Last week saw
action pick up on the House floor as priority bills begin to move from
committee and come before the House members for debate and approval. One piece of legislation approved would allow
schools, hospitals and courthouses to keep their security plans and measures
out of the hands of those who might misuse the information. This bill came forward in response to a
section of Missouri’s Sunshine Law that expired at the end of 2012. That
expired section exempted security procedures and plans from the open records
law.
I strongly
support the Missouri sunshine laws that
help ensure the accountability of our public officials and government
activities. However, there is sometimes
a fine line between public information and public safety. In the wake of the tragedy that took place in
Connecticut and other invasions of public buildings, it is absolutely necessary
that security procedures and response plans are not made available to those who
do not need to know. Safety for our
children in their schools and for Missouri citizens in public buildings is an
absolute must and this bill will move us in the right direction.
Another piece of
legislation that received approval from the full House of Representatives last
week dealt with voter ID. The Joint
Resolution passed creates a voter ID ballot measure that would have to be voted
on by the people. House bills 48 and 216
provide the language that would be amended to our constitution if the ballot
initiative passes. The premise of the
bill is very simple. If you show up at
the polling place to cast your vote, you should be able to prove that you are
who you say you are.
Critics of this
bill argued that it would restrict some from the voting process. The purpose, however, is to protect the
sanctity of the process, to ensure that every vote counts by removing the potential for fraud, and to give voters
more confidence in the fairness as they exercise their rights.
Another issue that will continue to receive a great
deal of discussion this year deals with a bond issuance proposal that would
help pay for some of our state’s most pressing infrastructure needs. Deferred maintenance and improvements to our
schools, college campuses and state facilities, as well as our roads and
highways, is a growing concern that we must address. Unfortunately, because our budget situation
has been difficult in recent years, paying for capital improvements with
taxpayer dollars has not been a viable option.
I believe that most would also agree that raising taxes is not the
answer.
One solution to
the dilemma is to use the state’s excellent credit rating to issue bonds that could generate money for this
purpose. Combined with the fact that
interest rates are approximately one third of what they were the last time the
state issued bonds in 1982, the timing may be right to consider this proposal.
A special
committee formed last year reported that this initiative would create thousands
of jobs, lower the unemployment rate in the construction industry and, of
course, make significant progress toward improving our aging infrastructure in
Missouri. This may be one of few options
that we have if we are to keep up with the needs in our state. Obligating our state to a debt service,
however, may be controversial in a time when government debt seems to grow
faster than the ability to pay.
This topic will
garner a lot of attention this year and if a proposal is brought forward, it
will probably be in the form of a ballot initiative so that the people of
Missouri have a voice in the decision.
If you have questions, you may reach me at my
Capitol number 573-751-9465, at the local district number, 660-582-4014, by
email at mike.thomson@house.mo.gov or by mail at Room 401B State Capitol
Building, Jefferson City, MO 65101.
No comments:
Post a Comment