State Rep. Travis Fitzwater Archives

Top Missouri laws taking effect today

August 28, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Several bills become law today that the Missouri Legislature passed during the second regular session of the 100th General Assembly. Here is a snapshot of the top bills approved by lawmakers and signed by Gov. Mike Parson:

Top Missouri laws taking effect today

Partial motorcycle helmet law repeal
House Bill 1963 is a sweeping transportation bill allowing motorcycle drivers 26 years and older to go helmetless if they have their own health insurance. It requires insurance to cover medical costs for injuries from a motorcycle crash. Under the plan sponsored by Representative Travis Fitzwater, R-Holts Summit, motorcycle passengers would still be required to wear a helmet.

Cameras within long-term care patient rooms
St. Louis Representative Jim Murphy’s bill will let long-term care center patients put electronic monitoring devices in their rooms. Murphy, a Republican, tells Missourinet House Bill 1387 allows devices like video cameras to be placed within patient rooms at Missouri nursing homes, assisted living centers and mental hospitals. Under the plan, a visible sign must be placed in rooms where monitoring is occurring. Murphy says he thinks the devices will help to address potential abuse and neglect and help families stay in contact with their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic. Anyone featured in a recording must approve of the release of the recording unless the information is being given to law enforcement for investigative purposes.

Changes to Missouri’s foster care system
House Bill 1414 is comprehensive legislation about Missouri’s foster care system. It requires the creation of a response team to review the practices of the state Children’s Division and any contractors. The package gives Missouri’s homeless kids access to a free birth certificate and provides them with Medicaid health coverage. Representative Sheila Solon, R-St. Joseph, is sponsoring the proposal ensuring foster parents have access, at the time of placement, to full medical records of a child placed with them. It also clarifies that a child’s attendance in court hearings should only take place when the judge and family support believe it is in the best interest of the child.

Further healthcare coverage for certain conditions
Former state Representative David Wood, R-Versailles, is the sponsor of a wide-ranging healthcare bill allowing pregnant Missouri women on Medicaid to have access to mental health services for postpartum depression or related conditions for up to an additional 12 months. Previous law gave the benefits to eligible mothers for up to 60 days after giving birth. The extra help depends on state budget and federal approval.

House Bill 1682 also specifies that coverage for certain breast cancer screening and evaluation services must be provided annually to any woman deemed by her physician to have an above-average risk for breast cancer. Furthermore, the bill requires coverage of ultrasound or MRI services when determined by a physician to be medically necessary for any woman deemed by the doctor to have an above-average risk of breast cancer.

Rape kits testing
Sen. Andrew Koenig, R-Manchester, sponsored legislation streamlining Missouri’s testing process for sexual assault evidence kits and it creates a statewide task force aimed at protecting the rights of assault victims. Senate Bill 569 requires the state to create a centralized place to store untested rape kits and requires those kits to be stored for at least five years. Missouri has about 6,800 untested rape kits.

Tort Reform
Senate Bill 591 puts new limits on punitive damages in liability lawsuits. It allows juries to award punitive damages only when plaintiffs prove by clear and convincing evidence that defendants “intentionally harmed” someone without just cause or acted with “deliberate and flagrant disregard for the safety of others.” The business-friendly measure is sponsored by Sen. Bill White, R-Joplin.

Medical marijuana
Lawmakers passed changes to the state’s new medical marijuana industry. The FBI informed the state health department, which regulates the industry, that the Missouri agency will not have access to its national fingerprint background check database. Representative Lane Roberts, R-Joplin, says his legislation will clear up that problem. Under House Bill 1896, the agency requires fingerprints from medical marijuana business employees and department employees associated with licensing medical marijuana businesses. It bans medical marijuana edibles designed in the shape of a human, animal, or fruit, including realistic, artistic, caricature, or cartoon renderings. However, geometric shapes, including, but not limited to, circles, squares, rectangles, and triangles, are allowed.

Hawley: volunteers who showed up after Jefferson City tornado “showed the very best of who we are” (AUDIO/VIDEO)

May 23, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s junior senator describes the EF-3 tornado that struck Jefferson City one year ago today as devastating.

Missouri Senator Josh Hawley views a tornado-damaged building near the old MSP in Jefferson City on May 25, 2019 (Brian Hauswirth photo)

The May 22, 2019 tornado, which the National Weather Service (NWS) in St. Louis says packed an estimated peak wind of 160 miles per hour, destroyed about 240 homes and businesses.

“I remember my very first feeling was just incredible gratitude and thankfulness that more lives were not lost and more people not injured, because the devastation, the severity of the storm, the tornado was very, very significant,” Senator Josh Hawley says.

Senator Hawley walked down East Capitol Avenue in Jefferson City with a Missourinet reporter a year ago Saturday, viewing the devastation. Hawley praised the more than 1,000 volunteers who turned out that day, to remove debris and to help tornado victims.

“People coming with their tools and their chainsaws to help and clear away things,” Hawley told Missourinet that afternoon, in blazing heat. “People taking in neighbors and letting them stay in their homes, it really is a testament to the spirit of this state.”

East Capitol Avenue is just east of the State Capitol and near the old Missouri State Penitentiary (MSP), which also took a direct hit from the tornado.

Hawley visited that afternoon with residents and shopkeepers who had been affected. Some had lost everything, and were in tears.

During an interview this week, Hawley reflected on that tour. He says the volunteers who showed up in Jefferson City that day “showed the very best of who we are.”

“I also remember the number of people lining the street who were out helping their neighbors, out delivering food, I think there was a local restaurant owner who had set up a tent and was cooking meals for people right there on the spot,” says Hawley.

The restaurant owner donated all of the food that day to tornado victims and to volunteers.

There were no fatalities from the tornado, which State Rep. Travis Fitzwater, R-Holts Summit, described as an amazing testament to the community and the coordination with first responders.

Jefferson City Mayor Carrie Tergin describes the tornado as terrifying, noting the extensive destruction.

“But the damage was outdone by the volunteers. The sheer power of the tornado was no match for our community strength. We were determined to come back from this stronger, and we are,” Tergin says.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R), which was recorded on May 21, 2020. Brian also asked Senator Hawley about the Table Rock Lake duck boat issue: