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NewsBook: Missouri Government News for the Week of April 20, 2009 |
| . | AmerenUE pulls plug on power plant (04/23/2009) |
AmerenUE suspended its plans Thursday to build an estimated $6 billion nuclear power plant in Callaway County.
The company's CEO also requested that legislators withdraw a Senate bill company officials have supported since January that would allow AmerenUE to raise electric rates to pay for financing plant construction. That bill and a similar measure considered in the House have become major issues this legislative session, but neither proposal has received a final vote on either the House or Senate floor after months of debate.
When asked if AmerenUE would continue its efforts to obtain a federal license for the facility, a company spokeswoman said Ameren was in discussions with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the agency to which the company applied for the license.
| . | House Republicans aim to use stimulus money for tax reduction (04/23/2009) |
Tired of what they called a feeding frenzy, House Republican leadership said that in place of giving out federal stimulus money to pet projects, they're going to give it to Missourians in the form of a tax reduction.
All details have yet to be announced, but the bill would use $1 billion in federal stimulus money for a half percent tax cut.
The bill will go to straight to the Rules Committee next week.
| . | Kelly calls Nixon's jobs program a "mystery" (04/22/2009) |
Rep. Chris Kelly, a Columbia Democrat, was one of several members of his party on the House Budget Committee to strip $100 million from Gov. Nixon's job training program Monday.
Kelly and others voted for projects in their own districts, which Kelly says will create jobs and are more transparent than Nixon's plan.
The spending is part of more than $2 billion in federal stimulus money the committee passed Monday. The bills now move to the full House.
| . | Republican representatives held a caucus but no one's talking about what was said. (04/22/2009) |
Republican representatives have kept silent over what they discussed in caucus.
Some said it was about the budget but would not go into any specific details.
| . | People who deal drugs in front of children would face mandatory prison time under a measure approved by Missouri's House on Tuesday. (04/21/2009) |
Rep. Mike McGhee, R-Odessa, sponsored the amendment to require prison time of anyone who sells or buys drugs in front of a child.
But the idea came under attack from Rep. Michael Brown, D-Jackson County, who questioned the costs of housing more people in prison. The measure faces one more House vote before going to the Senate.
| . | Missouri's Supreme Court rejects a public records request. (04/21/2009) |
A Missouri watchdog group accused the Missouri Supreme Court of violating the Sunshine Law this week by refusing to provide e-mail correspondence of its employees.
Better Courts for Missouri, a group based in Jefferson City seeking changes in the judge-selection process, requested all the e-mails from official and personal accounts of Supreme Court employees sent this year. They also asked to see policies relating to the "personal or private use of public resources such as computers, e-mail systems, office supplies, vehicles or time-off requests."
In a written reply dated April 16, Supreme Court Clerk Thomas Simon wrote that the Supreme Court was not bound by its laws to provide the information requested.
| . | The Missouri Senate unanimously approved a bill that would correct what one legislator says was erroneously put into law in the first place. (04/21/2009) |
Current law says those who work in a prison or correctional facility may not have sexual contact with those on parole.
One legislator said this is not fair because it is impossible to know whether someone out in public is on parole.
If Gov. Jay Nixon signs the bill, it will take effect immediately.
| . | House gives second-round approval on food stamp bill for elderly. (04/21/2009) |
A bill giving households of one or two elderly people extra food stamps was given second-round approval by the House on Tuesday.
In order to qualify, both individuals must at least 65 years old. The most someone could receive is $30.
If passed, the program will be run by the Department of Social Services.
| . | House Democrats wanted more discussion on governor's health care proposal -- but to no avail (04/21/2009) |
House Democrats wanted an additional conference in budget talks to discuss Gov. Jay Nixon's expansion of child health care, but 85 House members denied the chance.
Nixon's proposal has met with opposition in both the House and the Senate.
| . | New mortgage broker tracking system gets final approval in state legislature. (04/21/2009) |
Both chambers passed new requirements making it mandatory for every mortgage lender to register with the state for a new tracking ID.
The bill will head off new regulations by HUD and will require the lender ID on every loan application, advertisement and other paperwork produced by brokers.
