{"id":10502,"date":"2023-12-01T05:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-01T11:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/empowermissouri.org\/?p=10502"},"modified":"2023-12-01T01:44:37","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T07:44:37","slug":"gearing-up-for-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/empowermissouri.org\/es\/gearing-up-for-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Gearing up for the 2024 Legislative Session"},"content":{"rendered":"

It seems hard to believe that we\u2019re only a month away from the start of a new year, and a new legislative session. Pre-filing opens for the Missouri legislature today, a process where legislators from both chambers can begin filing their bills ahead of the 2024 session. Bills that are filed on December 1st are generally seen to be some of the highest priority bills for legislators, so our team will be watching carefully today and adding bills to our legislative trackers<\/a> as they are filed. By the end of the day today, you\u2019ll be able to see our trackers start to be populated with bills for the 2024 session.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Per our normal traditions, you\u2019ll have plenty of opportunities to hear from our staff and some of our legislative partners over the next two weeks about bills that we\u2019ll be working on this session. I hope that you can join us at one of our Holiday Happy Hour events in Kansas City<\/a>, San Louis<\/a>, y Springfield<\/a>, or for our virtual legislative preview next Friday, December 8<\/a>th<\/a>. We\u2019d love to see you to share more and answer your questions ahead of the new session. In the meantime, here\u2019s a quick glimpse into the issues that we\u2019ll be focused on next year.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seguridad alimentaria<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve spent the summer and fall preparing to ramp up our efforts on lobbying for the passage of the Restaurant Meals Program bill<\/a>, first introduced by Senator Angela Mosley in 2022. We\u2019ve been working with advocates for seniors, those with disabilities, and the homeless to make a strong case for how hot meals are critical to ensure that these vulnerable populations get the nutrition that they need to stay healthy, and we\u2019re excited to bring more attention to this issue in the session ahead. We will also be doubling down on our efforts to eliminate the \u201creduced price\u201d category of school meals and ensure that all children from families up to 185% of the FPL can have free breakfast and lunch at school to fuel their learning. Finally, we\u2019ll be continuing our work on the transitional benefits plan passed by Senator Mary Elizabeth Coleman and Rep. Alex Riley earlier this year, ensuring that the funds are appropriated by the state for this program to be fully implemented.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reforma de la justicia penal<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Our primary focus within criminal justice reform legislation will remain on Clean Slate<\/a>, a campaign to automate the expungement of criminal records in Missouri. We believe that this is the single most impactful bill that we can pass to allow individuals that have fully paid their debt to society to move past their old criminal records and successfully obtain employment and housing. We\u2019ll also be working on a new piece of legislation in collaboration with our partners at FAMM<\/a> to establish a DOC Oversight Board. The Department of Corrections spends millions of taxpayer dollars settling lawsuits brought by prison staff (and occasionally detainees or their families) because of abuses in the facilities, and we believe that an external oversight board is not only an important policy to prevent further violence and sexual assaults in these facilities, but also a smart fiscal policy for the state. Stay tuned for a more detailed Weekly Perspective later this month on this issue! Finally, we\u2019ll be focused on passing a clean version of SB 189, the criminal justice bill that was vetoed by the Governor over the summer. There are legislators lined up to refile this legislation without the two small pieces that pushed the Governor to veto. We\u2019ll be working to support the quick passage of this bill, especially:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n