May 25, 2013

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Budget bill includes money for new lake in north-central Missouri

May 24, 2013 By

Some of the money in a budget bill sitting on the Governor’s desk could help advance the creation of a new lake in north-central Missouri.

This map shows where the new lake would go upon completion of the East Locust Creek Reservoir Project. (image courtesy; John Holmes, Allstate Consultants)

This map shows where the new lake would go upon completion of the East Locust Creek Reservoir Project. (images courtesy; John Holmes, Allstate Consultants)

The East Locust Creek Water Reservoir Project has been ongoing for many years. It would create a 2,300 acre, 7 mile long lake north of Milan in Sullivan County. $4 million in HB 19 would go toward that project.

North Central Missouri Regional Water Commission General Manager Brad Scott says that reservoir is critically needed in a part of the state where wells can’t meet the water needs.

“There are a lot of folks suffering from a water shortage. We came extremely close – within days – of running out of water in certain communities in Missouri. Fortunately God smiled upon us and the heavens opened, and the drought was broken.”

If approved by the Governor, that money would go toward the acquisition of land. Scott says of the 4,300 total acres needed for the project about 2,200 has been acquired. He says that could propel the project to begin construction by 2017 and have the lake fully operational and providing water by 2019.

Scott says while the new lake would be a water supply first and foremost, it will also provide a new attraction in north-central Missouri.

“Much of the job creation that will occur will come from recreational use. This lake will be a public lake that will look and act like a private lake. There will be homes around it, we will sell easements across our property to the water for docks, we will sell dock licenses for folks who live on the water’s edge … I say and believe that it will fundamentally change the economy of north-central Missouri for 100 years.”

This map shows the same region before completion of the project.

This map shows the same region before completion of the project, which would inundate the community of Boynton.

Representative Casey Guernsey (R-Bethany) is one of the lawmakers that lobbied to get that money included in HB 19. He says the recreational benefits will be a good residual, but the real importance is the water supply for the farmers in the 10 counties it will serve.

“It’s necessary. From a survival standpoint and being able to retain the industry that they have and meet the demand that the municipalities have, it’s a must-have.”

The Water Commission testified to the House Budget Committee asking to receive $10 million from a proposed bonding initiative that was not approved by the legislature this year. Scott isn’t sure whether the Commission would ask for similar consideration if that proposal is raised again in the 2014 legislative session.

“We may have our finance plan laid in by that time. Certainly if we do not it would be a wonderful option for us to have.”

Governor Jay Nixon has not acted on HB 19. That proposal was just delivered to his office on Wednesday. Nixon has objected to another portion of the bill that would spend $38 million on a new state office building at the site of the decommissioned Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City, but he has the option to strike out that portion of the bill rather than veto it entirely.

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Bryce’s Law, meant to help get treatment for autistic children, sent to the Governor (AUDIO)

May 22, 2013 By

Legislation meant to help the families of children with autism and other disorders has reached the Governor’s desk, in the eighth year it has been offered.

Representative Dwight Scharnhorst (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Representative Dwight Scharnhorst (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Representative Dwight Scharnhorst (R-St. Louis) named Bryce’s Law for his grandson, who died in 2007 of complications related to autism and epilepsy. It would create a grant program that parents of children with an autism spectrum disorder, Down syndrome, Angelman syndrome or cerebral palsy could apply for to help cover the cost of specialized educations that meet their unique needs.

“It’s somewhat of a mandate to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to seek and secure federal and state, and I will be seeking on my own private foundation money, to form a pool of money for parents who decide they want to move these children out of a public school and put them in the institutions that could probably best suit improving their quality of life as well as their family.”

The bill had met resistance in earlier versions because it would have created a tax credit program for those parents, which opponents had likened to school vouchers. Scharnhorst says converting it to a grant program removed any impact it would have on state funding for public schools.  He says prior to this year, the proposal had not received a positive vote in a legislative chamber.

Scharnhorst says the program would only provide one piece of the puzzle to those parents, who might have to make difficult decisions include relocating to get their children into such a program.

“Some parents are going to have to go to a lot of trouble to make this happen, but I know these kind of parents will do whatever it takes to help their child.”

House Speaker Tim Jones says the passage of Bryce’s Law is a milestone.

“Republicans have always stood for helping the truly needy. Young children with autism, I can’t think of more deserving folks. More options, more hope for those parents who struggle every day.”

The language was passed as part of a larger education bill, SB 17, that also includes provisions that would also create advisory councils to consider rules and policies regarding the education of gifted and talented children and to consider management of career and technical education and would allow the use of religious books in elective literature and history courses in public schools.

