Alisa Nelson, Author at Missourinet

Missouri Secretary of State explains voting options, requirements ahead of primary election

July 8, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft is traveling the state to get the message out about the different ways to vote this year and the requirements that come with them. Missouri voters can cast a ballot in person, by absentee, and the new mail-in voting option.

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (file photo courtesy of the Secretary of State’s office)

Due to COVID-19, the state Legislature passed Senate Bill 631 this year allowing all registered Missouri voters to mail in their ballot this year, if requested, and the ballot envelope must be notarized.

Absentee voters can cast a ballot without a notary if:
*Incapacitated or confined due to illness
*Having contracted the coronavirus or at-risk due to the following:
*Age 65 or older
*Immunocompromised
*Living in a long term care facility
*Diabetes
*Chronic lung disease/asthma
*Serious heart condition
*Liver disease
*Chronic kidney disease and undergoing dialysis

All other absentee voters will be required to get a notary.

During a visit with reporters in Jefferson City, Ashcroft says the governor signed an executive order allowing electronic notarization.

“If you follow those steps, then that notarization will meet the requirements under the law for ballots,” he says.

Ashcroft says the governor has signed another bill, HB 1655, into law about remote notary that will apply to the November election.

He says his office is working on a list of organizations that have agreed to provide notarization for free for mail-in and absentee ballots. The list will be updated as more Missouri notaries volunteer to help.

“It is against Missouri law for a notary to charge to notarize an absentee ballot,” says Ashcroft. “It is not against the law for a notary to charge to notarize a mail-in ballot.”

July 22 is the deadline to ask for an absentee ballot by mail for the August 4 election. Absentee ballots can be requested in person up until the day before Election Day. They must be turned in by mail or in person and received by 7 p.m. on Election Day. Ashcroft says if voters have coronavirus concerns and would prefer to avoid going into the courthouse, some clerks might meet you at your car.

July 22 is also the deadline voters can deliver their application to their local election authority to request a mail-in ballot for the August 4 election. The ballot envelope must be notarized and returned through U.S. mail in time for its receipt on Election Day.

Ashcroft advises voters to turn in these requests as soon as possible.

“If you can’t tell, I’m really concerned about people that want to use one of these mail-in options having the time to get the ballot, fill it out and get it back in time so that their vote counts,” says Ashcroft.

Ashcroft pushed in-person voting. He says the safest way to vote and to ensure that your vote counts is by voting in person. Missouri has had two elections since the coronavirus began to grip the state in March and Ashcroft says there have not been any noted spread of the virus as a result of in-person voting.

“I fully believe that November will be the safest election people have participated in in Missouri, because we’ve had H1N1 or swine flu or other things before and we’ve never gone to the steps that local election authorities are doing with the physical distancing, with the face shields, with the face masks, with the plexiglass barriers that they’re putting up and with the distancing strips. They’re actually going to machines and disinfecting them between voters,” says Ashcroft.

Today is the last day to register to vote in Missouri’s August 4 election.

Missouri court hears lawsuit again about mail-in voting law

July 8, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Cole County Circuit Court Judge Jon Beetum is considering a lawsuit designed to let all Missouri voters cast a ballot by mail this year without a notarized signature. The NAACP of Missouri and the ACLU of Missouri are suing the state and contend that a new law requiring some voters to get a notary could put their health and the health of others at risk during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Missouri court hears lawsuit again about mail-in voting law

Beetum dismissed the case in May and said the groups did not state a claim. He went on to say they are trying to get widespread absentee voting for all future elections. The case was then appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court and the high court reversed Beetum’s decision. It said the groups actually stated a claim.

Plaintiffs want the court to block the notarization requirement in Senate Bill 631. Under the plan, all registered Missouri voters can mail in their ballot this year, if requested, and the ballot envelope must be notarized.

Absentee voters can cast a ballot without a notary if:

Incapacitated or confined due to illness
Having contracted the coronavirus or at-risk due to the following:
*Age 65 or older
*Immunocompromised
*Living in a long term care facility
*Diabetes
*Chronic lung disease/asthma
*Serious heart condition
*Liver disease *Chronic kidney disease and undergoing dialysis

All other absentee voters will be required to get a notary.

The governor has signed an executive order allowing electronic notarization.

The key witness for the plaintiffs, Dr. Hilary Babcock, a medical professor from Washington University in St. Louis, says the safest way to vote is not to leave home and instead vote by mail. But she says getting ballots authorized through a notary is safer than voting in person. If voters use public transportation to get to the polls, Babcock says those voters increase the chances of getting the virus.

Arguing for the state, Missouri Solicitor General D. John Sauer, raised the point that some notaries already have a porch or window-separated notary option. He also questioned Babcock about using safety measures while voting in person. Babcock says using social distance, frequent hand washing and wearing masks could help to minimize the risks of getting the virus. But she says they are not as safe as staying confined.

