State lawmakers crack down on illegal immigration
The bill cracks down on employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants, bars illegal immigrants from obtaining a driver's license and prevents illegal residents from receiving state or local public benefits.
"The federal government doesn't seem to want to take care of the issues, so we're trying to take care of the issue here in Missouri with greater enforcement of Missouri law," said state Rep. Mike Sutherland, R-99th District, of Warrenton.Missouri employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants could lose their permits or licenses and face penalties of $50 per day for misclassified workers and up to a maximum of $50,000 in fines.
Other reforms prohibit communities from adopting safe sanctuary policies, bar individuals from transporting or harboring any alien, require written tests for commercial licenses to be administrated in English only and provide penalties for individuals who use fraudulent means to assist illegal immigrants in obtaining driver's licenses.
"I think everybody we've talked to about this bill, most of us, are glad for people to be here legally," Sutherland said. "It's important that we stress coming to our country legally. If people are coming here illegally, it's important to ensure they're held accountable so it doesn't have a bad effect on those who are here legally."
Meier case results in
stronger stalking laws
The Missouri General Assembly has passed legislation that broadens the definition of stalking and harassment to include cyber bullying and imposes stricter penalties for offenses.
Senate Bill 818's passage is a result of national attention to the problem of online stalking and harassment generated by the suicide of Dardenne Prairie teen Megan Meier.
In 2006, Meier committed suicide after being the victim of cyber harassment. Meier, who was 13, was harassed by a neighborhood adult posing as a teenage boy on MySpace.com.
"The national attention this story received helped shed need for tougher laws against cyber bullying and harassment," said Rep. Joe Smith, R-14th District, of St. Charles County, in a release. "With the passage of Senate Bill 818 we send a strong message that our state will not tolerate this reprehensible behavior that can be taken to the point where a human life is lost."
The bill expands the definitions of stalking and harassment to include communications delivered by any means, including the use of computers and other electronic devices.
The new measure upgrades the charge of harassment from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class D felony, when the perpetrator is 21 or older and the victim is 17 or younger. Class D offenses are punishable by up to four years in prison with accompanying fines.
The legislation also provides for elevating the penalties for second offenses of stalking and aggravated stalking from misdemeanors to felonies, regardless of when the first offense was committed.
In addition, the new measure requires school boards to add Internet stalking to the list of crimes they must report.
Fund to bolster
county deputies' pay
House Bill 2224 establishes a funding mechanism to improve sheriff's deputies' salaries in the future. The bill allows sheriffs to receive an additional $10 processing fee for processing any civil summons, writ, subpoena or other court order. This money will go into a newly created Deputy Sheriff Salary Supplementation Fund, which will be used to bolster the pay of county deputy sheriffs.
The average salary for county deputies is less than $23,000, with most taking home about $15,5000 per year, putting those with families below the federal poverty line. Warren County deputies make an average of $14.50 an hour, or $27,840 annually.
"We will pay into it, but we won't reap any immediate benefit," Warren County Sheriff Kevin Harrison said.
However, it will greatly help other counties, he said.
Sheriff's deputies' won't receive money from the supplementation fund until the General Assembly legislates how the money would be distributed in coming sessions.
Other highlights
> House Bill 1384 creates new protections to combat the growing number of identity theft cases in which victims lose their money and assets. The bill helps protect against new account fraud where thieves steal personal information to open new accounts in their victims' names, by allowing consumers to freeze their credit at the first indication of identity theft. The move prevents anyone from trying to receive credit, loans or services in the consumer's name without permission from the consumer.
> A wide-ranging economic development bill includes an extension and expansion of the Missouri Quality Jobs Act, which has been extremely successful in bringing high-paying jobs with health insurance benefits to Missouri. SB 718 extends the tax credit program through Aug. 30, 2013, and increases the maximum amount of tax credits that can be issued under the act from $40 million to $60 million. The bill also includes an expansion of the Enhanced Enterprise Zone program.
> SB 1038 repeals campaign contribution limits in order to bring more transparency to the campaign process by minimizing the impact of third-party committees and ensuring Missourians know how much money candidates are raising and where it's coming from.
> House bill 2188 protects Missouri consumers from mortgage fraud. The legislation places local prosecutors on the same footing as federal investigators who before were the only ones able to prosecute offenders. It also creates civil and criminal penalties for residential mortgage fraud.
> House Bills 2062, 1678 and 1518 provide Missouri soldiers returning from duty and their families with additional educational and career advancement opportunities. The bill creates the Returning Heroes Education Act to provide veterans with tuition assistance for obtaining a college degree. It also creates the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children and enacts other provisions to improve educational opportunities for the children of military personnel.
> SB 724 strengthens the monitoring procedures for over-the-counter drugs used to make meth. The bill requires pharmacies to upgrade to an electronic log, rather than a written log, which records when a pseudoephedrine product is purchased and who is the purchaser. The act also specifies that the photo ID provided by the buyer of pseudoephedrine products be issued by a state or the federal government and shown prior to purchase.
