and understands the difficulties parents of children in failing or unaccredited districts face, this bill would open a door for all education tax credits or vouchers to gain access to public education funds and not provide solutions to problems parents in failing or unaccredited districts face.  The wording in this bill allows for the ability to tax shelter contributions by both individuals and corporations to provide funding for nonpublic elementary and secondary schools.  Our stances on public money supporting public schools, state financing of public education and tax tuition credits are part of our foundation in our belief that all children should have access to quality public education.  Diverting funds intended to for the state education budget will hurt all school districts.

HJR 43, Sponsor Rep. Eric Burlison, District 136, Limits on State Appropriations also refered to as TABOR (Taxpayer's Bill of Right) if passed would result in significant cutbacks to education and other service programs. This type of legislation came before the assembly in 2006, we oppossed such legislation then as we do now. Schools already have and continue to face severe budgets cuts resulting in the loss of programs and limiting services to children.

HJR 70, Sponsor, Rep. Shane Schoeller, District 139, is a proposed change to our constitution that would eliminate all restrictions currently in place with regard to public funds being appropriated for any type of religious school. This is different from a voucher or tax credit. If voted into law the general assemblies could decide to designate the general funds for non-public schools. PTA respects the right of parents to choose which school they wish to send their children. However it is our view that supporting public schools is everyone's responsibility. Only by providing free access to education can we guarantee every child can reach their full potential and become productive members of society. Missouri sets a high standard with respect to accountability and standards public schools much achieve. There are no such standards and accountability procedures in place for non-public schools. Under our resolutions Financing of Free Public Schools and Parental Choice in Education it is PTA's stance that state and federal funds are only appropriated for public schools and we oppose any plan that would allow public funds be channel to parochial/private schools.

HJR 84, Sponsor Myron Neth, District 34, is a proposed amendment to the constitution that would increase the current 15% limitation on bond indebtedness an additional 5% for school districts.  HJR 90, Sponsor Rep. Joe Aull, District 26, would also increase the bond indebtedness to 20%. The current 15% ceiling restricts school districts residing in primarily residential areas from providing adequate construction, expansion and/or renovations.  Through the resolution Bonding Capacity, MOPTA has urged the legislature to raise this limit for several years.

HB 1718, Sponsor Dwight Schamhorst, District 93, would create a voucher system called a "educational scholarship" for specific students with special needs. Missouri PTA understands the difficulties parents of students with special needs face. The schools within the public school system are the only schools bound by law to address the needs of students with special needs. They are held accountable to specific standards set in place such as Individual education plans for special needs students. These types of standards address the student's specific needs and provide the parents with some control over their students education. MOPTA has opposed all types of legislation that would transfer state funds to non public schools. For more information about the real effects of vouchers please visit this link - The Truth About Vouchers.