February 22, 2012

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Legislators look at several bills that expand gun rights (AUDIO)

February 22, 2012 By

The House General Laws Committee is looking at a bill that would protect businesses from getting sued if criminal activity against the business resulted in killing or injuring a patron.

Sponsor Stanley Cox (R-Sedalia) is sponsoring the measure, which also lets patrons keep guns in their cars.

Missourians for Personal Safety says the bill just makes common sense, and the National Rifle Association agrees. However, the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys says the bill is just a veiled attempt to insulate businesses from litigation. Rep. Mike Colona (D-St. Louis), an attorney himself, he says these are decisions better left to juries …. not legislators.

Cox uses as an example an incident where a Starbucks was robbed and a patron who chased the burglar was struck by his car in the parking lot and later died. His family sued Starbucks. (Read the article here.)

Another legislator wants to expand Missouri’s concealed carry law to allow open carry regardless of any other ordinance. Rep. Paul Fitzwater (R-Potosi) says law-abiding citizens with concealed carry permits should not be at risk if their gun is showing, or if they’re in an area that doesn’t permit concealed carry.

Other bills before the committee looked at employer discrimination against concealed carry permit holders, and lowering the age to get a permit from 21 to 18.

The bills being considered are: HB 1319, 1369, 1045, 1621.

AUDIO: Jessica Machetta reports (1:32)

Filed Under: Business, Crime & Courts, Legislature, News

House committee hears update from State Budget Director

February 22, 2012 By
The Nixon Administration has laid out its ideas for filling in the $460 million dollar hole in the fiscal year 2013 budget to the House Budget Committee.
 

State Budget Director Linda Luebbering

The gap in the budget had been $500 million but a recent mortgage settlement secured by the Attorney General’s Office has knocked that number down by $40 million.

State Budget Director Linda Luebbering says the Administration’s recommendations to balance the budget includes a $191.7 million reduction from where budget planners expected Medicaid would be. She tells lawmakers, “It’s an actual reduction of $20 million for general revenue from this year, but a $191 million dollar reduction from where we thought we would need to be because of the change in the Medicaid match rate.” Luebbering says it will not require a change in eligibility or a reduction in services provided.

$74.7 million of the administration’s budget recommendations also rely on measures still before the state legislature. A revenue collections bill would generate an estimated $12.9 million, with another $51.8 million to come from a tax amnesty bill. Both are sponsored by Representative Tom Flanigan (R-Carthage).

What had been a $16.9 million dollar recommended reduction to community and technical colleges has been scaled back to $10.5 million, also due to proceeds from the mortgage settlement.

Other amounts include $41 million from restructuring debt, $29.3 million in administrative savings, a $7 million reduction to biodiesel subsidy payments and a $2 million reduction to public health agencies.

The Administration’s top priority for the budget remains $203 million to the Foundation Formula. Luebbering says, “$198 million of that is needed just to keep the formula where it is this year.”

Luebbering tells the committee there are some positive signs in the economy. “The unemployment rate is down. We are starting to see a little bit of growth on the collections side. Not a lot yet this fiscal year. We were at 1.3 percent growth in our revenue collections at the end of January, so not stellar growth, but certainly it’s good to see that we’re continuing a positive on our collections numbers.”

Republicans question the validity of the lower unemployment numbers, saying that federal statistic does not count individuals who don’t have jobs and are no longer looking for them as being unemployed. Luebbering says the data still holds meaning, “Because it has historically looked at people who are looking for jobs or who have jobs. So, I think it is a historically relevant statistic that has been measured the same for years. Granted it’s not a complete number, but it at least is consistently calculated every month.”

The House Budget Committee will continue to hold agency budget hearings this week.

Filed Under: Economy, Legislature, News Tagged With: , , , ,

Religious freedom or reproductive rights? (AUDIO)

February 21, 2012 By

A proposed law described as one protecting religious beliefs and moral convictions runs into critics who charge it’s dangerously vague and is more interested in this year’s elections than in protecting religions.

The bill would let employers refuse to provide health insurance coverage for sterilization, abortion, and contraception. He filed the bill in reaction to the Obama administration’s initiative a few weeks ago that Catholic hospitals complained would force them to provide coverage for those things for employees. The bill has been rushed to the floor for debate.

Senator Jolie Justus of Kansas City maintains the bill would talk about a lot more things if it really was about religious freedom. “There are a large group of people out there….who object to vaccines; they object to blood transfusions….And if we’re talking about true religious freedom, it should not be limited to reproductive health. But this isn’t about religious freedom. It’s about the national political debate as we head into the next presidential election,” she says

Other critics say the bill seems to allow employees to sue employers who don’t provide coverage those things under discrimination laws. Another suggests the lack of definition of “sterilization” could deny coverage for life-saving reproductive surgeries

Lamping has set the bill aside but could bring it back later.

AUDIO: Senate debate 1:39:00

Filed Under: News

House rejects recommended hike on farmland values (AUDIO)

February 21, 2012 By

The House of Representatives has voted to reject the State Tax Commission’s recommendation that tax assessment values on the top four grades of farm land in the state be raised.

Representative Casey Guernsey

The Commission considers changes to those values every two years. This year it had suggested that those four categories’ values go up eight percent. Representative Casey Guernsey (R-Bethany) told his colleagues those areas of land were hit the hardest by last year’s floods.

“I would simply contend that this is not a year to be raising taxes on farmers who have been absolutely devastated by the floods all across the state.”

The Commission’s recommendation will still take effect unless the Senate also votes to reject it by March 4. A hearing on the matter was held earlier this month, but the matter remains in a committee.

The property tax changes would be effective for 2013 and 2014 assessments.

AUDIO: Representative Guernsey and Representative Jill Schupp (D-Creve Coeur), 12:45

Filed Under: Agriculture, Legislature, News, Politics & Government

Date set for Missouri Caucuses

February 21, 2012 By

The State Republican committee has set the dates for the caucuses that eventually will decide which Presidential candidate the Missouri delegation will back at the national convention. Most counties will hold caucuses on March 17. But Republicans in Chariton County will caucus on the 15th and those in Wayne County will meet on the 16th. St. Louis and Jackson County won’t caucus until the 24th of March. Rick Santorum won the Republican primary earlier this month with 55 percent, but that result is not binding on the caucuses.

Filed Under: News
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