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6/18/09
Its good to be home now that the session is completed. For a while there was talk of a Special Session being held, but it will not take place. It seems the Governor is somewhat concerned about state revenues more than a Special Session concerning healthcare. I believe he was the one pushing for more funding for social programs. It was a good thing we held our ground on this issue, because he is now considering slicing from 100 to 371 million dollars from the 2009 budget because of more severe revenue decreases. This is why I have never liked mandated programs. For me, all government programs should be subject to the appropriations process, just like our household budgets. If we see income is down, it is sensible to cut expenses. However, that is not always possible with some state government programs.
I have been reading about a possible Federal Health Program being implemented. Having worked in the healthcare field for a number of years I know one of our biggest problems is access to care. Access to healthcare is directly related to the number of providers available. Around 55 million people in the United States do not have health insurance either by choice or lack of funds. If and when a federal program mandates every person will have a form of health insurance, we will not have enough providers to handle the influx of new clients. The result will be a rationing of healthcare for everyone. Before cover every living person in the United States, we must have the personnel to handle the demand. This must be fixed before we proceed any further
The federal government isn’t talking about the lack of healthcare personnel, but the State of Missouri has a program called Caring for Missourians. This year we are investing an extra 39.5 million dollars in this program which provides funds for colleges that are trying to expand programs for healthcare professionals such as physicians, nurses, and pharmacists. Some of these funds will go to Missouri State which has partnered with UMKC School of Pharmacy to enlarge the pharmacy class. This is something that will pay dividends in the long run and make our state a leader in healthcare and in economic progress.
There has been much discussion on a report from the Missouri Information Analysis Center this past month. An interim committee has been in existence the last few weeks to question the motives of this report. The report originated from the Missouri Highway Patrol and the federal government. It listed possible terrorist groups such as people against increased taxation, members from mainline religious churches, gun rights proponents, talk radio commentators, and many who speak out against Government oppression. This came down through federal government channels and ended up at the state level. The Missouri Highway Patrol has retracted this report and testified that it went overboard and was unnecessary. This is scary stuff.
I mentioned in my last report I would start giving you some detailed information on bills that were passed this session that I feel are relevant to our area. Here are a few highlights from this year’s crime bill HB 62:
1) Prohibits law enforcement from fingerprinting a juvenile older than 15 1/2 years who is alleged to have violated a traffic ordinance;
2) Creates a Class C misdemeanor if a person knowingly uses or attempts to use a degree from any institution of higher learning that is fraudulent (I remember a few years ago, a Dean from the College of the Ozarks at Point Lookout, was discovered to have a fraudulent Ph.D.);
3) The Department of Health and Senior Services will be required to implement an education and awareness program regarding the financial exploitation of the elderly;
4) A photograph will be taken of an incarcerated individual prior to release and be made available to the victim upon his or her request;
5) Gives an absolute legal defense if a person who is threatened or attacked by a dog to use lethal force to protect him/herself;
6) Specifies that any person under the age of 21 who operates a moving vehicle while sending, reading, or writing a text or electronic message will be guilty of an infraction;
7) Prohibits sexual offenders from being physically present within 500 feet of a child care facility if those children are under the age of 18;
8) Prohibits sexual offenders from being present or loitering within 500 feet of any public park with playground equipment or public swimming pool;
9) Specifies that any person who possesses amphetamine or methamphetamine in the presence or residence of a person younger 17 years of age will be guilty of endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree;
10) Allows law enforcement officers to inspect records by the State Veterinarian of any livestock sales to determine the origin and destination of any livestock because of the rise of stolen livestock in the recent years.
In the future, I will continue to give you more information on other bills that were passed and updates on current happenings in state government.
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6/1/09
Greetings from Barry County not Jefferson City. A week and a half ago, the 95th General Session concluded its work for the year. You all are now safe until next January 2010.
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I served on the Conference Committee to finalize the budget for the 2009-2010 year. Yes, federal stimulus and federal budget stabilization money were used in the final budget process. However, from the beginning I wanted to send the money back to Washington, but that was not what the majority of the House and Senate wanted to do. This extra money that the government is printing and the selling of treasury notes to China and other countries will come back to bite us in a devaluation of the dollar and inflation in the ensuing years.