The new system was introduced as a way to keep track of which brokers are lending responsibly.
| . | Governor's job plan stripped of funds in House Committee (04/20/2009) |
House lawmakers cast a blow to a job-creation plan sponsored by Democrat Gov. Jay Nixon during a committee meeting Monday.
The governor's $100 million job-creation incentive program would have provided 'forgivable loans' to businesses that pledged to create 100 new jobs in Missouri within the next five years. The money was expected to come from budget stabilization funds provided by the federal government.
The House Budget Committee on Monday removed all of the money during a daylong hearing and reallocated most of it to one-time projects. The budget bill, along with the three others approved by the committee, have already been considered by the Senate and now moves to the House floor. Once the bills are approved by the House, they must be reconciled in a joint House and Senate committee before being sent to the governor.
| . | State's budget director says revenues may decline more than expected (04/20/2009) |
State Budget Director Linda Luebbering says tax revenues could fall more than the projected 4 percent this year.
The state needs the money to pay back the $325 million it borrowed from reserves this year, which Luebbering says the state will still be able to do.
| . | Banks don't need to notify anyone when personal information is breached (04/20/2009) |
On Thursday, the Senate passed a bill that would require banks to notify individuals when their personal information has been compromised.
It is among several proposals in the Missouri General Assembly that would look into the issue of identity theft.
| . | Missouri House approves higher education bond issue. (04/16/2009) |
By a 4-to-1 majority Thursday, state representatives pushed through a bond issue that would allocate $700 million for facilities associated with Missouri's public universities and colleges.
Under the bill, sponsored by Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, MU would receive $81 million, which would help fund construction projects originally intended to receive money from the sale of the state loan authority's assets.
Kelly said the proposal takes advantage of low interest rates and would help create jobs in the state.
| . | Vice president makes push for renewable energies (04/16/2009) |
Addressing a crowd of union workers at the ABB Transformer Factory in Jefferson City, Vice President Joe Biden praised the company's use of wind power.
ABB is moving forward on a project to generate enough wind energy to power more than 50,000 homes.
Biden says the federal stimulus is building a 21st-century economy in Missouri and across the nation.
| . | Senate approves Show Me Health Coverage (04/16/2009) |
The Senate voted Thursday to give health insurance to 35,000 uninsured parents.
The decision comes in the same week the Senate voted down an expansion of a health insurance program for children, something the House did earlier this year.
The bill will cover parents that make too much to qualify for Medicaid but are too poor to afford health insurance.
| . | Pistol-packing pupils measure passes House (04/16/2009) |
Exactly two years after a gunman killed 32 people and himself on the campus of Virginia Tech University, the Missouri House voted to allow concealed weapons on college campuses.
An amendment to a proposed gun bill, which was approved 105-50 Thursday, would pertain only to gun owners who are properly licensed in the state. The bill can now move to the state Senate for consideration.
| . | A joint resolution that would abolish the state income tax gets closer to Missourians' ballots. (04/16/2009) |
The bill would raise the sales tax from 4.22 to 5.11.
Sales tax exemptions would also be cut.
The bill passed from the House to the Senate with much opposition.
| . | Missouri House advances a bill that would require DNA samples from people arrested for burglary or violent and sexual felonies. (04/15/2009) |
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Marilyn Ruestman, R-Joplin, said she thinks the bill will help keep sexual predators off the streets. But some Democrats were concerned about civil liberties and argued with her.
The bill was approved by a first-round voice vote.
| . | State capital "tea party" draws protesters of government spending (04/15/2009) |
At the Jefferson City "tea party" designed to be a nonpartisan event, the lone Democrat to address the crowd of about 200 people was booed off the stage.
Organized by the Mizzou College Republicans, the Central Missouri Tax Day Tea Party was held on the state Capitol building steps on Wednesday as part of the national Tax Day Tea Party movement in protest of government spending.
The "tea party" was one of a dozen that have been held across Missouri.
| . | State officials pledge support to give METRO $20 million in emergency funds (04/15/2009) |
Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, House Budget Committee Chairman Allen Icet and METRO CEO Bob Baer say the money is necessary to help the St. Louis transit system's riders.
The money would restore nine routes that METRO officials cut in March, but it isn't the $35 million they say the system needs.