The bill is now awaiting action by Governor Jay Nixon.

AUDIO:  Dwight Scharnhorst speaks about Bryce’s Law prior to its passage out of the House, 1:57

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Legislature passes bills meant to fill in budget gaps for children, blind

May 20, 2013 By

The legislature and the Governor blame one another for a situation that left the state budget in need of additional legislative action to balance it. On Friday the legislature passed two bills meant to be the final step.

Representative Rick Stream (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Budget Committee Chairman Rick Stream (at the Mic) explains the provision in HB 986 meant to round out the legislature’s proposed FY 2014 budget. (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Each of those bills includes a provision to create the Missouri Senior Services Protection Fund. That fund would receive $55.1 million from General Revenue, which is coming in to the state coffers ahead of projections, and use it to support four programs. Those are First Steps, a program for children with developmental disabilities, health care for the blind, medical clinics that treat low-income patients and special initiatives for early childhood.

Those programs were to have been funded by the repeal of a tax credit for low-income seniors living in rental housing, the passage of which Governor Jay Nixon and the House and Senate all built into their budget proposals. However, after the House had approved its budget plan and while the Senate was debating its plan, Nixon said he would veto that bill if it was not passed as part of a larger tax credit reform package. It was passed as a stand-alone and Nixon did veto it.

The two bills passed by the legislature on Friday are now awaiting the Governor’s action.

One of them, HB 116, would one would allow second-class counties to be audited by the State Auditor at any time and specifies those counties must cover the expense of those audits. It would also have details about budget cuts made by a governor and local bond issuances be posted on a state website.

The second, HB 986, would create an interim committee to study Medicaid expansion and reform in Missouri, and would extend the Ticket to Work program’s expiration date. That program provides Medicaid coverage to disabled individuals who want to work but risk losing government health care by earning too much.

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House Republicans: Nixon switched positions on new state office building

May 15, 2013 By

Governor Jay Nixon has harshly criticized legislative budget makers for proposing the construction of a new state office building. Now those lawmakers are saying the Governor has changed his position on that plan.

House Speaker Tim Jones (left) and House Budget Committee Chairman Rick Stream (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Speaker Tim Jones (left) and House Budget Committee Chairman Rick Stream (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Bill 19, a supplemental spending bill for capital improvements, includes $38 million for the new building that would be built in the site of the decommissioned Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City. It would house the Department of Transportation and other state offices that budget makers say are in rented or leased space.

House Budget Director Rick Stream (R-Kirkwood) says Nixon supported that plan privately before he opposed it publicly.

“I don’t talk to the Governor personally, of course, but with his director of the budget, Linda Luebbering. She twice came back and said the Governor is on board with the office building … if he had been opposed to it. If he had used language or she had used language that in any way, shape or form gave us the slightest inkling that he was not going to be in favor of it, we would not have included it in that bill.”

Stream and House Speaker Tim Jones (R-Eureka) say pulling those state offices out of leased space means that over time the state would save money in the deal, even paying off the building in 7 to 10 years.

Jones accuses Nixon of switching positions on this and another significant issue tied to the budget.

“Like what the Governor did to us on flipping on his support of the circuit breaker bill, I feel like I’m having Groundhog Day on House Bill 19 as well.”

Jones refers to SB 350, a proposal to repeal a tax credit for seniors in low-income housing. Nixon had built that into his budget proposal unveiled in January, but a few weeks ago announced he would veto it if it was not part of a larger tax credit reform proposal. The legislature passed the bill last week and Nixon has kept his promise, vetoing it yesterday.

Governor Nixon has not said what he will do with HB 19.

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Nixon vetoes repeal of senior renters tax credit

May 14, 2013 By

Governor Jay Nixon has vetoed legislation that would have repealed a tax credit for low-income seniors who rent their homes. The legislation was built into the budget proposal the legislature sent to the Governor last week.

Governor Jay Nixon

Governor Jay Nixon

House and Senate budget leaders say the Governor had initially supported cutting that credit because he built it into his budget proposal, and said his staff including Budget Director Linda Luebbering testified for the bill in legislative committee hearings.

When he said he would veto the bill unless it was part of a more comprehensive tax credit reform package, legislators decided to move forward with it in the budget. They tied funding the elimination would have created to the First Steps program, which benefits an estimated 20-thousand developmentally disabled children.

In his veto message, Nixon said the legislation did not constitute “comprehensive tax credit reform,” and called on lawmakers to protect funding for First Steps.

The legislation is SB 350.

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