The State of Missouri will receive over 4 billion dollars in Federal Stimulus Funds. The stimulus money mostly will go to repairing roads, bridges, and building renovation projects for colleges and universities. In our area, Crowder College will receive around 125 million dollars for some infrastructure projects, and some monies went to municipal projects on a first come basis. But I keep thinking, what happens next year and the year after. Once you fund programs and the money runs out, what do you do then? Discontinuing a program is like pulling teeth. What I and others suggested in Budget Committee was to refund at least 1 billion back to the taxpayers over a two year period. The Senate and the Governor did not go along with this and so we still have one billion dollars that has not been spent. The money is not going anywhere, so we will push for this next year.
You may have heard or read in several newspapers throughout the state of my opposition to expanding Medicaid for people between the ages of 18 and 65. My belief is that there is a more pressing problem with working adults who may have pre-existing medical conditions. Through no fault of their own they may be financially prohibited from obtaining health insurance. An example is a person who develops a heart valve malfunction, who presently has insurance that would cover the operation, but now the premiums have risen to thousands of dollars each month, and this person has to drop the insurance. This type of scenario is happening at an alarming rate. A premium assistance program was proposed using the State High Risk Insurance Pool. The Governor and the Senate wanted to expand Medicaid, but the House was not. This resulted in nothing being accomplished, but the Speaker of the House has said this is a priority for next year. Increasing Medicaid for individuals between the ages of 18 and 65, places these individuals in a trap. If they work too much they get their Medicaid cut off, so the result is a dependence on the government. I am all for helping low income working adults to obtain medical coverage, but the present system discourages work and improvements in ones life. This has to be changed and will be one of my priorities next year.
I will be spending some time in Jefferson City every few weeks and I have requested the formation of an interim committee to examine the state owned and private mental health facilities throughout the state. Once we get the okay from the Speaker the committee members will travel to these facilities and do three things: Examine the physical facility, hold separate question and answer forums with fhe employees, and then for the administrators. From some of the meetings I have attended on mental health issues around the country it seems most states are doing away with state owned facilities. They then contract with mental health providers to take care of these fragile individuals who cannot exist in the general population. As a state, we must make sure we are headed in the right direction.
my next report, I will go into some of the bills that were truly agreed and passed this year. Thank you for letting me serve you, and as you know I am always available to help you in any way
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5/15/09
The 95th General Assembly is coming to an end. Governor Nixon was quoted as saying that unless an Autism Insurance Mandate Bill gets to his desk this year, he will call a Special Session. It doesn’t look like the bill will make it so we will have to wait and see if the Governor follows through on his threat. When a Governor calls for a Special Session, he designates what the session subject will be and we can work on nothing else. So we may be finished for the year or we may not.
These last few weeks the House is having its typical problems with the Senate. It all comes down to not having enough time to pass legislation that we send to the Senate and legislation that they send to us. So it gets down to priorities. Then gamesmanship begins with the Senate stalling until one of their priority bills is passed in the House and the House doing the same thing unless one of our priority bills is passed in the Senate. These decisions are made by just a few people in leadership from both chambers. On Thursday, the day before the session was to end, because the Senate was dragging its feet, the House adjourned at 4PM and we usually stay late in the evening every day the last 2 weeks of session. I hardly knew what to do with myself.
I have had a few successes with some of my own legislation. One of my priorities this year was to get legislation passed that dealt with the Legal Defense Fund. Camp Barnabas contacted me a few years ago regarding liability issues. Because there camp deals primarily with disabled children they need medical personal on hand at all times and this help comes mainly through volunteers. The camp must provide liability insurance for these medical teams and it is quite expensive. The Legal Defense Fund was set up to handle liability for things such as volunteer medical personal at school sporting events. By placing summer camps under this umbrella, it could save Camp Barnabas thousands of dollars that could be used to bring more disabled kids into camp. The bill was passed and sent to the Governor; hopefully he won’t veto the bill.
