Aug. 28 means that most of Missouri's new laws passed earlier this year are now in effect.
They include House Bill 1568, which allows anyone to buy naloxone without a prescription, which can then be administered to someone suffering an overdose from heroin or a prescription opioid. It was sponsored by Rep. Steve Lynch of Pulaski County.
"One of the most critical things about a heroin or opioid overdose is minutes; you only really have about 5 to 7 minutes to be able to be able to administer (it)," he said. "That's why it's so important to get it to the homes … somebody is around most of the time, and that's where most of the overdoses happen."
Also taking effect Sunday is HB 1562, which expands the crime of sexual trafficking to include advertising a child participating in a "commercial sexual act." Lynch co-sponsored that measure.
"These people are being advertised, particularly on some Internet websites. Missouri (has not had) a comprehensive law that addresses this advertising of (the) availability of a person for purposes of sexual exploitation," Lynch said. "The goal of this is then to shut down these Internet sites that are being used to help these traffickers find buyers."
Missouri's 106 new laws also include the three ethics bills that made it out of the 2016 legislative session.
Under House Bill 1979, former lawmakers and statewide elected officials who want to become lobbyists now have to wait at least six months before getting started. Earlier proposals would have created 1- and 2-year waiting periods, but those versions went nowhere.
House Bill 2203 requires ex-lawmakers to dissolve their campaign committees before becoming lobbyists, and it requires that unspent campaign funds be held in bank accounts that can make them readily available. Also, House Bill 1983 bars current House and Senate members and statewide officeholders from working as paid political consultants.
Other new laws taking effect Sunday include:
- HB 1577 – establishes a commission and joint legislative committee on capitol security infrastructure
- HB 1583 – changes the laws regarding bullying in schools and establishes specific components that a district must include in its anti-bullying policy
- HB 1599 – establishes procedures for an adopted person to obtain a copy of his or her original birth certificate
- HB 1684 – allows certain cities, towns or villages to consolidate when they have entered into one or more intergovernmental agreements related to municipal services, are separated by a distance of not more than one mile, and are connected by at least two publicly maintained right of ways
- HB 1696 – requires the Missouri Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing to provide grants to organizations that provide services to deaf-blind persons
- HB 1698 – establishes the Meet in Missouri Act to attract national conventions to Missouri
- HB 1851 – designates the German Heritage Corridor of Missouri
- HB 1941 – gives the Missouri Gaming Commission the authority to license daily fantasy sports sites
- SB 572 – the "sequel" to 2015's municipal reform bill; would curb local governments' reliance on non-traffic fines, such as housing code violations, for their budgets
- SB 657 – shields auto makers and ethanol retailers from civil lawsuits if a customer puts ethanol in his or her auto that’s not built to use ethanol
- SB 838 – allows courts to order a wireless service provider to transfer rights of a cell phone number from account holder to petitioner if the petitioner is a domestic violence victim
Follow Marshall Griffin on Twitter: @MarshallGReport
