Gov. Jay Nixon said Thursday that he will not comply with a subpoena to testify in a case involving the state illegally sharing the personal information of Missouri gun owners.

The Stoddard County Circuit court has issued a subpoena for Nixon to testify on May 3 as part of a case involving Missouri license offices sharing information about gun owners with the federal government and third-party companies. The plaintiff's attorney in the case, Russell Oliver, has said he wants to question several high-ranking state officials in connection with the lawsuit against the state Department of Revenue and a local license office.

KMOX reporter Brett Blume cornered the governor at an event in St. Charles on Thursday and asked him whether he plans to answer Oliver's questions.

"Governor what about the subpoena? And are you going to appear at the May 3rd hearing?" Blume asked.

In a jumbled answer, the governor first flatly rejected the idea that he would appear in Stoddard County. Then he quickly said he'd turn the matter over to his legal counsel.

"No," Nixon said. "I, I, I've, people, by golly, guys, I've been in public service for 26 years, I've been, uh, huh, eh, I'll leave that to the lawyers."

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At the eve of a crime victims memorial ceremony at the Missouri state Capitol, a federal act was reintroduced to the U.S. House on Thursday and advocates pushed for crime victim rights.

A subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary heard testimony Thursday from supporters of The Victims' Rights Amendment. The measure would give crime victims a constitutional right to be notified for sentencing of the crime, to attend any court proceedings for that crime, and to speak at the proceedings about the crime they experienced according the National Organization for Victim Assistance

Rep Jeff Roorda, D-Barnhart, is a 17-year veteran of law enforcement. He said he didn't think any states banned victims from criminal court hearings. He said although he thinks most states already give crime victims' rights, the issue is important enough that it should be in the U.S. Constitution.

There are benefits that all states participate in when it comes to crime victims. Dan Eddy, the executive director of the National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards, said all 50 states currently have compensation programs to financially help the victims of violent crimes.

Eddy said on average, all the state compensation programs collectively provide about $500 million in funding for about 200,000 crime victims every year. Missouri provided over $5 million to 1,051 crime victims in 2012 according to the Missouri Department of Public Safety.

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A Republican in the Missouri state Capitol said Thursday said he wants to "break the state's poverty cycle" by requiring the children of welfare recipients across the state to attend school for 90 percent of the school year, or else risk losing their family's state benefits.

Rep. Steve Cookson, R-Poplar Bluff, who sponsored a bill last year that would have banned schools from discussing sexual orientation when not related to human reproduction, coined the "Don't Say Gay" bill by opponents, said he proposed the measure in response to concerns from constituents.

"I was contacted by some education people," Cookson said. "People that were out in the communities and around the state about some remedies to help them have students be at school in regular attendance so that they could positively impact the child with educational opportunities."

Some have dubbed it the "Don't Get Sick" bill, saying the unspecific bill language could pose a problem for students who contract illnesses that put them out of school for weeks at a time, like mononucleosis.

Cookson said he thinks his bill should have a different label.

"I would label it "Breaking the Poverty Cycle" bill," Cookson said. "By making sure that students are educated so that is there best ticket out of poverty into a better life."

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A piece of legislation that Rep. Chris Kelly has been working on for five years was heard for the second time by the House Budget Committee on Thursday.

Kelly's measure is a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow the Missouri government to issue bonds to fund projects for the state's public universities and highways. The measure has three weeks to get through the legislative process, but Kelly still has hope.

"I'm not a fortune teller, I'm a legislator," said Kelly, D-Columbia. "But, I think we're alive and still in the game. I don't know yet, but I'm going to work until they ring the bell."

But, some representatives said they are upset that part of the legislation aimed at helping women and minorities was struck from the constitutional amendment.

Rep. Gail McCann Beatty, D-Jackson County, was brought to tears and demanded to know why this part of the legislation was omitted. She said she will not support the legislation on the House floor. And Rep. Denise Monticello, D-St. Louis County, voiced the same concerns.

"This is concerning and it is upsetting," Monticello said. "And I think it is very difficult for the majority of the members in this body to understand what it's like to be a minority or a woman."

Kelly said if it had been up to him, he would have left the language in the constitutional amendment. But, other legislators expressed concern that it did not need to be included. Kelly also said that including women and minorities simply restated current Missouri law.

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The House passed legislation Thursday that would allow firearms to be permitted in company cars.

Sponsoring Rep. Stan Cox said that this bill would increase safety for business employees in dangerous areas.

"Lets say that you go everyday into a dangerous area that you feel uncomfortable, and you decide you want to protect yourself or your family," said Cox, R-Sedalia. "This allows you to protect yourself or your family."

But Rep. Margo McNeil, D-Florissant, said that these cars would become main targets for robbery and that people could obtain these weapons and commit even more gun violence.

The measure now moves to the Senate.

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The Missouri House passed legislation Wednesday that would reduce the state's income tax while raising the state sales tax rate.

Rep. Doug Funderburk, R-St. Charles County, said an income tax cut creates a "rising tide" in economic growth because it allows workers and business owners to keep more of what they earn.

