The Missouri Senate approved a measure Thursday, May 1, that would require the State Board of Education to develop and recommend new academic performance standards in place of the federal Common Core standards.

Supporters say Common Core provides national standards for states to base their schools' curricula.

During the Senate's lengthy debate Tuesday evening, Democratic Senator, Jamilah Nasheed questioned the republican party's opposition to the measure.

"How did we get here in terms of the disconnect within the Republican Party, where you have so many republicans running away from Common Core when they were the ones that initiated it, supported it," she said.

But Republican Senator Ed Emery said he has always had issues with Common Core standards, because it was implemented by the governor with little outside input.

"There was no involvement of the legislature. There was no involvement outside that elitist perspective, and to me that is unprecedented," Emery said.

The measure was approved with an emergency clause, meaning it will take effect immediately following passage.

The Senate amended version of the measure will now return to the House for approval.

• Get the bill, HB 1490
• Get the radio story

With just hours before the deadline, Gov. Jay Nixon signed Thursday, May 1, a veto to the legislature's bill to phase in a $620 million cut in the state's tax rates.

But Republicans vowed a swift override effort. And if that fails, passage of another measure that would go around the governor by submitting the issue to the voters.

In his eight-page veto letter, Nixon charged the tax cut would hurt school funding, benefit the rich and cost government services far more than supporters had predicted.

"This unaffordable, unfair and potentially dangerous legislation will irreparably harm public education and the vital public services upon which Missourians rely, undermine our state's long-term fiscal health, and provide extraordinary benefits to the few with little for the many," Nixon wrote in his veto letter that was delivered to the Senate late Thursday afternoon.

But Republicans argue that the tax cuts would be offset by economic growth. "I am for tax cuts for Missourians," said the bill's sponsor -- Sen. Will Kraus, R-Jackson County. "I believe in putting money back into their hands, they're going to spend in the economy and our economy will grow," Kraus said in an interview less than an hour after Nixon's veto had been delivered to the Senate.

Kraus and the Senate's GOP leader -- Sen. Ron Richard, R-Joplin -- said they were prepared for the Senate to take up the override motion when the legislature returns Monday afternoon, but only if all the GOP members are present. Because it is a Senate bill, the vetoed bill is returned to the Senate were the first override motion is made.

House Majority Leader John Diehl, R-St. Louis County, said he thinks they have the votes to override, but would not commit to an immediate vote if the measure comes to the House. A vote could be taken as late as the last day of the legislative session that adjourns May 16.

An override requires a two-thirds majority. To achieve that, an override motion would require the support of every Senate Republican followed by every House Republican and one Democrat.

If an override motion fails, legislative leaders said they were prepared to move on another tax cut bill in the remaining days of the session, but one that submitted the issue to the voters rather than being subject to another veto by the governor.

Missouri's Constitution gives the legislature the option of avoiding the need for the governor's approval by submitting a bill to a statewide vote.

Kraus said the fall-back bill pending in the Senate  would be nearly twice the size of the bill vetoed by Nixon -- more than $1 billion as compared to the $620 vetoed by the governor.

• Get the bill, SB 509
• Get the earlier Senate passage vote
• Get the earlier House passage vote
  

Missouri's governor now has the power to make the jumping jack the state's official exercise, after the Missouri Senate passed the measure Thursday, May 1.

Proponents of the bill believe that the exercise, invented by Missouri native and Army Gen. John Pershing, will encourage good health for Missourians.

About 55 students of Pershing Elementary School in St. Joseph were in attendance during the Senate hearing. According to Sen. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, students at Pershing Elementary have been trying for five or six years to pass a similar measure.

"The jumping jacks exercise would promote health of Missourians, and if we don't do this, these kids will be back year after year," Schaaf, a licensed physician, told his colleagues.

Five senators voted in opposition, citing that there were already too many official state symbols.

