Lawmakers tackle health care

Springfield's legislative delegation began its work Jan. 6 as the 2000 session of the Missouri General Assembly commenced.

The legislators will take on many state issues this session, but one that stands out for small business is that of health insurance.

"There will be another big push for health care access for small businesses. We'll need to look at how we can make health care insurance available and affordable for small businesses," said Jim Kreider, Missouri's House Speaker Pro Tem and a Democrat from Nixa.

A bill last year to help small businesses better afford health insurance for their employees did not make it through both houses before the end of the session, but both Kreider and state Sen. Roseann Bentley, a Republican from Springfield, said a bill was likely to pass this year.

"I think everyone realizes we need to help with this health care issue as much as possible, especially among those who are self-employed," Bentley said.

Tax cuts and tax credits for small business and others are likely, but the state faces a "tight budget year," said Rep. Mike Schilling, a Springfield Democrat who serves on the budget committee.

"Money may be a tough area this year. We have a revenue limitation and have had a downward push on revenue collections because of that constitutional limit, and this year we simply don't have the revenue available for tax cuts and programs that we have had," Schilling said.

Kreider agreed that budget concerns would be a problem, but added, "We've enacted permanent tax cuts for the state three years in a row, totaling $800 million in state tax cuts," Kreider said.

Another topic Rep. Norma Champion said she hopes the House takes up is e-commerce. The Springfield Republican said she would like the legislature to look at ways to collect state taxes on items sold via the Internet.

"I'd like for us to come up with a solution that would make it fair to in-state businesses," Champion said.

Schilling said he would like to look at the effect such business is having on brick-and-mortar businesses in the state, also.

"I'm not sure if there's a significant effect just yet, but there is certainly the potential there, and that's something to be discussed," Schilling said.

Matt Blunt, a Republican representative from Fair Grove, said the e-commerce issues are federal in many ways.

"I'm in favor of continuing to let the Internet grow and expand before we start placing a lot of regulations on it," Blunt said.

Restructuring of the electric industry will certainly be the topic of legislation this session, Schilling said, but both he and Bentley would like to see the legislature take its time in making changes to Missouri's electric utility industry.

"I don't know if we really have any big push right now to make changes. We're a low-cost state, and I don't want to jeopardize that," Bentley said.

Schilling plans to introduce legislation that would create a commission to regulate all utility companies in the state, including member-owned cooperatives and those owned by municipalities. Now, the Missouri Public Service Commission regulates rates and operations on investor-owned utilities.

"I think something like this could further ensure reliability and accountability among utility companies," Schilling said.

The Missouri Energy Reliability Board bill was introduced late last session, Schilling said, but was approved in committee too late to be passed in the House.

Rep. Roy Holand plans to introduce two education bills that he introduced last session. The bills did not make it on the schedule in time to be heard by the full House. One bill makes it possible for school districts to raise additional capital through a voter-approved sales tax or income tax that would be district-specific. The tax would be supplemental to existing property taxes that fund schools' general operations, and it could be enacted in a given county to take on specific renovation or upgrade projects.

The other bill deals with alternative education programs by providing additional funding to those programs.

Another big issue legislators plan to tackle is what to do with the tobacco settlement money Missouri is set to receive. Bentley said she favors investing the money in a trust fund and using the interest to fund smoking prevention and cessation programs.