The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Will Kraus, R-Lee's Summit, was already passed by the Senate. The House amended the bill to direct some of the increased sales tax revenue to fund roads, schools and a new state mental hospital at Fulton. The amended version would raise the state sales tax from its current rate of 4 percent to 4.6 percent.

The bill would also reduce the state's top individual income tax rate from 6 percent to 5 1/3 percent and would reduce the corporate rate from 6 1/4 percent to 5 1/2 percent. The bill would also allow business owners who file their business income on their individual state returns to deduct 50 percent of the income beginning in 2018.

The bill phases in the tax cut provisions by scaling back the rates beginning in the 2014 tax year and ending in the 2018 tax year.

Rep. Jon Carpenter, D-Clay County, said the bill is "voodoo economics" and doubts the change in tax policy will generate enough revenue.

"I doubt literally a single person will make the decision to come and live in Missouri because we've taken the income tax rate from 6 percent to 5 1/3 percent," Carpenter said.

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Despite touting it as one of this year’s legislative priorities, Missouri lawmakers remain divided on reducing the state’s tax credit programs.

While several other bills related to tax credits have passed in one chamber or another, significant pieces have yet to make it to the governor’s desk. Nixon has previously called for the scaling back of tax credits for developers that cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars per year.

During a Senate committee hearing Wednesday, Rep. Anne Zerr, R-St. Charles, presented her omnibus tax credit bill as a starting point for discussion between the two chambers.

“More than anything, this is an attempt to keep the discussion going,” Zerr said. “This is not a perfect bill.”

The Senate Jobs Committee did not take any action on the bill immediately after the hearing, but Committee Chairman Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-St. Louis County, said a vote would be taken promptly on a substitute identical to a bill already passed by the Senate. That bill has been in the House since late February.

Schmitt said there was still time to come to an agreement in conference committee now that the House has formulated its position. He said moving forward with a bill the Senate has already passed rather than trying to alter the House proposal would give the most room for negotiations to take place in conference.

“It gives everybody plenty of room,” Schmitt said. “Hopefully there’s enough time."

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Job placement and performance would be key to winning higher education funding increases in a measure that received first-round approval in the Missouri Senate on Wednesday.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. David Pearce, R-Warrensburg, would create a new model for calculating education funding for Missouri's higher education institutions based on performance and job placement. The bill provides that 10 percent of each public institution of higher education's state appropriation must be designated and set aside for performance-based funding.

The bill would require the state's Coordinating Board for Higher Education to define performance measures for each institution, which would be used to delegate funds.

The Senate added an amendment that would provide an additional 10 percent of the institution's funding based on the number of students who get jobs after graduation.

In addition to Lager's amendment, the Senate approved another amendment that would create a separate funding system for Truman State University. Amendment sponsor Sen. Eric Schmitt said Truman State is the only highly selective liberal arts college in the state and is different than any other state institution, meaning it should not be compared to Missouri's other higher education institutions.

Pearce's bill require one more affirmative vote before it can head to the House.

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Despite saying last week that his legislation to reform Missouri's Medicaid system was dead, the Republican sponsor of the legislation appeared to make an attempt Wednesday to revive the bill before he ultimately dropped the issue.

Rep. Jay Barnes sponsored a bill that would reform the state's Medicaid system, including expanding eligibility to 100 percent of the federal poverty level while reducing eligibility for pregnant women and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. He admitted last week that the legislation had no chance of passing the General Assembly this year after Senate leadership declared the issue "dead."

Senate Republican Floor Leader Ron Richard, R-Joplin, previously said Barnes' original legislation would not pass in the Senate this year. Richard said the Senate would take up the issue in the next session.

Barnes, R-Jefferson City, offered an alternative to Medicaid reform on the House floor Wednesday, which he dubbed "mini-Medicaid." The House gave preliminary approval to the bill, which includes four aspects of Barnes' original reform legislation. The bill would expand the Ticket to Work disability welfare program, simplify the Medicaid enrollment process, raise the age for foster care children to be eligible for Medicaid to 26 and create a joint interim committee to evaluate Missouri's Medicaid program.

"Maybe we can talk with the Senate and get serious about giving Missouri the most market-based Medicaid system in the entire country," Barnes said.

Before the House approved the legislation, however, Barnes offered an amendment to the bill that would have included the provisions of his original Medicaid reform bill. He ultimately withdrew the language from the "mini-Medicaid" bill, citing the Senate's stated refusal to pass any legislation regarding the expansion of Medicaid. 

"Unfortunately the Missouri State Senate has indicated it does not have the stomach to pick up a Medicaid transformation bill this year," Barnes said before withdrawing the transformation, expressing his hope that the joint interim committee would lead the way for future transformation.

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State officials would no longer be able to enforce federal gun laws under a bill passed through the Missouri House Wednesday.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Casey Guernsey, R-Bethany, would prohibit state officials from restricting the use of guns manufactured in the state.

Forty-three Democrats voted against the bill, with some opposing it on the grounds that it was too far-reaching.

“The Second Amendment says we have the right to bear arms—we do have the right to bear arms—but if you’re talking about when it comes to specific weapons and if people having the right to use silencers and all that,” said Rep. Karla May, D-St. Louis City. “This extreme gun legislation is extreme.”

