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NewsBook: Missouri Government News for the Week of May 4, 2009 |
| . | The budget clears, thanks to millions in new federal dollars. (05/08/2009) |
Missouri lawmakers appropriated a bit more than one-half of the $2.2 billion in federal stimulus funds available for legislators to spend.
Approval of the state's $23 billion budget came after a day of arguments from some Republican legislators that the state was making itself hostage to funding from the federal government.
Some House Democrats, earlier, had argued less of the federal stimulus money should be spend in order to preserve funds in case the state's economy does not recover quickly.
Of the budget headed to the governor's desk, $783 million in the federal stimulus funds would be used for the operating budget.
More than $400 million more would be used for one-time projects. The biggest project would be more than $100 million for a statewide public safety communications system.
The legislative plan would leave more than $960 in unspent federal stimulus money to be spent later.
| . | No promises for when Missourians should expect to receive a tax refund from the state. (05/07/2009) |
A state revenue shortfall is causing delays and processing tax returns and refunds this year. The state hopes to issue refund checks in May and June.
| . | House passes appropriations without Medicaid expansion (05/07/2009) |
After a late night conference committee, leaders in the House and the Senate removed Medicaid expansion from the budget. Another bill giving health insurance to those with preexisting conditions has been deemed the last vehicle for any state-sponsored health insurance program.
House Democrats urged their colleagues to vote no, take the bill back to conference, and restore the 2005 Medicaid cuts.
But Republicans have rallied around the idea of provided health insurance to the uninsurable, not the low income.
| . | The Senate accepted $148 million in federal stabilization funds for higher education budget despite ardent pleas from conservative Republicans (05/07/2009) |
Republican Senator Matt Bartle protested the use of federal stabilization funds for the higher education budget despite wide support of the plan by his colleauges.
He says these federal funds are just plugging holes in the budget with borrowed money.
The funds were accepted with a majority vote.
| . | A House Republican points fingers at Gov. Nixon's office (05/06/2009) |
Rep. Chris Molendorp, R-Belton, said Gov. Jay Nixon's office bribed him to vote in favor of a bill that Nixon strongly supports.
Molendorp ultimately voted against the bill.
Jack Cardetti, Nixon's spokesperson, denied the claim and said it was just a stunt to move attention away from Republicans who voted against extending Medicaid coverage.
| . | Budget deadline looms, tempers flare. (05/06/2009) |
After much emotional dispute across party lines, House Republicans shut down a bill that would extend Medicaid coverage to 35,000 Missourians. They justified their disapproval by comparing it to welfare.
But Democrats say federal dollars would pay for the program.
This is yet another bump in the road in attempts to get the state budget passed by Friday.
| . | A bill to regulate pre-need funeral contracts in Missouri will now go to the governor. (05/06/2009) |
The Senate passed a bill Wednesday that would require funeral home providers and insurance companies to hold licenses for their services.
The bill now goes to the governor's desk for final approval.
| . | The Missouri House sent 13 bills to conference today (05/06/2009) |
The House spent the majority of the time debating a budget bill.
The bill was sent back to committee because of disagreement over the Medicaid portion of the bill.
| . | Senate takes a step closer in deciding how to spend federal stimulus money (05/06/2009) |
The Senate voted on and passed a House bill that would give the Department of Conservation funds to pay for equipment, renovations and other projects.
The bill will now head to a conference committee to discuss any differences between the House and Senate versions.
Sen. Brad Lager, R-Maryville, opposed the bill, as did Sen. Jim Lembke, R-St. Louis County.
| . | Safe-cigarette bill sent to governor (05/06/2009) |
The Missouri House adopted the Senate's version of the safe-cigarette bill on Tuesday.
The bill requires cigarettes to be wrapped in a special paper so they will go out on their own when the smoker doesn't inhale.
| . | $700 million bond issue 'in trouble' (05/05/2009) |
It was a bad day for a proposed constitutional amendment that, if ratified by Missouri's voters, would authorize the issuance of up to $700 million in bonds for construction of buildings at public universities. Two Republican senators filibustered the resolution until it was placed on the Senate's informal calendar. The measure's sponsor in the House said it is in danger of not passing.
The amendment would have guaranteed at least $81 million for capital improvements at MU, along with $91 million for Missouri State University. The bill would fund $590 million in "top priority" building construction throughout the state and just less than $110 million on projects halted when Gov. Jay Nixon stopped the initiatives that were to be funded through the sale of Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority assets.
| . | St. Louis County assessors might be elected instead of appointed (05/05/2009) |
The Missouri House approved a bill on Tuesday that will change the selection system for St. Louis County assessors.
