legislative mission & priorities

Please follow this Sample Priority and Proposal Template to submit legislative priorities and policy proposals to the MAC membership.

MAC’s 2025 legislative mission, priorities and proposals

General Legislative Mission

Unfunded/underfunded mandates

County governments are first-line providers of service to Missouri residents and their communities, and many of the services provided by the county are mandated by state law.

These services mandated by the state are often unfunded or underfunded, which drives costs up for counties in carrying out the mandated services.

It is a general legislative mission of the Missouri Association of Counties to have the state adhere to the Missouri constitution and consider the financial burden state mandates have on county governments, including the county’s ability to carry out the mandate while providing other necessary and essential services for its residents and communities.

MAC will support an increase in appropriation funding or providing an appropriation for the following unfunded/underfunded mandate issues:

  • prisoner per diem;

  • assessment maintenance reimbursements;

  • obligations placed on elections officials, including payment of the state’s portion of primary and general election costs;

  • mental health crisis and substance use issues in Missouri;

  • office space and other costs for the state’s public defenders;

  • to offset any statutory mandate increasing the salary and retirement contributions for any county-elected official;

  • the state’s public guardianship system; and

  • legal fees from court challenges to county budgets.

MAC also supports the state refraining from implementing the requirements in Senate Bill 711 relating to property tax enacted in 2008 until full state funding for it is authorized.

Preemption of local authority

The Missouri General Assembly should not be forced to ‘micro-manage’ county government from the state Capitol in Jefferson City. MAC and its members have expressed opposition to the erosion of local authority, which allows counties greater flexibility in dealing with truly local issues and problems when they arise.

MAC opposes any effort to repeal or weaken 229.100 RSMo., that requires any individual, association or company to have the approval of the county commission prior to the erection of poles for the suspension of electric light or power wires, or the laying and maintenance of pipes, conductors, mains and conduits for any purpose through, on, under or across public roads or highways of any county of Missouri.

Stop the erosion of the tax base

The cost of county services continues to increase annually, prompting many to diversify their revenue streams using sales and use tax to supplement the property tax base. County governments have an obligation to their residents to look to the future to ensure that adequate funding sources will be available to meet the required services needed well into the future.

MAC will work for county governments to limit legislation proposed by the General Assembly that would have a negative budgetary effect on county governments and county-elected offices without the guaranteed replacement of revenue.

Clean up outdated and conflicting language in statute pertaining to county governments

The Missouri Revised Statutes have more than 600 chapters with thousands of sections and subsections that can be amended, expanded or removed during every legislative session, regular or special. New legislation that becomes law can nullify or conflict with existing language found in other chapters or sections of the Missouri Revised Statutes.

MAC will continue to work with its members and members of the General Assembly to clean up outdated and conflicting language from Missouri statutes that pertains to county governments.

Support the repeal of the prevailing wage law in Missouri

Any publicly funded construction project in Missouri must pay the prevailing wage performed by each type of worker as stated in law. Due to the prevailing wage law, local contractors may not be able to bid on public work projects in their area because they may not be able to comply with state law which requires them to pay the prevailing wage, leading to a lack of competitiveness in the bidding process that can drive up the costs on projects and put a strain on the budgets of local governments.

Construction projects that are built without the assistant of any public funds may have a more competitive bidding process because these types of construction projects do not have to comply with the state’s prevailing-wage law, thus saving money on construction projects. If Missouri’s prevailing-wage law was fully repealed, it may lessen the budget burden of the state, counties, municipalities and others that use public funds on public works projects by not having to pay the prevailing wage, and may lead to a more competitive bidding market by allowing contractors to bid on projects in their area because they no longer have to comply with the prevailing-wage law.

2025 priorities and proposals

Salary Task Force

  • Create a minimum salary schedule for county-elected officials not already impacted by past legislation

Agriculture and Environment

  • Support extending inspection periods and implementation of new regulations for rural lagoon and drinking water systems

  • Support statewide solar legislation to protect rural interests

  • Support legislation that protects Missouri’s livestock industry

  • Support counties establishing guidelines for the management of solid waste

  • Protecting Missouri’s sovereignty and riparian water rights

Community and Economic Development

  • Employer incentive for training

  • Increase soft skill training

  • Support minor clarification in land bank expansion law

  • Transition training to a new job

  • Transitional housing expansion

IT, Telecommunication and Broadband

  • Ensure the participation of county governments in the development and implementation of broadband expansion efforts

  • Empower counties to be active in the deployment and operations of high-speed internet

  • Continue the process through which data gathered to modify the FCC and Missouri broadband coverage maps and challenges are supported and funded.