Another bill that I filed and has passed the House and Senate dealt with physician assistants. Last year we passed legislation allowing nurse practitioners to prescribe schedule 3, 4, & 5 controlled substances medications. My legislation mirrored this legislation for physician assistants. This will help with access to needed medication in a timely manner without the supervising physician taking time out from his schedule and having to write the prescription for the physician assistant.
I also did a little bit of pharmacy legislation. Currently pharmacists with certified training can administer flu shots. This saves people money and adds convenience in obtaining immunizations. We added meningitis, shingles, and pneumonia vaccines to this list. All of this was placed in House Bill 296 and when signed by the Governor, will become law.
In my next capitol report, I will go into more detail on significant legislation that will affect you in a positive or negative way. I will say that today, HB 376, failed to pass. This was a difficult vote either way because the bill was loaded with over 50 other bills stuck onto it. One of the things in it was an increase in recorder fees which hurts the real estate industry and I was opposed to this. The other item in HB 376 of interest to me and to Barry County was the correction for the library levy legislation from a year ago that decreased the local library levy which decreased needed funds for our county libraries and especially the planned new library in Monett. I supported this part of the bill. It was a matter of priority and I voted for the legislation because of the library part. But it failed anyway and this is the chance you take when many bills get put in a large omnibus bill such as HB 376. As I say, it gets down to priorities.
Looking forward to coming home and seeing many of you.
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5/14/09
Every year the Office of the Missouri State Treasurer sends a list of people who live in my district for whom they are holding unclaimed property or money. This year’s computer search indicates they have more than $1,352,467.45 that belongs to approximately 17, 080 citizens who live in my district.
This unclaimed property is turned over to the state by banks, government agencies and insurance companies from accounts that have been inactive and whose owners could not be found for five or more years. The Unclaimed Property Division will maintain these accounts indefinitely. The state never takes this property, it is simply held until the owner can be located.
To file a claim or check to see if they have your name is on the list you can use their web site at: www.showmemoney.com or you can call the Missouri State Treasurer’s Office at 573/751-9443 for additional information. Original owners or heirs can file a claim at any time and there assets will be returned to them.
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5/06/09
Since it was raining last weekend I went crappie fishing, and did quite well. It made it a little more difficult to climb in the car and come back to Jefferson City fortunately there are only a couple of weeks left in the regular session.
The last few weeks of session are overloaded with work. One of my new responsibilities this year was getting picked to represent the House on the Budget Conference Committee. The conference committee is made up of five House members and five Senate members that meet for several days and nights trying to come to a compromise on the budget bills. This committee meets every year because after the House passes the budget bills they then go to the Senate for passage. Once there the senators always add or take away items and this throws the bill into “conference”. We’ve agreed on all the bills except one item in House Bill 11 which hopefully we should resolve this week. The problem this year is the Senate wants to expand the Medicaid program and the House does not. I will stand pat. It is an interesting experience with many people watching and listening to our decisions on a 22 billion dollar budget. To think that only 10 people make the final decision on how billions of dollars will be spent is humbling.
As I mentioned, there has been some good legislation pass out of the House this year. The following bills must still due to be passed by the Senate, so it is still not a sure thing. The House passed the Missouri Fair Tax law which eliminates the state income tax and increases the state sales tax to 5.11%. It currently stands at 4.225% and this increase would still be lower than most our neighboring states. There would not longer be a state withholding tax from paychecks. It would take care of tax thieves, cheaters and illegal aliens not paying their portion. There would be a “prebate” on low income workers which would allow many to pay no tax at all on anything. People would have more money in their pocket to spend as they please and would not put the state revenues in the negative. We passed a resolution that would guarantee the right to a secret ballot election for all public offices. This constitutional amendment also extends to ballot initiatives and ensures that there would be free secret elections concerning unions. This should help eliminate voter intimidation because a voter’s right to a secret ballot is an essential and fundamental principle in our society. If passed by the Senate it will be on the 2010 ballot for your vote.