Bill sponsor Mike Laera, R-St. Louis County, said he thinks the change in the system will fix issues he sees with current assessors.
The vote was 87-73.
| . | Federal funding bill passes Senate committee (05/05/2009) |
Funding for a new Ellis Fischel Cancer Center and the St. Louis Metro survived the Senate Appropriation committee cuts to the bill that would fund projects across the state with money from the Federal Budget Stabilization Fund.
A number of projects were added and removed from the bill upping the amount to $365 million to $336 million.
Amendments for road or transit projects were rejected for Kansas City and Springfield.
One Senator's $2 million amendment for St. Charles' roads was added.
| . | State decline in general revenue announced (05/05/2009) |
Missouri's net general revenue collections declined a half percent to date in fiscal year 2009 compared to last year.
Revenue fell from $6.45 billion last year to $6.42 billion this year. Budget Director Linda Luebbering also said April's individual income tax collections fell short of what was expected.
| . | Appropriations bill passes Senate (05/05/2009) |
A bill to renew funding for state programs funded in previous years brought questions from Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau.
The bill passed 31-2.
| . | Secret-ballot resolution passes Missouri House (05/04/2009) |
A proposal some Democrats criticize as being a ploy to break up unions passed the Missouri House in a 82-76 vote.
The resolution proposes a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to vote by secret ballot in elections concerning referendums, public officials and employee representation.
| . | Stimulus bill passes House (05/04/2009) |
More than $300 million in federal stimulus funding was reconsidered and approved Monday in the Missouri House.
The bill would provide $336 million in funding for a variety of construction and maintenance projects, including a statewide communications upgrade for law enforcement, a new building for Columbia's Ellis Fischel Cancer Center, renovations to University of Missouri Hospitals and Clinics and an expanded transit system in St. Louis.
| . | Missouri's first openly gay senator returns to work as a married woman (05/04/2009) |
Jolie Justus, Missouri's first openly gay senator, took her seat on the Senate floor Monday for the first time as a married woman.
But Justus' marriage isn't recognized in Missouri because of a constitutional amendment overwhelmingly approved in 2004 by voters and legislators alike that mandates a marriage is between one man and one woman.
"Missouri is not ready for same-sex marriage," Justus said Monday, though she also said she was "overwhelmed" with congratulations upon returning to work.
| . | The House Health Insurance Committee is scheduled to take up the Senate-passed health coverage plan Monday. (05/02/2009) |
The Missouri Senate-passed plan to expand health care coverage for the lower income is facing a major change from the House Health Insurance Committee.
The Senate version of the bill, called "Show Me Health Care," would cover about 35,000 uninsured parents who make too much to qualify for Medicaid, said bill sponsor Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles County.
But the House committee substitute released Thursday would change the eligibility requirements. Rather than covering uninsured parents, the proposal before the committee would change the objective to covering people who are uninsurable due to preexisting conditions.
| . | Swine flu confirmed in Missouri. (05/01/2009) |
Just two days after Missouri announced a probable case, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed on Friday Missouri's first case of swine flu.
In announcing the confirmation, the state's Health Department provided more information about the patient. She's a woman in her 30s from the western side of the state who recently had traveled to Missouri.
According to the department, the woman got anti-viral medication and never was admitted to a hospital.
One day earlier, state health officials reported another probable case of swine flu in the Kansas City area.
| . | $336 million in stimulus funding for state projects rejected in House (04/30/2009) |
The Missouri House rejected a bill Thursday that would fund a variety of construction and maintenance projects in the state using $336 million in federal stimulus funds.
Those projects include:
Democrats opposing the bill charged that it was filled with "pork" projects that unnecessarily spent federal funds.
| . | Safer cigarette bill makes way to governor's desk (04/30/2009) |
The Missouri Senate passed a bill that would require stores to sell a safer-burning cigarette.
| . | Two possible cases of swine flu in Missouri (04/30/2009) |
A Platte County woman and a Missouri resident who was hospitalized in Nebraska are two possible cases of swine flu in the state.
The director of the state Health Department, Margaret Donnelly, says approximately a few dozen people have been tested in Missouri.
There are no business closings, and antiviral medicines have been distributed to health centers all over Missouri.
| . | Missouri House makes stimulus tax cut permanent (04/30/2009) |
The Missouri House passed a $463 million annual tax cut Thursday as a means to spend stimulus money.
