Greitens enacts law against his alleged actions

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri's outgoing Gov. Eric Greitens signed a bill Friday to make it a crime to threaten to share sexual photos of people without their consent -- something Greitens has been accused of doing.

The Republican resigned Friday following allegations of both personal and political misconduct, including claims he took a photo of a woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair while she was at least partially nude. She has testified he threatened to release it if she exposed their relationship, which took place in 2015 as he was gearing up for a potential run for office.

A St. Louis grand jury indicted Greitens in February on a felony invasion of privacy charge related to the claims. Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner later dropped the case, but she referred it to a special prosecutor for reconsideration. Greitens has denied criminal wrongdoing.

The law Greitens signed in his final hours as governor would make it a felony crime to threaten to release private sexual images of a person in an attempt to coerce them.

Violators face up to four years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000 or both. The new law can't be applied to Greitens, because his alleged actions occurred in 2015.

The law also makes it a crime to spread private sexual photos without permission with the intent to harass, threaten or coerce, a practice commonly known as "revenge porn." Penalties include up to seven years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000 or both.

Because of special action by the Republican-led Legislature, the law takes effect immediately.

The legislation was among 77 bills Greitens signed in a last-minute flurry hours before his resignation. Here's a breakdown of other bills Greitens took action on Friday:

• Corporate taxes: Cuts the corporate income tax rate from 6.25 percent to 4 percent starting in 2020; changes how multistate corporations can calculate their taxable income. SB 884
• Crime victims: Expands an address confidentiality program to cover all crime victims who fear for their safety, not only those subjected to domestic violence, stalking, human trafficking and rape. HB 1461
• Electric rates: Allows electric companies to recoup more of their costs for infrastructure improvements through the rates they charge customers. SB 564
• Foster care: Removes fees for copies of birth certificates for children in foster care; provides 30-day grace period for immunizations to allow homeless children or children in foster care to enroll in school; allows teenagers in foster care who are at least 16 years old to open bank accounts. SB 819
• Hair braiding: Removes requirement professional hair braiders get a cosmetology license. HB 1500
• Health care: Allows low-income new mothers to receive Medicaid coverage for more than a year after birth to pay for substance abuse and mental health programs. HB 2280
• Historic renovation: Reduces the current $140 million annual cap on historic preservation tax credits to $120 million, of which $30 million would go to areas with high poverty rates. SB 590
• Juveniles: Raises the age at which people are automatically prosecuted as adults from 17 to 18. SB 800 Removes the statute of limitations for charging sex offenses committed against those age 18 or younger. SB 819
• State employees: Gives administrators greater leeway in hiring, firing and promoting some state employees. SB 1007
• Unions: Requires some public employee unions to get annual permission from workers to withhold dues from paychecks and to hold recertification elections every three years. HB 1413
• Virtual education: Requires school districts or charter schools to pay for K-12 students to take online classes. SB 603