By State Rep. David Klindt
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By State Rep. David Klindt
The Legislature returned to Jefferson City from the annual Spring Break which marks the halfway point in the legislative session. The House of Representatives spent many hours debating several bills this week and gave final approval to several of those bills and sent them to the Senate for consideration and action.
HB 1097 amends current laws relating to trespassing. Under current law, if someone injures, destroys, or carries off any tree, timber, rails, or cuts down any wood on another person’s property, they are liable for three times the value of these items. This bill specifies that these acts must be done intentionally or negligently before the liability is applicable.
HB 1848 allows the Board of Healing Arts to extend the time limit for physician or surgeon licensing examination requirements for student applicants who are working toward dual degrees. Some medical students are working toward an M.D. and a Ph.D degree. This bill will simply allow them more time to take their exams to obtain their licenses. The bill does not make any changes to their educational requirements to qualify to be a doctor.
HB 1923 requires members of the Missouri National Guard to apply for and use all available federal loans and scholarship money before they apply for Missouri State National Guard Scholarship assistance. The state funds are very limited and were designed to supplement federal educational assistance funding. There is currently a problem with students using state funds first and not taking full advantage of the federal funding which is available. This requirement should result in bringing an additional $70,000 of federal educational funding to the state. The bill also adds private higher educational institutions to the list of colleges who can participate in this program.
HB 1875 allows the state treasurer to withhold monies from the accounts of local governmental bodies such as cities, counties, school districts, etc. and transfer those monies to the state auditor’s account to pay the auditor for the costs of performing audits. Under current law, voters may request by a signed petition that the state auditor perform an audit of their local governing bodies. Some of these entities have paid for these audits, and some have not. The state auditor is currently owed approximately $100,000 for audits which have been completed. This bill will help ensure that the state is reimbursed in a timely manner.
HB 1374 allows counties to assess a $2 surcharge on all civil cases which are filed in its jurisdiction. This $2 surcharge will be used to fund domestic violence shelters. Currently, this surcharge can only be assessed on petitions for divorce or legal separation.
If you would like any further information concerning these bills or any other issue, please do not hesitate to contact my office.