I want to bring attention to an issue that affects thousands of working families across southern Missouri. Under our current workers’ compensation law, construction is the only industry in the entire state where having just one employee — or even being a one-member LLC — triggers a mandatory workers’ comp requirement.
In rural counties where most construction businesses are one-man operations, husband-and-wife crews or small two- or three-person teams, this rule is impossible to meet.
A workers’ comp policy can cost more than many of these small contractors earn in a year. As a result, more than 80–90% of small construction businesses in southern Missouri are technically out of compliance. Not because they’re dishonest. Not because they’re unsafe. But because they’re poor.
This law doesn’t protect workers — it criminalizes poverty. It turns honest people into lawbreakers simply for trying to survive in an economically deprived region where construction work is often the only available trade.
HB 3032, currently in the Missouri House (sponsored by Rep. Bennie Cook), would fix this by raising the construction threshold to the same five-employee level that every other industry already follows. It would instantly make the vast majority of rural contractors compliant, without weakening safety standards for larger employers. Most importantly, it would end a 30-year-old policy that punishes people not for wrongdoing, but for being poor in the wrong ZIP code.
Southern Missouri deserves laws that reflect our economic reality — not laws that trap working people in technical violations they can’t afford to avoid. HB 3032 is a step toward fairness, consistency and dignity for the people who build our communities.
I am available for interviews, additional details, or to connect you with affected contractors in the region. Please feel free to contact me at your convenience. I can be reached at 573-308-9115.