|
|
Welcome to the new home of Lee's Summit Tribune. We are dedicated to providing you the most current and accurate news and events in Lee's Summit
|
|
Home
»
News
»
District 54 End of Session Wrap-Up
|
|
|
| | |
|
 | |  |
|
District 54 End of Session Wrap-Up
By: Representative Gary Dusenberg, 54th District
On Friday, May 15, 2010 the Missouri General Assembly ended the
2010 session. There has already been much publicized about this year’s session taking
into account the productive or lack thereof this year’s session. The lowest number of actual bills was
passed since 2000; however, that is not always a bad thing. Though new laws often
impress constituents within each district, sometimes “no new laws” benefits the citizens
even more. A few bills that were passed that impact our citizens awaiting the governor’s
signature are:
. SB 844 dealing with campaign finance reform and ethics has been the gravest
disappointment to me this session. I have consistently fought for significant
ethics and campaign reform throughout this session. This bill does very little to
address the significant need to eliminate “pay for play” and what I believe to be
unethical behavior of some politicians that represent our citizens. This bill was
described by the House Special Standing Committee on Government
Accountability and Ethics Reform as being “ethics light”. However, it is a start
and it does address some funneling of money between committees and gives the
Ethics Commission some additional powers. It is my hope that future General
Assemblies will tackle this highly political problem that can be destructive to our
state.
. HB 1311 & 1341 passed the house with a vote of 144-16. This bill will enable
children under the age of 18 diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders to
receive medical coverage up to $40,000 annually. This will only cover about
27% of children afflicted by this disease. This is a mandate on the insurance
companies and I am not always in favor of mandates. I do agree with this
legislation as these children and their families face ongoing financial and medical
challenges.
. SB 586 & 1617 deals with sexual oriented business. This law, if signed by the
Governor, will require these types of businesses to be 1,000 feet from schools,
churches, public parks and daycare centers and will place restrictions on nudity,
hours of operation, proximity to patrons, alcohol sales, and employees. I received
many emails and phone calls regarding this issue with general support for
passage of the bill. I know Senator Bartle was exceedingly pleased to see this
pass as he has long fought for changes regulating these businesses.
. HB 1764 will be on the ballot for citizens in August. The Health Care Freedom
Act was introduced and approved for final passage to maintain state’s rights to
mandate our health care decisions; not the federal government. The Senate
opted instead of passing this legislation to present the issue as a state-wide
referendum. This legislation will bypass the Governor’s desk and go straight to
the voters to decide on August 3rd
I strongly support state’s rights versus mandates from the Federal Government and they
should not be able to mandate our care. I have received overwhelming support from
constituents on this issue.
. HB 1868 is an effort to downsize state government and to balance the state
budget. This combines the state water patrol into a newly established water
patrol within the Mo State Highway Patrol. It also establishes a committee to
study additional reductions within the state.
. SB 793 strengthens the state’s informed consent requirements to obtain an
abortion. This bill passed the House on a vote of 114-39.
This is only a sampling of the 105 bills that passed. Unfortunately for the taxpayers,
minimal significant legislation passed and the House was primarily engaged in
grandstanding and political maneuvering by leadership from both sides of the aisle
rather than taking care of the “people’s business” and offering solutions to our list of
important issues facing our economy and unemployment within the state. This will be my
last year in the House. There remains much to do to improve our state’s economy, bring
new businesses to the state, strengthen campaign finance reform, reduce
unemployment and insure a strong education foundation for our children. Former
Congressman JC Watt’s once said; “integrity is what one does or says when no one is
watching.” It is my hope that our elected officials in Jefferson City would live by this
standard.
To learn more, please contact Representative Dusenberg at 816-668-9998 or
gdusenberg@comcast.net.
| |
 | |  |
| | |
|
Other Recent Articles from the News Category:
| |
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
MAVERICKS FALL IN GAME THREE TO FORT WAYNE, 3-1
|
|
|
