Legislating Your Future

Let’s imagine for a moment that Exxon passed a law saying that everyone in the State of Missouri must buy only Exxon gas. I suppose if you wanted to continue to go to work and pay your bills, you would buy Exxon gas. What would happen to all of the other gasoline companies? What would happen to the price of gas? What would happen to the Exxon profit margins? How well do you think Exxon would pay its stockholders and company executives? You would say that is absurd, right? The state legislature would have no business granting a company the exclusive rights to sell a product or service.

Now, let’s apply this situation to the Missouri Professional Bail Bond Association’s (MPBBA) bail bills, HB2454 and SB1247. The bail association wants legislative authority to nominate members to serve on their newly created bail bond board and they want the right to exclusively provide the training of all bail and recovery agents in the state. The association also wants to double the amount of training you will be forced to take from them.

What is going to happen to the other training providers in the state? Well, they will be out of business. What will happen to the profit margins of the association? Of course they will soar because if you want to be nominated to serve on the board, you’d better become a member. If you want to continue to work, you will have to take their training. The bail association will have an influx of money to pay its directors and/or hire staff. And what about paying its executives and stock holders? Unlike most trade associations, MPBBA is a for-profit corporation. According to MPBBA’s filings at the Missouri Secretary of State's Office , there are 30,000 shares of stock available to be issued, or maybe they have already issued the stock, who knows?

Some will say that the bail bond bills do not specifically reference MPBBA, but only say “a state association”. The bail association does not have to identify itself by name to reap the harvest of legislated status. Take a look at this law regarding the training of school board members by “a state-wide association” for school boards. The law did not name a specific school board association. It didn’t have to in order for the Missouri School Boards Association (MSBA) to be the sole association for school boards. And having a law requiring the existence of a state association certainly sealed its future sustainability. Plus, this state-required training became a new revenue stream for the association.

When the MPBBA sponsored legislation in 2005 to force bail and recovery agents to join “a state-wide association,” I testified before the Missouri Senate opposing this language. Forced association was a bad idea and thankfully the bill failed. This is a back-door approach to make you financially support the agenda of the association, whether or not you personally support their agenda. The association wants to buy instant credibility and wealth by passing legislation which requires bail agents to financially support the work of the association. It’s a bad idea.

1. If you don't want a new $10 tax on each bond you write….
2. If you do not want the association to nominate bail bond board members who will oversee your business by holding the power for the "licensing, educating, supervising, and disciplining of all general bail bond agents, bail bond agents, and surety recovery agents in this state"…..
3. If you do not want the authority of the Department of Insurance transferred to this newly created bail bond board…..
4. If you don't want the association to be the only provider of all bail and recovery training ...
5. If you do not want a law requiring the existence of a bail association......

Please sign and return this petition. For those who have already done so, many thanks for your support.