  • Cybersecurity and training for local county governments at no cost

  • Bridge the digital divide 

  • Support election cybersecurity and technology federal funding

  • Encourage state and federal legislation to embrace artificial intelligence in a safe, secure manner

Intergovernmental Affairs, Finance, Tax Issues, & Pensions

  • Tax issues

    • Standardizing the local assessment of power generation and transmission from all forms of energy sources, including alternative, regardless of ownership with tax revenues to be taxed and distributed at the local level

    • Oppose a cap on property assessments and the elimination of personal property tax

    • Raising minimum and maximum levels of assessment maintenance funding

    • Conduct a study of current levy setting methodology for the purpose of making necessary changes to levy formulas

    • Revise motor vehicle valuation methodology

    • Remove exclusion of township counties under 139.53 RSMo.

    • Support standardizing levy setting procedures to all political subdivisions to meet the Hancock amendment guidelines

    • Support government entities/representatives to be exempted from the marital status declaration on all recorded documents

    • Further clarification is needed for the Homestead Property Tax Credit

    • Support reinstating the collection of local sales tax in Section 144.054 RSMo.

    • Support efforts by the State Tax Commission to reduce the backlog of property assessment challenges and form an Assessor Advisory Committee

  • Salaries

    • Support the efforts of county-elected officials to have their salaries reflect the current market value

  • Pensions

    • Support legislation by the Missouri Sheriffs’ Retirement System to secure certain fees to fund the retirement plan

  • Elections

    • Maintain the independence of the municipal elections in April

    • Impose appropriate penalties for threats against election officials, election workers and their families

    • Amend no-electioneering zone to 100 feet and clarify electioneering prohibitions as applicable to absentee voting

    • Expanded in-person no excuse absentee voting period with the addition of voter identification

    • Missouri to remain an open primary state

    • Uniformly apply prohibitions to the absentee voting period

    • Optional use of ‘yellow’ provisional ballots in all elections

    • Clarify confidentiality of the list of permanently disabled voters

    • Create consistent voting location for voters who qualify for specialized ballots

    • Modify the filing period for General Municipal Elections

    • Oppose mandatory hand counting of ballots and support of robust post-election audits

    • Update election law to allow submission of notice of election certifications by email

    • Ensure privacy for judicial candidates and eliminate redundant requirements

    • Modify candidate filing fee acceptance to only state party

    • Increase state funding for voter list maintenance activities

    • Support legislation that requires votes to be counted only for write-in candidates who have filed a declaration of intent

    • Require the Missouri Department of Revenue to share non-citizen information

    • Support the funding and procurement of a new registration voter database

    • Legislation aimed at reinstating the presidential preference primary needs to consolidate it with the April municipal election

Policing, Justice and Mental Health

  • Advocate for the suspension of the Federal Medicaid Inmate Exclusion Policy

  • Create and fund a pilot program for re-entry navigators in at least 10 Missouri counties

  • Support the establishment of a task force to study and propose solutions for the placement and treatment of individuals with mental health challenges

  • Create coordinating councils

  • Require DMH pay counties for the costs of detention between the date a court signs an order to the transfer to DMH and the date the detainee is actually transferred

  • Create and fund one CBHL position per county

  • Create data-sharing program

  • Expansion of authorized evaluators under Chapter 552 RSMo.

  • Support public administrator staffing and funding

Transportation and Infrastructure

  • Support MoDOT investing more money into lettered roads upgrades and roads from ports to interstates

  • Support MoDOT concentrating on the unfunded needs list

  • Support MoDOT paying for driver education programs as part of their highway safety program

  • Support the establishment of a statewide priority list for highway corridors awaiting completion

  • Oppose efforts to decrease the gas tax