By Senator Jamie Burger
When you grow up in southeastern Missouri, you understand right away that water goes where it wants. Last week’s storms wreaked havoc, and I know some of you are still struggling to overcome historic downpours and flooding. Thankfully, our community is SEMO strong and proud as the day is long when dealing with natural disasters. Please reach out to my team if you need assistance with recovery and share this graphic on your social media outlets.
At the State Capitol this week, I had the opportunity to present Senate Bill 559 to the Senate General Laws Committee. My legislation provides private contractors the same sovereign immunity as state departments when they are doing work for the government. Several privately owned companies shared stories during the hearing about frivolous suits that were brought against them well after the project was completed, primarily because of their financial resources and great insurance policies. The current language in statute is too broad in my opinion, so my intent with this bill is to narrow the scope and limit the time a suit can be brought against a contractor.
I presented another of my pieces of legislation, Senate Bill 760, during the Senate Agriculture, Food Production and Outdoor Resources Committee hearing on April 10. The legislation requires those who advertise or sell wood products to be truthful in their marketing and labeling and not misrepresent products that aren’t derived or harvested from real wood. Missouri’s loggers, millers and manufacturers work too hard to responsibly grow and harvest these resources, so hopefully, SB 760 will level the playing field for Missouri wood producers.
Two of my bills are on the Senate perfection calendar awaiting floor debate. Senate Bill 83 will expand the Champions for Children tax credit for contributions made to CASA or a child advocacy or crisis center, permit homeless children to obtain a free identification card and raise the age for a child’s testimony to be admissible in court from 14 to 18. The other, Senate 240, relates to funding for regional planning commissions, like the one I heavily relied upon for data and research when I was the commissioner of Scott County. My bill will raise the threshold for funding and update the current list of planning commissions across Missouri. I truly believe both these proposals will benefit our community and the state, so I’m hoping they pass before adjournment.
Honoring 2025 Senate Art Competition Winners
On April 10, I presented resolutions to Jaedyn Hethcote and Keagan Zschille, whose artwork has been selected out of multiple entries from our community. The annual competition is co-hosted by the Missouri Art Education Association and the Missouri Alliance for Arts Education. Congratulations to Jaedyn and Keagan.
Welcoming Folks from Back Home to the Dome
As always, the highlight of my week is welcoming members of our community to the State Capitol. Below are some of the folks who took the time to stop by and say hi!
On April 8, I introduced a group of advocates from Bollinger County Youth Leadership Group to my colleagues on the floor, including Abbigail Simmons, Levi Null, Tessah Dowd, Katlyn Amen, Kyla Estes and Karen James.
Students from Scott County High School JAG join Sen. Burger on the dais.
Members and mentors of the Cape Girardeau County Youth Leadership Group update Sen. Burger.
Senator Burger enjoys speaking with advocates from the SEMO Alliance of Disability Independence.