Some other legislation of interest that has passed the House is the drug testing of recipients who receive Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF); creating the crime of coercing an abortion; eliminating the franchise tax on small businesses; giving school districts the option of having a 4 day school week; prohibiting illegal aliens from enrolling in higher education institutions; offering the opportunity to register to vote when someone applies for a hunting or fishing license; a new sales tax holiday; declaring Missouri’s sovereignty under the 10th amendment; guarantying the right to pray in public places; and a bill that would help people unable to get insurance due to preexisting medical conditions through premium assistance programs yet to be developed.
All of this legislation is aimed at helping you the citizen to your right of the pursuit of happiness in our great country through freedom of expression and a fair economic and working environment.
I have talked with a number of individuals on legislation that affected their lives adversely. It is impossible to keep track and understand every piece of legislation and when I get a call, letter, or E-mail from you it really helps me do my job.
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4/22/09
Capitol greetings. I must admit with the days becoming prettier and the morning till midnight sessions, I am looking forward to this session getting over next month. Spring fever has hit me, but I will remain diligent to my duties and represent you with votes and legislation that controls government spending and keeps the government from intruding too much in our private lives.
This past week in Budget Committee we worked on House Bills 18, 19, 20, and 21. These all deal with the federal stimulus money that has come “down from heaven” to our state. It is getting difficult to tell the Republicans from the Democrats. Most of the representatives except a few of us, are eager to spend this money which is your money, your children’s money and possible their children’s money without much hesitation. Myself and a couple of other representatives voted against these bills, but they passed without much problem. I offered a few amendments which eliminated money for ongoing programs that actually increased the size of these programs, but I was not successful. Voting against the Budget Chairman of your own party can have consequences, but I am committed to keeping the federal government’s control over state government and the citizens of Missouri at a minimum if at all possible.
The Senate is even worse than the House in increased spending. In budget bills 2-13 which passed out of the House a few weeks ago, the Senate has returned them with an extra $500,000 dollars tapped on. We will now go to conference committee to hash out the differences. If these differences cannot be ironed out, then we could have a Special Session called by the Governor toward the end of May to work on these budget bills. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.
We are still trying to get the economic jobs bill passed in the Senate. The House is committed to giving companies tax incentives to expand and stay in Missouri. Speaker Ron Richard has said that this is our most important priority this year and if the Senate stalls on this legislation nothing else may get done. We did pass an interesting bill this week in the House called the Fair Tax Bill. The fair tax system would replace Missouri’s individual income tax, corporate income tax and puts a flat tax of 5.11% on all retail sales and taxable services. Of course, before this new system is adopted our citizens would have to agree voting on the issue. The bill also prevents disadvantages by providing rebates to lower-income and larger families.
In 2006, there were 80,000 violent crimes committed in Missouri. And in 2007 there were 1500 rapes in our state. The numbers speak for themselves. Because of the numbers of repeat offenders and the difficulty in finding out who the criminal is, HB 152 was passed in the House this last week. It expands the current law in Missouri, requiring a DNA cheek swab of any arrestees related to violent, sexual, or burglary charges. That sample will then be added to his or her file. Presently, seventeen states have passed this including Kansas and Arkansas. The main opposition calls this procedure an invasion of privacy. These people have broken the law and some in the vilest manner. Many states have saved thousands of lives through this simple step in the right direction. In my opinion, having their DNA on file could be life-saving measure and is worth fighting for.
I had a call from a constituent this past week who needed some help on an issue. He said that he had heard from other people that I was always willing to help. I am and I will. I can’t always solve every problem, but I will try my best. You are my most important job.
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4/09/09
Greetings from the Capitol. Two months ago, I sent out a legislative survey on 10 issues that seemed relevant to our area. I am interested in what affects you, my constituents. There was also a space where you could write opinions on the ten issues or some other subject. I am still in the process of reading these. Over 11,256 surveys were sent out on March 10, 2009. In years past I receive a 5-7% return and this year is running the same.
Here are the results from those ten questions:
1. 65% voted “YES” to simplify the personal income tax code.
2. 80% voted “YES” to limit government growth.
3. 85% voted “YES” to allow patients more flexibility in choosing their healthcare provider.
4. 60% voted “NO” to fund roads by toll roads
5. 70% voted “NO” allowing police to issue tickets for not wearing a seat belt.
