Steelman kills elderly protection bill

A state Senator who says she wants to help the elderly has played a key role in killing a major bill that would have protected them from abuse and explotiation. Rolla Senator Sarah Steelman insisted on adding a 130-million-dollar amendment to the bill. Although she was warned throughout the debate that the cost of her amendment would cause the death of the bill, she got it added. A few hours later, a budget review committee determined the state could not afford the bill’s added cost resulting from her amendment and one other, and killed the bill.