By MIKE McCOY
Statesman Staff Writer
Local legislators are filing a variety of Bills in the 2012 legislative session which include advancing right to work laws, income tax deductions and a Bill aimed at requiring parents or guardians to report missing children within a fixed time span.
Sen. Rob Mayer, R-District 25, introduced SB 438 which bars employers from requiring employees to become members of a labor organization or from being forced to pay dues or other charges to a labor organization as a condition of employment. The Bill would make violation of the law a Class C misdemeanor and calls for local prosecuting attorneys and the attorney general to investigate complaints.
Mayer said shortly after he was tapped to be Senate Pro Tem that one of his main goals would be to take a look at labor laws and taxation that could be inhibiting job growth. Mayer has been a proponent of "right to work" legislation. Unlike many of its neighbors, Missouri is not a "right-to-work" (RTW) state. A right to work law secures the right of employees to decide for themselves whether or not to join or financially support a union.
The issue was hotly debated in the regular legislative session in 2011, but failed to gain approval. Right to work legislation has drawn opposition from legislators in bigger cities and metroplexes like St. Louis and Kansas City. There has even been a suggestion that voters from different geographical areas of the state, such as Southeast Missouri, be allowed to decide for themselves if they want to be a right to work area.
Mayer points to the success of neighboring non-union states such as Kentucky and Arkansas which have had success in attracting larger industries through their right to work laws.
Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, agrees with Mayer in trying to push through a "right-to-work" bill, despite House Speaker Steve Tilley's assertion this week that it's "a waste of legislative time."
The lack of cooperation between Senate and House republicans led to a near stalemate on business incentives in the special session in 2011.
Mayer has sponsored one other bill so far this session. SB 439 would suspend prevailing wage laws for a five-year period after an area is declared by the governor as a natural disaster. This bill comes in the wake of extensive flooding in several areas of the state as well as a devastating tornado in Joplin in 2011.
Rep. Billy Pat Wright, R-159, has introduced only one bill to date. HB 1167 would establish Caylee's Law in Missouri. As the Bill now reads, parents and guardians would have to report a child up to 17 years of age as missing within 24 hours of the time they are discovered missing. The Bill would also require that the corpse of a child up to 17 years of age must be reported within one hour of its discovery. Caylee's Law has been passed in several states since Casey Anthony's Florida acquittal on charges of murdering her two-year-old daughter, Caylee, in 2008. The mother failed to report her daughter missing for 31 days after she first disappeared. Several factors led to her acquittal, but the investigation was made much more difficult because of the span of time that passed.
Rep. Terry Swinger, D-162, introduced HB 1035 which would create a one-time tax deduction to a taxpayer for the cost of construction of a storm shelter made in America. There would be a $5,000 deduction limit on the shelter. A tornado struck Caruthersville a few years ago and destroyed the high school. Other natural disasters have also increased interest in storm shelters.
Swinger has also introduced HB 1102 which requires mandatory reporting of child abuse to the Children's Division in Missouri.
Rep. Kent Hampton, R-163, introduced a bill dealing with distribution of water by major users in Southeast Missouri. HB 1179 would prohibit large water users from conveying water withdrawn or diverted from the Southeast Missouri Regional Water District to a location outside the district if it interferes with another major user. The Bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Todd Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff.
Rep. Ellen Brandom, R-160, has introduced HB 1154 which deals with tax credits for donations to a food pantry. The Bill would reduce the annual cumulative amount of tax credits that can be authorized for donations to a food pantry from $2 million to $1 million beginning Jan. 1, 2013.