Guernsey said he proposed the bill because he thinks the federal government is misdirecting its legislation.

“They should be focused on mental health solutions, which is a productive conversation to have,” Guernsey said. “Instead here we are today, having to spend time to further protect the Second Amendment rights of Missouri citizens.”

Guernsey’s bill also lowers the concealed carry age from 21 to 19.

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Two top House Republicans backed off of their initial criticism of a state contract aimed at moving state aid recipients onto federal disability aid after the Department of Social Services agreed to revise the contract.

Earlier in the week, the House Government Oversight Committee held a hearing with the Social Services Department to discuss a contract made between the department and a Boston-based consulting firm, Public Consulting Group.

The department made the contract in November to save the state money by switching people from state taxpayer funded programs to federally funded disability programs. The contract would give PCG more than $2,000 for each Missourian that switched to federal disability aid.

In the hearing, a few lawmakers said the contract would give people less incentive to find work, which would result in permanent welfare recipients.

The Social Services Department sent a letter to lawmakers Wednesday saying that it will amend the contract with PCG.

Rep. Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City, and House Speaker Tim Jones, R-Eureka, said in a press conference Wednesday that the amended contract will save the state money. They announced that the Social Service Department's contract will no longer include foster children or recipients of the tax assistance for needy families program, but it will include people receiving excessive Medicaid with serious diseases or medical conditions.

"We want our disability system to be one that provides assistance to those that have medical conditions or disabilities that truly will prevent them from working," Jones said.

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Governor Jay Nixon has been ordered testify in a Stoddard County court case involving the personal information of Missouri gun owners, a lawyer in the case confirmed Tuesday.

The Stoddard County Circuit court has issued a subpoena for Nixon to testify on May 3 as part of a case involving Missouri license offices sharing information about gun owners with the federal government and third-party companies.

The lawsuit has sparked a fervent investigation into the Department of Revenue by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The Senate gave its approval earlier this week to a proposed budget that slashes funding for the revenue department in response to the scandal.

Nixon has spoken publicly about the case over the last month, and the plaintiff's attorney, Russell Oliver, said that means the governor should have to testify in Stoddard County.

"At some point in time, it's very evident from his public statements, that he has had conversations with people. who are involved in this case," he said in a phone interview on Wednesday.

Nixon can ask a judge to quash the subpoena, meaning he wouldn't have to testify, but Oliver said he had not received any notice that Nixon planned to do that. The governor's staff did not return a phone call about the case by press time.

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House Republicans in the state Capitol recently advanced a measure that would arm teachers as a proposed solution to mass shootings like the one at Sandy Hook Elementary.

Rep. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, added identical amendments to two different gun bills in the past week that would allow conceal carry holders that are teachers to undergo training in order to have a weapon on them while they teach.

Rep. Stacey Newman, D-St. Louis County, said that’s not the right answer to prevent massacres in Missouri schools.

“This is allowing teachers to be law enforcement,” Newman said. “That should be a red flag for everyone.”

One of Brattin’s amendments was placed on a bill that moved to the Senate last week. The other needs one more vote to follow suit.

On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Education heard a similar bill that would allow school districts to hire armed police officers to patrol schools as permanent employees.

Currently, Blue Springs School District in Kansas City is the only school district that allows full time armed officers as staff.  Other school districts can have law enforcement in schools but only as part time employees.  In these districts, the officers’ salary is a shared expense between the municipality and school. 

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Sheila Solon, R-Jackson County, said that having police officers in schools allows for faster response time, greater prevention and better relationships with students to prevent in-school and out-of-school violence.

The measure would also make it easier for school employees to report child abuse by removing any possibility of adverse employment action or repercussions for taking action.

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After about 20 minutes of debate on the bill, the House Fiscal Review Committee passed a measure that is estimated to put more than a one-quarter billion dollar hole in Missouri's budget by 2016.

Over the next five years, the tax overhaul proposal would cut individual income taxes by two-thirds of a percent, cut the corporate income tax by 1 and a quarter percent and raise the state sales tax from 4 percent to 4.6 percent.

Rep. Noel Torpey, R-Independence, asked legislative researchers if the state could be stopped from losing too much.

"Talking about the fiscal note and the dollar amount, if it goes too far one way or the other does it stop? Or are there other methods to say, wait we've cut too much?" Torpey asked.

"Not in this bill," was the reply from Ross Strope, the acting director of the legislative research oversight division.

Legislative researchers have estimated the bill will cost the state more than a quarter billion dollars in revenues by 2016.

The heavily republican committee passed the bill on a party line vote of 6-2. The proposal now moves to the House floor.

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The bill to name the Interstate 70 bridge linking Illinois and Missouri after late Cardinals slugger Stan "the man" took a step backward Tuesday night on the Senate floor.

Sen. Chappelle-Nadal, D-St. Louis County, had an issue with a different part of the bill that named what is known as the "Poplar Street Bridge" after former Missouri Representative William Lacy Clay Sr.

Chappelle-Nadal proposed an amendment that the addition of Sr. be added after the former Congressman's name to distinguish him from his son, current congressman William Lacy Clay Jr.