Today’s court hearing came with some technical glitches, causing the hearing to last more than three hours. Plaintiffs used a video conference platform to dial into the hearing. Understanding what they were sometimes saying did not always come easy. The Missouri Attorney General’s Office represented the state in-person.

Beetum could rule on the case at any time. Missouri’s primary election is on August 4.

Justin Boots factories closing in southwest Missouri

July 7, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Two of the largest manufacturers in southwest Missouri’s Cassville and Carthage are closing. The Justin Boots factories are closing there – putting a total of nearly 300 workers out of jobs. Many of the employees had been furloughed since March due to COVID-19.

Justin Boots factories closing in southwest Missouri

A spokesperson tells Missourinet affiliate KSGF in Springfield the Justin Boots outlet stores in Monett and Joplin will remain open.

A statement from the Fort Worth, Texas-based company says the closures were a difficult decision brought about by unprecedented times.

“Unfortunately, the economic reality has forced us to make hard decisions that are necessary to sustain the legacy of our brands long into the future. We recognize the skill that has gone into the footwear produced in Missouri over the years, which is why we have asked our Missouri workers to consider the possibility of relocating to one of our other factories. Making high quality boots is an art, and we value their skills, loyalty, and dedication.”

The American western boot company has been around since 1879 and is owned by Berkshire Hathaway.

Hawley proposes removal of mandated renaming of U.S. military bases honoring Confederate officers

July 6, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Missouri U.S. Senator Josh Hawley is proposing to remove a mandated renaming of U.S. military bases honoring Confederate military leaders. He tells Missourinet he wants to instead create a one-year commission to get public input first and then make recommendations.

Missouri U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

“My amendment says we will hold public hearings. We would be a commission that would hold public hearings – talk to military families, talk to veterans, talk to local communities and then make recommendations on changes to the names. I think this is a similar approach we’ve followed in the past,” says Hawley. “I think that’s the way we should move forward together to find consensus. I don’t think it should be done behind closed doors with a unilateral mandate by the Democrats – the same people who are also cheering on the tearing down of statues of George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant and Abraham Lincoln, for Heaven’s sake. It’s ridiculous.”

Since the death of George Floyd, objects viewed as symbols of racism are getting attention again. A Minneapolis police officer has been charged with second-degree murder in Floyd’s death.

“I’m against this cancel culture that just wants to sweep through and cancel anything that the Democrats and the woke mob now don’t approve of,” says Hawley. “That is not how we have proceeded as Americans. That is not how we show one another respect and honor. Let’s do this together.”

Fellow Missouri Republican U.S. Senator Roy Blunt has said he supports reviewing the names of the bases and renaming the installations.

The U.S. has ten bases commemorating Confederate officers.

Eight Missouri jobs centers reopen to in-person help

July 3, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Missouri’s 29 job centers temporarily closed due to coronavirus concerns are starting to reopen to in-person help. A press release from the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development says the Branson job center in southwest Missouri opened Monday and Job Centers in Kennett, Park Hills and Poplar Bluff in southeast Missouri reopened with Office of Workforce Development (OWD) staff returning to in-person work on Wednesday.

Eight Missouri jobs centers reopen to in-person help

Job centers in Springfield, St. Charles and St. Louis County opened back up in June. The St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment (SLATE) also began in-person services in June, by appointment only. It plans to open to walk-ins on July 6.

The release says the centers will follow social distancing and other health guidelines. They are critical sources for jobless people who don’t have access to computers and/or internet access.

The state’s other 21 job centers remain closed. They are expected to open up again in the coming weeks.

Since COVID-19 hit the state in mid-March, more than 686,000 unemployment claims have been filed. The most recent week’s claims, the week ending June 27, shows a slight increase of nearly 2,000 claims filed compared to the previous week.

Job seekers and displaced workers can still get help by phone at 1-888-728-5627, or online at jobs.mo.gov.

Hawley says news reports of Russia offering Taliban militants bounties to kill U.S. troops ‘don’t square very well’

July 2, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

National media reports say Russia offered Taliban militants bounties to kill American troops in Afghanistan. Missouri U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, says he has received classified details and so far his impression is very different.

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R) speaks to Missourinet during an interview on March 25, 2020 (photo courtesy of Senator Hawley’s office)

“After hearing the briefing which went on for some time and was in fairly great detail, I have to say it doesn’t square very well with reporting by the (New York) Times or the (Washington) Post,” Hawley tells Missourinet. “Having said that, I think we just need to send a very clear signal hear to the Russians that if they so much as think about putting bounties on the heads of American soldiers, there will be punishment, there will be punishment enforced upon them.”

As far as punishment goes, Hawley did not have specifics.

“I think we need to make it very clear that we will defend our soldiers and we’re not going to allow them to be targeted by anybody,” says Hawley. “But I say again the details that I’ve been briefed on are pretty substantially different from what I’ve read in the press.”

He says lawmakers will continue to speak with intelligence officials at all levels of government to gather details.

Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, a Democrat from Kansas City, tells the Kansas City Star the allegations are “profoundly disturbing”. He says reports that President Donald Trump had the information for over one year and did nothing should have every American outraged. Trump has denied sitting on the information for that long.

Mandatory job hunting to begin again next week for Missourians out of work

July 2, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Beginning the week of July 5, Missourians who want to continue getting unemployment benefits will be required again to do work searches. The mandate had been suspended temporarily for those who had filed a COVID-19 related unemployment claim.

Mandatory job hunting to begin again next week for Missourians out of work

A press release from the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations says work search activities will be required of anyone on regular unemployment, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program, Extended Benefits and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program.

Unemployed individuals will be required to do three work searches per week to remain eligible for benefits, including a $600 federal supplement available through July 25.

Workers with an employer-submitted recall date, in approved training, and those employees on the Shared Work program are exempt. Union members with a hiring or referral hall may contact their hall three times per week or attend training for the required number of work search activities.

Free online classes available to Missourians unemployed by coronavirus outbreak

July 1, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Missouri workers who have lost their jobs during the rash of COVID-19 cases can now enroll in free online classes. The Missouri Department of Higher Education & Workforce Development has partnered with Coursera, an online learning platform with 3,800 courses.

Free online classes available to Missourians unemployed by coronavirus outbreak

Through the partnership, Missourians can also earn professional certificates from leading companies like IBM and Google that are designed to prepare people for entry-level careers like IT.

“I truly believe education changes lives,” Zora Mulligan, commissioner of higher education, says in a press release. “Coursera provides another avenue for Missourians to learn new, marketable skills and, even during this period of economic uncertainty, advance their careers.”

The registration deadline is September 30 and courses must be completed by the end of this year to receive the credential or certificate at no cost.

To register, an account in the MoJobs system is required. Anyone without a MoJobs account can create a login at jobs.mo.gov. MoJobs users will have access to a link within the site to receive an invitation from Coursera.

For more information, click here.

Hundreds of Missouri’s state workers are getting laid off

July 1, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

About 300 state workers are getting laid off and another 200 vacant positions will be eliminated. During a press conference Tuesday, State Budget Director Dan Haug shared the details.

“That’s out of a state workforce of over 50,000. We did certainly try to protect our state employees as much as possible,” says Haug.

Gov. Parson signing budget bills (Photo courtesy of his Flickr account)

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports about 200 middle managers in the Department of Social Services and 30 in the Department of Mental Health are getting their jobs cut.

“In the 25 years I’ve been working on state budgets, this is the most difficult budget that I’ve seen. Revenues declined much quicker and sharper during this downturn than even during the Great Recession,” says Haug. “Just to put that in a little bit of perspective, currently the unemployment rate in Missouri is about 10%. The high point at the Great Recession for the unemployment rate was 9.8%. So we have, in three or four months, have hit a bottom even lower than what we saw during the Great Recession.”

Gov. Mike Parson says the coronavirus continues to take a toll on the state’s financials.

“We will continue to face budget shortfalls in fiscal year 2021,” says Parson.

Parson also signed Missouri’s $35.3 billion state operating budget for the fiscal year beginning today. Haug says the governor is freezing some spending to deal with the revenue shortfall caused by the coronavirus.

State Budget Director Dan Haug

“We feel that the amount that we’ve restricted – $448 million – is sufficient to balance the FY21 budget based on our most current projections,” says Haug. “We will monitor revenues throughout the year and if we feel confident that revenues will finish the year above our current projections, we have the ability to release some of these restrictions.”

The largest state budget restriction is more than $123 million in state aid to K-12 public schools. Four-year colleges and universities are getting nearly $28 million withheld. Missouri community colleges are having $18.4 million restricted and $9.4 million in temporary assistance for needy families work programs are also getting a spending freeze.

The governor announced $11 million dollars in vetoes, including $5 million for maintenance of some low-volume highways and $1 million for the Harry Truman Presidential Library and Museum in Independence. Another $267,000 for the Missouri State Public Defender’s Office to hire six more legal assistants has also been vetoed.

Missouri Supreme Court rules Legislature unconstitutionally stripped Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood

June 30, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

The state Supreme Court has ruled today the Missouri Legislature violated the Constitution when lawmakers blocked Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood. The Republican-controlled General Assembly’s budget writing tactic has defunded the organization more than $1 million since 2018. In the 6-1 high court decision, Judge Zel Fischer was the only one siding with the state in the case.

Missouri Supreme Court rules Legislature unconstitutionally stripped Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood

During a December court hearing about the case, attorney Chuck Hatfield, who represented Planned Parenthood, said Republican lawmakers do not want to give funding to doctors affiliated with Planned Parenthood. He said the Legislature cannot pick and choose which Medicaid providers it is going to give the funding to.

Missouri Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that lawmakers went by the book.

Planned Parenthood has 11 clinics in Missouri, but the St. Louis location is the only one that provides abortions. The locations offer other services to low-income Missourians, including birth control and cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol screenings.

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