MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
Anti-abortion forces scored a major victory in Missouri's House Thursday on the state's health budget.
The House approved a restriction that would limit family planning funds to local government agencies, such as county health department.
That amendment is designed to block the funds from going to Planned Parenthood.
Anti-abortion legislators argue that since government funding for Planned Parenthood would subsidize abortions -- even if the money were restricted to family planning.
In past years, lawmakers have attempted to allow private agencies to receiving family planning support while, at the same time, blocking Planned Parenthood from getting the money.
But last year, the courts ruled that approach was unconstitutional.
The dispute over family planning funding had delayed action on the health budget for two days.
For more details, see:
The Missouri Senate rejected a proposal that would have imposed an additional restriction on sex education classes.
Rejected by the Senate was an amendment that would have the written approval of a parent before a child could take a sex education class. Under current law, parental permission is not requited, but the parent does have the right to remove a child from a sex education class.
See our radio story for more details. Also see the Senate roll-call vote.
After days of debate - spanning over two weeks - the Missouri House finally got to a vote on managed care regulation.
For all the debate, the vote was overwhemlingly in support of the bill drafted by a joint committee after hearings this summer and fall.
The measure faces one more House vote before going to the Senate.
For more details, see:
Missouri's Senate approved legislation to implement the federal welfare reform law that imposes time limits for how long a person can remain on welfare.
Before approving the measure, the Senate reversed itself and decided to include a provision allowing random drug testing of welfare recipients.
For more details, see:
By a tie vote, the Missouri Senate rejected a proposal to subject welfare recipients to testing for illegal drugs.
Under the amendment, any recipient who tested positive would be ineligible for welfare for three years.
The proposal was offered as an amendment to a bill that would implement federal welfare reform. The vote (click here to seek the roll-call vote) closely followed party lines.
Kansas City's U.S. district judge has approved a deal by which Missouri state government could stop making payments as part of the 20-year-old Kansas City school desegregation case.
Under the agreement, the state's role would terminate by June 1999 after a final $320 million payment.
Parties in the case began discussions on a final settlement after a U.S. Supreme Court decision signaled that there would be an end to the federal court orders in the Missouri desegregation cases.
The Kansas City ruling as no affect on the St. Louis desegregation case. There, negotiations on a final settlement continue.
Like the House earlier this session, the Senate approved a measure that would give the state's welfare department sweeping new powers to go after child support payments from absent parents.
The tougher provisions are required by a new federal law.
Before approving the measure, however, the Senate watered down a provision that would provide automatic revocation of any license issued by the state to a person behind in child-support payments.
The Senate approved an amendment that would require the state prove the parent finanically was able to make the payments before a professional or driving license could be yanked.
For further details on the bill, see:
Jean Carnahan canceled plans to let the Health Care Providers Coalition use the manison for a legislative reception.
Carnahan's decision came on the same day the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the Carnahan administration was the first to allow the Mansion Preservation organization to rent out the mansion.
In announcing the decision to cancel the reception, the governor's office said they had not been aware the the mansion was going to be used as part of a legislative lobbying effort.
The St. Louis-Post Dispatch reported Tuesday that the Missouri Revenue Department had accidently left off this year's tax forms the mailing address for the department.
The newspaper article included an apology from Robert Schemenauer, director of the department's Taxation and Collection Division.
While not on the actual tax forms, the mailing addresses are the department's instruction booklet.
The Missouri House effectively voted to make managed health care firms liable for medical malpractice lawsuits.
Current law explicitly prevents customers for filing medical liability lawsuits against HMOs for their medical-care coverage decisions.
The HMO regulation bill before the House would remove that lawsuit protection. On Monday, the House defeated an amendment that would have removed that provision in the bill.
See our newspaper storyor radio story for further details.