Latest news with #SenateBill81
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New Missouri law modernizes fireworks regulations for first time in over two decades
By Mitchell Kaminski, ABC 17 News COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) — A new law signed by Gov. Mike Kehoe on Tuesday includes sweeping public safety reforms, including updating the state's outdated firework regulations. Senate Bill 81, which takes effect Aug. 28, modernizes how Missouri regulates fireworks for the first time in more than two decades, updating technical definitions, safety protocols and inspection authority. 'In terms of the fireworks provisions, there's just a lot of things that needed updated and improved,' Sen. Kurtis Gregory, R-Cooper County, who sponsored the bill, told ABC 17 News. 'In terms of fireworks, I think it's been 25 years and there's been some major advancements in fireworks and definitions needed changed. We had the proper definitions for the proper type of fireworks to make sure we had the right licenses and availabilities out there for everything to be done in a safe manner.' Gregory emphasized that while the state hadn't experienced enforcement issues, outdated definitions led to confusion. For example, some pyrotechnics commonly seen at sporting events were being mislabeled. 'The correct term is articles pyrotechnic, and that is what you see at football games and celebrations where it's like on a timed button that gets pushed,' Gregory said. 'Those are being defined as proximate fireworks. That's not the correct definition at all.' The bill also overhauls the state's fee structures to help provide training for fire departments across Missouri. Gregory pointed to Missouri's unique relationship with fireworks as to why the law was necessary. 'Missourians per capita spend more money on fireworks than anyone, any other state in the country, by like almost double,' Gregory said. 'I think Missourians on average spend about $25 per person on fireworks. The next closest state is just a little over $10.' Industry veteran Bob Geru — who has owned and operated Bob's Fireworks in Columbia since 2005 — has seen Missouri's fireworks landscape change since entering the business in 1965. 'It was a lot looser than it is today,' Geru said. 'But it's basically been the same. They don't want fireworks in the city. And, you know, I can understand that to a degree.' Still, Geru said any state enforcement presence on his business has been minimal. 'I haven't seen an inspector in 10 years,' Geru said. 'If they come in my first thought is 'Tell me what I need to do to correct it.''' Geru also echoed Gregory's point, noting that Missouri consistently ranks among the top states in fireworks sales nationwide. 'Missouri has a reputation amongst all the states as being fireworks-friendly,' Geru said. 'I've been asked the question many times. Just what is your favorite fireworks? I got a standard answer. Anything with a fuse.' While the law will expand the State Fire Marshal's authority to inspect retail locations, including those outside counties with local fire codes, it's not expected to disrupt operations in regulated areas like Boone County. 'I think what it really does is it allows the State Fire Marshal's office a little more access to those areas that don't have a fire code,' said Gale Blomenkamp, who is an assistant chief of the Boone County Fire Protection District. 'The trend has been people are leaning towards more of a brick-and-mortar type facility for these temporary fireworks stands because they're easier to secure. Storms don't blow them away, you know, like they're blowing away their tents and their product is more secure and more safe.' Blomenkamp noted that for many counties without their own codes, the law will help close inspection gaps. 'That will allow the State Fire Marshal's office to gain access into those structures, to do those inspections,' Blomenkamp said. Though SB 81 becomes law in late August, its fireworks provisions won't impact the upcoming Fourth of July season. Full implementation is expected by 2026.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Big changes to Missouri's fireworks laws: What you need to know
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed a public safety bill into law Tuesday that aims to modernize the state's fireworks regulations. The newly-signed bill, Senate Bill 81, brings Missouri's fireworks standards in line with 2022 standards from the American Fireworks Standards Laboratory. The bill expands the Missouri State Fire Marshal's oversight, granting the authority to inspect fireworks sales sites, storage facility and any locations where fireworks are discharged. The Fire Marshal may also now suspend or revoke licenses if a permit holder denies an inspection or if alcohol or drug use occurs at retail sites. Homicide investigation underway in north St. Louis County Additionally, the bill tightens sales restrictions: Only individuals with a state-issued manufacturer or distributor permit may sell fireworks classified as 'display fireworks and articles pyrotechnic.' These products may only be sold to others who hold appropriate state permits or certifications. Federal licenses or permits must also be presented to complete such sales. Furthermore, the bill requires permits for all public fireworks displays – including those held by municipalities, fairs and amusement parks – to be submitted to the State Fire Marshal at least 10 days in advance. Any new permanent structures used for fireworks sales or storage in areas without a local building code must now submit construction plans to the State Fire Marshal for review. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Also, the bill modifies several definitions related to fireworks standards and allows the state to redirect fees collected through fireworks enforcement to two state funds: The Fire Education Fund and the Cigarette Fire Safety Standard and Firefighter Protection Act Fund. Some provisions of Senate Bill 81 may take effect immediately, while others may not fully take effect until August 28, 2025. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The lack of housing in New Hampshire is hurting families. Are state senators listening?
