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Missouri legislation would further limit fines cities keep

Missouri cities would face limits on how much revenue from ordinance violations they could keep under a new Senate proposal.

On Wednesday, a suburban St. Louis resident told lawmakers she's received fines for chipped paint at her home.

Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt says his bill aims to cut down on what he described as abusive practices by some municipalities to bring in money.

A new law sponsored by Schmitt last year lowered the percentage of revenue most cities can keep from traffic fines and fees from 30 percent to 20 percent.

This year's bill would include money from municipal ordinance violations in that limit. Money collected above the cap would go to schools. The goal is to take away incentives for local governments to overly rely on fines and fees.

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