House’s Blueprint for Missouri

You can always accomplish more if you have a plan. It gives you a sense of direction and a distinct goal to work toward as you move forward. And, when we started this legislative session in January, we laid out our plan for our Blueprint for Missouri. Now, as this year’s session comes to a close, I am pleased to say we’ve accomplished several of the things we set out to do.

As you may recall, the Blueprint for Missouri rested on four issue pillars designed to move us forward as a state. The pillars represent your core values and are the reason you sent me to Jefferson City. They include protecting taxpayers, creating jobs, reforming education and protecting values. In this week’s capitol report, I will address the bill we were able to pass in regard to protecting taxpayers and creating jobs.  Next week I will share what we accomplished in the areas of education and protecting values.

We have worked to protect you, the taxpayer, from the onset of this year’s session. Our initial pledge was to balance the budget and address the $500 million shortfall without raising taxes by a single penny.

We fought hard against those who wanted to raise your taxes in order to keep that money where it belongs -- in your pocket. The economic downturn has made it difficult for all of us to make ends meet -- and the rising cost of life’s basic necessities have made it particularly tough. The last thing we need in these tough times is higher taxes.

Jobs were once again a top priority this session. One of the best ways we can help businesses create jobs is to improve the business climate. Currently, Missouri’s businesses are faced with a burdensome regulatory scheme that is crippling their ability to grow and expand.  Until this problem is fixed, our economy will continue to be less stable than we would desire.

Here in the House, we reduced regulations on small businesses by passing HB 1135. Under current law, administrative rules can stay on the books of a state agency indefinitely. This legislation terminates all rules after five years unless the department re-promulgates the rule. By requiring these rules to be reviewed periodically, we can ensure that all agency rules are updated, efficient, effective and not a burden to businesses.

HB 1135 also gives businesses more say in the rule making process. By terminating a rule every five years, all rules will have a public-comment opportunity, giving citizens a say in how our executive departments run. This gives you the provision to tell the department how a rule affects your business and could keep a rule from being re-implemented.

We also improved the business climate by passing HB 1540 which reforms our co-employee liability laws under workers compensation. Due to a recent court ruling, injured workers now have the ability to sue their co-workers as part of their workers compensation case. This puts our workers in a difficult situation by making them choose between losing their jobs and being sued.

HB 1540 alleviates this burden on employers and their workers by raising the standard for suing an employee to gross negligence. By toughening the standard, we protect workers who are out there trying to make a living. Here in the House, we think that employees shouldn’t be sued for simply doing their job.

I am proud of our accomplishments this session. Next week I will share what we accomplished in the areas of education and protecting values.

I hope everyone has a good Memorial Day weekend as well as a safe one!

Please let me know if you would like to receive my weekly newsletter updates via electronic E-Mail, by sending an email with your name to: Shelley.Keeney@house.mo.gov   You may also go to the House members’ website (http://www.house.mo.gov/) and sign up for the newsletter on my home page.  At that location, you also have access to other House information and can review or watch the actions on legislative bills; as well as listen to live session audio.

As always, I appreciate hearing from you about your comments, opinions and concerns regarding legislative matters and state government. My phone number is 573-751-5912.  You may also write me at: “Shelley Keeney; Missouri House of Representatives; State Capitol, Room 313; Jefferson City, MO  65101-6806.”