"I don't think the current Senator, or the Congressman deserves to have a bridge named after him. I think his father does," Chappelle-Nadal said.

Sen. Eric Schmitt, said he added his own amendment to the bill only after the first amendment forced the bill to go back to the House for another reading.

"I wasn't going to do because it was clean, and we were just going to take it up and pass it," Schmitt said.

Schmitt's amendment allows the Missouri half of the bridge to be named after Musial without the approval of the Illinois state legislature.

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House lawmakers pushed for Missouri cops to get insurance coverage for mental disorders and delayed health diseases obtained on the job that eventually lead to death.

The Senate Small Business, Insurance, and Industry Committee heard a bill on Tuesday that would include psychological disorders in police officers' workers compensation package if the disorder was caused by on-th-job events.

Mark Bruns, a lobbyist for the St. Louis Police Officers' Association said firefighters began receiving coverage for physiological disorders in the 1980s after a hotel structural collapse In Kansas City, Mo. In July 1981, walkways collapsed in the Hyatt Regency hotel. The collapse resulted in 114 people dead and 216 others injured.

Bruns said he wants law enforcement officers to have the same coverage as firefighters when it comes to psychological disorders.

The bill would also expand work-related delayed health illnesses that lead to death, to include when public safety employees are traveling to and from work and when they are on meal breaks.

Rep. Dave Hinson, R-St. Charles, is a firefighter and paramedic and he said that firefighters breaks get interrupted if there is an emergency.

"Even if we're eating lunch or if we're eating dinner, if the alarm goes off we have to respond," Hinson, bill supporter, said.

The Missouri House passed the bill last week in a 154-0 vote. The Senate committee must now vote on the bill and if it passes there them it moves to the full Senate floor.

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The Missouri Senate passed its own version of the budget Monday that takes away funding from agencies that have been criticized for scanning and sharing personal information.

The Senate completely eliminated funding for the Motor Vehicle and Drivers License Division within the Department of Revenue. Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, has led probes into the department's scanning of documents for driver's license applicants. Schaefer has also spoken out against a conceal-carry list that the Department of Revenue forwarded to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The Senate also removed $20 million from the office of the director within the Department of Public Safety in its version of the budget. The department oversees the patrol, which told the Senate Appropriations Committee that it forwarded the list to the U.S. Social Security Administration.

Schaefer said he will not restore funding to the agencies unless they provide the answers he believes the legislature still needs.

"It's inappropriate to appropriate the public's money if you can't get a decent response from a state agency," Schaefer said.

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Glendale, said the General Assembly should not deprive the agencies of oxygen by cutting funding if there is an issue. Schmitt said the legislature should work to address the problem directly.

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Amid controversy over state agencies' handling of personal information, a Missouri lawmaker proposed a shift in the role of one department on Monday.

Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, added $2 million into the Senate's version of the state budget to relieve the Department of Revenue of its duties in issuing conceal-carry permits.

Schaefer wants county sheriffs to conduct the entire process. Sheriffs offices already accept applications, process background checks and issue the permits. Permit-holders then take the information to a license bureau to receive a Photo ID to indicate they are endorsed as a conceal-carry holder.

Schaefer and other Republican lawmakers have criticized the Nixon administration and state agencies for sharing the conceal-carry list with federal agencies.

Schaefer said the scandal has breached the public's trust in state government.

"I think a lot of what we are now having to do as elected representatives and senators is go back and patch that up and rebuild that integrity that never should have jeopardized in the first place," Schaefer said.

Gov. Jay Nixon said the Department of Revenue will no longer scan or keep documents needed to obtain a conceal-carry permit. However, Republican lawmakers say the administration has not done enough to address the scandal.

Sen. Brian Nieves, R-Washington, said directly elected sheriffs can do a much better job issuing the permits than unelected bureaucrats can.

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Democratic Senators made another and perhaps final attempt to expand Medicaid during debate over the Senate's version of the budget Monday.

Sen. Jolie Justus, D-Kansas City, tried to tack on nearly $900 million in federal funding to expand the program for low-income adults with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Gov. Jay Nixon proposed the expansion as part of his originial budget in January.

The GOP-led Senate defeated Justus' amendment and the Senate passed its version of the state budget without an expansion of the program. The House has also passed its budget without the expansion.

Under legislative rules, lawmakers cannot add funds into the final budget that were not featured in either chamber's plan.

Sen. Jamilah Nasheed said she was disappointed the state is not acting to help its working poor.

"Its a very sad, sad situation that we're in a situation that we're at a point where we can bring in monies to help the indigent, and to help the poor, and we're denying it," Nasheed said.

Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, said that the cost of the state's Medicaid program continues to increase, which compromises funding the state could spend on K-12 education. Schaefer said the only logical place to cut funding in the future would be in education if it becomes difficult to sustain the cost of Medicaid.

Sen. John Lamping, R-St. Louis County, said he was glad to have the opportunity to vote against the expansion on the floor. Lamping said the General Assembly will look back in a few years and realize it did the right thing.

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The House forwarded seven pieces of legislation to the Senate Monday, including a bill that allows gamblers to take tokens out on credit, and a bill that exempts the state from Daylight Saving Time.

