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Sponsors of ag bills expect to overturn vetoes, defend deer language

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Governor Jay Nixon (D) has vetoed two agriculture omnibus bills because they contain language that would transfer regulatory control of captive deer to the Department of Agriculture. The sponsors of those bills say those vetoes will be easy overrides in September.

Representative Casey Guernsey (left) and Senator Brian Munzlinger sponsored agriculture omnibus legislation including captive deer language, in the 2014 session. (photos courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications and the office of Sen. Munzlinger)

Representative Casey Guernsey (left) and Senator Brian Munzlinger sponsored agriculture omnibus legislation including captive deer language, in the 2014 session. (photos courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications and the office of Sen. Munzlinger)

Nixon says the bill violates the state’s Constitution, which says the Department of Conservation is responsible for the control and regulation of wildlife.

Senator Brian Munzlinger (R-Williamstown) says the bill is worded so as not to violate the Constitution by specifying that captive deer are not wild.

“Actually if you look at the Constitution, it says, ‘wildlife,'” says Munzlinger. “If you look at the (legislation’s proposed) definition of ‘livestock,’ it says ‘anything not taken from the wild,’ so I think if you look at clear definitions the governor was clearly wrong in his veto of Senate Bill 506.”

Backers of the captive deer provisions in that bill and House Bill 1326 say it would protect hunting preserve operators from new regulations that would put some of them out of business. Proponents of those new regulations say they are needed to prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD) from imported captive deer into the wild population.

Munzlinger accuses the Governor of standing against private property rights, and the House sponsor of those bills, Representative Casey Guernsey (R-Bethany), agrees.

Guernsey says the new regulations, “literally allow unaccountable, unelected officials a power grab to confiscate and regulate private property and farmers specifically, unlike we’ve ever seen before in the State of Missouri.”

Nixon, in his veto messages on the bills, calls it, “unfortunate,” that the legislature amended the deer language to, “two pieces of legislation that otherwise contain worthy provisions advancing Missouri agriculture.”

Munzlinger says the deer language “fit right in” with the bills.

“I think it was a good part, too,” says Munzlinger. “It was another sector of our agriculture industry – a private property rights issue that is related to agriculture because they are livestock. They are owned by those individuals, taken care of by those individuals.”

Munzlinger adds, “I cannot believe this governor came out against private property rights. That’s exactly what it is. We made a clear distinction that these were captive cervids that were property of the owners, and yet he didn’t clarify between ‘captive’ and ‘wild’ in his comments.”

Both lawmakers believe the vetoes will be overridden in September’s veto session.

Guernsey tells Missourinet, “We’ve passed and overridden the governor’s veto on agriculture legislation before. This isn’t the first time the governor’s vetoed agriculture’s priorities. I’m confident that if you look at the votes on all ten of these individual proposals, they passed out of the House and the Senate with pretty significant margins in a bipartisan fashion, so we’re going to do everything we can to override the veto.”

Read the Governor’s veto messages for SB 506 and HB 1326 (both are .pdf files)

Nixon vetoes two agriculture bills, cites opposition to captive cervid language

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Governor Jay Nixon (D) has vetoed two agriculture bills that, among other provisions, would have added captive deer to the definition of “livestock” in state statute, thereby putting them under the control of the Missouri Department of Agriculture rather than the Department of Conservation. His announcement of the vetoes focused on those provisions.

The provision is backed by the captive deer industry, who says regulations adopted recently that would ban importation of white-tailed deer and other cervids from other states, and enact tougher fencing requirements, could cause operators to shut down.

Proponents of the regulations say they are necessary to fight chronic wasting disease (CWD). The Conservation Department says CWD is not a threat to humans, but threatens the state’s deer herd, and the hunting industry tied to it.

The sponsors of those to agriculture bills, Representative Casey Guernsey (R-Bethany) and Senator Brian Munzlinger (R-Williamstown) say they believe the governor’s vetoes can be overturned.

The bills are Senate Bill 506 and House Bill 1326.

 

2nd House Committee to investigate alleged hostility at Department of Agriculture

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Two House panels will now be conducting investigations following up on allegations of a hostile work environment at the State Department of Agriculture.

Representative Casey Guernsey (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Representative Casey Guernsey (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Speaker Tim Jones (R-Eureka) has announced he will form the Bipartisan Investigatory Committee on State Department Workplace Abuse to be headed by Representative Casey Guernsey (R-Bethany).