6. “EVEN” on allowing public employees to engage in collective bargaining.
7. 70% voted “YES” to allow parents to send their children to any public school in the district in which they live.
8. 60% voted “YES” to allow school to pay prevailing wages on building projects if they so choose.
9. 70% voted “NO” to do away with term limits of elected officials.
10. 60% voted “NO” to the establishment of statewide regulations to the governing of farm operations.
I appreciate your interest because what we do in state government does affect you.
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4/02/09
As I have mentioned previously the Missouri House’s only constitutional requirement is to formulate and pass a budget for the fiscal year which runs from July 1st 2009 to June 30th 2010. That goal has been completed and the budget is now being studied by the Senate. The total state budget is 22.8 billion dollars in spending which is an increase over last year. For House Bill 10 & 11, which came out of the appropriation committee I chair, we had increases of over 200 million dollars due to inflation in both cost of services and new people being added to the Medicaid roles. Those increases came even though we made cuts in various department programs. At least in Missouri we are keeping our heads above water as compared with neighboring states that have billion dollar deficits. We are running our state in a financially prudent manner.
I am still attending committee meetings in Health Care Policy, Health Insurance, Budget and Financial Institutions. We are listening to bills being presented, debating their merits, and voting them up or down. Again this year, we have way too many bills, and as of today there are 1201 bills filed in the House, and 576 filed in the Senate. Yesterday was the last day to file a new bill for this legislative year, but as you can see we have plenty to contend with. Needless to say, I vote “NO” on a lot of bills.
Now that the budget has passed the House we are spending much more time debating bills that have come out of the numerous committees. The process is goes like this: A bill will be discussed and debated, and a voice vote is taken. At this point amendments can be offered and debated. If passed the bill is “perfected” and printed. The next step is called “3rd Reading” and no other changes can be made and a role call vote is taken. If passed by a simple majority it moves onto the Senate for a similar process.
Some of the more interesting bills or amendments this year are:
An amendment that places restrictions on insurance companies so they can’t change the medication a physician has prescribed if he/she has valid medical reasons for prescribing that particular medicine.
1. HB 509 requires 20 minutes of daily participation in physical education for students in kindergarten through 8th grade.
2. HB 128 requires state agencies, schools, colleges and political subdivisions to use traditional names for holidays.
3. HB 667 eliminates the 12 month grace period that a newly elected sheriff has to obtain a peace officer’s license before he/she can take office.
4. HB 685 specifies that the State Highway Patrol does not have to be accompanied by the county sheriff when they serve search warrants for offenses related to DWI’s and traffic accidents.
5. HB 807 designates the Missouri River as the official state waterway.
6. HB 683 requires anyone purchasing a motor vehicle or trailer from a dealer to provide proof of financial responsibility (insurance card) to the dealer.
Here’s the link to the House bill tracking page if you want to look at the language, or progress of any bill: http://www.house.mo.gov/billcentral.aspx?pid=26. Just type in HB123 (or whatever number) and the bill will pop right up. If you have any questions about other bills feel free to call my office and we’ll try to respond to any concerns or questions you may have.
Thanks for letting me serve you and the 68th District.
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3/12/09
On March 11th the Budget Committee, on which I serve, completed its task of finalizing all twelve budget/appropriation bills. We started at 8 a.m. and adjourned at midnight, job completed. It was a process of going through each bill that was previously presented by all appropriation chairmen and allowing amendments to be offered to decrease a budget item and increase a different budget item. The total dollars appropriated had already been decided by the appropriation chairmen and the budget chairman, so this process was taking dollars away from one item and increasing another. Needless to say not everyone agreed, but it is a responsible budget of 22 billion dollars which is about the same as last year. Our Governor and Democratic representatives lobbied hard to expand welfare. I not only object to this fiscally, but also philosophically. Government entities have not and will not use tax dollars efficiently because it is not their money. We do not expect any growth in revenue this year and more than likely will see a decrease which will have to be addressed this spring.
