Missouri’s Parson signs laws for new moms’ health care, ban on texting while driving

By SUMMER BALLENTINE
Associated Press

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s Republican Gov. Mike Parson has signed legislation to extend health care for new mothers and prohibit handheld phone use while driving. Parson last week signed almost all of the remaining bills passed by the GOP-led Legislature this year. Bills signed by the governor include expanded Medicaid for lower-income new mothers from the current 60 days to 12 months. Another law will make it a crime to text while driving. That measure doesn’t take effect until 2025. Parson vetoed one bill. That measure would have increased pay for former prisoners who were wrongfully convicted and made it easier to wipe certain crimes off criminal records.