Housing is in short supply throughout New Hampshire. (Photo by Dana Wormald/New Hampshire Bulletin) In the most recent UNH Granite State Poll, New Hampshire residents said housing is their top concern. More than three times as many people cited housing compared to the next most important issue, taxes. Yes, we are experiencing a statewide crisis of housing affordability. This crisis constrains economic growth and community vitality. Yet the New Hampshire Senate is poised to vote on a state budget that turns its back on housing, cutting funding for important programs that help our cities and towns meet their housing challenges and missing opportunities to help developers build housing that Granite Staters can afford. The Housing Champions program was created by the Legislature in 2023 with a $5 million appropriation to provide grants to cities and towns to help them voluntarily change their zoning ordinances to be more 'housing friendly.' Communities that made these changes were recognized as 'Housing Champions' and are eligible for additional funding, such as grants for infrastructure improvements. So far, 18 communities have achieved this distinction, and others are poised to follow. Despite this celebrated success, the Senate has proposed zeroing out this program. This shortsighted decision takes away the principal incentive ('carrots, not sticks') for our cities and towns to make important zoning changes. Earlier this year, the Senate passed Senate Bill 81 (then tabled it to add it to the budget) increasing the annual allocation to the state's affordable housing trust fund from $5 million to $10 million and making an additional appropriation of $25 million to the trust fund. The annual increase acknowledges the rising cost of building homes — the same money just doesn't go as far as it once did. The additional one-time appropriation acknowledges the housing deficit we're in — we need to build many thousands more homes just to meet current demand and help our economy grow. Even with good zoning, the developments that house our workforce require significant financial resources. Witness the several developments that have stalled recently in Concord because of higher costs. Senators gave themselves the opportunity to add SB 81 to the budget and then ignored it. Finally, the Senate has proposed reducing funding to the Housing Appeals Board, an innovative approach to addressing appeals of local planning and zoning decisions. The Legislature created the fast-track of the Housing Appeals Board in 2020 recognizing the delays that housing developments faced when local decisions were appealed to court. Time is money, and delays add to development costs. The Housing Appeals Board has been nationally recognized as a light-touch, small-government approach, and it has shown to be an effective and efficient means of hearing appeals. In the midst of a housing crisis, it is nonsensical to pull back on a proven way to speed up final decisions on development proposals. Our current lack of sufficient housing is a drag on economic growth and is hurting New Hampshire's families. It's time for the Senate to put its money — our money — where its mouth is: fund these vital housing programs and help move the Granite State out of its current housing crisis and toward a better, brighter future.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Roundhouse effort to overhaul NM's home ‘insurer of last resort' fails
Rep. Harlan Vincent (R-Ruidoso Downs) asks questions of a panel at the Legislative Finance interim committee in Mescalero shortly after the South Fork and Salt fires. Vincent's bill to reform the state's residual insurance plan did not get through the Legislature, but he says lawmakers' other efforts will help the market cover New Mexicans who need it. (Photo by Danielle Prokop / Source NM) Senate Bill 81, which aimed to make it easier for New Mexicans in wildfire-prone areas to secure home insurance, never received its final committee hearing in the 60-day session, but the bill's Republican sponsor said reason for optimism remains for those trying to rebuild after wildfires. The bill would have required the board overseeing the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements plan to increase coverage limits to $750,000 for homes and overhauled a board now composed of insurance executives. The state's top 10 home insurers have increased premiums 60%, on average, since 2022, and insurers are also increasingly refusing to renew policies or canceling them. That's what makes reforms to the FAIR plan, often referred to as the state's home 'insurer of last resort,' all the more necessary, sponsors have said. NM Gov fire-insurance proposal 'won't happen this session' Even with the increase of costs to rebuild homes and rising home prices, the plan only covered $250,000 of losses for most of its existence until shortly after the South Fork and Salt Fires in Ruidoso, when the board agreed to increase it to $350,000. The FAIR plan board met again during the legislative session and increased the coverage limits to $750,000, plus up to $1 million for commercial properties, according to Rep. Harlan Vincent (R-Ruidoso Downs). Increasing the coverage cap to $750,000 was expected to increase the number of FAIR plan holders from about 7,000 to about 11,000, state insurance officials have said. 