Special elections scheduled for next Tuesday will fill two vacancies in the State Senate and another in the House. The contest in the 22nd District, in northern Jefferson County, is being held to find a successor to Steve Stoll, who stepped down from the Senate to become the City Administrator of Festus. A current and a former member of the House – both from High Ridge – are in the running to replace Steve Stoll in northern Jefferson County. Democratic Representative Rick Johnson says residents think the budget cuts put forward by Governor Matt Blunt and the Legislature go too far. Former Representative Bill Alter, a small businessman, agrees the truly needy should not suffer from cuts in programs and services. He feels a Republican in a Republican-controlled government can best make the case. Two independent candidates are in the race, as well – Harold Selby of Cedar Hill and Zip Rzeppa of Barnhart. Elsewhere in the state, a Senate contest is being held in mid-Missouri and a House seat is up for grabs in Kansas City.
Economic Development Plan Gets Tentative Approval In Senate
Legislation described as critical to some major economic development projects in Missouri has gotten first round approval in the State Senate. Sponsors say it’s designed to create and keep high-end jobs by requiring certain salary levels and benefits for companies that want the tax incentives to come to Missouri or to grow here. St. Joseph Senator Charlie Shields says Missouri has to be competitive for jobs with Kansas – which has an aggressive incentive program. Another part of the bill is designed to make southwest Missouri more competitive with Oklahoma in attracting service companies. The Senate will send the bill to the House next week.
Nursing Home Industry Scores Victory In House
A big victory in the House for the nursing home industry, which succeeds in keeping nursing homes from provisions of the insurance reform bill. Bill sponsor Richard Byrd of Kirkwood argues unsuccessfully during floor debate that nursing homes should be required to have at least $500,000 in medical malpractice insurance. Byrd says too often nursing homes set up shell corporations to hide their assets, preventing injured parties from collecting damages. Byrd fails to keep the provision in the bill. Some legislators say the requirement is too high, that rural nursing homes wouldn’t be able to afford it. Byrd counters that the nursing homes wanted the protections provided under litigation reform, then wanted out of the requirements of insurance reform; litigation reform’s companion bill.
KC-Based Pasta Maker Being Sued
One of the nation’s biggest pasta-makers is being sued – charged with lying about its low-carbohydrate pasta. St. Louis resident Tom Dykas and two people from North Carolina are suing American-Italian Pasta Company of Kansas City. The suit claims American-Italian claimed its pasta had half the carbs of regulatr pasta when it actually had 76 percent of the carbs of regular pasta.
Senate Gives First Round Approval To Contractor Mediation Bill
The State Senate advances an effort to keep homeowners from suing contractors before the contractors have had a chance to make things right. The proposal requires the homeowner to offer arbitration to the contractor first. It requires the contractor to respond to the concerns. But the bill lets the homeowner go to court if the contractor does not respond, refuses to make repairs, or refuses to make the repairs within a reasonable time. Sponsor Chris Koster of Harrisonville says it’s an effort to cool things down when anger and frustration sometimes lead to premature lawsuits. Governor Bob Holden vetoed a bill last year that made mediation mandatory which would have tied up homeowners for months. Koster says this year’s bill is much simpler and establishes a procedure that operates more quickly. To prove it, he has passed out a flow chart showing how the process would work. Last year’s chart had 31 boxes linked by 39 arrows. This year’s bill has a flow chart of 16 boxes and 22 arrows. An amendment has been added to the bill requiring contractors to give customers a copy of that procedural chart.
