The Senate Majority Floor Leader is optimistic about preserving in-home and nursing care for more than 8,000 disabled Missourians.

Senate Majority Leader  Mike Kehoe (R-Jefferson City). Photo courtesy of Senate Communications 

State Sen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, tells Missourinet a plan will be submitted in the next few days, aiming at preserving the care.

“I think we do have a plan to go forward,” Kehoe says. “I know that plan is going to be rolled out to the governor (Eric Greitens) very soon, in the next couple of days. And we’re hopeful that he’s supportive of that, because I don’t think he wants those people displaced as well either.”

Kehoe says House Budget Committee Chairman Scott Fitzpatrick, R-Shell Knob, and State Sen. Mike Cunningham, R-Rogersville, have been “working very hard” on the plan.

“They’re both working together very well,” says Kehoe. “We (the Missouri Senate) have a great relationship with the House, as you know. I know the governor is interested to hear what some of those ideas are, and we’re going to work through that in the next couple of days.”

Kehoe wants to preserve the care for the more than 8,000 disabled residents, saying “the need is there.”

Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard, R-Joplin, and House Speaker Todd Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff, also want lawmakers to consider restoring provider rate cuts, including cuts to private-duty nurses who administer in-home neonatal care.

The Missouri House voting board on HCB3 at the September 13, 2017 veto session (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Speaker Richardson says finding a solution to preserve the care for disabled Missourians is a top priority for the General Assembly.

Missouri House Democrats tried unsuccessfully to override Greitens’ veto of the fund sweep bill in September.

State Rep. Clem Smith, D-Velda Village Hills, said on the House floor in September that the cuts would be “devastating” for disabled residents, adding that he thinks the 8,000 number is low.

 

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and Senate Majority Leader Mike Kehoe, which was recorded on October 11, 2017 at a Jefferson City health facility: