Rep. Perkins Reflects on the 2023 Legislative Session

When looking back on the now finished legislative session, Rep. Perkins noted several victories achieved by Republicans. “We’ve had several successes this session. The victories I’m most proud of are cutting state taxes on Social Security benefits, the future expansion of I-70, and the commonsense transgender bills. Each one benefits Missourians in numerous ways. I, along with my fellow Republicans, will always search for ways to increase economic opportunities for Missourians and protect the most vulnerable among us.”

Missouri General Assembly Concludes Highly Productive Legislative Session

As the 2023 legislative session wrapped up Friday afternoon, lawmakers from both chambers left Jefferson City with a long list of accomplishments. During the session that began in January, House and Senate members worked on numerous policy proposals ranging from tax relief for seniors to improved access to health care to enhanced support for Missouri’s most vulnerable citizens. In total, the legislature gave final approval to more than 60 pieces of legislation.

When the legislative session opened in January, House Speaker Dean Plocher told his colleagues, “The American Dream is achieved through hard work, commitment to freedom, education, as well as individual and fiscal responsibility. I will work toward an agenda that promotes each of these values because they empower Missourians.” As session came to a conclusion this week, the House had made good on the Speaker’s promise by passing a number of measures that will position Missouri and Missouri citizens for long-term success and opportunity.

Bills of Interest Passed During the 2023 Session Include:

Providing Tax Relief to Seniors – SB 190 will provide substantive tax relief to Missouri’s older population. The legislation will eliminate the state income tax on social security benefits. It will allow all seniors regardless of their adjusted gross income or filing status to deduct 100% of their social security benefits.

The House handler of the bill said, “Missouri is one of only 11 states in the country that still taxes social security. With the rising cost of consumer goods, it’s more important now than ever to put money back in the pockets of Missouri’s seniors, particularly those on fixed incomes. It’s time for Missouri to join the other 39 states that have already eliminated the tax on social security.”

Helping Seniors Stay in Their Homes – SB 190 will help protect seniors from being taxed out of their homes. The bill effectively freezes the property tax on the home of Missourians who are 65 years of age or older. It will allow 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.

The bill’s handler noted that for most Missourians their home is their largest asset and the one tangible thing they have to show for a lifetime of work. He said, “Seniors who have played by the rules their entire lives, saved for retirement, paid their fair share of taxes, should never face the prospect of being taxed out of their home by the government. Senate Bill 190 ensures that they won’t.”

Saving Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act – SBs 49, 236 & 164 is legislation supporters say will protect Missouri’s children from unnecessary and harmful sex change drugs and surgeries. The SAFE Act 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. A violation of the provisions would be considered unprofessional conduct and would result in the revocation of the health care provider’s professional license.

One supporter of the bill said, “This is not against transgender people. This is just to make sure that children do not make decisions that could affect the rest of their lives, that they may not have all the information, that all of us may not have all of the information, and we want to make sure that they get that information.”

Promoting Fairness for Female Student Athletes – SB 39 is meant to promote fairness in competition and opportunity for female student athletes. The bill would prohibit a private school, public school district, public charter school, or public or private institution of postsecondary education from allowing any student to compete in an athletics competition designated for the opposite sex, as determined by the student’s official birth certificate. The bill clarifies that biological sex is only correctly stated on birth certificates if it was entered at or near the time of birth or modified to correct scrivener’s error. The bill also makes it clear a female student may be allowed to compete in an athletics competition designated for male students if there is no such athletics competition for female students offered.

Combating the Opioid Epidemic – SB 189, SB 186, SB 24, and HB 402 would allow Missourians to have an easily accessible means to ensure their medications aren’t contaminated with the highly dangerous opioid, fentanyl. Currently in Missouri, fentanyl test strips are not legally available to test drugs or pills for the deadly substance. The legislation will allow the test strips to be legally available as they are in many other states. Supporters say the state has seen an increase in the number of overdose deaths from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. According to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, more than 2,000 drug-related overdoses occurred in the state in 2021, with approximately 70% of those involving a synthetic opioid.
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