Senate leaders and the governor's office say the cut is not likely to be approved by the legislature. House Democrats called the move the "GOP desperation act of 2009."
| . | Missouri's legislature approves helmetless adult motorcycle riders. (04/29/2009) |
Missouri's House passed and sent the governor a measure that would repeal the requirement for motorcyclists to wear helmets, but only if the person is 21 years of age or older.
The provision had quietly been tacked on to a less controversial provision and won easy approval in the Senate in March.
Measures to repeal the helmet law have been in Missouri's legislature for years and have been strongly pushed by motorcycle advocates.
In 1999, a measure cleared the legislature but was vetoed by then-Gov. Mel Carnahan.
| . | The Missouri House adopted an amendment that will allocate $12 million to St. Louis Metro (04/29/2009) |
Amendment sponsor Rep. Rachel Storch, D-St. Louis City, says this money will help re-introduce jobs that were cut in March.
| . | Virginia Tech shooting survivor speaks out against guns on campuses (04/29/2009) |
Colin Goddard, 23, was shot four times but survived the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007.
He spoke at a press conference in Jefferson City condemning a bill that would allow concealed firearms on Missouri college campuses.
Goddard argues that campuses are in fact less safe when there are more guns on school grounds.
At least one bill supporter, Sen. Matt Bartle, R-Jackson County, says that if guns were around during the shootings at Northern Illinois and Virginia Tech, the shootings could have been avoided.
| . | Columbia projects one step closer to millions in funding (04/29/2009) |
State lawmakers brought Columbia a step closer to tens of millions of dollars and economic growth after reviewing two pieces of legislation Wednesday.
Funding for the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center was restored to a bill that advanced Wednesday and may be decided in the House on Thursday. A Senate committee also approved an $800 million bond issue to benefit capital improvement projects that lost funding from the 2006 sale of the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority's assets.
| . | A daylong debate in the Senate created little resolve for a proposed constitutional amendment. (04/29/2009) |
The amendment would change how the Appellate Judicial Commission selects Missouri judges.
Sen. Jim Lembke, R-St. Louis County, led the debate.
The Senate voted and adopted one amendment that would increase the size of the commission by adding two more citizens.
| . | A Senate committee hears a bill that would eliminate income and franchise taxes (04/29/2009) |
Rep. Ed Emery, R-Lamar, sponsored a bill that was heard Wednesday by the Senate Ways and Means Committee.
The committee room was filled with the bill's supporters, who were all wearing "Fair Tax" buttons and stickers.
The bill would eliminate income and franchise taxes and increase the sales tax by less than 1 percent.
| . | Governor announces state's first probable swine flu case. (04/29/2009) |
Gov. Jay Nixon reported Missouri's first case of swine flu in Platte County, Missouri.
Nixon says the first batch of antiviral drugs are on their way to the county; the rest of Missouri will follow.
The governor's office is not identifying the name, age or gender of the person. Nixon also did not say whether the person had traveled to Mexico.
| . | A bill to hinder police from harassing motorcyclists passed through the House and Senate. (04/29/2009) |
The bill that just passed allows motorcyclists to wire their bike to modulate, or flicker, either their high or low beams.
This is already a federal law, but the sponsor of the bill says she brought it to attention every year to clear up the confusion.
She says many motorcyclists were getting pulled over because police officers were not familiar with the law on high beams and low beams on the bikes.
| . | Campus conceal-and-carry bill faces uncertain future in Senate (04/28/2009) |
A House bill that would allow people to carry concealed guns on Missouri campuses is unlikely to pass as is, according to some senators.
The amendment, which passed the House by a 105 to 50 vote, was attached to a bill that would lower the age from 23 to 21 for obtaining a conceal-and-carry permit.
The bill faces opposition from at least five senators who intend to filibuster it if it makes it to the Senate floor with the campus provision, said Senate Judiciary Chair Matt Bartle, R-Jackson County, whose committee will hear testimony on the bill.
| . | Paternity bill clears House (04/28/2009) |
The House voted unanimously on a bill changing the notification system for men who are wrongfully accused fathers.
Currently, accused fathers find out through the mail.
This legislation would require an in-person visit notifying individuals that they have been named and ordered to pay child support. The legislation also protects men who can prove 100 percent that they are not the father from ever again having to pay child support.
| . | Senate Democrats mock bill recognizing Christmas holiday. (04/28/2009) |
Democratic St. Louis County Sens. Joan Bray and Rita Days took to the Senate floor to make fun of a Republican-sponsored bill officially recognizing the legislature's winter break as Christmas break.
