Capitol Report: June 1, 2017

Last week the Senate passed HB 1 to allow electric rate negotiations for a new aluminum plant operator at the old Noranda facility in the Bootheel. The bill is being sent through the final stages of processing in the legislature, and Governor Greitens is expected to sign the bill when it arrives in his office. Hopefully, this will help place at least 500 jobs in our state!

Now that both the regular and special legislative sessions have come to an end, the legislature stands at a little over 75 bills that have been Truly Agreed to and Finally Passed (TAFP). These bills now await the Governor’s approval or veto. These TAFP bills span a variety of topics including labor reform, tort reform, and economic development measures, as well as several other topics.

Below is a brief summary of four TAFP’d bills. More TAFP’d bill summaries will follow in the weeks to come. Finally, before Veto Session in September, the governor’s actions on all bills will be reviewed.

HB 34 — Changes the laws regarding the Uniform Commercial Code to adopt the current version of Articles 1 and 7

This bill updates Articles 1 and 7 of Missouri's Commercial Code to match the current version of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). Missouri has become the latest state to enact important provisions of the UCC, designed to ease commercial transactions between various states. UCC Articles 1 and 7 have now been enacted in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The UCC is a comprehensive set of laws governing all commercial transactions between U.S. states and territories. The UCC is organized into nine articles, each article governing a separate area of the law. UCC Article 1 provides definitions and general provisions that apply to transactions covered by other articles of the UCC. Article 1 impacts every transaction governed by the UCC, including any sale of goods, any letter of credit, any warehouse receipt, or any transfer of an investment security. It is important to have Article 1 up-to-date and consistent with the rest of the UCC.

UCC Article 7 deals with documents of title. Documents of title – either bills of lading or warehouse receipts – are commonly used in the shipment and storage of goods. Article 7 provides a framewor k for the further development of electronic documents of title and updates the article for modern usage. To the extent possible, it updates the rules for electronic documents of title to make them as similar as possible to paper documents of title.

SCS HCS HB 50 — Changes division designations for circuit and associate courts in the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit

This bill specifies that Division 12 of the 16th Judicial Circuit shall sit in the City of Independence rather than in Kansas City.

HB 51 — Authorizes county commissions that oversee cemetery funds to utilize investment managers

This bill authorizes county commissions who are trustees for a cemetery trust fund to utilize investment managers to invest, reinvest, and manage fund assets. Responsibilities and requirements for investment managers are detailed in the bill. The cemetery trust funds to which the bill is referring and of which the county commission is given authority to invest are outlined in RSMo, Sections 214.140 to 214.180.

CCS/HCS/SS/SB 62 — The act modifies provisions regarding various pension systems throughout the state and forfeiture of a pension benefit due to a felony conviction.

This act, among other changes, increases various existing fees that are deposited in the County Employees’ Retirement Fund (CERF) and creates a new penalty that will also be paid into the fund, to be collected on delinquent and back taxes. It changes the amount of the penalties paid to the CERF. These changes are designed to increase the balance of the retirement fund before deficiencies become a major problem.

This act also repeals a provision allowing an employee of the City of St. Louis who is a member of the city's retirement system and who subsequently becomes a police officer to elect to remain a member of the city's retirement plan rather than joining the Police Retirement System of St. Louis. This act also changes the vesting requirement for normal retirement eligibility from ten years to five for members of the state retirement benefit plan known as the Year 2000 Plan who first become employees on or after January 1, 2011. In addition, currently, in the Public School Teacher Retirement System (PSRS) and Public Education Employees Retirement System (PEERS) nomination of a successor beneficiary must be filed within ninety days of a remarriage.

This act allows retired members of PSRS or PEERS who elected a reduced retirement allowance to provide for survivor benefits for his or her spouse to have the retirement allowance increased to the single life annuity amount, with no survivor benefits, if the member and his or her spouse become divorced on or after September 1, 2017, and if the dissolution decree provides for sole retention by the retired person of all rights in the retirement allowance.

Local Photo Voter ID Town Hall

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and I will host a town hall meeting at the Martin Community Center (1985 S Odell Ave, Marshall) on Thursday, June 15th at 9:45 A M to discuss the new photo voter ID law going into effect in Missouri this year. If possible, please plan to attend. This will be a great opportunity to ask any questions you may have. Make sure your vote counts!

It is an honor to serve the 51st District in the Missouri House of Representatives. Each week I will issue a capitol report to keep you informed of activities in Jefferson City. Any concerns or issues you might have are of great interest to me. I look for ward to your input and thoughts, so please feel free to contact me at any time if you have questions, concerns, or ideas to improve our state government and the quality of life for all Missourians. My telephone number is 573-751-2204 or you may contact me by email at dean.dohrman@house.mo.gov. Thank you for working with me to make Missouri a great place to live.