The money is part of a larger spending bill in front of the House Budget Committee that uses part of Missouri's federal stimulus funds.
| . | Missouri's Senate rejects the governor's Medicaid proposal for children. (04/14/2009) |
By a near party-line vote, the Senate rejected a proposal to expand the state's Medicaid program to provide health care coverage for more children.
The House, now like the Senate, had rejected the governor's proposal that would have added an estimated 16,000 children to the health insurance program.
The amendment was offered as part of a multi-billion-dollar budget that now heads to a House-Senate conference committee.
The major difference between the two chambers involves the use of nearly $1 billion in federal stimulus funds.
| . | House furthers bill that exempts small businesses from the minimum wage requirement. (04/15/2009) |
A partisan debate sparked in the House over the "Small Business Get Off My Back" bill, which waives the minimum wage requirements for small businesses.
If passed, the bill would allow any business that sells less than $1 million a year to ignore minimum wage regulations.
Democrats voiced strong opposition, saying that if small businesses don't have to pay employees minimum wage, then the economy won't get better -- it will only get worse.
| . | House gives first-round approval to bill abolishing income tax (04/14/2009) |
Under proposed Missouri House legislation, the state income tax and corporate taxes would be eliminated, but the state income tax would rise from 4.225 to 5.11.
Supporters say changing the system will bring in the same amount of revenue and serve as a powerful economic tool. But some critics say the numbers just don't add up.
| . | Parents and legislators push for autism coverage but see bills blocked. (04/14/2009) |
Lawmakers in the House and Senate have been working with Missouri parents to cover their children's autism treatment, specifically Applied Behavioral Analysis.
Though the bills looked promising, they've been blocked by Republican House Speaker Ron Richard.
Bill supporters have questioned the relationship between campaign donations from insurance and health care companies to Richard and his recent decision to kill the bills.
There are still five weeks in the session, and parents say they're still hoping for a turnaround.
| . | Missouri House votes to pass constitutional amendment totaling $700 million. (04/14/2009) |
A constitutional amendment allowing the state to borrow $700 million passed the Missouri House without any opposition.
The measure will raise money by selling bonds and direct the funds to state colleges and universities for new buildings and upkeep.
The amendment still requires approval by the state Senate and Missouri voters.
| . | Missouri Supreme Court upholds statute prohibiting convicted sex offenders from having custody or unsupervised visitation of children. (04/14/2009) |
The state's highest court ruled that limiting sex offenders to supervised visits with their children does not violate a parent's fundamental rights.
The Supreme Court's decision overturns a ruling of the Cole County Circuit Court that granted a sex offender joint custody of his children and stepchildren.
| . | Mo. senator seeks overhaul to public defender system (04/14/2009) |
Time ran out on it last year, but Sen. Jack Goodman, R-Mt. Vernon, says he is determined to pass legislation in 2009 that would create a number of changes to Missouri's public defender system.
The bill Goodman is proposing would allow the state's Public Defender Commission to determine a maximum caseload while providing funding for contract defense attorneys.
It had little trouble passing through the Senate, but Goodman's proposal now faces procedural hurdles in the house and opposition from prosecutors in two of Missouri's largest jurisdictions.
| . | Visit from Mizzou's basketball team surprises senators. (04/14/2009) |
Missouri senators were interrupted from their session when a large group filled one side of the chamber.
That group was none other than the University of Missouri-Columbia's record-breaking basketball team, who came to pay a visit to the senators.
| . | A slew of bills from Missouri's House and Senate are trying to protect one thing: your identity. (04/14/2009) |
Forty-four states require banks and other businesses to tell you if a hacker has gotten a hold of your personal information. Missouri is not one of them.
Different bills from both the House and Senate are trying to combat that and make it harder for the bad guys to go unnoticed.
| . | Nixon calls on Senate to pass jobs bill (04/14/2009) |
Gov. Jay Nixon called on Missouri senators to send a jobs-creation bill to his desk before the state loses out on any more potential contracts.
In a news conference Tuesday, the governor said that with 261,000 Missourians out of work, now it is not the time to lose a bidding war with Michigan over which state can offer a better incentives package to Kokam America Inc., a battery plant is Lee's Summit. Nixon said the company's expansion would have brought 900 new jobs to the state.