The governor will be jetting around Missouri over the coming week for ceremonial signings of H.B. 1311, the Autism Spectrum Disorder Coverage Bill. On Thursday, he will go to Joplin, Springfield, and Columbia. On Friday, he’ll be in St. Louis and Kansas City. On Tuesday, he’ll be in Cape Girardeau. Why one bill requires the governor to be present at six signing ceremonies across the state leads to questions about fiscal responsibility. One would hope that this expense and hoopla isn’t devoted to each of the more than 100 bills delivered to the governor for a signature.
Beyond travel expenses, though, the signing of this bill will be costly for Missouri. I’ve written before about why I think an autism mandate is bad policy for Missouri. The bill may be a huge gain for the 300 to 350 families that will be helped by the mandate, but the rest of Missouri will pay for it in higher insurance costs and foregone jobs.