UPDATE:  See Bob Priddy’s story with an interview with Guernsey here

In a statement Jones says, “As this story has continued to evolve in the press I have heard from many Missourians who are deeply concerned by the allegations made against the former department director. Rather than make a rush to judgment on this case, it is imperative that we do a comprehensive review of the way the department has been run and the way its employees have been treated.” Jones continues, “I want the committee to sort through the allegations of impropriety and find the truth of what truly occurred in the Missouri Department of Agriculture. Our goal is to root out any abusive behaviors and to make the department that oversees our state’s top industry the kind of efficient, well-run governmental agency that Missouri taxpayers deserve.”

Jones refers to the departure of Agriculture Director Jon Hagler from the Department in early October the day after a letter was released by a former Department employee accusing Hagler of creating a hostile workplace. Allegations have since been raised that Hagler threatened an executive of the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association. Hagler answered those allegations publicly for the first time in an interview Saturday with Missourinet.

Jones has appointed Representative Stanley Cox (R-Sedalia) to serve on the committee with Guernsey, and says the rest of the committee’s membership will be announced in the coming days. Guernsey says he expects the committee to begin holding hearings later this month.

Jones had already asked the Government Oversight and Accountability Committee chaired by Representative Jay Barnes (R-Jefferson City) to investigate issues at the Department of Agriculture as well as the Department of Labor, where claims have been made of intimidation and discrimination by a former department director.

Budget bill includes money for new lake in north-central Missouri

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Some of the money in a budget bill sitting on the Governor’s desk could help advance the creation of a new lake in north-central Missouri.

This map shows where the new lake would go upon completion of the East Locust Creek Reservoir Project. (image courtesy; John Holmes, Allstate Consultants)

This map shows where the new lake would go upon completion of the East Locust Creek Reservoir Project. (images courtesy; John Holmes, Allstate Consultants)

The East Locust Creek Water Reservoir Project has been ongoing for many years. It would create a 2,300 acre, 7 mile long lake north of Milan in Sullivan County. $4 million in HB 19 would go toward that project.

North Central Missouri Regional Water Commission General Manager Brad Scott says that reservoir is critically needed in a part of the state where wells can’t meet the water needs.

“There are a lot of folks suffering from a water shortage. We came extremely close – within days – of running out of water in certain communities in Missouri. Fortunately God smiled upon us and the heavens opened, and the drought was broken.”

If approved by the Governor, that money would go toward the acquisition of land. Scott says of the 4,300 total acres needed for the project about 2,200 has been acquired. He says that could propel the project to begin construction by 2017 and have the lake fully operational and providing water by 2019.

Scott says while the new lake would be a water supply first and foremost, it will also provide a new attraction in north-central Missouri.

“Much of the job creation that will occur will come from recreational use. This lake will be a public lake that will look and act like a private lake. There will be homes around it, we will sell easements across our property to the water for docks, we will sell dock licenses for folks who live on the water’s edge … I say and believe that it will fundamentally change the economy of north-central Missouri for 100 years.”

This map shows the same region before completion of the project.

This map shows the same region before completion of the project, which would inundate the community of Boynton.

Representative Casey Guernsey (R-Bethany) is one of the lawmakers that lobbied to get that money included in HB 19. He says the recreational benefits will be a good residual, but the real importance is the water supply for the farmers in the 10 counties it will serve.

“It’s necessary. From a survival standpoint and being able to retain the industry that they have and meet the demand that the municipalities have, it’s a must-have.”

The Water Commission testified to the House Budget Committee asking to receive $10 million from a proposed bonding initiative that was not approved by the legislature this year. Scott isn’t sure whether the Commission would ask for similar consideration if that proposal is raised again in the 2014 legislative session.

“We may have our finance plan laid in by that time. Certainly if we do not it would be a wonderful option for us to have.”

Governor Jay Nixon has not acted on HB 19. That proposal was just delivered to his office on Wednesday. Nixon has objected to another portion of the bill that would spend $38 million on a new state office building at the site of the decommissioned Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City, but he has the option to strike out that portion of the bill rather than veto it entirely.

House approves 911 funding plan; bill goes to the Senate

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The sponsor of 911 funding legislation says her plan gives options to counties that are struggling to pay for that service.