'SB81 had lots of traction, and it was a bipartisan effort,' Vincent told Source New Mexico on Saturday, following a post-session press conference with Republican leaders. 'However, the board [was] able to meet all the demands that the bill was asking for, except for the reforming of the board.' The bill's proposed board reforms included adding a consumer advocate, climate scientist and catastrophic risk expert to the board. It was amended again on the Senate floor to scrap that proposal and instead allow legislative leaders to appoint board members. None of the proposed amendments would have allowed the public to see what happens in FAIR Plan board meetings, even though the Legislature created the FAIR plan in 1969 and sought a major overhaul of the program this session. Vincent told Source New Mexico he believes the meetings should be public, however. 'I'm a very transparent person,' he said. 'So, yes, I do.' Why the state's insurance regulator thinks SB81 will save New Mexicans' homes from wildfire Even without SB81, Vincent said he thinks other legislative acts this session will help homeowners protect their homes from wildfires and also get enough coverage to rebuild if they occur. Several bills aim to address the insurance problem, directly or indirectly, including one that creates a state wildfire suppression fund and others that encourage or incentivize wildfire mitigation through the use of thinning and ignition-resistant construction materials. 'I'm thinking that a lot of our insurance problems are eventually going to start going away, traditional insurance starts to come back, because we were able to get four, three bills across the finish line that had to do with wildfire,' he said. 'So we're going to try to start doing wildfire mitigation so that we can make it not such a risk for insurance companies to come back.'
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NM Gov fire-insurance proposal ‘won't happen this session'
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham gestures during her State of the State address on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. Her proposal described in the speech for a state-sponsored fire insurance program won't happen this session, a spokesperson said. (Danielle Prokop / Source NM) After announcing a proposal to create a state-sponsored fire insurance program in her State of the State address a month ago, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham will instead commission a study on the idea because her office failed to find a sponsor, according to a spokesperson for her office. Citing the wildfires in Los Angeles and ones here in New Mexico, the governor dedicated part of her speech to announce the creation of a state-run fire insurance program separate from the private market. 'Fires spurred by climate change have also ravaged communities in our state, testing our patience and resilience as we struggle under the weight of natural disasters in our backyards,' Lujan Grisham said in her speech. 'As if the fires themselves aren't difficult enough, getting insurance protection is becoming impossible, either because it's simply no longer available or exorbitantly expensive.' The program would also be separate from the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan, governor's spokesperson Michael Coleman said after the speech, which was created by the Legislature in 1969 to serve as an insurer of last resort primarily in fire-prone areas. The governor's program would be structured similar to the state's workers' compensation fund, requiring initial state funding and 'limited liability' to the state, with the ultimate goal of providing coverage to anyone who needs it, Coleman said. But the governor's office could not find a sponsor for the legislation, Coleman told Source New Mexico on Thursday afternoon. Instead, the governor will commission a study on the issue, a spokesperson said. 'The governor will keep pursuing this idea, but it won't happen this session,' Coleman said in an email. Several bills making progress this session aim to spur mitigation of fire-prone communities and homes, and revamp the FAIR plan. Senate Bill 81, which the state Office of the Superintendent of Insurance endorses, would increase coverage limits from $350,000 to $1 million for homes and also change the makeup of the FAIR plan board, which is now made up of insurance industry leaders, to include a climate scientist, a consumer advocate, a catastrophic risk management expert and others. Since 2022, average premiums have increased 60% across the state, the OSI chief actuary recently testified, and insurers are increasingly canceling policies or refusing to renew them. The increases come as wildfires in New Mexico are occurring with more frequency and ferocity, including the state's biggest-ever wildfire in 2022 and the most destructive, in terms of structures destroyed, last summer.
