Jeff City - Week in Review - Missouri House

The House passed HB 115 which allows direct access to physical therapists without a referral from a physician. All Cass County representatives (Haffner, Davis and Gallick) voted in favor of this bi-partisan bill.  

HCS HB 14 a supplemental appropriations bills was also passed with bi-partisan support, 148-2. Governor Parson had requested an 8.7% increase in salary for state employees, which still leaves them with some of the lowest pay in the US. One of the 2 NO votes was from Cass County representative Michael Davis. Apparently Michael Davis doesn't think our state workers are worth a raise! 

On Wednesday, the House took up debate on HB 301, also known as the “Crime Prevention'' bill, which in actuality offers no substantive solutions to address any crime and gun violence affecting our state which has the 4th highest rate of gun deaths in the country. There have been numerous correlations between the unsafe gun laws and Missouri’s increased rates of violent crime. 

During the interim there was a bipartisan study group made up of 3 Democrats and 3 Republicans, who worked tirelessly on how to address public safety in our state.  Unfortunately, all these recommendations were stripped from its original version in committee.  

HB 301 targets major cities, particularly St. Louis, and removes local control, and a provision to disallow minors from carrying guns was also omitted from the bill (yes, you read that correctly, Missouri Republicans think it's just fine for children to carry guns in public without adult supervision!)  On Thursday during the final debate (third read), Republicans used procedure to silence the voices of St. Louis representatives and didn't allow them to speak.  HB 301 was passed along party lines. Cass County Rep. Mike Haffner, Rep. Michael Davis, and Representative Sheri Gallick all voted to strip local control from St. Louis and voted against banning minors from openly carrying firearms on public land without adult supervision! This bill now moves to the Missouri Senate.