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Missouri declared to be in state of emergency

April 15, 2003
By: Nishi Gupta
State Capital Bureau

Missouri is declared to be in a state of emergency by national and state Chambers of Commerce due to high job loss.

Nishi Gupta reports.

TEXT

According to statistics from the U.S. Labor department, Missouri has lost almost 78,000 jobs, more than any other state in the country. Missouri Chamber of Commerce President, Daniel Mehan, says the number is staggering.

Actuality: MEHANG4.wav
RunTime: 7
OutCue: "go into this."
Contents: "We can't have that. That is absolutely unacceptable that Missouri leads the nation in jobs lost. There are a lot of factors that go into this."

Mehan says some of those factors include employers having to pick up the tab from frivolous lawsuits from workers compensation and medical malpractice. He says lawmakers need to act by tightening the loopholes in the two systems. That way, employers won't cut jobs to make up for the money lost in court.

Senate Minority Leader, Ken Jacob of Columbia, says the chamber is just using it's political power to put money before the welfare of employees.

From Jefferson City, Nishi Gupta, KMOX News.