"I just wanted to rise to say that I will be voting against this again on the floor, certainly not casting aspersions on the students and the hard work they have done to bring attention to this issue," said Sen. Ryan Silvey, R-Kansas City. "However, I have decided several years ago in my legislative career that I feel we have too many symbols in general."

"Do you know how many state symbols we have?" asked Sen. Will Kraus, R-Jackson County. "We have 27. When is enough enough? I will be voting no with the senator from the 17th because I believe we have enough state symbols."

Regardless of the opposition, the senators voted with constitutional majority to pass the bill. It now goes to Gov. Nixon to be signed into effect or to be vetoed.

• Get the bill, HB 1603
  

Passionate plea from Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-St. Louis County, lead to the passage of a hemp oil measure, Thursday May 1.

Schmitt first discovered his son, Stephen, 9, had epilepsy when he was 5-months old. Stephen struggles with seizures daily, one of which lasted four hours. During those four hours, doctors tried every possible treatment with no avail.

Schmitt said families are moving from Missouri to states where they can access the hemp oil extract, cannabidiol or CBD, for their children.

The bill passed in the Senate Thursday morning, with an amendment that Rep. Mike Colona, D-St. Louis City, said makes it the most restricted hemp bill in the entire country.

Rep. Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, spoke in opposition to the bill. He said he believed more clinical trials needed to be conducted before this bill passed.

Colona said while his concern is valid, CBD oil has shown to be far more successful in saving lives of epileptics "time after time".

The bill would allow the Department of Agriculture to grow industrial hemp for research and treatment purposes only.

Under the measure, it would be illegal to purchase the product without a valid registration card, and only licensed growers may grow the plant.

The bill passed with a 138-9 House vote, and will now be sent to the governor.

The measure passed with an emergency clause, meaning it would go into affect immediately following the governor’s signature.

• Get the bill, HB 2238
  
• Get the story

The House gave final approval Wednesday, April 30, to a measure that would restrict the right of students in unaccredited districts to transfer to other districts, but gives them other alternatives.

Currently, state law provides an absolute legal right for a student in an unaccredited district to transfer to an accredited district.

The House passed measure, like the Senate version,  would change accreditation from an entire district to schools within a district and establish agencies to coordinate transfers. Accredited districts would have rights to set limits on transfers based on school capacity.

A student's right to transfer from an unaccredited school could be restricted to an accredited school within the district -- if it existed and had sufficient capacity.

The measure also contains a provision by which a district of a student in an unaccredited school could be required to pay part of the costs of attending a non-religious private school. Unlike the Senate version, however, that provision would require approval by voters in the school district.

Rep. Rick Stream, R-St. Louis County, handled the bill on the House floor. He appealed to members not as lawmakers, but parents.

"What would you want for your children and grandchildren?" Stream asked. "You would want those children to have access to a high-quality education somewhere else than the buildings they are in, in those unaccredited school districts. That's what this bill tries to do."

Rep. Genise Montecillo, D-St. Louis County, said the legislature blew its opportunity to address the problem.

"We had the ability to take out agendas and address the problem, the crisis facing this state and there are some in this body who chose instead to take advantage of a crisis once again to push their agendas," Montecillo said.

Under the bill, the unaccredited school district that sends students to an accredited district must reimburse the accredited school district 70 percent of the tuition cost of the unaccredited school.

Rep. Mark Parkinson, R-St. Charles, said that is the reason he voted against the bill.

"I just voted no because I want to protect the taxpayers of the Francis Howell School District," Parkinson said.

Parkinson added that Francis Howell has received many of Normandy's students. Normandy is currently unaccredited and needed money from the legislature to finish out the school year.

Rep. Jill Schupp, D-St. Louis County, said the bill is no good for kids.

"We cannot use our kids as hostages to undermine public education by undermining the funding to public education," Schupp said.

The bill was approved with bipartisan support and opposition by a vote of 91-64.

The bill now goes to House-Senate conference committee to work out a compromise between the two versions.

