Pre-filing for Missouri legislators began on Friday, December 1. Missouri State Senator Denny Hoskins has taken his first first steps on the 2024 legislative journey by pre-filing three bills for the upcoming session.

Hoskins, who represents District 21, wants to focus on the issues of election security, personal property tax and protecting Missouri children from transgender surgeries.

The first bill filed by Hoskins would create the Office of Election Integrity-Crimes and Security Unit within the Secretary of State’s office. This office would be charged and empowered to investigate complaints and allegations of election law violations and oversee a voter fraud hotline.

Hoskins filed a bill aimed at easing the burden of personal property taxes. The current personal property tax rate is 33.3 percent of the property’s true value. The new law would require that assessment rate to be lowered to account for any increases in property value, due to economic fluctuations such as drastic inflation.

Another priority piece of legislation is Hoskins’ bill to remove a “sunset” provision that was included in 2023’s Senate Bill 49, the “Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act,” which prohibits health care providers from providing gender transition surgeries, cross-sex hormones and puberty-blocking drugs to anyone under the age of 18. This bill would eliminate the 2027 expiration date currently included in the SAFE Act.

The 2024 legislative session begins on January 3, 2024.