The final weeks of April have been a whirlwind for me in Jefferson City with presenting bills to committees, moving proposals forward and listening to the concerns and successes of visitors from our community.

The 2024 legislative session ends May 17, giving legislators only three weeks to send bills to the governor to sign into law and two weeks to balance the state operating budget for fiscal year 2025.

On April 22, I presented Senate Bill 1400 to the Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee and explained the merits of my two-part proposal. The aim of this legislation is to crack down on the harmful posting of identifiable information and to streamline the process for presenting electronic evidence in a criminal case.

First of all, SB 1400 strengthens the current offense of unlawful posting by adding the sharing of information to intimidate or harass a person for financial gain to the definition. The measure also increases the penalty for damaging or threatening posts targeting law enforcement officers, judges or other public safety officials. The second provision addresses business records entered in as evidence during court proceedings.

This will remove the notary requirement and bring Missouri in line with a federal court ruling issued by the Missouri Eastern District Court in January.

The next day, I presented a proposal to prohibit public universities from requiring diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) loyalty oaths as a prerequisite condition to employment.

This would apply to applicants, students, employees and contractors. I believe these ineffective litmus tests discourage qualified applicants, erode the intellectual construct of our universities and divert many qualified professors to other states. My intention with Senate Bill 1125 is to redirect public universities’ hiring and admittance focus to the proven tenets of education and research, rather than distracting and unmeasurable political ideologies.

My veterans care package, Senate Bill 912, was passed by the House Veterans Committee on April 24, moving it one step closer to floor debate in the lower chamber. When I presented the bill to the House Veterans Committee on April 16, I reiterated the importance of simplifying processes for veterans, sharing the story of a veteran who served in Afghanistan and lived in other states, but had never had as much difficulty in obtaining a disabled placard as when he relocated to Missouri.

In addition to streamlining the verification process to apply for disabled license plates and placards, SB 912 has been amended with multiple provisions to further safeguard our nation’s defenders, such as strengthened suicide prevention efforts and increased access to the benefits they’ve earned.

Two heroes from our community will have memorial highways named in their honor with the passage of House Bill 2797.

Similar to legislation I sponsored, this bill will create numerous statewide designations, including the Police Chief Mason Griffith Memorial Highway in Hermann, as well as the POW/MIA SSG Paul Hasenbeck Memorial Highway near Freeburg.

I’ll close with some great news for pro life advocates.

House Bill 2634, which would prohibit any state funding from going to abortion facilities or their affiliates including Planned Parenthood, was truly agreed to and finally passed by the House of Representatives on April 24. Codifying this restriction and banning reimbursements to MO HealthNet for services rendered at these clinics will go a long way in safeguarding Missouri taxpayer dollars from organizations that support abortion.

As always, it’s a tremendous honor to serve those who call the 26th Senatorial District home. If you need assistance with navigating state government or the legislative process, please reach out by calling 573-751-3678 or emailing Ben.Brown@senate.mo.gov.