• Get the bill, SB 493
• Get the radio story
• Get the roll call

The measure approved Wednesday, April 30,  would nullify some federal gun laws and also punish any federal agent who enforces them.

Sen. Jolie Justus, D-Jackson County, said the issue at hand is not a one solution fit all type of problem.

“We are faced with a lot of things in the city that are obviously dramatically different then those in rural areas,” Justus said.

Earlier in the week, the mayors from Kansas City and St. Louis held a press conference at the state Capitol stating their strong opposition to the measure.

Sen. Brian Nieves, R-Washington, is the Senate handler for the measure and he said neither of the two mayors talked to him or Rep. Doug Funderburk, R-St. Peters, the bill sponsor.

“I think it’s worth mentioning everywhere that these mayors are so concerned about this law, but they weren’t concerned enough to go speak to the House sponsor nor the Senate handler,” Nieves said.

Sen. Kiki Curls, D-Jackson County, agreed with Justus.

“It’s something that we’re extremely concerned about,” Curls said. “Something that I wish we would let the local authorities to be able to decide what’s best for their communities in this regard.”

The House and Senate differ on how to punish federal agents who enforce gun laws.

The Senate version would punish law enforcement by allowing Missourians to sue federal agents and the measure would ban the agents from working in law enforcement in the future.

The House version would exclude the later part.

The measure passed by a vote of 23-8. It now goes back to the House for a vote on the Senate changes. Both chambers must agree on the same version of a measure by mid-May.

• Get the bill, HB 1439
• Get the radio story
• Get the roll call
  

Two more representatives presented their resolutions Wednesday, April 30, after Rep. Nick Marshall, R-Parkville, presented his resolution for impeachment of Gov. Jay Nixon to the House Judiciary Committee last week.

Chairman Rep. Stanley Cox, R-Sedalia, claims the committee does not want to vote on these resolutions.

“This committee does not want to vote a bill of impeachment, it is not something their desire is to doing,” Cox said. “The question I am going to ask them is do they believe it merits further action?”

If the committee does have a vote and passes one or all of these, they will go to the House floor to be discussed there.

Rep. Mike Moon, R-Lawrence County, drew his resolution because there are vacant seats in the House and Senate and Nixon has not held a special election to fill them.

This leaves, he claims, 285,000 citizens without representation.

“In our form of government, a republic, people should have representation,” Moon said.

Moon urged the committee members who may vote to send these to the House floor to not think by party lines.

“I don’t want to send a message to the House, or the Senate or the public for that matter that says we only do things that will positively affect one party or the other,” Moon said. “If we do that, we are not better than anyone else.”

Pamela Grow is a resident of the 120th district, which currently does not have a representative in the House. She said laws are going to be passed soon in which they will have no say.

“The regular legislative session during which laws are passed that we will have to live under and obey is rapidly coming to an end, and we have no representative,” Grow said.

Rep. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, presented his resolution for impeachment which says the governor failed to punish people for the scanning of information on conceal and carry permits.

Maj. Eric Vought, Commander of Lawrence County Sheriffs Auxiliary, testified saying he knows of people who refused to let their record be scanned and were refused a renewal of their permit.

“I am personally aware of volunteers and non-volunteers in the community who either had their records scanned or were refused renewal or application for a CCW on the basis for refusing to have their record scanned,” Vought said.

• Get the radio story

The House Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education passed four out of five school-related bills Monday,  April 28, including school transfer bills.

The four passed bills address different aspects of school law. One would dissolve a district's school board once that district was declared unaccredited. Another bill would limit tuition charged under the school transfer law to $10,000 per student. A third bill would provide computerized and non-computerized testing options, prohibit Common Core tests if alternatives are available, and prevent discrimination against students with mental or learning disabilities. The fourth bill would establish the Family Education Leave Act, allowing parents and legal guardians eight hours of unpaid leave per year to attend academic activities for or with their child.

