After passing the fewest
number of bills in almost 20 years, the Missouri General Assembly
adjourned its 2017 legislative session on Friday, May 12. Only 54 bills,
six resolutions and the Fiscal Year 2018 state budget bills were “truly
agreed and finally passed” by Missouri lawmakers. MCADSV tracked 324
bills of the 1,966 bills filed during this legislative session.
On May 4, MCADSV gained bipartisan legislative support and success when
legislators increased state funding for sexual and domestic violence
services in the state budget for Fiscal Year 2018. This was significant
because the FY18 budget was cut by more than $500 million from the
current state budget. Legislators also voted to move the federal Victims
of Crime Act (VOCA) grant program, and its fund balances, from the
Department of Public Safety (DPS) to the Department of Social Services
(DSS).
MCADSV was able to forestall the passage of a bill that would have
created criminal penalties for protection order petitioners who
communicate with respondents to those orders. Another bill opposed by
MCADSV that did not pass would have weakened protections for victims of
domestic violence and their children by establishing a 50/50 shared
custody standard for all child custody cases.
Two bills approved on the last day of session were multi-provision
“omnibus” bills with several sections supported by, or of interest to,
MCADSV members. These included provisions that would:
- Add
prior municipal or county convictions as penalty enhancements for
subsequent state convictions for domestic assault, fourth degree, and
harassment, second degree, offenses;
- Require
court orders, and give the Secretary of State standing to intervene, in
cases seeking the street addresses of participants in the Safe at Home
address confidentiality program;
- Increase
the penalties for hate crimes when assault, third and fourth degree, or
harassment, first degree, are found to be motivated because of the
victim’s race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation
or disability;
- Require
a review of any changes in the financial status of Legal Services’
clients prior to trial in custody cases to determine if they have the
resources to pay guardian ad litem (GAL) fees;
- Require
the Children’s Division to inform parents of local support services
during a child abuse investigation when a child(ren) is at risk for
removal from the home;
- Allow
the expungement of prior criminal non-support felony offenses after the
convicted person pays child support arrearages or after
probation/parole is concluded; and
- Include
the new class E felony offense convictions in requirements for payment
of Crime Victims’ Compensation fines upon conviction.
Several MCADSV
legislative priorities were among the hundreds of bills that failed to
pass this session. These included bills that would allow the local
creation of Domestic Violence Fatality Reviews; expand sexual assault
victims’ eligibility for Crime Victims’ Compensation; provide sexual and
domestic violence victims with expanded tenants’ rights and housing
protections; strengthen responses to sexual assault victims in long-term
care facilities; raise the legal age of marriage to 17 years old;
require public posting of the National Human Trafficking Hotline number
and website; allow electronic monitoring of individuals who violate
Orders of Protection; and allow unpaid leave from work for victims of
stalking, domestic and sexual violence. Despite broad support, the
Legislature failed to create prohibitions on domestic violence offenders
and protection order respondents from possessing firearms.
Appropriations: State
State budget bills pass with transfer of VOCA grants to DSS and
increased state funding for sexual and domestic violence services
The Missouri General Assembly, on May 4, sent to the governor
all appropriations bills for the Fiscal Year 2018 state budget (July 1,
2017—June 30, 2018). On May 3, the House/Senate Appropriations
Conference Committee passed Conference Committee Substitutes for all the
budget bills to resolve funding differences between the House and
Senate.
Governor Eric Greitens will review the budget bills prior to signing
them into law. Typically, budget bills are signed by mid-June. The
governor has the authority to veto any line-item in the budget, and can
withhold the release of any funds passed by legislators.
Conference Committee Substitute for House Bill 11: Department of Social Services (DSS)
The final version of the FY18 DSS budget included:
- $250,000 increase for sexual assault services, for a total of $750,000 in state funding;
- $250,000 increase for domestic violence services, for a total of $9.2 million in state and federal funds;
- Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grants: $37 million, federal funds
Conference Committee Substitute for House Bill 8: Department of Public Safety (DPS)
The final version of the FY18 DPS budget included:
- State Services to
Victims Fund (SSVF): $2 million, a reduction of $800,000 from current
funding—lowered amount due to reduced collection of court costs and
crime fines that support SSVF; and
- Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), STOP and SASP grants: $2.69 million, federal funds.
