JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Saying that most of the heavy lifting is now behind them, lawmakers are anticipating advancing the long-awaited court reform bill to Gov. Jay Nixon’s desk by the end of the week.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Glendale, is aimed at reducing the amount of revenue a city can collect through traffic fines and court fees. Current law allows for up to 30 percent of annual revenue to be derived from such fines. Schmitt’s bill lowers that cap in the St. Louis area and the surrounding state.
Schmitt’s bill originally lowered the cap to 10 percent in the St. Louis area, while language in the House capped it at 15. In Senate language, some small towns and cities would maintain a 20 percent cap, while others would be reduced to 10.
But those numbers have changed after pushback, some coming from rural House members, who say that such a drastic cut would dramatically impact their small communities. Much of the criticism in the past year over sky-high fines or fees has been focused on the St. Louis region, and members in both chambers from around the state voiced concern that they would be punished for the “bad actors” in St. Louis.
Under the language in the conference committee report, St. Louis county municipalities’ revenues derived from traffic fines and court fee municipalities will be capped at 12.5 percent, while the rest of the state would be capped at 20 percent.
Members arguing for the 20 percent cap say that there is still a chance to continue to lower it in the future, but such a sudden drop from 30 to 10 could prove too drastic for some towns. Proposals were floated for a tiered system including charter counties, and negotiations on the different cap levels took much of the week, but those negotiations appear all-but-concluded.
The bill also includes a series of minimum standards that municipalities must maintain — added by House Speaker John Diehl — that gives municipalities 3 years to comply or risk disincorporation. Some of Diehl’s original minimum standards — like those dealing with refuse and recycling — were stripped from the bill.
The Senate may be debating and voting on language in the conference committee report as early as Wednesday evening, and House members anticipate leaving the journal during the evening so members can begin debating it tomorrow morning.
Collin Reischman was the Managing Editor for The Missouri Times, and a graduate of Webster University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.
