PRESS RELEASE
Legislative Update
Friday, March 22, 2024
JEFFERSON CITY, MO – The State Legislature’s Spring Break comes to an end this week, marking the traditional half-way point of 2024’s legislative session. Treasurer Malek’s office continues to monitor and focus on policy that will benefit hardworking Missourians. Here is a look at legislation that will affect the programs offered through the Office of the State Treasurer and where they are in the legislative process:
MOBUCK$
HB 1803, sponsored by State Representative Terry Thompson, "Increases aggregate investment amount that the state treasurer may invest in linked deposits and changes disbursement criteria for eligible parties." In January 2024, the MOBUCK$ program portal was forced to close due to high demand. HB 1803 will help expand the total amount allocated for the popular linked deposit program, giving local lenders the opportunity to continue offering discounted interest rates to eligible borrowers in Missouri. Representative Thompson’s bill continues to move forward, as it passed the House with a vote of 138 to 25 on February 19 and was heard on March 12 by the Senate Committee on Insurance and Banking, chaired by Senator Sandy Crawford.
SB 736, sponsored by Senator Sandy Crawford, permits the State Treasurer to keep in the custody of the state treasury an amount of specie, as defined in the act, greater than or equal to 1% of all state funds. SB 736 expands the MOBUCK$ linked deposit program and increases the amount that the Treasurer can invest in the program from $800 million to $1.2 billion. SB 736 continues to move forward in the House after passing the Senate with a vote of 24 to 10.
HB 1803 and SB 736 are progressing through the legislative process. If passed, they will increase the amount of funding the State Treasurer can invest in the MOBUCK$ program from $800 million to $1.2 billion.
Divest from China
HB 2143, sponsored by Representative Brian Seitz, "creates the 'Foreign Adversary Divestment Act,' which requires state and local government entities to divest from investments in foreign adversaries.” Treasurer Malek testified in support of HB 2143 in the House Pensions Committee on February 21.
HB 1869, sponsored by Representative Dirk Deaton, "modifies provisions relating to investments in public employee retirement and pension systems, requiring divestment of fund holdings in certain Chinese entities or products." Treasurer Malek testified in support of HB 1869 during the public hearing in the House Pensions Committee on February 21.
HCS HB 1957, sponsored by Representative Mike Haffner, “changes the laws regarding the foreign ownership of real property.” Currently, foreign ownership of agricultural land in the state of Missouri may not exceed 1% of the total agricultural land in the state. HCS HB 1957, which is currently on the House Informal Perfection Calendar, would reduce the percentage of foreign land ownership to 0.5% and would require alien or foreign business to report all sales or transfers of such land.
Additional Legislation
HCS HB 2227, sponsored by Representative Hannah Kelly, "proposes changes to the provisions governing funds held by the Children's Division intended for the benefit of a child." Under the new provisions, the funds must be deposited into a special needs account, a pooled special needs account, another trust account, or a Missouri MOABLE account to meet the child's outstanding needs. HCS HB 2227 continues to move forward as it was adopted, ordered re-perfected and printed on March 14 by a vote of 98 to 67.
SS SB 862, sponsored by Senator Holly Thompson-Rehder, "changes the rules governing funds held by the Children's Division for the benefit of a child." These monies must be deposited into a special needs trust, pooled special needs trust, another trust account, or a Missouri MOABLE account to meet the child's outstanding needs. SS SB 862 has been placed on the Informal Calendar Senate Bills for Perfection.
SS#2 SCS SB 727, sponsored by Senator Andrew Koenig, "creates and modifies elementary and secondary education provisions." The Missouri Senate gave final approval on March 14th with a 19 to 15 vote to a sweeping education bill covering everything from Empowerment Scholarship Accounts to teacher recruitment to school funding. SS #2 SCS SB 727 passed the Senate with a vote of 19 to 15 on March 14 and has been second read by the House.
Unclaimed Property
Along with these legislative priorities, Treasurer Malek would like to remind Missourians that there is currently over $1.4 billion of unclaimed property that belongs to you. One in ten Missourians have unclaimed property, and the average return is nearly $300. In the month of February, the State Treasurer’s office returned over $4 million to 19,700 Missourians. Visit ShowMeMoney.com to search our database.
“Come get your money!” – Missouri State Treasurer Vivek Malek