Representative Jeanie Lauer (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Representative Jeanie Lauer (photo courtesy Tim Bommel,
House Communications)

County governments and organizations that represent them have been pushing for a 911 funding mechanism for years. They say the old landline-based surcharge that supports it doesn’t provide enough money as fewer people use landline phones and switch to mobile devices. That forces counties to pull money from other places, or cut the service. Eighteen counties in Missouri don’t have a 911 system.

Rep. Jeanie Lauer (R-Blue Springs) says her proposal, HB 653, offers counties a new option.

“What this bill does is provide enabling legislation for counties to go to the voters to apply a fee to all devices … wireless and wire line … to help fund 911 services,” Lauer says. “The proposed fee is up to $1.50 per device, and again this is enabling legislation so it must go to the voters.”

Lauer emphasizes that counties could only use one of the three funding mechanisms.

Callaway County Associate Commissioner Doc Kreider says the proposal would help rural counties, who struggle the most to support 911.

“Our overall objective is to have a call taking center, or when someone dials 911 anywhere in the state of Missouri … then we have a competent, qualified, trained person that’s going to take your call and will be able to dispatch the appropriate agency for help,” Kreider says.

The bill includes a provision that would bar any third-class county from submitting a proposal to the voters until all emergency telephone providers in the county have consolidated, or until a study is done to consider consolidation.

Some lawmakers said it doesn’t make sense for some counties not to consolidate and keep collecting a sales tax or start collecting a new surcharge.

“It’s not going to solve the problem with funding in some of these counties just to allow them to collect a tax on cell phones because it’s still going to cost the counties general revenue to maintain the services,” says Rep. Casey Guernsey (R-Bethany).

The plan has been approved and sent to the Senate.

House passes welfare reform legislation, advances food stamp card photo proposal

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The state House has approved a bill its sponsor says will keep people from staying on public assistance programs for a long time.

Representative Casey Guernsey (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Representative Casey Guernsey (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Republican Casey Guernsey’s (R-Bethany) says the key provision in his bill would create a work program for public assistance recipients and requires recipients age 18 or older to have a high school diploma or equivalent, or get one within two years of beginning to receive benefits.

See the legislation, HB 343.

An amendment added to the bill also sets minimum requirements for the hours recipients must spend working, training for or looking for a job. Guernsey says bring the state in line with federal regulations.

“We don’t even know how far out of compliance we are. We didn’t find out until this year in the budget committee that we’re out of compliance and being fined to the tune of $30 million dollars … we don’t know how many millions of dollars we’re out of compliance between 2009 and now.”

Another provision would bar the use of electronic benefits cards in some businesses including liquor stores. Democrats argue that creates a hardship for people who live in areas where there are no grocery stores for great distances.

Guernsey responds, “I have counties in my old district that didn’t have a grocery store in the entire county … I understand what you’re talking about with the liquor store but I just don’t buy the argument when I’ve got counties in my district and surrounding districts that doesn’t have a grocery store in the entire county.”

The legislation has advanced to the state Senate.

See our earlier story on Guernsey’s bill being heard in committee.

Representative Keith English (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Representative Keith English (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Another bill that has received initial approval would ask the federal government to okay Missouri printing food stamp electronic benefit cards that include a photo of the food stamp recipient, to help deter fraud.

Opponents point out that there are many ways to commit food stamp fraud that the photos wouldn’t stop, but its sponsor, Representative Keith English (D-Florissant) says that’s OK.

“I think any time we can tighten the belt up like we did getting rid of food stamp dollar bills, we cut fraud that way, and I think this is one step closer to cutting more fraud out of there. We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

His legislation needs another favorable vote to advance to the Senate.

House gives initial approval to two gun bills (AUDIO)

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On the same day the U.S. Senate rejected an expansion of background checks for gun purchases, the Missouri House of Representatives has advanced two gun rights bills.

A bill (HB 170) sponsored by Rep. Casey Guernsey (R-Bethany) would make laws passed after Jan. 1, 2013 that ban, restrict ownership or require registration of a gun or magazine unenforceable in Missouri and would make it a Class D felony to attempt to enforce them.

A separate measure (HB 436) sponsored by Rep. Doug Funderburk (R-St. Peters) would make any law that infringes on the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution invalid according to state law.

Guernsey says of his bill it is one he never thought he’d have to sponsor.

“We as a legislative body in Missouri are going to have to put ourselves between the citizens of Missouri and the federal government when it comes to one of our most basic, fundamental, constitutional rights, that of our Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms,” Guernsey said.

Rep. Stacey Newman (D-St. Louis) said Guernsey’s bill is unconstitutional.

