Periodically we let you know the progress of various proposed legislation making its way through the Missouri General Assembly and suggest ways for you to contribute your viewpoint to your state Representative and state Senator.
The Missouri General Assembly is the state legislature of the State of Missouri and is composed of two chambers: the House of Representatives and the Senate. The General Assembly is responsible for creating laws for governing the State of Missouri. The Revised Statutes of Missouri (RSMo) are electronically available on this site: http://revisor.mo.gov/.
You can find your Representative and Senator, and their contact information, by entering your 9-digit zip code here.
The 2022 Regular Session (101st General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session) convened on Wednesday, January 5, 2022, and will end on Friday, May 13, 2022.
This time we’d like to discuss new bills about which we’d like you to contact your legislators. Please write, call or visit to express from your viewpoint as an individual or professional, and not as a representative of any organization. Let us know the details and any responses you get. The full text of each bill can be found on the House and Senate Joint Bill Tracking site. Just put the bill number into the search box (e.g. SB123 or HB123).
Check out our handy discussion about How to write to a legislator.
If you are not a voting resident of Missouri, you can find out about legislation in your own state and write your own state legislators; also, we are looking for volunteers to monitor legislation in Missouri and the states surrounding Missouri — let us know if you’d like to help out.
Very Bad Bills
These are bills that further psychiatric abuses of human rights, and are moving swiftly toward becoming law. Please express your opposition and opinions about this to your legislators and copy the bill sponsor.
HB2342 (Sponsor: Representative Tricia Derges, Republican, District 140 – Christian county)
This bill provides for children to seek mental health counseling and treatment without parental consent, and all records and referrals are confidential from parents and guardians. The provider must immediately determine if the child is a danger to self or others.
By their own admission psychiatrists cannot predict a person’s dangerousness or violence. The popular refrain that psychiatry can determine if a person is a danger to self or others is a complete fraud.
This bill would expand harmful psychiatric services to vulnerable children. This is the gateway to sending a child to a psychiatric hospital without any parental knowledge or consent. Psychiatrists, school counselors and other mental health practitioners have a terrible track record of accurately determining if a child is a danger to self or others, and this is the criteria for determining such things as involuntary commitment.
HB1978 (Sponsor: Representative Ann Kelley, Republican, District 127 – Lamar, Dade, Barton, Jasper, Cedar counties)
Under current federal law, a person who is in an institution for mental disease cannot receive Medicaid coverage. This bill requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) to apply for a waiver from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in order to give MO HealthNet coverage for mental health services provided in residential programs in psychiatric facilities.
This bill would expand harmful psychiatric services (and consequent budget) to a new and vulnerable patient population.
HB2019 (Sponsor: Representative Yolanda Young, Democrat, District 22 – Jackson county)
This bill provides financial supplements, subject to appropriation, for public schools to employ school nurses and mental health professionals. A school district must apply to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and specify the schools that will hire these positions. The amount of the supplement is capped at $40,000 per school per position. The bill creates the “School Nurse Financial Supplement Fund” and the “School Mental Health Professional Financial Supplement Fund” in the State Treasury, and requires DESE to create rules ensuring that positions funded with supplement money only perform duties associated with the job title, and preference be given to schools that demonstrate the greatest need.
This bill would expand harmful psychiatric services (and consequent budget) to vulnerable school children.
HB2253 (Sponsor: Representative Crystal Quade, Democrat, District 132 – Greene county)
This bill provides for the Department of Mental Health to help non profits set up behavioral crisis centers for those who are danger to self and others. It’s a psychiatric hospital under another name.
By their own admission psychiatrists cannot predict a person’s dangerousness or violence. The popular refrain that psychiatry can determine if a person is a danger to self or others is a complete fraud.
This bill would expand harmful psychiatric services (and consequent budget) to a new and vulnerable patient population.
Relatively Good Bills
These are bills that inhibit psychiatric abuses of human rights, and are moving swiftly toward becoming law. Please express your support and opinions about this to your legislators and copy the bill sponsor.
SB810 (Sponsor: Senator Andrew Koenig, Republican, District 15 – Part of St. Louis County) and Related Bills (SB776, SB653, HB1474, HB1755, HB1858, HB1995, HB2008, HB2068, HB2132, HB2189, HB2195, HB2294, HJR110)
SB810 establishes “The Parents’ Bill of Rights for Student Well-Being” and modifies other provisions of elementary and secondary education.
Similar to others about parental ability to object to curriculum and withdraw student from sex education and “certain classroom materials”. While this bill is Anti-Psych in part, it is somewhat concerning in other parts. It is the most measured and complex of this series of bills. They will probably be combined as the session progresses.
Good part:
Under this act, no governmental entity, school district, or other public institution shall infringe on the fundamental rights, as provided in the act, of a natural parent, adoptive parent, or legal guardian of such parent’s minor child without demonstrating that the infringement is reasonable, narrowly tailored to a compelling state interest, and that such interest could not be served by less restrictive means.
Potentially problematic:
We are entirely in favor of parental rights. But most of these bills contain excessive and arbitrary burdens on the schools regarding curriculum and children’s mental health care. We would recommend completely separating parental rights from matters of curriculum and mental health.
HJR101 (Sponsor: Representative Yolanda Young, Democrat, District 22 – Jackson county)
Upon voter approval, this proposed Constitutional amendment (House Joint Resolution) removes a Constitutional voting prohibition on all persons who are subject to a guardianship of their estate or person, or all persons who are confined in a mental institution.
We think this is a fine human rights proposal.
SJR47 (Sponsor: Senator Mike Moon, Republican, District 29 – Barry, Lawrence, McDonald, Stone, and Taney counties)
Prohibits laws or public policies infringing on the right of individuals to refuse medical procedures or treatments
This constitutional amendment, if adopted by the voters, prohibits the passage or implementation of any law, order, ordinance, regulation or public policy of the state or any political subdivision of the state, including schools and institutions of higher education that receive public funds, that infringes upon the unquestionable right of individuals to refuse any medical procedure or treatment, including, but not limited to, injections, vaccines, or prophylactics. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged to any person in this state because of the exercise of this right. Nothing in this amendment shall be interpreted to infringe upon a parent’s right to exercise control over their minor, unemancipated child’s physical and mental care.
CCHR also recommends that concerned individuals execute a Living Will which lets you specify decisions about your health care treatment in advance. Should you be in a position where you are to be subject to unwanted psychiatric hospitalization and/or mental or medical treatment, this Letter of Protection from Psychiatric Incarceration and/or Treatment directs that such incarceration, hospitalization, treatment or procedures not be imposed, committed or used on you.
