By Jamie Burger, proudly serving Missouri’s 27th Senatorial District
Lawmakers returned to Jefferson City to convene the second half of the 2026 legislative session. This is the time of the year when the flurry of activities inside the building nearly matches the intensity of spring overtaking winter in the great outdoors.
Senators started off the week second reading a slew of bills passed by the Missouri House of Representatives and passing more than a dozen Senate bills. The bills cover a variety of topics, including repealing obsolete sections of laws, banning drone use in certain situations, protecting property owners, and creating the Missouri Geospatial Advisory Council. I also supported a bill to expand agriculture education in public elementary schools. If you are interested in seeing the status of the other bills advanced by the Senate, click the legislation tab at senate.mo.gov and select “Bill Status Reports.”
The Legislature has also sent another bill to the governor for consideration. Senate Bill 888 is a sweeping criminal justice reform package that modifies how juveniles are certified, processed and sentenced and requires those convicted of a felony to serve a certain percentage of their imposed term before they’re eligible for parole. The intent is to crack down on “catch and release” cases and improve public safety.
Presenting Bills in Committee
The middle of the week is sometimes referred to as Wild Wednesday in the Senate. That was certainly the case for me as I presented two bills in back-to-back hearings on March 25. First up was my End Hospital institutionalization Act, or Senate Bill 1151. During my presentation to the Senate Families, Seniors and Health Committee, I explained the current situation of children and adults being boarded at a hospital after their medical treatment is completed because there is no place to safely discharge them. If SB 1151 passes, children will be immediately put in the custody of juvenile courts to ensure they are placed in an appropriate setting. For boarded adults with developmental disabilities, serious mental illness or substance use disorders, the Department of Mental Health will provide immediate case management and treatment in the least restrictive environment. The bill also allows hospitals to recuperate the costs of boarding these patients from the state through MO HealthNet. This is a complex situation and will involve intense discussions between hospitals and the state departments involved. I hope SB 1151 helps start this dialogue and end this practice that is costly to hospitals and detrimental to patients’ well-being.
Shortly afterward, I presented Senate Bill 1209 to members of the Economic and Workforce Development Committee. The goal of SB 1209 is to preserve and strengthen Missouri’s vital newspaper printing and infrastructure by establishing a targeted, refundable tax credit for newspaper printing plants operating within the state. Newspapers are the lifeline of communities and a critical source of news and information, especially in rural areas where the internet is scarce. Missouri is home to 12 newspaper plants, all located in rural areas. My hope with this tax credit is to sustain these operations, and eventually, attract print newspapers from surrounding states.
On March 25, the Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee combined and passed Senate Bill 1150. This bipartisan legislation creates the offense of masked intimidation to charge individuals who intentionally harass, intimidate or threaten another person while shielding their identity with a mask or other face covering. The proposal includes exceptions for law enforcement officers and for those who wear face coverings for their jobs, the weather, religious purposes or holidays.