The gambling bill, sponsored by Rep. Dwight Scharnhorst, R-St. Louis County, would allow for casinos to enter into a loan agreement with a gambler who has completed a required credit application.

Scharnhorst said the bill will bring more revenue to the state.

Rep. Steve Cookson, R-Poplar Bluff, said this would take advantage of gamblers with low incomes.

“This is a non-existent problem. Let’s put it away like we should,” Cookson said.

But Rep. Myron Neth, R-Liberty, said the bill already accounts for those who should not be taking out loans.

“The casinos will not extend this credit unless they know they’re going to get it paid back,” Neth said. “So the idea that this is somehow praying on the poor or the disadvantaged is completely untrue. Those people can apply, but they will get declined.”

The House also backed Rep. Delus Johnson’s Daylight Saving bill which exempts the state from turning the clocks forward, therefore extending the amount of sunlight per year.

Johnson, R-St. Joseph, says the bill will lower the rates of depression and suicide which he says happen more often during periods of less sunlight.

The main opposition came from Rep. Margo McNeil, D-St. Louis County, who said she was concerned about children being at the morning bus stop in complete darkness.

The House also passed five other bills dealing with tax incentives, uninsured motorists, clerical errors with the state auditor, screening newborns for congenital heart failure and co-pays for cancer treatments.

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While the Senate took up the state's budget Wednesday evening, the Office of Administration IT department saw deep cuts and the Department of Motor Vehicle's budget was wiped to zero.

Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R- Columbia, the Appropriations Chairman, said the committee needs a commitment from the departments involved to stop scanning licenses and sharing information before they can get their funding back.

The senator made the threat to cut the funding a few weeks ago when the situation was unfolding. In justifying the cuts, Schaefer said the purpose of the database is to ultimately share it with other states.

"I think before we do that we need to have a public discussion of what people want," said Schaefer. "Because what I've heard from people from going around the state is that people don't want that. They want a driver's license, they want security in the procedure, but they don't want to have to give up all their privacy to do it."

Jolie Justus, D-Jackson County, questioned the necessity of the cuts and said there needs to be balance in his decision.

"My concern is, what if you are never satisfied with their reasoning?" asked Justus.

Schaefer said once the investigation develops and his questions are answered by the departments in the next few weeks, then the budget cuts can be reconsidered.

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Lawmakers questioned the morality, wisdom and viability of a new process identifying Missourians that qualify for federal disability income.  

The new process would create three classes of people with disabilities. Rep. Todd Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff, expressed concern that the two lowest classes would result in many borderline cases, some of which do not really need the federal aid.

"It's not like we're talking about clear-cut instances where people are eligible for a program that they're not getting," Richardson said.

Rep. Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City, also said that switching Missourians to Supplemental Security Income would give them less incentive to find work, resulting in cases of permanent welfare recipients.

The Department of Social Services estimated that switching residents to federal aid would result in $28 million in general revenue savings, simultaneously costing the federal government that same amount, in addition to the cost of sustained disability aid.

The state would pay Public Consulting Group over $2,000 per Missourian who switched to federal aid.

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Despite December's lingering drought conditions leading barge industry trade groups to predict Mississippi River barge traffic could slow to a halt, Gov. Jay Nixon has declared today's flooding conditions of that same waterway a state of emergency.

Liz Norrenberns, a hydraulic engineer with the Missouri Army Corps of Engineers, said the change in conditions occurred quickly because of the mid-April storm's rapid onset and its more than six inches of rain water.

"In 2008, it just kept raining, and it would build up day after day, so there was time for people to prepare," Norrenberns said, "this one was very quick."

State disaster relief workers have been working to sandbag the banks of the river in an effort to hold off any damage due to the flooding. Norrenberns conceded said only so much can be done.

The river levels are expected to stabilize within the week.

Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed legislation Friday that would have placed a tax on all vehicles purchased by Missourians, regardless of where they were purchased.

Earlier this session, bill sponsor and former car dealer Sen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, said the bill would help protect Missouri car dealers since it would help decrease competition with out-of-state care dealers, such as those in Illinois.

In his veto letter, Nixon said the bill takes away the rights of Missourians to vote on proposed tax increases. State lawmakers passed similar legislation last year, but Nixon vetoed that measure as well.

Last year, Nixon objected to a retroactive section of the bill that would have forced those who purchased cars out-of-state before the passage of the legislation to pay the taxes. This year's legislation stripped out that retroactive language and proponents had said the elimination of that provision would make the bill "veto-proof."

A Missouri Supreme Court decision also from last year ruled that the Department of Revenue could not collect local taxes on vehicles purchased out-of-state.

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Hundreds of gun activists took to the state Capitol on Thursday to rally behind a measure that would block any laws relating to gun control.

While at the same time, the House gave its approval to Rep. Doug Funderburk, R-St. Peters, who proposed a bill that would forbid federal officials from enforcing federal gun laws in Missouri. The chamber approved the legislation in a 115-41 vote, with some Democrats joining most Republicans.

But Rep. Jon Carpenter, D-Kansas City, said there is not a need for new gun laws, but instead to follow federal law.