Committee members failed to pass a bill that would prevent receiving districts from charging more than 50 percent of the sending district's tuition rate the year before they lost accreditation. The final vote was eight to seven.

The approved bills now move to the House floor for a vote.

• Passed Bills: HB1418, HB1619, HB1919, HB2026
• Failed Bill: HB1907

The Senate scaled down a proposed sales tax increase.

The House previously endorsed a l cent sales tax which would go towards improving transportation infrastructure.

However, the sponsor, Sen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, reduced the sales tax to a three-fourths-cent increase per dollar in hopes of persuading the opposition to pass the measure.

"Our transporatation system is the seventh largest in the United States and we are 43rd in funding," Kehoe said. "And as I told the Senator from the 11th yesterday, I'm not a cook, but that's a bad recipe."

Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis expressed concerns over how it could disproportionately affect low-income residents.

However, she ultimately voted in favor of the increase because of its possibility to create jobs.

"We're still trying to recover from a deep, deep recession. I mean we were hit extremely hard and we're still trying to recover. And I think it is our job and our duty to create jobs," Nasheed said.

Kehoe also pointed to job creation as a benefit.

"They would be producing an asset that Missourians could touch, feel and see," Kehoe said. "So this would not be an investment in jobs that we're just doing to do. This would be projects that actually serve our economy and serve our families."

The Senate voted in favor of putting the Constitutional amendment before voters.

It now goes back to the House.

• Get HJR 68
• Get the radio story.
• Get the roll call
  

Acting up on the job could land Missourians without unemployment benefits, under a measure sent to Gov. Jay Nixon’s desk, Tuesday April 29.

This bill would broaden the definition on what qualifies as “misconduct” to include any breach on the employer’s rules or standards.

The governor vetoed a similar bill last session saying that the bill's definition of "misconduct" was too broad and would include employees behavior outside of the workplace.

This year's bill is adjusted to say that employees can become unqualified for unemployment based on outside of work behavior that is "connected to work."

Rep. Mike Cierpiot, R-Jackson County, the House spokesperson for the bill, gave the example of a manager who is fired for making a sexual reference, outside of the workplace, to a female co-worker on how she could receive a promotion, could not receive unemployment.

Rep. Stephen Webber, D-Columbia, said he opposed the bill last year, but he supports this year's version.

During debate on the House floor, several lawmakers commented on how this bill allows for businesses to take advantage of their employees.

The governor might have to act on the bill in time for legislators to be able to vote on any veto before the General Assembly's May 16 adjournment.

As soon as the bill is formally transmitted to Nixon, he will have 15 days to act on the bill.

• Get the bill
• Get the print story
• Get the roll call
• Get the bill, SB 510
  

The Missouri Senate voted Monday to slash the salary of Department of Education Commissioner.

A Missouri Senator said Department of Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro has not been upfront and reliable in providing information to lawmakers.

Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal, D-University City, said she's trying to send Nicastro a message by the amendment, which eliminates her salary from the state budget.

"If I'm constantly having to question and ask for legal opinion from our staff and from our Attorney General that means that we have a definite trust problem with our commissioner."

Other lawmakers said they agreed with the frustrations, but expressed concern about possible repercussions.

"So what would happen if there was a vacancy this upcoming year and then we had a new commissioner that was brought in," said Sen. David Pearce, R-Warrensburg. "This money would not be there for a new commissioner."

Chappelle-Nadal said the state wouldn't have a problem finding an interim to fill in if Nicastro vacated her position.

"There are many people who serve as deputies now and actually they make a lot of the determinations," Chappelle-Nadal said. "So I don't see us needing any additional salary. The people who serve in a very capable position now will be able to serve as an interim."

Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, said he agrees with reasoning behind the Democrat's gesture.

"Sometimes Senators wasn't to make sure they're heard and I think that's valuable," Shaefer said. "I certainly share some of her frustrations on her amendment."

Kansas City Mayor Sly James and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay spoke in opposition on a gun measure that would nullify federal gun laws that infringe on a person's Second Amendment rights.

