Two of seven Lipke crime bills have reached committee

In addition to losing his committee chairmanship, state Rep. Scott Lipke is having trouble moving the bills he's sponsoring in this year's legislative session.

So far this year, Lipke has proposed eight bills, all aimed at various aspects of criminal law. Of the seven bills he introduced Jan. 11, only two have been sent to a committee for consideration. The referrals to committee took place Thursday, the last workday this week for the Missouri Legislature.

Lipke highlighted one of the bills -- an anti-methamphetamine proposal -- in a news release, prompting the Southeast Missourian to review the progress of Lipke's entire legislative package. The bills Lipke introduced were all aimed at setting an agenda for his former committee, Crime Prevention and Public Safety. Lipke remains a member of that panel.

House Speaker Rod Jetton, R-Marble Hill, and Lipke, R-Jackson, have been publicly feuding in the past week after Jetton, at first using surrogates, accused Lipke of using underhanded tactics to win repeal of a law against homosexual acts. The repeal, included in a bill strengthening the penalties for sexual predators, embarrassed social conservatives and cost Lipke the trust of his colleagues, Jetton said. Lipke, however, has replied that the bill included the repeal provision all along and merely removed unenforceable language from Missouri statutes.

As speaker, Jetton determines when a bill is sent to a committee and which committee considers a proposal.

The bill to fight meth would strengthen the law limiting sales of pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in the drug. While current law limits the quantities of pseudoephedrine any single person can purchase, there's a loophole because pharmacies don't always communicate with each other, Lipke said.

The proposal would require each purchase to be entered into a database accessible at all pharmacies, allowing drugstores to deny sales to anyone who has reached their limit, Lipke said.

The law setting limits helped cut the number of meth labs found by police by 43 percent, he said, but Missouri was still No. 1 in the nation in raids on the clandestine labs in 2006.

Other bills in Lipke's package would enhance crime victim's rights by allowing victims to hire someone to represent them at parole hearings, stronger penalties for some juvenile sex offenders and offenders who have committed crimes outside Missouri and proposals cracking down on boating while drunk and driving under the influence of drugs.

The lack of action on his bills won't deter him, Lipke said. He added that he will look for places on other lawmaker's bills where his ideas fit. "There are roadblocks that pop up all the time on getting legislation passed, and I will just look for an opportunity," he said.

Jetton could not be reached for comment Friday.

rkeller@semissourian.com

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