A good point to be made here is something I uncovered a few weeks ago. As the appropriation chairman for the Dept. of Social Services I have regular contact with the department, and a lot of the employees know me. I received a message from a person in Kansas City who told me of many phone lines that had not been used for years in one of the Children’s Division offices. However, the state kept paying for the use of those 50 + lines and was being billed monthly. The total amount paid for those unused lines was estimated to be over $200,000. The department has decided it might be a good idea to run more tests on all lines in the other buildings in the state to see if there are anymore unused lines anywhere. In a time of revenue shortfalls we need to take care of business, and cut all needless expenses.
My only bill that is on the Calendar for debate right now is one that has been combined with another filed bill. Unknowingly, two of us filed the same bill so the committee chairman has put them together using both numbers, looks like we’ll both debate the bill when it comes up on the floor. This bill gives a tax credit for the building of a storm shelter. I became aware of this after a few people in Barry County told me that Arkansas offers such a credit and wondered why Missouri didn’t do the same. This is why I encourage you to express your concerns and ideas to me.
The House will be on Spring Break from March 13 to March 23. If you have a problem, call and leave a message at the Capitol and we’ll get back to you when we can. As always, it is a pleasure to serve you.
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3/05/09
We have been busily working on the state budget for 2010. We are approaching this budget without consideration of the Federal Stimulus Money that will be offered to the state. Until we know the answers to how much we’ll receive, or what requirements the state will have to satisfy to obtain the funds, we can’t figure it into the budget for next year. We do not want federal funds that increases a state program and then next year when the money dries up, have to fund it with general revenue from our citizens. You can be confident that the Missouri House is not going to commit to anything without giving thoughtful consideration to how we can use the funds to benefit our citizens the most.
I have suggested to the Budget Chairman that I would like to see the stimulus funds that are specified for certain programs run through the appropriations committees for analysis. For example, stimulus funds specified for Medicaid, health and mental health programs should be studied in the appropriation committee that usually covers those departments. Since that committee deals with these subjects every year it makes sense that they look into how any new money would be spent. The same would apply to new transportation funding it should go to the transportation committee, etc. Always keep in mind that tax dollars, whether federal or state, cannot be given to anybody unless the government first takes it from somebody else.
In regards to the appropriations committee I chair we have approached the budget from a state only projective without stimulus funds involved. This week I spent over 4 hours on the witness stand and finished wrapping up the committee proposals to the Budget Committee. I am an optimist, but in reality, I do believe that this year will continue to worsen and state revenues will be in the negative from last year. From this prospective I had a target budget projective of a minus
5% from last year’s budget expenditures. If it turns out that the economy turns around, we can always do a supplement and increase some critical core expenditures such as food stamps or preventative medical programs which improve health while reducing more serious illness down the road. You have to have tough skin to do these recommendations because when you cut funding, you do not make many friends.
It seems as though this report is all about money, but right now this is the overriding concern of most citizens. I think we fear what we do not know and no one has a crystal ball. I do believe that people and not government know best what to do with their money. There is a bill this year HB64, which would lower the personal income tax on persons making more that $9,000 dollars a year from the current 6% to 5%. This bill would also increase the federal tax deduction for the individual income tax from $5000 to $10,000 for single taxpayers and from $10,000 to $20,000 for married taxpayers.
Another taxpayer bill is the reclassification of sawmills. They are currently classified as commercial property assessed at 32% of market value. We will change this classification to agriculture property and will be assessed at only 12% of its market value. This may make a difference between a mill being able to make it through these rough times or being forced to close its doors.
A couple of my bills passed out of committee this week. One was the summer camp bill which places volunteer medical personnel under the state legal defense fund. This would save camps thousands of dollars in liability insurance premiums. The other bill that passed out of committee was the pawnshop bill that allows law enforcement to place a hold order on suspected stolen property in the possession of the pawn shop by using a fax, E-mail, or other electronic devices. Currently law enforcement has to hand deliver the hold order. Both of these bills passed out of committee with all yes votes.
It is a privilege to represent you at the Capitol. Please contact me with any issues or concerns. I may not always be able to solve the problem, but I will do my best to help you.