Actions on priority legislation
Approved
omnibus criminal offenses bill contains domestic assault, harassment
and hate crime sentence enhancements, Safe at Home participant
protections
Conference Committee Substitute for House Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 34 (Sen. Mike Cunningham, R-Rogersville)
MCADSV monitored
A much-amended SB 34 passed on May
12. The final version of the bill, which became an omnibus criminal and
judiciary bill, would:
- Add
prior municipal, county or military convictions as penalty enhancements
for subsequent state convictions for domestic assault, fourth degree,
and harassment, second degree, offenses;
- Require
court orders, and give the Secretary of State standing to intervene, in
cases requesting the street addresses of participants in the Safe at
Home address confidentiality program;
- Increase
the penalties for hate crimes when assault, third and fourth degree, or
harassment, first degree, are found to be motivated because of the
victim’s race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation
or disability;
- Allow
the expungement of prior criminal non-support felony offenses after the
convicted person pays child support arrearages or completes
probation/parole;
- Create a “Blue Alert” system to notify the public of assaults or homicides of law enforcement officers;
Add enhanced penalties for certain offenses against law enforcement officers;
- Create
the crime of “illegal entry” into Missouri by a previously deported
individual who returns to the state and subsequently commits a violent
offense; and
- Prohibit convicted sex offenders from being near children’s museums.
Senate Bill 34 was passed with an “emergency
clause,” which means it becomes law when signed by the governor (the
standard effective date for bills signed into law in 2017 is Aug. 28).
Some earlier sections of the bill were
deleted from the final version that would have changed school violence
reporting requirements; allowed direct Crime Victims’ Compensation (CVC)
payments to funeral homes; and added class E felony convictions to
those requiring fines paid into the CVC fund (this last provision was
passed in Senate Bill 128).
Last-week amendments create new omnibus judiciary bill with family law changes
Conference Committee Substitute for Senate Committee Substitute #2 Senate Bill 128 (Sen. Bob Dixon, R-Springfield)
MCADSV monitored
Senate Bill 128 was approved on May 12. The bill, which was
amended in the House during the last week of session to become an
omnibus criminal and judiciary bill, contains many of the same
provisions as SB 34. Senate Bill 128 changed several sections of family
and child protection laws that would:
- Allow
courts to review the financial status of Legal Services’ clients prior
to trial in custody cases to determine if they have financially changed
circumstances that would allow them to pay guardian ad litem (GAL)
fees;
- Require responsive pleadings to any motion to modify a child support, spousal maintenance or child custody judgment;
- Require
the Children’s Division, during a child abuse investigation, to inform
parents of local support services if the child is at risk for possible
removal;
- Allow
a parent to retain visitation rights to children after delegating, for
up to one year, to another person (after a background check) the
“attorney in fact” care and custody rights to the children; and
- Allow a court to order visitation between a minor who has been appointed a guardian and the minor's parents.
Senate Bill 128 had many of the same provisions as those passed in SB 34, including:
- Penalty enhancements for domestic assault, harassment and offenses classified as hate crimes;
- New protections from court-ordered address disclosure of participants in the Safe at Home program; and
- Adding class E felony convictions to those required to pay fines into the Crime Victims’ Compensation fund.
Additionally, SB 128 would allow the State Auditor, upon a request by a
prosecuting attorney or law enforcement agency, to audit all or part of
any government entity.
House
passes “fund sweep” bill during last 30 seconds of 2017 session; bill
reallocates unspent state funds to support in-home services for senior
citizens/disabled persons
Senate Substitute for House Committee Bill 3 (Rep. Scott Fitzpatrick, R-Shell Knob)
MCADSV monitored
House
Committee Bill 3 was the last bill passed by the House on May 12. The
bill would reallocate unspent state funds—a “fund sweep”—to the Senior
Services Protection Fund, a special fund to provide one years’ funding
to preclude the loss of in-home services for 8,000 senior and disabled
persons. Interpretations of the impact of the bill continue to differ,
specifically whether or not it applies to every line-item in the budget
funded with state general revenue.
