Seventy-six new Missouri laws are set to be enacted Friday.

Gov. Mike Kehoe signed them over the summer, and their effective date is 90 days after the end of the annual legislative session.

Driving

HB 1740, sponsored by Rep. Dave Griffith, R-Jefferson City, will increase the penalty and felony ratings for all intoxicated driving crimes resulting in personal injury or death.

The law prevents parole or probation for five years for those convicted of drunk driving resulting in a death. The law also prevents convicted persons from receiving limited driving privileges until they file proof that their vehicle has a car breathalyzer, known as an ignition interlock device or IID.

Additionally, it will prevent any person with an income at or below 150% of the federal poverty line from paying more than 10% of the cost of their IID.

Sen. Mike Henderson, R-Desloge, sponsored SB 1135, which establishes Bentley and Mason’s Law. This provision will allow the surviving family of victims of intoxicated driving who leave behind children to petition to receive child maintenance payments until adulthood from the convicted driver.

If the driver is incarcerated, the payments must begin within one year after their release.

SB 1408, sponsored by Sen. Jamie Burger, R-Benton, will increase the speed limit on rural interstates and freeways from 70 miles per hour to 75 miles per hour. This will not apply to urban areas. Missouri Department of Transportation officials, who will determine where the enhanced speed will apply, said last week that those areas are under review, and the 70 mph limit will be enforced in all areas until later this year.

SB 1421, sponsored by Sen. Nick Shroer, R-Defiance, increases the penalties for those who drive past a stopped school bus. Those cited for failing to stop while children are getting on or off buses will incur increased fines and five penalty points. Accruing eight points over 18 months leads to a suspension of a driver’s license.

Any violation that leads to injury or death of a child also will see increased felony charges with additional fines.

ADA compliance

HB 1840, sponsored by Rep. Sheri Gallick, R-Benton, will establish a statewide communications access services program. The program is designed to improve compliance with federal Americans with Disabilities Act standards.

The bill also establishes a Purple Alert system for missing people with developmental disabilities. The bill includes Mason’s Law, which will allow people with disabilities or health conditions that would have difficulty communicating with officers to have a designation listed with their license plate numbers.

The Act Against Abusive Website Litigation, SB 907, was sponsored by Sen. Brad Hudson, R-Cape Fair. The law intends to prevent law firms from pursuing legal action against small businesses over ADA infractions on their websites by allowing 90 days for the infraction to be corrected. The law will allow businesses to counter-sue if the original lawsuit was filed to receive a settlement rather than in pursuit of ADA compliance.

Family issues

SB 982, sponsored by Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, R-Arnold, reestablishes Missouri’s sex offender registry tier system.

Tier I encompasses less severe sex crimes, like sexual misconduct, possession of child pornography and sex with an animal. Tier II includes grooming, patronizing prostitution and sexual exploitation of a minor. Tier III addresses rape, child molestation and sex trafficking of minors.

It also allows for sex offenders to petition for removal from the list after 10 years for Tier I and 25 years for Tier II. Offenders on Tier III are banned from removal.

HB 1908, sponsored by Rep. Cecelie Williams, R-Dittmer, would stop pregnancy status from preventing a divorce or legal separation. Previously a person’s separation from their spouse could be prevented by pregnancy, a situation Williams endured and described in promoting the bill.

Sponsored by Gallick, HB 1839 requires websites with significant amounts of sexual material deemed harmful to minors to verify that users are at least 18 years old. The requirement applies to commercial websites, including social media platforms, where more than one-third of the content falls under the law’s definition of sexual material harmful to minors.

Those sites must use a third party to perform age verification, and that third party is prohibited from retaining that identifying information.

HB 2292, sponsored by Rep. Holly Jones, R-Eureka, will require service workers in certain professions, primarily mental health professionals, school workers and law enforcement employees, to report animal abuse if they see it occur. The bill provides for 90 minutes of instruction for these workers in identifying animal abuse. The training is to be completed by eligible service workers by Dec. 31, 2027.

Free speech, education

SB 1067, sponsored by Henderson, creates the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act, giving Missourians a new process to quickly challenge lawsuits based on constitutionally protected speech or participation in public affairs. The law allows defendants to seek early dismissal of certain claims involving free speech, press, assembly and other forms of public expression and generally requires the losing party to cover legal costs.

SB 905, sponsored by Sen. David Gregory, R-St. Louis, creates a Missouri Rangers training program for the rangers to be placed in participating schools. The rangers will be allowed to carry a firearm. The school will employ them, and they will have qualified immunity.

Rep. George Hruza, R-St. Louis, sponsored HB 2061, which provides protections against antisemitism and other hate speech in public schools. Supporters say this law will not infringe on First Amendment protections.

HB 2896, sponsored by Rep. Chris Brown, R-Kansas City, makes several changes to education programs and the governing boards of Missouri’s public colleges and universities.

The law removes the 2028 expiration date for the state’s Workforce Diploma Program, which helps adults earn high school diplomas while developing career and technical skills.

It also changes residency requirements for the governing boards of public institutions including Lincoln University, Truman State University and the University of Central Missouri. Under this provision, no more than half of a covered institution’s board members may live in the county where the school’s main administrative office is located.

The law also allows the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to establish an ongoing agricultural education program for elementary schools beginning with the 2027-28 school year, replacing an existing pilot program. Participating local school districts would be responsible for funding the program.

Economy

HB 3231, sponsored by Rep. Brad Christ, R-St. Louis, expands Missouri’s economic development incentives, with a focus on attracting major investments and encouraging redevelopment in downtown and rural communities.

The law creates the Missouri Innovation, Public Safety and Accountability Act, allowing cities to apply for designation of a Missouri innovation zone. Projects within those zones can become eligible for state and local economic incentives aimed at encouraging business investment, housing development and redevelopment of underused properties.

The law creates funds to direct new tax revenue generated in innovation zones toward public safety, infrastructure and rural economic development.

It also expands the Missouri Downtown and Rural Economic Stimulus Act and creates or modifies incentives for large capital investments. Among its provisions are tax incentives for investments in Missouri businesses, office-to-residential conversions and companies making major capital investments in the state.