House legislative priorities are taking shape for 2017

Anthony Brown
Rep. Allen Andrews

Labor, tort, education, ethics, and regulatory reforms will be part of the legislative agenda for the Missouri House of Representatives during the 2017 legislative session that begins in January.

House Speaker Todd Richardson recently gave greater detail to the legislative priorities our caucus will pursue in the coming year. Among these will be labor reform efforts that will include efforts to pass legislation supporters call “right-to-work,” and “paycheck protection,” as well as reforms to project labor agreements. Tort reforms will include resumption of efforts to pass legislation changing how expert witnesses are evaluated, and Missouri’s collateral source rule.

In education reform, the Speaker said expansion of charter schools will be considered, and the caucus will look for ways to improve student achievement “across the board.” Richardson announced the House is creating a task force of members to look at these issues specifically.

The Speaker also wants to pick up where the legislature left off last year with ethics reform. With that, his first goal in the House will be to again pass a bill banning gifts from lobbyists to legislators. “I was proud that we were able to take some substantive, meaningful steps forward on ethics reform last year, but I don’t think anybody thinks that job is complete,” said Speaker Richardson. “We want the environment in Jefferson City to be better than it is today and that’s going to be an ongoing process. This year that’s going to start with work on the gift ban.”

The House will also study the way Missouri regulates businesses. The Speaker hopes to work to cut red tape and remove some of the regulatory barriers for business. He noted that the legislature will continue the work it began last year on a statewide regulatory framework for ride sharing companies like Uber and Lyft.

The House will also push legislation being called “The Sunshine Act,” which would require an analysis of proposed regulations before they are enacted. The Speaker said the House will also take a more comprehensive look at what licensing requirements exist in Missouri, to see if they present “unnecessary barriers” to employment.

The pre-filing of bills for the 2017 legislative session began December 1. The legislative session begins January 4.