House Budget Committee Chairman Fitzpatrick, the sponsor of the bill,
voted against the measure because he believes it to be unconstitutional.
House Committee Bill 3 was part of an earlier compromise to avoid a
Senate filibuster of the FY18 budget bills by lawmakers opposed to the
loss of funding to support services for around 8,000 Missourians.
Bill passes to
make Missouri drivers’ licenses compliant with federal “REAL ID”
requirements so Missourians can use those licenses to board planes,
enter federal and military buildings
SS#2 HCS House Bill 151 (Rep. Kevin Corlew, R-Kansas City)
MCADSV supports
House Bill 151 passed on May
12. The bill would bring Missouri drivers’ licenses into compliance
with federal “Real ID” requirements in time to meet the January 2018
federal deadline. Current Missouri law prohibits federal Real ID
compliance. Without the passage of legislation, Missourians would be
precluded, after Jan. 1, 2018, from using state-issued drivers’ licenses
to board airplanes and enter certain federal buildings or military
bases. The measure would give Missouri residents the option of obtaining
a non-compliant drivers’ license if they are concerned about having
personal data collected for the compliant licenses.
Previously passed bill signed into law
Governor
signs expert witness bill excluding family and juvenile court
proceedings from new standards to qualify as an expert witness
House Bill 153 (Rep. Kevin Corlew, R-Kansas City)
MCADSV monitored
House Bill 153 was signed into law by Gov. Eric Greitens on March 29,
after it was passed by the General Assembly on March 15. The law
tightens the qualifications for who is considered an expert witness in
court proceedings, but exempts expert witnesses in family or juvenile
courts from those higher standards. MCADSV advocated for the exemption
to ensure domestic and sexual violence advocates, whose expertise often
does not include published research or certain levels of higher
education, could continue to testify as experts in cases involving
custody/visitation, abuse/neglect and Orders of Protection in family and
juvenile courts.
Bills that did not advance
Bills opposed by MCADSV that failed
- HCS House Bill 724: Presumption for 50/50 shared child custody.
- House Bill 1068: Domestic violence and firearms, with 24-hour waiting period.
- House Bill 59: No punishment for Order of Protection respondents if petitioners initiated communications.
- House Bill 237: Criminal penalties created for protection order petitioners.
Bills supported by MCADSV that failed
- SCS Senate Bill 511: Domestic Violence Fatality Reviews. Senate Committee Substitute not yet available online.
- House Bill 658 and Senate Bill 318: Firearms prohibitions for domestic violence offenders and protection order respondents.
- Senate Bill 268 and House Bill 842: Unpaid leave from work for domestic and sexual violence victims.
- Senate Bill 289: Allow sexual and domestic violence and stalking victims to terminate a lease.
- House Bill 396: Expansion of sexual assault victims’ eligibility for crime victims’ compensation.
- HCS House Bills 551 & 919: Mandates law enforcement reports for sexual assault of residents in long-term care facilities.
- House Bill 706: Creation of criminal offense of “nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images.”
- HCS House Bill 270: Raise the legal age of marriage to 17 years old.
- Senate Bill 99: Electronic monitoring of protection order violators.
- HCS House Bill 261: Require trafficking hotline/website posters in public areas.
- Senate Bill 344: Expungement of trafficking victims’ convictions for prostitution.
- HCS House Bill 519: Elimination of statute of limitations for filing childhood sexual offense civil suits.
Bills monitored by MCADSV that failed
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ONLINE RESOURCE LINKS FOR 2017 LEGISLATIVE SESSION
The links below will provide online access to
information on bills, legislators, committees and actions of the
Missouri General Assembly during the 2017 legislative session.
House bills: www.house.mo.gov Home page menu, top right “bill search” field to find bills
Senate bills: www.senate.mo.gov Home page menu, top right “bill search” menu to find bills
Current Missouri statutes: http://revisor.mo.gov/main/Home.aspx