“You talk to any lawyer that’s standing here … they’ll tell you that this bill basically benefits the trial lawyers,” Newman said. “It just gives them something else to contest in court because we all know that this bill is not going to hold any muster.”

Supporters and opponents of the bills expressed outrage at various parts of one another’s arguments. Rep. Margo McNeil (D-Florissant) cited incidents of gun violence.

“I feel that what is really outrageous is 20 children killed in Sandy Hook [Conn.] not too long ago, and six adults,” she said. “What is outrageous is 61 mass shootings since Columbine [Colo.] in 1999. What is outrageous is 17 bullets in one six-year-old’s body. That’s what’s outrageous.”

AUDIO:  McNeil’s floor remarks (1:42)

Rep. Paul Curtman (R-Pacific) countered by saying it is outrageous that state or federal lawmakers would try to infringe on Missourians’ Second Amendment rights.

“If you were to go back in time 230-some years and look at a dictionary, the word ‘infringe’ would say something along the lines of ‘to corrupt’ or ‘to corrode,’ so anything that the federal government does to restrict the right of the people to keep and bear arms is, in fact, an infringement, and therefore unconstitutional,” he said.

AUDIO:  Curtman’s floor remarks (3:27)

An amendment was adopted on Funderburk’s bill that would allow school districts to designate school protection officers. These would be teachers or administrators that would be allowed to carry concealed guns on school grounds. It was sponsored by Rep. Rick Brattin (R-Harrisonville).

“They would have to have a valid concealed carry weapons permit and also go through post-commission training … basically police officer training … this is a way of protecting our schools and our children where it matters most, at our most vulnerable areas of our society,” Brattin said.

Brattin’s proposal drew more response from Newman, who tweeted, “It’s NRA night in MO House. What’s next? Arming kids?”

Other provisions between the two bills would lower the age to be eligible to apply for a concealed carry weapons permit from 21 to 19 and allow permit holders to open carry, bar the publishing of gun owner lists, prevent medical practitioners from asking gun ownership status of patients and exempt individuals from federal background checks in private gun transactions.

Both packages would advance to the Senate with another favorable vote.

House passes surveillance drone ban critics call ‘overreaching’

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The state House has narrowly passed legislation to keep the state of Missouri from surveilling its citizens using aircraft. 

Representative Casey Guernsey (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Representative Casey Guernsey (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Representative Casey Guernsey (R-Bethany) says his bill stems from concern he has over events in two neighboring states.

“The federal government in conjunction with the state government in Iowa and Nebraska actually engaged in surveillance that brought about 50 different actions against farmers in Iowa alone.”

Guernsey suggests the charges against those farmers might be unfounded.

“The problem is that people who are interpreting a lot of this data don’t know anything about farming. They don’t understand anything about growing crops, they don’t understand anything about keeping cattle and if they’re looking at some image on a farm from a screen and they have no ag background, they’re the ones who are going to be allowed to start policing agriculture or business or homes or residential codes or, you know, whatever? The Conservation Department?”

Some lawmakers who didn’t oppose the original intent of the bill said amendments added on the floor made it go too far. One added the words, “Manned aircraft,” to the key provisions.

Representative Jeff Roorda (D-Barnhardt), a former police officer, says that will impair law enforcement use of aircraft.

“This grounds the air division of every law enforcement agency in the state. Not just planes, not drones, it includes helicopters.”

Roorda says it also adds a right to privacy where none exists.

“You have a right to privacy, to be free from unreasonable searches in your person, your home, your papers and your affects, right? Not in an open field, not in the highways and byways of our state.”

Another amendment would prevent news media from using drones to conduct surveillance of private property or individuals.

The bill now goes to the Senate.

UPDATE: Revenue Department official answers questions about concealed carry permit scans

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The Revenue Department has offered an explanation for its license offices scanning personal information from concealed carry permit applicants.

Representative Todd Richardson has filed a bill meant to clarify and strengthen Missouri laws on the retention or dissemination by the Revenue Department of personal information from license applicants. (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Representative Todd Richardson has filed a bill meant to clarify and strengthen Missouri laws on the retention or dissemination by the Revenue Department of personal information from license applicants. (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

A lawsuit was filed in Stoddard County over its license office scanning those documents. A judge then granted an order putting a temporary halt to those scans. Some GOP lawmakers say the scans alone violate state law, and some allege information is being sent to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The issue has been raised to Revenue Department Deputy Director John Mollenkamp at a hearing of the House Budget Committee. St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Elizabeth Crisp tweeted some of his remarks on the matter.