"State law already severely impedes our ability to keep handguns out of the hands of idiots and felons," James said. "This legislation simply takes that to an unreasonable extreme."

The measure, sponsored by Rep. Doug Funderburk, R-St. Peters, removed a provision that would have made it a crime for federal agents to enforce laws that violate firearms rights.

James said he was thankful that provision was removed.

Slay said the measure would make it more difficult for federal agencies to work together.

"Missouri's lax gun laws has flooded our neighborhoods with cheap weapons," Slay said. "If that isn't bad enough this legislation goes a step further by making it even harder for our police and prosecutors to partner with federal authorities to fight violent crime."

But Funderburk disagreed.

"It is not and has never been my goal to prevent interagency cooperation," Funderburk said. "I just want to make sure that Missouri citizens right's are protected, and then when they are knowingly and willfully violated that their recourse is not that they have to as an individual sue a federal agency that in fact their state government will protect them."

The measure is currently in the Senate. The House still needs to pass the new version before it can go to the governor's desk.

• Get the radio story 
• Get the second radio story
• Get the bill, HB 1439
  

Petition boxes delivered to the governor

Chris Mizanskey

The governor's communications director, Scott Holste receving the petitions

A Sedalia man is serving life without parole for marijuana possession.

Now his family and friends are taking their case to Gov. Jay Nixon, the only man in Missouri with the power to reduce his sentence.

Supporters of Jeff Mizanskey came to the Capitol Monday, April 28 armed with a petition for clemency with more than 360,000 signatures.

They delivered the petition to Scott Holste, Gov. Nixon's press secretary.

"I did confirm last week that it had been received and it was in the review process," Holste said.

Family member Mike Mizanskey pleaded for his brother's release.

"I plead with the governor to grant him clemency," Mizanskey said. "He's not a violent man. It was three pot convictions."

Mizanskey also said the ordeal was very hard on his now deceased mother and father.

"My mother and father died knowing their son was in jail for the rest of his life and that to me was unbelievable," Mizanskey said.

According to Benton County Deputy Clerk Leeanna Harms, who provided the records for Mizanskey's legal history, Mizanskey was first arrested in November 1984 for possessing marijuana with intent to distribute.

In October 1991, Mizanskey was arrested again, this time for possessing more than 35 grams of marijuana.

Mizanskey's "third strike" came in December 1993 when he was charged with possessing more than five grams.

Mizanskey's third arrest for pot possession subjected him to Missouri's "prior and persistent" drug offender law. This gives a judge the option to sentence a known drug criminal to life in prison.

Rep. Jeremy LaFaver, D-Jackson County, was arrested for marijuana possession in August 2013.

He says the punishment needs to fit the crime and Mizanskey's case doesn't do that.

"Jeff Mizanskey is paying with his life and, quite frankly, that's just wrong," LaFaver said.

• Get the radio story 

Some first time marijuana offenses would no longer be subject to prison time under a measure that reached Gov. Jay Nixon's desk, Thursday, April 24.

This bill would take away the possibility of jail time for marijuana possessions of under 10 grams.

The current penalty in Missouri, for marijuana possession of up to 35 grams is a year in jail or up to $1,000 in fines, or both.

In addition, the bill sets longer jail time for child molestation between family members.

The measure passed in the Senate with a 29-2 vote and 140-15 in the House.

Supporters of the bill are unsure whether Nixon will sign off on the bill, as he has expressed concerns over the magnitude of change it could create.

If passed, the bill would not go into effect until 2017.

• Get the bill, SB 491

A committee only got to one of three impeachment resolutions for Gov. Jay Nixon on Wednesday, April 23.

Rep. Nick Marshall, R-Parkville, filed a resolution of impeachment on the issue of taxes and gay marriage. It states that since Missouri does not recognize same-sex marriage and Nixon allowed same sex couples to file joint tax returns, he willfully and knowingly did not follow his job duties.

