The Missouri State Legislature will return to session on Jan. 8, and District 42 Representative Jeff Myers has already outlined his goals for the year.
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The Missouri State Legislature will return to session on Jan. 8, and District 42 Representative Jeff Myers has already outlined his goals for the year.
His first priority comes in a bill that he attempted to pass last year, HB 2688. The bill would empower law enforcement in the state with more effective tools to combat human trafficking and prosecute those who enable those crimes.
It was passed in the house last year but never went to a vote in the senate.
“It has some training in there for people who come in contact with those victims on a regular basis. It increases the penalty for patronizing prostitution to drive down the demand, and there’s some protections in there for vulnerable persons and children,” said Myers.
According to Myers, one of the key points of the bill is upgrading the charge for patronizing prostitution to a felony, which he feels will discourage people from using the illegal services.
“25% of your repeat business is 75% of the market,” said Myers. “Those people usually are someone that has a job of means, so usually a six-figure job, college educated, and in positions where a felony complicates things to the point where maybe that’s an activity they shouldn’t be involved in.”
Another provision in the bill would establish a restitution fund to help the victims of human trafficking providing access to medical care, job training and necessities like food and shelter.
“That’s going to be my number one priority, is trying to get that done,” said Myers.
He has also filed a bill that will restructure term limits for members of the legislature. Currently in Missouri, elected officials are term limited at eight years in the house and eight years in the senate.
Myers’ bill would keep the limit at 16 years in total, but would allow for legislators to serve their maximum of 16 years regardless of chamber.
He said he felt it would strengthen the institutional knowledge especially in the lower chamber where lawmakers tend to be more inexperienced.
Myers stressed that he supports term limits, and that if passed, the bill would not go into effect until 2032, ensuring that Myers would not benefit from its passing.
He has also filed a bill to reestablish the Missouri State Highway Patrol as a cabinet level position, meaning the head of the department would report directly to the governor’s office.
The patrol was moved underneath the purview of the Department of Public Safety in 1974 which Myers felt added an unnecessary level of bureaucracy and impeded communication.
Before his time in the legislature, Myers was a member of the patrol for nearly 30 years.
He also advocated for several bills filed by his colleagues that he hopes to pass in the coming legislative session, notably bills for state control of the St. Louis Police Department and to regulate abortion, which was legalized in Missouri by the passage of Amendment 3 during the Nov. 5 election.
“Since it passed on such a slim margin, I think there is room to work there to get that a little bit more in line with what our folks think,” said Myers.
