2023 General Assembly Sends Bills to Parson

Representative Josh Hurlbert reports that the 2023 Regular Session of the Missouri General Assembly ended on Friday, May 12. The legislature passed 60 bills and sent them to Governor Parson. Hurlbert reports these details in his newsletter:

SB 39 and SB 49: SB 39 prevents schools from allowing any student to compete in an athletics competition designated for the opposite sex, as determined by the student's official birth certificate. SB 49 is the SAFE Act that would prohibit health care providers from performing gender transition surgery on young people under the age of 18. Until August 28, 2027, it would also prohibit a health care provider from prescribing or administering cross-sex hormones or puberty-blocking drugs to a minor for a gender transition, unless the minor was receiving such treatment prior to August 28, 2023.

SB 190: This legislation will provide tax relief for seniors by eliminating the state income tax on social security benefits. The bill also effectively freezes the property tax on the home of Missourians who are 65 years of age or older by allowing counties to adopt an ordinance that authorizes a property tax credit for eligible senior homeowners. The bill would in effect ensure seniors don’t pay more in property tax on their property than they did for the same property when they turned 65 years of age.

SB 45 & 90 and SB 106: These bills have several health-related bills provisions. First, it encourages Missourians to further their careers by authorizing a transitional program meant to help people get off of state assistance gradually as their income increases instead of losing all of their benefits if they exceed the income limits. It also extends postpartum Medicaid coverage for new moms from 60 days to a full year. Finally, it also ensures Missouri patients are not subjected to invasive pelvic or other medical examinations performed while they’re unconscious and without prior knowledge or consent.

SB 398: This bill states that licensed motor vehicle dealers would collect and remit sales tax on all motor vehicles sold at the time of purchase while also making the use of a cell phone while driving a secondary ticketable offense.

Other bills include the wide-ranging public safety measures in SB 186 and SB 189 and also K-12 and higher education investments as part of the state budget.

KPGZ News - Brian Watts contributed to this story