<b>Bill Pre-Filing Begins<b/></p><p>Just a little more than a month away from the official beginning of the 2012 legislative session, legislators are now pre-filing bills that will set the tone for upcoming session. Legislators are able to file bills before the session begins each year on Dec. 1. So far only a few bills have been filed but that number will grow in the next few weeks as House members make clear their legislative priorities for 2012. To keep up with the growing list of pre-filed bills you can visit the Missouri House of Representatives official website at http://www.house.mo.gov/billlist.aspx?year=2012.</p><p><b>Interim Committee on Disaster Recovery Readies Final Report<b/></p><p>An interim committee charged with taking a closer look at how the state responds to natural disasters is in the process of readying its final report to the Speaker of the Missouri House. The committee spent the last few months traveling around the state to visit areas devastated by natural disasters. As we all know, Missouri was extremely unfortunate with tornadoes striking Joplin, Sedalia and St. Louis and flooding causing serious problems in both Southeast and Northwest Missouri. </p><p>While the state has handled these situations well in many cases, the committee found a few key areas where improvements can be made. One change the committee will likely recommend is to remove some of the red tape that currently exists that has prevented physicians from other states from lending a helping hand during times of need.</p><p> It is likely that legislation will be filed in 2012 to ensure physicians can cross the border into Missouri during times of emergency without worrying about legal repercussions. The committee also is likely to recommend changes to the state&#x92;s prevailing wage law in relation to disaster recovery efforts. Committee members found that the prevailing wage had tripled in Joplin, which would cause rebuilding efforts there to be much more costly. Several members of the committee would like to reduce the cost of rebuilding efforts by exempting disaster recovery construction projects from prevailing wage requirements. This is an issue we will almost certainly discuss during the 2012 session.</p><p><i>Mike Cierpiot, Republican, is the Missouri State Representative for District 56.<i/>