"But I support what people in my district, and I'm sure people around the state say all the time, which is don't pass new laws, enforce the ones we've got on the books," Carpenter said. "They don't say legalize machine guns, grenade launchers and anything else you want."

Carpenter said that this specific bill allows people that are treasonous to the United States get their hands on guns because federal law would have no effect in Missouri.

The bill now goes to the Senate.

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Young veterans might soon get more help from the state in paying for a college education, under a measure endorsed Thursday by a Senate committee.

Most students are required to live in the state for one year before they can get the in-state tuition rate at Missouri's public colleges and universities.

The Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs and Health gave its unanimous backing to legislation that would exempt veterans from that requirement and allow them to get in-state status simply by showing that they currently live in the state. The committee took the unusual step of voting on the bill on the same day that it heard public testimony.

Tom Mundell, the Senior Vice Commander for the state chapter of Veterans of Foreign Wars, spoke in a favor of the bill in front of the veterans' committee. 

Mundell, a former Army staff sergeant, said in an interview that veterans need in-state tuition so that they can get an education in addition to the skills they learn while serving.

"They were all they could be for our country, for our state while they were in the military," he said. "It's very important for us to focus on these warriors, these leaders, these highly trained people for our future."

The veterans' bill passed the House and now heads to the full Senate.

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The Senate's top budget official proposed to cut $6 million from the Office of Administration's budget, saying he wants answers from the department about the sharing of Missourians' personal information with the federal government.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, proposed to cut the money from the Office of Administration’s information technology division Wednesday during a continuation of the committee's review of the state's proposed 2014 budget. The cut money was supposed to be dedicated to the scanning of source documents, a practice that has come under fire recently at the Capitol.

The division used money to scan and retain source documents, or personal information needed to obtain a driver's license in Missouri. Some of these documents were then sent to the federal government, enraging Missouri's legislature and launching an investigation.

At the committee hearing Wednesday, Sen. Kiki Curls, D-Jackson County, questioned Schaefer about the cut, and he said he wants answers from the department.

“I think that we have a lot more questions that have to be answered, and I think that's a sufficient amount to cover what we need to find out and we'll move forward and go to conference and hopefully find some of those things out on exactly where some of that money is going,” Schaefer said.

The committee also cut funding from the Department of Public Safety for the same reasons. It also approved a $4.5 million addition to the Office of Administration's information technology division that is dedicated to security enhancements.

The Senate Appropriations Committee passed the thirteen bills that make up the state's budget Wednesday night.

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On the House floor Wednesday, lawmakers gave first-round approval to a bill that deals with a number of public safety issues in North Kansas City.

Before approving the bill, however, representatives adopted an amendment that added “right-to-work” language to the legislation. The amendment, proposed by Rep. Rick Brattin, would only apply the right-to-work language to state’s law enforcement officials.

The amendment states that any law enforcement agency or organization cannot force officers to pay any dues or fees as a condition of employment.

"People are being forced against their will to pay dues and things of that nature that they don't believe are right," said Brattin, R-Harrisonville. "And all other state employees and public servants have the right to choose except for our law enforcement."

Rep. Jeff Roorda, D-Barnhart, said that this amendment will negatively affect public safety in the state.

“To only apply it to law enforcement in the state, I can tell you we will have dreadful outcomes for our ability to provide public safety to the state,” Roorda said .

The bill requires another affirmative vote before moving to the Senate.

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Some school districts would no longer be required to pay the state prevailing wage on construction projects under a bill approved by the Senate Small Business Committee Wednesday.

Prevailing wage laws require workers on government projects to be paid at a certain rate. Bill sponsor Rep. Casey Guernsey, R-Bethany, said the high level of prevailing wage made it more expensive for school districts to undertake necessary construction projects.

“It’s not because they don’t want to, not because they don’t have high taxes, but because they simply, flat out cannot adhere to prevailing wage laws,” Guernsey said.

Mike Louis, representing the Missouri AFL-CIO, said there was a compromise being worked out on prevailing wage behind the scenes in the Senate. For that reason, he said he testified against the bill.

“There are negotiations going on,” Louis said. “We believe a viable bill may come out of that.”

The bill has already passed the House. With one senator absent, the Senate Small Business, Insurance and Industry Committee voted to pass the measure 5-1 Wednesday.

The committee also heard testimony on another measure that would have tied the prevailing wage for most of the state to the average weekly wage in the state and exempted maintenance and minor repair work from the wage requirements. No action was taken on that bill.

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The sponsor of a Missouri Medicaid expansion bill said Wednesday that expanding the state's Medicaid rolls has no chance of passing the General Assembly this session.

Rep. Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City, said that since the Senate declared Medicaid expansion "dead" his bill has no chance of passage. He said once the Senate says something is dead, it is.

Barnes' bill would change the Medicaid system as well as expanding it to 100 percent of the federal poverty level, below the 138 percent called for by the federal health care law. His bill was scheduled to be heard in the House Rules committee, however, according to Rules Committee Chair Rep. Jeannie Riddle, R-Mokane, Barnes asked that his bill not be read.

