Associated Industries of Missouri is all about business. We are a pro-business organization that stands up for business in the Missouri Capitol. As such, the issues we use to judge the performance of our legislators are important to most Missouri businesses – issues such as tax burden, worker’s compensation, environmental laws and rules, employment law and state regulations that affect business.
Click here for the 2011 Missouri House scores and click here for the 2011 Missouri Senate scores. In the 2011 legislative session, we assessed legislators based on these bills:
SB 188 would have aligned Missouri’s employment law with the federal human rights law and appropriately protected true whistle-blowers;
SB 8 would have revised worker’s compensation laws to make sure occupational diseases continue to be covered under worker’s compensation and to prevent employees from suing each other in workplace accidents;
HB 61 would have fixed Missouri’s minimum wage indexing problem – without the bill, the state’s minimum wage could be higher than the federal minimum wage;
HB 89 extended water program permit fees to protect the Missouri Department of Natural Resources program from being usurped by the EPA;
SB 19 was a bill championed by Associated Industries of Missouri that freezes and eliminates the corporation franchise tax;
HB 163 addressed unemployment compensation. In exchange for allowing Missouri unemployed persons to obtain federal benefits paid for by the federal government, the bill lowered the number of weeks that employers must pay for unemployment compensation from 26 weeks to 20 weeks, saving employers money. The bill also stopped those that had already been overpaid unemployment benefits from obtaining benefits.
Click here for the 2012 Missouri House scores and click here for the 2012 Missouri Senate scores. In 2012, AIM rated legislators on their votes on these bills:
HB 1219 and SB 592 would have aligned Missouri’s employment law with the federal human rights law and appropriately protected true whistle-blowers;
HB 2099 would have provided true whistle-blowers protection while barring claims from whistle-blowers where the employer had not violated any law, regulation or public policy;
SB 572 would have revised worker’s compensation laws to make sure occupational diseases continue to be covered under worker’s compensation and to prevent employees from suing each other in workplace accidents;
HB 1403 contained the same worker’s compensation changes as in SB 572 and also contained responsible revision of the Second Injury Fund;
HB 1639, the Broad Based Tax Relief Act of 2012, was a tax cut proposed by AIM that would have reduced the tax burden of every Missouri company by 50% over 5 years;
HB 1251 bars the Missouri Department of Natural Resources from enacting hazardous waste regulations that are stricter than federal laws and regulations or that require action sooner than in federal law or regulations, with certain exceptions; and,
HB 1135 and SB 469 requires state agencies to review and revise all administrative rules and regulations on a schedule. It is vitally important to provide Missouri businesses with current and correct information needed to comply with Missouri laws.
Of course, other important issues were proposed and debated during these two legislative sessions. These votes were the most important recorded votes on business issues. Remember, not all votes are recorded through a roll call, and not all issues are voted upon by the full House or Senate.
AIM congratulates our legislators that supported the businesses in their districts by supporting our issues. Higher scores indicate agreement with the position taken by Associated Industries of Missouri on these issues. See the report card here.
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