Hiring deputies, securing internet access

The time for legislators to file more bills has now expired. The rest of session will be about working on those bills until session ends in mid-May. In all, House and Senate members filed 2,401 bills this session, which is about 400 more than last session.

Are all 2,401 bills good ideas for our state? Oh, no. There are a few that are real stinkers. But most would be beneficial for our state, and we will work to pass as many good ones as we can.

One bill that we worked on this week is HB1892, which would allow sheriffs to hire deputies that live in an adjacent state.

Current law forbids deputies from living in another state, which was probably intended to encourage people to move to Missouri to get a job. But instead, it has made it harder for law enforcement to recruit new help.

If this bill passes, it will be of the most benefit to the 47 counties that are our border counties like Harrison, Worth, and Mercer. This bill now moves to the Senate to be debated next week.

A second bill, HB1872, would encourage more high speed internet development in our state. Nicknamed the Missouri Rural Broadband Development Act, this bill would create a grant system that businesses could apply for to cover half of the costs of installing high speed internet in our unserved and underserved areas.

HB1872 is worded to mirror the qualifications for a federal grant that would also cover half of the development costs. Using these two grants, internet providers could build out high speed broadband in our state for free, so there would be no excuse for them not to give us the high speed service our rural communities need.

Of course, the money for the grants would have to be appropriated, and companies would have to apply and win the grants. But a similar program has recently had success in Minnesota, and so the bill sponsor hopes to copy that success here in Missouri.

Usually about 10% of the bills filed make it across the finish line to become law. Hopefully the two I have mentioned are in that group. I’ll keep you informed each week regarding the bills that look like they have a fighting chance of passing.