While Barnes said his current bill would not be able to pass this session, he said discussions would continue.

Senate Republican Floor Leader Ron Richard also said Medicaid expansion is dead Wednesday. He said because the Obama administration pushed back cutting hospital DSH payments until 2015, there was no longer a sense of immediacy.

Richard also said that if Barnes' bill did make it through the House, it would not get through the Senate because there is not enough time left in the session.

"The timing is on the side of those against Medicaid expansion," said Richard, R-Joplin.

Rep. Jacob Hummel, D-St. Louis City, said he believes there is enough time to pass Medicaid expansion and he is hopeful that the Rules Committee will get it to the floor.

"We still haven't created 24,000 jobs and we still haven't provided health care," Hummel said. "The pressure isn't off."

In the past few weeks, Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon has met with both the House and Senate Republican caucuses to discuss expanding Missouri's Medicaid rolls. Nixon had expressed optimism about expanding Medicaid after both meetings.

A spokesperson for Nixon was unable to immediately comment.

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Nearly two years after a devastating tornado tore through Joplin, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle said they want to provide relief to help them continue to rebuild.

Legislation from Sen. John Lamping, R-St. Louis County, would take money left over from four separate funds, not dedicated to relief and not being used, in order to reach $15 million for relief funding. That money would then be distributed from the Office of Administration to Joplin over a period of two years.

The money would be dedicated to replacing nearly 750,526 feet of sidewalks that were damaged by the tornado, falling trees and debris.

    The Senate gave first-round approval to the bill. The legislation requires one more affirmative vote before it can go to the House.

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The House Ways and Means Committee advanced Senate-backed legislation to cut the state's income tax rates and raise the state sales tax on Tuesday.

Rep. Andrew Koening, R-Manchester, said cuts should only take place if revenues are increasing. Koening amended the bill to require that revenues must increase by more than $100 million from the previous year for the cut provisions to go into effect.

Rep. Dwight Scharnhorst, R-St.Louis City, said Ronald Reagan's presidency provides evidence that tax cuts generate economic growth.

"My opinion is that the more taxes citizens pay to the government, the less activity you will see in the marketplace," Scharnhorst said.

The left-leaning Missouri Budget Project has ten reasons to oppose the legislation on its website. The think-tank predicts tax cuts would cause harmful cuts in state spending.

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A House Committee cleared a sales tax increase ballot proposal on Tuesday that would be used to fund transportation projects.

If the measure was passed by the legislature and voters, Missourians would pay an additional one-cent sales tax for a period of 10 years to fund transportation improvements.

The House Transportation Committee voted the measure out of committee 14-1 on Tuesday. The measure would put an additional one-cent sales tax in place for Missouri for 10 years and generate $7.9 billion. Ten percent of the funds would go to the local counties and cities. After the 10 years, voters would choose whether to keep the one-cent tax in place or whether to do away with it.

The measure states that while the 10 year tax increase is in place, a tax increase can't be put on gas or tolls can't be placed on existing highways and bridges without the approval of voters.

If the current measure is approved by the General Assembly, it would go to a vote by Missouri citizens and representative in support of the measure said they realized Missouri voters will need some convincing to pass a tax increase.

Rep. Ed Schieffer, D-Troy, said he supports the measure but lawmakers have to persuade Missouri voters to pass the tax increase before they would vote on it in 2014.

"We got a little work to do to sell this before it goes to a vote of the public," Schieffer said. Missouri citizens rejected a tobacco tax increase last year that would have helped fund Missouri's public schools.

Missouri Department of Transportation Director Dave Nichols said if the measure isn't passed by Missouri voters in 2014, the department still has a long term plan for the next 20 years for transportation funding.

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After no action was taken in the Missouri House on legislation to reform Medicaid on Tuesday, Governor Nixon spoke at a rally on the need to stand united on the issue.

Nixon said that making it easier for hundreds of thousands of working Missourians to obtain health care is the right thing to do.

"Strengthening Medicaid will allow these hard working Missourians to keep a job and their health coverage. You know it, I know it, deep down everybody here in the state Capitol knows it," Nixon said.

He urged the supports in attendance to contact their elected representatives to take action. Nixon said opponents should support Medicaid expansion because it will create 24,000 jobs in the first year.

"That is why executives and educators, cops and clinicians, doctors and dentists in every corner of our state have come out in support of this common sense plan," Nixon said.

Republican opponents of Medicaid expansion, including House Speaker Tim Jones, R-Eureka, said Missouri's choice to block Medicaid expansion was made clear in the last election.

"In my opinion, a super majority of Missourians, who I consider all of my constituents, do not want us to implement any form of Obamacare in this state," Jones said.

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The Senate Appropriations Chair Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, released Tuesday a set of Highway Patrol documents indicating the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives may have had access to a copy of Missouri's concealed weapons permit holders.

Previously, the state administration had acknowledged the Social Security Administration had been given the information as part of a Social Security fraud investigation.

The Highway Patrol memo obtained by a legislative subpoena indicated that the investigation was being pursued jointly with ATF -- the federal agency that regulates firearms.

Earlier in the day, Gov. Jay Nixon announced the Revenue Department will no longer scan concealed weapons permits into an image database of Missouri drivers.

