Kehoe signs 4 bills into law while acting as governor

Acting as governor while Gov. Mike Parson is out of the country, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe has signed four bills into law.

Those included:

House Bill 612, which transferred the state's Missouri Council on the Arts to the lieutenant governor's office from the state Economic Development Department.

The transfer is part of Parson's plan to reorganize state government, including streamlining Economic Development so it focuses on attracting businesses to, and keeping businesses in, the Show Me State.

Senate Bill 133, which made a number of changes to state agriculture laws.

Among those were a new permit process for those raising or marketing industrial hemp; adding sawmills and planing mills to the list of things that qualify as "agricultural property" for property zoning purposes; modifying the civil penalties for violations of the state's egg laws; eliminating the "treated timber" law; and modifying a number of fees charged by the state Agriculture Department.

SB 257, allowing the Commissioner of Administration to hold reverse auctions to procure merchandise, supplies, raw materials or finished goods - if price is the primary factor in evaluating the bids.

SB 397, which allows a community to create a "museum and cultural district" within 15 years after the presidential declaration establishing a disaster area in the location where the district is proposed.

The bill was sponsored by Sen. Bill White, R-Joplin, and is an outgrowth of that area's redevelopment after the May 2011 EF-5 tornado destroyed about one-third of the city.

But the bill isn't limited to Joplin, and it could apply in other areas of the state, as well.

Before Parson returns to Jefferson City next Wednesday, Kehoe is expected to make appointments to the Route 66 Centennial Commission.

When Parson returns, he'll have 11 days to finish signing, or vetoing, the rest of the 91 bills lawmakers passed this spring.

He has signed 38 of them, including the budget bills for the business year that begins Monday.