My Fellow Missourians:
We received notification today that the Department of Economic Development has awarded Neighborhood Assistance Tax Credits to the Friends of the St. Clair County Senior Center in Osceola and The Friends of the Hickory County Health Department in Hermitage. This is wonderful news for all the constituents of District 125 knowing these funds will be used to enhance the lives of many and help meet the growing and constant needs of our citizens.
As bill pre-filing began Thursday for the 2017 legislative session, I introduced several pieces of legislation ranging in topic from a repeal of Missouri’s prevailing wage law to a reduction in fees for rural business owners who want to advertise by posting advertising signs on their own land. One of my top goals this year is to help invigorate Missouri’s economy.
HB104 is identical to HB 1931, which I sponsored during the 2016 legislative session to repeal Missouri’s current prevailing wage law. The current law requires contractors and subcontractors working on public works projects to pay employees the prevailing wage for that area. In many rural counties the prevailing wage can be significantly higher than the wages typically paid to workers on private sector construction projects. Eliminating the prevailing wage could reduce the cost of public construction projects and lead to wiser spending of Missouri taxpayers’ dollars and result in increased investment in our state’s infrastructure.
Prevailing wage forces an artificially high wage that escalates the cost to taxpayers for projects that are desperately needed in many areas of the state. By removing prevailing wage we can allow contractors to still pay their employees competitive wages, but also give them the ability to make qualified contractors’ competitive bids that will give taxpayers a better return on investment of their tax dollars spent on public works projects that need to be done. Only qualified contractors who are licensed, bonded and insured will be allowed to make competitive bids.
I have also filed HB56, which is identical to HB 1564 from 2016. The bill would waive the permit fee and biennial inspection fee for a sign as long as the landowners own the business displayed on the sign, and as long as the business being displayed on the sign is within 750 feet of the sign location regardless of intervening land use. It must also be at least 750 feet away from the next nearest sign. This bill’s intent is simply meant to waive the fees for rural business owners, because no one should have to pay a fee to advertise on their own business on their own land on either side of a highway.
Another bill that I am sponsoring (HB105) would remove the sunset date for the Organ Donor Program Fund Checkoff on the Missouri Individual Income Tax Return. Identical to HB 1673 that was filed during the 2016 session, this bill would help continue funding for the donor program that has saved lives throughout Missouri. Mrs. Debra Simaitis chairs the Governor’s Organ Donation Advisory Committee and is also a constituent of District 125. The Organ Donor Program is supported by voluntary contributions at the Missouri driver’s license offices, the Missouri State Employee Charitable Campaign, and through direct contributions. Funds are used to expand education, maintain an in-depth donor registry system, increase awareness programs, and provide online training to emergency personnel.
Finally, I am again filing legislation (HB53) to establish the Missouri Heritage Protection Act. The bill would prohibit any agency, political subdivision, or entity with the power of eminent domain from relocating, renaming, rededicating, erecting, modifying or removing any state historic military monument, memorial or marker, any designated veterans’ grave marker or any statutorily designated monument or memorial located on any site under its control or located on state land listed on the Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s registry without first holding a public hearing and receiving the Historic Preservation council’s approval.
The goal of the bill is to preserve all of the history of the state and to ensure a reasoned discussion occurs before historical monuments or memorials are removed, renamed or relocated.
As someone who is an avid history buff, I am concerned by recent attempts to erase parts of our history simply because they are controversial. We all know we have painful chapters in the history of our state and our nation, but they are still part of our history and what has made us the nation and the people we are today. I think it’s extremely important that we preserve all of our history so that we can learn from it and appreciate where we’ve come from and what we’ve been through as Missourians and Americans.
Bill pre-filing began in the Missouri House Thursday, Dec. 1. The General Assembly will convene for the 2017 legislative session Wednesday, Jan. 4, with all representatives taking oath at 12 noon.
Online survey now available
To help me better represent our district, I am seeking input from the 125th District Constituents by providing an electronic survey that addresses a variety of issues. It takes only a few minutes and may be found at http://www.house.mo.gov/member.aspx?year=2017&district=125 which is the Missouri House of Representatives website, District 125/Love webpage. I will also have this posted to my personal webpage, www.warrenlove.org, in order to reach as many constituents as possible.
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