JMO's 1st...

In an email to constituents, Jeanette Mott Oxford offered her lists of Firsts from the first half of her first term as state rep:

The Missouri Legislature has adjourned for Spring Break, and we reconvene on March 29. It is fitting that I offer a brief "first half" report. In order to do her or his job well, every legislator accumulates a list of "first" accomplishments in short order. Here are a few of the "firsts" that I have compiled since being sworn in on January 5, 2005:

First bill sponsored: HB 277 to improve outcomes in lead abatement, filed in response to a family in my district - see the full list of bills sponsored and co-sponsored here.
First introduction of a special guest from the House Floor: Teddy Foster from Human Development Corporation during the Missouri Association of Community Action Agencies' Lobby Day
First speech from the House floor (using script I had prepared in advance) - Speaking against HB100, an anti-choice bill
First speech from the House floor without a script - Speaking against tort reform bill on March 15
First amendment offered in a committee - In Children and Families Committee on March 16, HB 36 to make home births with the assistance of a midwife legal in MO - I offered a "disclosure" amendment for families to receive information in writing about the midwife's training and certain risk management procedures. The amendment passed unanimously, and the bill was voted DO PASS and hopefully will make it to the floor for debate
First sponsored bill to be heard in committee: HB 565 to change composition of the Metropolitan Taxi Commission, filed in response to Somali and Ethiopian cab drivers from my district, heard in Local Government on March 17
First courtesy resolution offered: In honor of Luminomics, a small business in my district that reseraches possible therapies for juvenile diabetes, Parkinson's disease, etc. by studyng the regenerative abilities of starfish
First press conference about a piece of legislation: Held at South Side Day Nursery Center on Feb. 28 for HB 683, a bill to update childcare subsidies that I had drafted and asked Cathy Jolly to sponsor