“It’s clear, Missouri’s Constitution says we shall not recognize marriage between other than a man and a woman and the governor has done the exact opposite,” Marshall said.

Rep. Kevin Elmer, R-Nixa, asked why they could not wait to see what the courts will do about the executive order in question. Marshall said the courts hate getting involved in politics. Rep. Mike Colona, D-St. Louis City, one of the only democrats on the committee, said that this issue would be better dealt with in the courts.

It will be up to the committee chairman, Rep. Stanley Cox, R-Sedalia, as to whether the committee will vote on the resolutions to be put in front of the entire general assembly.

“I will be discussing with my committee whether or not they want to vote on the resolution,” Cox said.

The hearings will continue Wednesday, April 30, and the committee will hear two other resolutions to impeach Nixon.

• Get the radio story

The House on Wednesday, April 23 gave first-round approval to a measure that would allow adults over the age of 21 to not wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle.

When asked what the premise of this bill was about, bill sponsor Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Springfield, had one word to say.

"Freedom," he said.

Other members didn't see it that way.

There was bipartisan opposition to the proposal and one Republican who spoke against the bill was Rep. Bill White, R-Joplin.

"Doing away with the helmet law is going to do one thing and that is going to increase the demand on our limited resources we have for Medicaid, for health care," White said.

Rep. Keith Frederick, R-Rolla, had a harsher way of describing what the bill does.

"It will have a positive effect on the economy in one very specific area and that is in the funeral business," Frederick said.

Speaking in support of the bill, Rep. Paul Fitzwater, R-Potosi, cited Gov. Jay Nixon's many vetoes of the bill.

"Every year, we send it to the governor. Every year, he vetoes it. Well, let's give him another opportunity."

Rep. Delus Johnson, R-St. Joseph, also spoke in favor of the bill and much like Burlison, he said the bill is about freedom.

"We need to allow an adult responsible motorcycle rider the opportunity to choose whether or not they want to wear a helmet," Johnson said.

The bill was approved by the House and will now move to the Senate for debate.

• Get the bill, HCS HB 1655
• Get the radio story

Students who have already transferred to accredited districts would be allowed to stay in their receiving district under a House education commitment amendment.

The House Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education passed amendments to a Senate school transfer bill Wednesday morning, April 23. Rep. Vicki Englund, D-St. Louis County, and Rep. Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City, proposed amendments that would allow current transfer students to graduate from their receiving district. Students could stay if they continued living within the boundaries of their sending district as it existed when they first transferred.

Barnes said without his amendment, current transfer students could be forced to return to their sending district if that district gains accreditation.

"They've made peer groups, and if their parents want them to stay, they're probably doing well," Barnes said. "We shouldn't disrupt their lives and put them on a Yo-Yo."

Rep. Michael Butler, D-St. Louis City, expressed concern about whether the state is willing to pay for these students.

"We're going to have to make some tough decisions to foot the bill for this kind of stability," Butler said. "We have to be willing to pay for it and not put that burden on the local school districts which are already financially strapped. But the state is also financially strapped."

The bill has been approved in the Senate. It was approved by the committee and will now move to the House for debate.

• Get the radio story
• Get the bill, SB 493
• Get the radio story

U.S. Senator Roy Blunt visited the Missouri House Tuesday, April 22, urging lawmakers not to rely heavily on the federal government.

During a press conference before his appearance in the House, Blunt offered no comment when asked about the impeachment hearings being held for Gov. Jay Nixon Wednesday, April 23.

Lawmakers began the impeachment process following Nixon's announcement that Missouri would honor tax returns for legally married gay couples.

"One of the things I decided when I went to the Congress several years ago as a former statewide elected official, was that I wasn't going to give a lot of advice to people in Jefferson City about how to do their jobs until I solved all of the federal problems," Blunt said.

He also discussed Medicaid expansion. Blunt said because President Barack Obama has changed the federal health care act "by his own determination two dozen times" it is hard to rely on anything within the law.