Mollenkamp told the Committee that he understands no information is being sent to the federal government. He says scanned information is being sent to a third-party vendor because printers used for licenses are too expensive for the state to own, and says other documents scanned are being sent to the state data center in Jefferson City.

Mollenkamp says more details will be released at Monday’s hearing.

Representative Todd Richardson (R-Poplar Bluff) has filed a bill to prohibit the Department from keeping copies of such documents, but he says it’s not clear yet what change needs to be made in law.

“Whether there exists a gap in the law that we need to fix is really the point of my legislation. Privacy rights are an incredibly important right that we have as Missourians and I don’t want a state department unnecessarily collecting people’s private information, and I certainly don’t want them collecting that private information and shipping it off to an out-of-state, for-profit company.”

Representative Casey Guernsey (R-Bethany) says an anonymous source working with a Revenue Department license office in his district has told him the information is going to the Department of Homeland Security. He says he thinks that state law is “plenty clear” in prohibiting the scans, and any dissemination to the federal government.

“In 2009 I was in the legislature and we passed [a law] specific to these situations … it is abundantly obvious the intent of the legislation, not to mention the language that we put in statute to prevent this sort of thing from happening.”

See our earlier stories on the scanning of concealed carry application documents.

UPDATE: Rep. Guernsey says anonymous source told him about concealed carry info going to Homeland Security

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See an update on this story from 6:30pm 03/07/2013

A state lawmaker says an anonymous source has told him that a Department of Revenue license office in his district has scanned personal information from applicants for concealed carry permits and sent it to the Department of Homeland Security. 

Representative Casey Guernsey (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Representative Casey Guernsey (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Rep. Casey Guernsey (R-Bethany) says that information violates state law.

Guernsey describes his source only as someone who works with a license office in his District.

“Considering they, of course, want to remain nameless, it’s hard to really go into any further detail, I believe,” he says.

Guernsey says a 2009 law passed by the General Assembly expressly made such collections and dissemination of information illegal.

“I think it is plenty clear, and it is abundantly obvious the intent of the legislation, not to mention the language that we put in statute to prevent this sort of thing from happening.”

See the state statutes regarding these matters, 302.183 and 32.091

Even so, Guernsey has signed on to co-sponsor a proposal from Rep. Todd Richardson (R-Poplar Bluff) he says will seek to add any clarity or strength to state law regarding these procedures.

The claim the information is being sent to Homeland Security was made in an e-mail distributed Thursday morning by Guernsey and Rep. Paul Curtman (R-Pacific).  While Guernsey cites his anonymous source, Curtman admits he didn’t have a source for the claim and that he was just drawing a conclusion.

“I’m telling you from my experience in the Marine Corps that the Department of Labor is not concerned about military strategy or what the bad guys are carrying, but the people that deal with security issues are, so if we’re looking for somebody at the federal level who wants all this information on what citizens have a CCW permit, it makes sense to me tactically speaking and logically speaking … it’s the Department of Homeland Security,” Curtman says.

Curtman could not confirm that anyone at a fee office had said that the information is going to Homeland Security. 

“I probably couldn’t even answer that question for you right now because the conversations that were happening with some of the folks at the fee offices … I have not heard them say that,” he says. “Without naming any names for you right now, this information will be made public later on as more information unfolds.”

A lawsuit filed Monday in Stoddard Co. alleges that the license office in that county was refusing to give a concealed carry permit applicant his permit for failing to hand over his personal information to be scanned. A judge later issued an order stopping the scanning of such documents there.

Stoddard County Prosecutor Russ Oliver announced his suit with Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder Monday at the State Capitol. At that time, neither Oliver nor Kinder knew what was being done with the documents that were scanned.

See our story from Monday on the Stoddard County lawsuit announcement.

The House Committee on Government Oversight and Accountability will hold a hearing on Monday on the matter.

The ranking Democrat on that committee, Rep. Kevin McManus (D-Kansas City) says he wants to see what information is revealed at Monday’s hearing.

“At that point I think it would be proper to consider whatever legislative proposal we need to, to make sure that, I think number one, identities are being protected and private information’s not being released that shouldn’t be released, and number two that people are able to have whatever rights and excercise their rights for the conceal and carry permits properly under current statute that they are given that right and are able to exercise it,” McManus says.