Schaefer said he is still concerned that other departments are still retaining digital files of personal documents.

"This issue isn't going to end until we get resolution of how are protecting the public's information. Because what we've shown with the CCW permit (controversy), they're not protecting it," Schaefer said. 

At a news briefing shortly before the disclosure, Nixon described the legislative inquiries as an effort to divert attention from his effort to expand Medicaid.

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With thousands of people crammed in the state Capitol, overall security has increased significantly.

State Capitol administration says it is expected to see over 1,000 people rallying to support Medicaid expansion.

Mike O'Connell, the communications director with the Missouri Department of Public Safety, said security changes are due to the amount of people in attendance at the state Capitol.

"Security staffed is based on the amount of people at events at the grounds of the state Capitol," O'Connell said. "And that is an accurate statement."

O'Connell said he is not authorized to comment about specific security issues at the state Capitol or in general. 

In a short statement, Gov. Jay Nixon announced the Revenue Department no longer will scan concealed weapons permits into an image database of Missouri drivers.

The announced came the day after the head of Department of Revenue resigned.

Senate Appropriations Chairman said he thinks more officials in the Department should lose their jobs.

"I think there are probably other people who, at this point, many of us have an absolute lack of confidence in their ability to represent the public and carry out responsibilities of a state agency," Schaefer said.

But the governor's office did not say what will happen to the current database records. Nor did it indicate whether they would continue scanning other personal documents such as birth certificates and marriage licenses. Tom Dempsey, the Senate President Pro Tem, said he would still like the Revenue Department to destroy all the concealed weapons permits files it has already collected.

"It's a positive step. A step in the right direction, but it doesn't get us to where we need to be," Dempsey said.

Yesterday, the Senate President Pro Tem sent a letter to the Revenue Department demanding that all scanning and retention of personal documents be stopped.

The police station is no longer the only place potential criminals can get fingerprinted.

Officers may use the fingerprint scanners if "[t]here is reasonable suspicion that the person to be printed has committed, is about to commit, a criminal act," according to a statement released by the Highway Patrol. Additionally, officers are permitted under the new policy to fingerprint anyone who gives consent.

Senate Appropriations Chair Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, said he wants the Highway Patrol to more clearly define what constitutes "reasonable suspicion."

"The fact that they can now take your fingerprints in the field with this new device or this new technology that didn't previously exist...I think that's an issue," Schaefer said.

The Highway Patrol Office finds itself in some hot water after releasing a list of gun owners to the federal government. The Director of the Department of Revenue Brian Long announced his resignation Monday.

Rep. Tom Flanigan, R-Carthage, cautioned against judging everything the Highway Patrol does just because of the controversy surrounding the Department of Revenue.

"I suspect those guys do something everyday somebody doesn't like. But I don't think that diminishes their stature as law enforcement agency and I don't think that diminishes their stature, or ability to use technology," Flanigan said.

The statement released by the Highway Patrol states that the 27 scanners, 11 of which are on a loan, cost the state about $42 thousand.

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A state Senator charged the Nixon administration threw the director of the Revenue Department, Brian Long, "under the bus."

Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, made those comments on the Senate floor following Long's resignation announcement earlier in the day. This, following the controversy that his department released the private information of concealed carry permit holders to the federal government.

The senators also called on the Gov. Jay Nixon to speak up about the Department of Revenue's refusal to stop storing concealed carry information.

Sen. Brian Nieves, R-Washington, said he wants his questions answered by the governor himself, who has stayed rather quiet about the entire situation.

"Jeremiah Jay Nixon, your Department of Revenue is doing something that has our entire state concerned," said Nieves.  

Nieves referred to Long as the "sacrificial lamb" who Nieves said is taking the heat for the department's situation.

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Missouri Director of Revenue Brian Long resigned Monday after investigations uncovered that his department had released private concealed weapons information to the federal government.

Long's resignation came after he had acknowledged his department had created a database of persons holding concealed weapons permits and that Missouri's Highway Patrol had turned that database over to the federal government.

Earlier in the day, State Highway Patrol Superintendent Ron Replogle said he will not resign.

"I will stay in this position until the Governor asks me to leave it," Replogle said.

The concealed weapons permit information had been turned over to the federal Social Security Administration.

There were conflicting reports Monday as to whether the Social Security Administration actually was able to access the digital disks provided by the Patrol.

At a Monday news conference, Mo. Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer said he had been informed by the federal agency that they could access the data, but that the disk was destroyed.

In a later email to reporters, however, the Social Security Administration said the information was encrypted and "our agent was unable to open it or view the data it contained, and it was destroyed."

According to Luetkemeyer, whose district covers central Missouri, the Social Security Administration requested the conceal and carry information to see whether anyone who received mental health benefits also met the mental health qualifications for a conceal and carry permit.

In his session with reporters, Col. Reploge said providing the information did not violate Missouri law, but that his agency is looking at the issue.

Missouri law prohibits disclosure of concealed weapons permit information, except for law enforcement purposes.

Gov. Nixon has named Deputy Director of Revenue John Mollenkamp as acting director of the Revenue Department.

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