The senators proposed amendments recognizing other holidays, including Groundhog's Day and Bray's birthday.
The bill passed the House but still faces a vote in the Senate.
| . | Missouri Senate defeats bill aimed to provide job security to CAP volunteers (04/28/2009) |
The bill would have assured volunteers in the Civil Air Patrol, or CAP, that their jobs would still be there after returning from a mission.
CAP is a volunteer organization that helps in emergencies and disaster situations.
The bill was defeated by four votes.
| . | Cap on minimum wage advances (04/28/2009) |
In 2006, Missourians overwhelmingly approved an increase in the state's minimum wage and ensured that it would be tied to increases in the state's cost of living. If a bill that has already passed the state House becomes law, tipped employees would see their minimum wage capped following a final rate hike in July.
Currently, tipped employees in the state must earn half the minimum wage for non-tipped employees.
If a bill sponsored by Rep. Timothy Jones, R-Eureka, becomes law, the cap on wages for tipped employees would be set indefinitely at $3.63 per hour.
| . | Missouri House gives child-support bill final passage (04/28/2009) |
The bill will install a new court system, similar to drug rehabilitation programs in the state, and offer job training and other resources for parents who can't pay child support.
It passed on Tuesday without opposition.
| . | Public officials not off the hook (04/27/2009) |
A senate filibuster on Monday laid aside a House bill that would have protected public officials from lawsuits.
Sen. Tim Green, D-St. Louis County, debated with Sen. Jim Lembke, R-St. Louis County, about what the consequence would be to school officials if a student is accidentally killed.
| . | Federal funding for Ellis Fischel at stake after House dispute (04/27/2009) |
A state House committee stripped the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center of $31.2 million in federal stimulus funds after House Democrats walked out of the committee hearing Monday.
During a dispute over rules and procedure in the House Rules Committee hearing, all Democrats on committee -- including Rep. Stephen Webber, D-Columbia -- departed and left the vote to the Republicans on committee. With the Democrats absent, House Republican floor leader Steve Tilley forwarded an amendment that would redistribute Ellis Fischel's funds to community colleges, University of Missouri-St. Louis and Southeast Missouri State University.
| . | $1 billion in tax cuts passes House committee (04/27/2009) |
An amendment that would create a $1 billion, two-year income tax cut passed the House Tax Reform Committee on Monday. In a 7-to-4 vote along party lines, Republicans voted the measure through.
Some Democratic representatives criticized the cuts as only benefiting the wealthiest of Missourians.
| . | Gov. Nixon says he expects fiscal progress this week (04/27/2009) |
Missouri lawmakers have less than two weeks to resolve conflicts and pass the state budget.
But despite the lack of progress in the 2009 legislative session, Gov. Jay Nixon says he is still optimistic.
He says he expects budget issues to be resolved this week.
| . | Senate Assistant Majority Leader Gary Nodler is still silent about potential congressional run. (04/27/2009) |
In February, Sen. Gary Nodler, R-Joplin, announced that he was interested in running for Republican Congressman Roy Blunt's vacated seat in the U.S. House.
Nodler still has not made an official decision on whether he will run, which he says will come once the 2009 legislative session ends and after he has finished resolving conflicts over the state budget.
But Nodler says it is likely he will run.
| . | Senators debate whether higher education building bonds would be good debt or bad debt (04/27/2009) |
A proposal that would create a funding option for $700 million worth of higher education capital projects faced opposition from Senate Democrats in a committee hearing Monday afternoon.
The measure, which is sponsored by Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, passed the House on April 16 with a 131 to 28 vote.
If passed by the Senate and signed by the governor, the proposal would give Missouri voters the opportunity to issue bonds to fund higher education projects. The amount would be enough to cover first-priority projects for 4-year state universities and community colleges as well as finish all uncompleted projects begun under the Lewis and Clark initiative, Kelly said.
| . | Nixon addresses Missouri's response to swine flu outbreak. (04/27/2009) |
Gov. Jay Nixon sent out a news release Monday morning addressing the state's plan for combating swine flu, despite the fact that there have been no confirmed cases in Missouri.
The release stated that the Department of Health and Senior Services has stocked enough anti-viral medication to treat 600,000 cases of the virus.
In the release, Nixon advised hand washing and general health precautions.