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As you know, protecting the lives of the unborn is one of my top priorities. In past sessions, we have passed several bills to prevent abortion and defend the sanctity of human life. This week we passed House Resolution 294 and made further progress by opposing the federal Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). FOCA would eliminate every restriction on abortion nationwide. Recently President Obama told Planned Parenthood, “The first thing I will do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act.” The members of the Missouri House of Representatives took the President seriously on this initiative, and voted accordingly to prevent this bill from removing Missouri’s limitations on abortion.
I am happy to report that we are continuing to move ahead of schedule. Last week we passed the Family Recovery Plan. House Bill 191 focuses primarily on expanding our Quality Jobs Program. The bill focuses on the creation of good paying jobs that provide health insurance benefits to workers and their families. This bill provides significant incentives to small businesses looking to grow and expand. Small businesses are vital to Missouri’s economic growth and this will allow us to continue a proven program that has made Missouri a good place to do business. I am thankful that Missouri is in much better shape financially than most other states because of our pro-business stance.
My appropriation committee for health and senior services, mental health and social services is in full swing. We have completed work on examining new decisions items and overviews of each department. Next week we will begin work on budget recommendations from the departments and the governor. Since state revenues are lower than last year and with the mandatory increases in the cost of these programs, trying to balance a budget is very trying. I will continue to seek the best result for our expenditures and spend your money wisely. With more people out of work, this puts a definite strain on our resources. I cannot tell you how many requests I have had for funding. We should be finalizing the budget proposals in the next few weeks.
The other House committees are also picking up speed. So far, ten of my bills have been assigned to committees and five have had hearings. Most of my bills have no fiscal impact on government revenues, but will help make our state a better place to live. I have presented two bills on energy consumption. One is for the purchase of hybrid vehicles, and another for installation of solar and fuel cells in our homes. Both bills would allow a small tax deduction from the state, and will decrease energy consumption and our dependence on foreign oil. Another bill presented allows law enforcement personnel to place a hold order on stolen merchandise in a pawn shop via fax, E-mail or phone. Previously, hold orders had to be hand delivered to the pawn shop. With decreasing county revenues and less available police officers this should save the county money. My bill concerning volunteer medical staffing of camps for medical reasons would place these volunteers under the State Legal Defense Fund. Camps such as Camp Barnabus in Barry County would save on liability insurance for these volunteers and could use these funds for more disabled campers. The last bill I presented this week is a notification for gasoline consumers of whether the gasoline they are purchasing has ethanol in the gas or is pure petroleum.I have had many complaints, especially from boat owners, who would prefer non-ethanol gasoline for their boat engines. It will not require a gas station to provide certain gas types, but would inform the consumer of what they are purchasing.
I have had several people from the district visit in Jefferson City these last few weeks. It is always great to see my fellow neighbors and find out what is important to our area. Keep me informed. Thank you for letting me serve you.
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Greetings from the capitol. It has been a very full week. Tuesday evening, the State of the State was given by the Governor to the House and Senate in the House Chamber. We have to go though the ceremony of allowing the Governor to enter the Chamber and then a few Senators and Representatives escort him to the podium, as if he did not know how to get there. And everyone stands up and claps as he enters shaking hands with us as he proceeds down the isle. Wednesday morning we went through the same scenario for the Chief Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court. We had to escort her also. She spoke to us for around 30 minutes and the bottom line was the courts need more funding. I would have never guessed that.
The rest of the week for me was chairing my Appropriation Committee meetings for three days. They were held in the afternoons for three hours per meeting. Our object this week was to study the effectiveness of new decision items from last years budget. This is new money over the amount of previous years funding for certain programs. Each day we heard from a different department on these new funding programs and we discussed what results this extra funding accomplished. They were, of course, more enthusiastic about the results than I. Next week we will discuss the Medicaid managed care program and start doing overviews of each department. The overviews are especially helpful to the new member of the committee.
