Representative Steve Hodges weighs more than 330 pounds and he'll be the first to tell you how hard it is for nurses to move him from one bed to another. 

"There's a 28-year-old female I know that was helping to turn a 400 pound patient and injured her back and had to have two surgeries, two very painful surgeries," said SEIU Nurse Alliance of Missouri member Patty Cyr of SEIU.

"I would much rather have a secure piece of equipment handling my loved ones," said East Prairie Democratic Representative Steve Hodges. "Not that I don't trust human handling, but this is just a better deal."

Bill sponsor, Sam Page wants to lighten the load nurses have to bear. The $7,000 patient handling device even has the potential to lift regular patients weighing 150-200 pounds.

Lifting more than 45 pounds can cause microfractures in the back. One neat thing about the product is that its thin material can hold up to 500 pounds.

Representive Page is promoting the bill which would provide tax credits for hospitals so they can buy more patient handling devices. Audrain Medical Center is already using them. It has has 6 lifts and an average of 42 patients. University Hospital runs 18 lifts and has 282 beds.

Page says he hopes his bill will help relieve hospitals' and nurses' heavy loads.

Other states already have laws similar to page's proposal in place.