He said the federal government needs to "re-think" Medicaid before expanding it.

• Get the radio story

The Missouri House voted to approve a measure that would allow hemp oil extracts to be used to treat children with epilepsy.

The measure would allow the Agricultural Department to cultivate hemp and extract the oil to be sold to patients suffering from epilepsy.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Caleb Jones, R-Columbia, said multiple studies have shown positive outcomes with the use of hemp oil to stop seizures.

Rep. Keith Frederick, R-Rolla, said he applauded Jones for his efforts but had a few reservations. He said although the drug is in the process of being approved by the FDA there has been no conclusion on the safety of its use.

Jones said this particular drug has little to no trace of THC and very high levels of CBD, which is what stops many of the seizures. He said the drug would not cause any imparement.

"If we were dealing with something that could get people high there's a lot of ramifications that would have to be discussed, whether it be the criminal side or their ability to drive, but thankfully this isn't something that doesn't get you high, doesn't cause hallucinogenic effects, so I don't think it really brings up too much of an issue," Jones said.

The bill was approved by the House and an emergency clause was adopted stipulating the bill will take effect immediately following passage. It will now move to the Senate for debate. 

• Get the bill, HB 2238

 A House committee authorized a bill that would increase Missouri's revenue bonds for building projects across the state, including rebuilding the state's oldest mental hospital in Fulton.

The bill would add $400 million to the revenue bonds cap making its limit $1.175 billion. The extra $400 million will be added primarily for renovation of existing buildings and a new mental health hospital in Fulton, Missouri.

The bill passed with a unanimous vote from the House Budget Committee Tuesday, April 22.

In an earlier hearing in January, the House Budget Committee criticized Gov. Jay Nixon for wanting to use supplemental bonds to fund a new facility.

According to the Missouri Department of Mental Health, the Fulton State Hospital opened in 1851, making it the oldest public mental health facility west of the Mississippi river. Its poor working conditions are dangerous to both patients and staff.

The bill will soon be debated in the House.

• Get the print story
• Get the bill, HB 723

Gov. Jay Nixon's office issued a statement Tuesday morning that the legislature's tax-cut bill has a mistake in language that effectively would cut the state's total revenue collections by more than half.

Nixon's administration argues that when fully implemented, the bill would exempt Missourians making more $9,000 in taxable income from the state income tax. Nixon cited a section in the bill that provides that when the phased-in tax reductions are fully implemented, "the bracket subject to the top rate of tax shall be eliminated." 

"This provision would cost $4.8 billion a year when fully implemented, wiping out 65 percent of the state's general revenue budget, ultimately pushing Missouri into fiscal chaos," Nixon said during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon. "It is hard to overstate the crippling impact this would have."

The Nixon Administration requested an opinion on statutory language from Cheryl D. Block, a professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. Based on over thirty years' experience as a professor, Block concluded that under the new law those with incomes between $8000 and $9000 would have to pay a 5.5 percent tax rate, while those over $9000 would pay no tax at all.

Republican House and Senate leadership also held a press conference Tuesday to voice their concerns with the governor's interpretations of the bill.

"The Missouri House and Senate leadership, and the governing Republican majority caucuses in both chambers, completely stand behind and continue to support [the bill]," said House Speaker Tim Jones during the press conference.

"If this were a true, good faith argument, Budget and Planning would have put this fiscal note at $4.8 billion," said House Republican Leader John Diehl, R-St. Louis County. "They didn't do that. They looked at it twice, they never discovered that. This is made up, and it's made to distract from the real issues."

The Republican leaders also cited that the governor had not once approached them regarding his issue with the language before it moved through both the House and Senate.

Nixon received the final draft on April 16, meaning that he has until May 1 to decide the fate of the bill.

This year, however, some of the Republicans who had voted to sustain the governor's veto last year said they remained supportive of this year's plan.

• Get the bill, SB 509.
• Get the print story here.