Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed nine bills passed by the legislature into law Tuesday that included expansive measures centered on public safety and property.
Within the public safety bill is Blair鈥檚 Law, which creates state penalties for celebratory gunfire. The bill includes greater penalties for harming or killing a police dog and the establishment of a cybercrimes task force.
Under Blair鈥檚 Law, a first offense would be a class A misdemeanor, with felony charges on further offenses.
The law is named for a Kansas City girl, Blair Shanahan Lane, who was killed in 2011 by a stray bullet during the 4th of July.
Rep. Mark Sharp, D-Kansas City, has sponsored the bill for several sessions.
鈥淚 believe over 10 years have gone, and they say sometimes Mr. Governor not to be married to a bill. But I'm sure glad we stuck to it and didn't give up,鈥� Sharp said.
Blair鈥檚 Law was in a different public safety bill the legislature passed in 2023. However, Parson vetoed that bill over a separate restitution policy he disagreed with.
Parson spoke to Shanahan Lane鈥檚 family during the signing ceremony on Tuesday.
鈥淚鈥檓 sure they were disappointed a couple of times when I vetoed a bill that was very dear to them and very personal to them. So, I thank you for staying the course, to do what is right because you鈥檙e going to help somebody else out,鈥� Parson said.
Another expansive bill Parson signed into law dealt with issues related to property.
Some of the measures include a ban on eviction moratoriums by local governments and new penalties associated with squatting.
鈥淣ow in the state of Missouri, after the governor signs this, the state legislature and the governor through his emergency powers are the only entities within the state that could enact a halt on evictions,鈥� said Rep. Chris Brown, R-Kansas City.
The law also contains policies allowing St. Louis County and others across the state to establish land banks.
Land banks allow for public entities to acquire, manage and develop vacant, abandoned or foreclosed properties.
Rep. Kevin Windham, D-Hillsdale, said that policy will positively affect Missouri for generations. 鈥淚鈥檓 extremely proud to know that this bill will be a part of my legacy,鈥� Windham said.
Parson also signed into law a bill that fixes another law passed in 2023.
Missouri lawmakers passed legislation that would allow for counties and municipalities to enact property tax freezes for seniors.
St. Louis and St. Charles are two counties that have already approved the tax freeze. The City of St. Louis has also passed the freeze.
However, the original law only allowed seniors who have Social Security to qualify. This means any retiree who solely pulled from a pension couldn鈥檛 have their property taxes frozen.
The new bill broadens who qualifies to anyone 62 or older, including those with pensions.
鈥淲e've seen out-of-control real estate assessments around the state, particularly in our metropolitan areas, and it risks many seniors who are on fixed incomes being taxed out of their homes. And so this will make sure that those seniors are protected,鈥� Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, R-Parkville, said.
Parson says he believes the fix will cause more counties to approve the tax freeze.
鈥淚 think the citizens will probably demand that. And I think they should. I mean, there's been a lot of things said over the last year. that it wasn't clear, there was confusion. Hopefully that's off the plate now,鈥� Parson said.
All laws will go into effect Aug. 28 except one, , which has an emergency clause. That bill deals with Missouri fertilizer and clean water laws.
They are among the last bills signed during Parson鈥檚 administration, which ends this year.
鈥淚t's kind of a bittersweet in a way 鈥� but it's great to be here and great to be able to finish this up,鈥� Parson said.
Parson is scheduled to sign seven more bills into law Thursday.