Now on to Governor Nixon`s speech. In his speech he said twice that he would not raise taxes this year. So far so good. He wanted to continue to expand the Quality Jobs Act, increase low interest loans for small business, increase by 38% funding for job development and training, and to not cut funding for Sheltered Workshops like the one we have in Monett. These are all good ideas that will have bipartisan support. Because of the economic downturn I feel Government should be responsive to what is happening now and respond accordingly. Pushing for the creation of jobs through small business loans and helping those with temporary health care coverage because of losing ones job and insurance is something we can and should accomplish. I am a little worried about how the Governor plans to fund other initiatives he spoke of. He mentioned full funding for ethanol plants in Missouri, no cuts in higher education funding and without stipulations of these institutions finding ways to become more efficient. Fully fund the education formula, but he did not say which formula. Enlarge the A+ program to four years instead of two years. Place more uninsured kids and adults on Medicaid by lowering the requirements to become eligible and increase government participation in the cost of health insurance. I am afraid that the Governor’s ideas on spending will destroy our savings to the last thin dime.
We have spent the last four years crafting fiscally responsible budgets in order to build a savings, and now all of our reserves will be spent in one year if he has his way. Since President Obama`s stimulus plan passed, Missouri has been promised 809 million dollars. This is one time money and not ongoing. Governor Nixon has budgeted to spend all of these funds, some on infrastructure projects which are fine, but a good portion to expand welfare programs and add thousands of people to the roles. Haven’t we already tried this? How many times do we have to prove to people that this is a bad idea and that it hurts the economy and families?
I really had high hopes for real ideas with real results. But it seems we are going down the road of bigger government philosophy and in a budget crisis year. If we use this one time money from the federal government to enlarge the welfare roles, what do we do when the money runs out? Fortunately, all funding starts in the House and not in the Governor’s office. He can only recommend. My committee and the House appropriate the funds. I will keep you informed on this process.
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The 95th Legislative Session of the State of Missouri has officially opened for business. We all took our oath to uphold the Missouri Constitution on Monday, January 12th at high noon. Then Governor Nixon was sworn in on the steps of the capitol. The outdoor ceremony took two hours and It was a typical cold and cloudy day in Jefferson City.
The Governor serves two terms of four years at a time and this was my second and last time to be in attendance as a state legislator. I have two terms of two years left. There is proposed legislation to change the term limits of Senators and Representatives to twelve or sixteen years, but this will not affect my tenure because if passed it would not go into effect until after I leave office. Senator Kit Bond was also in attendance at the ceremony. Last week he announced in the Chamber of the House, he would be resigning in two years when his term ends. United States Senators and Congressmen have no such term limits. I am sure we will have many people lining up for this position, and the next two years should be politically interesting.
The House is in the process of passing rules for this session and assigning members to committees. This will conclude by January 15th and the following week we can begin assigning bills to committees and committee meetings will then commence. I have been appointed as Chairman again of the Appropriations Committee for Health & Senior Services, Mental Health, and Social Services. This will be my fourth year as Chairman. I should have this position down pat by now, but with this years budget decline, we will have to think more critically on budget funding.
There is also the problem of a new Governor from the opposite party. There are several positions in Social Services, Mental Health and Health that were appointed by Governor Blunt. Almost all of these will be replaced by Governor Nixon. The Governor is now in the process of going quite deep in the departments and replacing people who have served for many years under different administrations. Some will say this is good that we need to change things up. However, there is a problem of losing institutional knowledge and doing what is right for our most vulnerable citizens. We do not need a bunch of people who have little or no experience in how these departments function. Each department will testify before my committee and justify their budget in the near future. Having many new committee members and new department individuals with little knowledge of the department proceedings will be a challenge.
So this first week of session was all about ceremonial speeches, passing the rules for the House, and setting up committees. The overriding concern, of course, is the economy and what we can do to keep and increase quality jobs. We will also work on ways to simplify the tax code, provide a modest tax cut for all Missourians and push for greater incentives to make Missouri a better place in which to do business. Our new Speaker, Ron Richard of Joplin, goal is to nothing less than to make Missouri the most attractive location in the world to do business, to work, and to live. Thank you for letting me represent you here in Jefferson City.
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David Sater - MO State Representative 68th District
State Capital Bldg., Room 200-BC • Jefferson City, MO 65101
toll free
866-485-0759 • fax 573-522-1466
1735 Cedar Street • Cassville, MO 65625 • 417-847-4661 |
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