Legislative Update - 2025, Week 3

By Otto Fajen

MNEA Legislative Director

 

 

 

The House Commerce Committee will hear HJR 174 (Jon Patterson) on January 28. Based on the Governor's proposal, this resolution would ask voters to allow expansion of the tax base for state and local sales taxes if the legislature eliminates the individual income tax. This proposal, if implemented, could cut state general revenues by half and threaten the continued operation of the state government. The Association opposes the HJR and the elimination of the state income tax.

 

The legislature already faces budgetary disaster in the coming years. The Governor's budget recommends GR expenditures of roughly $16.2 billion for next year.  This far exceeds next year's estimated net general revenues of about $13.7 billion. The legislature has been spending large fund balances for several years. These balances were primarily due to various one-time federal funds. Term-limited legislators who have never faced budget cuts will now be forced to make billions in cuts to correct this imbalance within the next two budget years.

 

Elimination of the individual income tax would cut $8 billion in net annual revenue. HJR 174 would not authorize increases in the sales tax rate, only expansion of the base to apply to services that are not taxed and to remove current exemptions on sales of goods. Expansion of the sales tax base to cover all goods and services could double the $3 billion the state receives from sales taxes, leaving a net loss of at least $5 billion in GR. The Governor has also declared that he would not allow sales taxes to cover certain services, such as agriculture, healthcare or real estate, meaning that the net loss will likely be greater. The Association opposes this massive change that would devastate public investment in all sectors and damage the state's economy.

 

 

 

The committee heard SB 863 (Jason Bean) on January 22. The bill requires the Governor to appoint a board of directors to oversee any statewide activities association that facilitates interscholastic activities for secondary school students. The bill does not specify what oversight this new board would have. The Association believes that educators should continue to establish policies and procedures governing the activities of the thousands of Missouri students who participate in school activities.

 

The committee will hear four bills on January 27:

 

SB 886 (Nick Schroer) requires every school building to have a school protection officer whenever students are present. The Association opposes this unnecessary mandate.

 

SB 906 (David Gregory) and SB 971 (Curtis Trent) both create public school open enrollment. The Association believes that public school choice plans with state funding may harm students and our public schools unless essential criteria are in place to implement, monitor, and evaluate their effectiveness. The Association opposes both bills based on this concern.

 

SB 1002 (Adam Schnelting) would move school board elections to the November general election and change all school board terms to four years. Electing school board members at municipal elections allows voters to focus on these local candidates and local school issues outside of the November election cycle, when the time and attention of voters is taken up by partisan election campaigns and statewide issues. The Association opposes the bill.

 

 

 

The committee heard three bills on January 21:

 

HB 1876 (Renee Reuter) and HB 2112 (Peggy McGaugh) are similar bills that require school districts to provide instruction in cursive writing. The Association supports best practices in elementary education and notes the growing awareness of the adverse impacts of excessive screen use on students and the learning environment.

 

HB 2776 (Willard Haley) revises the temporary authorization certificate. The bill would grant a temporary certificate upon completion of an associate’s degree in an applied science-level teacher preparation program and receiving an associate’s degree in a teaching field. Applicants must also achieve a qualifying score on the Missouri general education assessment and complete a background check. Recipients can teach for up to two years and potentially earn a full certificate if they participate in a mentor program, do specified professional development, and get either a qualifying score on the Missouri content assessment in a specific subject area or an acceptable score on their teacher evaluation.

 

The committee will hear two bills on January 28:

 

HB 2710 (Dane Diehl) to create an A-F school report card for public schools based primarily on state-mandated, standardized tests. The Association believes this measure would undermine local control and opposes the bill.

 

HB 2872 (Cathy Jo Loy) to revise the law regarding reading instruction. While the Association supports some of the provisions to increase oversight of literacy instruction in educator preparation programs, the bill contains other concerning provisions, including a restoration of mandatory retention in third grade for students with low scores on a new statewide reading assessment mandated for all students.

 

 

 

The committee heard two bills on January 21:

 

HB 2682 (Darin Chappell) would expand the recent law pertaining to student religious liberties to also apply to all student political and ideological expression. The Association is concerned that the inclusion of authority to file private lawsuits over political and ideological expression will divert school resources to costly and time-consuming lawsuits and make it harder to attract and retain educators. The Association opposes the bill.

 

HB 2748 (Bishop Davidson) would increase requirements for physical education in schools.

 

 

 

The committee heard two similar bills regarding property tax changes on January 20. HB 2668 (Ben Keathley) and HB 2780 (Tim Taylor). Both bills make changes based on the committee's work during the 2025 interim. One of the more significant changes would require separate tax rate rollbacks by property categories, such as residential, agricultural, commercial, and personal property. This change would allow the CPI limitation to constrain tax increases within each category, separate from the effects of lesser or greater increases in other categories.

 

The Association opposes two provisions in the bill and asks the committee to remove them from the bill. One provision would require new construction to be included in rollback calculations. The Hancock Amendment has always excluded new construction from rollbacks, recognizing that new developments, such as new subdivisions, bring additional residents and add to the services needed from their local governments and schools. This change would block this proportional new revenue from new taxpayers and require further tax rollbacks on all property. This change will make it harder for local governments in growing areas to meet the needs of all their residents.

 

The bill would also require all local levy elections to be held on the November election dates. The municipal election allows voters to focus on these local issues outside of the November election cycle, when the time and attention of voters is taken up by partisan election campaigns and statewide issues.

 

 

 

The committee heard HB 2859 (Mark Matthiesen) on January 20. The bill would gradually reduce the personal property tax assessment ratio from 33 1/3% to 16 percent over 15 years. The bill's fiscal note indicates that local governments, including schools, are likely to see significant reductions in local revenues over the next fifteen years as the bill is implemented. The estimate ranges as high as $1.2 billion. The Association is concerned that this reduction in local funds will make it harder for schools to maintain the educators and programs their students need and opposes the bill.

 

 

 

The House Emerging Issues Committee heard three bills affecting transgender athletic participation on January 20: HB 1607 (Hardy Billington), HB 1663 (Brian Seitz), and HB 1973 (Bennie Cook). These bills would remove the current sunset provision and permanently override MSHSAA and higher education institution policies on transgender participation. Those institutions' policies align with NCAA and IOC policy and seek to balance fairness and inclusion for athletes. The Association believes that educators should continue to establish policies and procedures that govern the activities of Missouri students who participate in school activities and opposes all three bills.

 

 

 

The House Emerging Issues Committee is scheduled to hear two similar bills regarding restrictions on property use for charter schools on January 26. HB 2172 (Marlene Terry) and HB 2404 (George Hruza) would each specify that a municipality may not allow deed restrictions that prohibit a property's use as a charter school.

 

 

 

The House Transportation Committee heard HB 2742 (Mike Jones) on January 20. The bill increases penalties for failing to stop for a school bus and allows school districts the option of installing cameras to detect these violations.

 

 

 

The committee approved HB 1628 (Willard Haley) on January 20. The bill was approved as a Consent Bill, meaning that it will be placed on a special calendar and will not be subject to amendment when taken up on the House floor. The bill updates laws relating to the Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development (DHEWD) and repeals statutes for outdated programs.

 

Read past issues of the MNEA Legislative Update at www.mnea.org/legupdate.