Greetings from your state Capitol. The General Assembly rollercoaster kept on moving this week with some long days and some surprisingly short days. Despite the often erratic schedule, several bills have moved forward and progress continues.

To update you on my legislation, Senate Bill 851 was passed out of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. While the medical community has made great strides to open doors for rural communities to receive quality care through telemedicine and remote appointments online, state law has some areas where it still needs to catch up. This bill would change the current law that prohibits questionnaires over phone or internet from being used as a medical interview for the purposes of remote care. This allows questionnaires for that purpose, provided the information gathered is equal to what would be provided in an equivalent in-person exam. Red tape is never a good thing in my eyes, but the very last place we need it is in our health care laws as rural communities struggle to maintain access to quality care.

I was also thankful to have my Senate Bill 1485 heard in that same committee. This bill proposes a change to the purchase limitations on medicines like pseudoephedrine. The strict limits our state places on these drugs often prevent the people who really need it from having it during severe allergy or cold seasons. The limits being suggested in this bill are still significantly tighter than federal law, but would provide more relief for users.

Several bills were sent on to the governor’s desk this week, meaning they have been passed by both the Missouri House of Representatives and the Senate. House Bill 2016 is a supplemental appropriation bill that provides additional Fiscal Year 2024 funding for the Missouri National Guard and Missouri Highway Patrol troops who are currently operating in Texas, protecting our southern U.S. border. The General Assembly also passed both Senate Bill 727 and House Bill 2287. Both of these bills contain multiple provisions related to Missouri schools, including expanding the Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program and increasing teacher pay, among several other changes across the two bills.

We can all see the finish line approaching and there is still much work to be done. We will return to our homes for a few days of renewal with our families before hitting the ground running again on Monday.

It’s my honor to serve as your senator for the 16th District. If you have questions or need any assistance, please call my office at 573-751-5713 or log onto my webpage at senate.mo.gov/brown for more information.