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Parson: Removing St. Louis police residency requirement is the right thing to do

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State Rep. Ron Hicks

State Representative Ron Hicks, R-Dardenne Prairie, is proposing to let St. Louis police officers live outside the city limits. House Bill 1604 would let the officers reside within a one-hour response time.

The police department has about 150 to 200 police officer job openings and Police Chief John Hayden says the residency requirement is the greatest challenge the department has with recruitment and retention.

To top it all off, St. Louis has been named the most dangerous city in America for several years. Last year, the city had 194 murders, 2,600 shootings and 349 carjackings. Hicks has described St. Louis as the murder capital of the nation.

Gov. Mike Parson says he supports putting an end to the residency requirement.

“St. Louis has got a real problem,” he says. “The last thing we need to do is be hindering them from hiring police officers for that. I’m open to that. I think it’s the right thing to do – to make sure we get those full numbers of the police force up. They’re like 150, 200 officers down. The reality of it is whether you’re in St. Louis you’re in Polk County where I’m from just hiring deputies back in the day, the reality is if you can’t hire them within the county, you’ve got to reach outside there.”

Missouri Governor Mike Parson signs legislation on July 10, 2019 (file photo courtesy of Governor Parson’s office)

A House committee is considering Hicks’ bill. The legislation is a top priority for St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, a Democrat, Hayden, the St. Louis Police Officers Association, and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, a Republican with ties to the St. Louis suburb of Glendale.

Some members of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen and some residents want the requirement to stay intact – sparking Krewson and Hayden to ask Hicks for help in resolving the issue. The critics say having police officers who live in and know the neighborhoods they patrol is important. The one resident who testified against the bill at a House hearing said the matter should go to a citywide vote in St. Louis.

Sen. Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, has proposed Senate Bill 558, a similar measure.

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Parson says grey area should be cleaned up in Missouri’s gambling laws

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Last October, the Missouri State Highway Patrol testified that the number of complaints it has received about illegal gambling has increased from 39 in 2018 to at least 145 in 2019. Most of those complaints were about alleged illegal slot machines. The terminals can be found in bars, restaurants, gas stations and convenience stores in Missouri.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson speaks to the Capitol Press Corps after being sworn-in as governor on June 1, 2018 in Jefferson City (file photo by Tim Bommel/UPI)

Gov. Mike Parson says the grey area needs to be cleaned up in Missouri’s gambling laws. During a press event in Jefferson City, Parson tells reporters he expects plenty of discussion this session by the state Legislature about the matter.

“You can’t just have people in there setting up slot machines all over the state with no guidance or no supervision,” says Parson.

During legislative hearings held last year about illegal gambling, the Missouri Lottery testified that illegal slot machines are hurting public education in the Show-Me State.

Meanwhile, Webster Groves resident Chris Marshall, who co-owns Llywelyn’s Pub testified in November before the House gaming committee. He said the machines can help managers invest money in restaurant renovations. He cites documents showing the average restaurant in Illinois that has five video game machines can average additional revenue of about $5,000 per month.

Under a proposal this session by State Representative Dan Shaul, R-Imperial, he wants to legalize sports wagering and slot machines. He’s proposing to let truck stops and fraternal organizations operate up to ten video lottery terminals at one location. Bars could operate up to five slot machines at one location.

This week, a Missouri House committee voted in favor of Shaul’s measure, House Bill 2088. It would also allow the gambling activities in “entertainment districts”, like the Power & Light District in Kansas City and Ballpark Village in St. Louis.

Schaul’s proposal is at odds with legislation introduced by Senate leader Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan. Schatz is proposing to increase penalties for what Schatz calls illegal slot machines. At the conclusion of last year’s regular session, Schatz said illegal gaming has exploded across Missouri in record numbers.

“Grey or black market or whatever type of games you want to call, those are everywhere across our state in every district,” Schatz said.

Under Senate Bill 557, a person or business and any affiliated company with a gaming license that is convicted of or pleads guilty to illegal gambling, would be permanently banned from being licensed in video lottery gaming. Any conviction for illegal gambling activity involving an illegal gambling device would result in the automatic and permanent revocation of a license issued under the Liquor Control Law, as well as any lottery game retailer license.

A Senate committee has voted in favor of Schatz’s bill. The measure awaits consideration by the full Senate.

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Parson: State employees can support candidates, but don’t let it affect your job

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U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, R-Missouri

A Missouri House committee reviewed this week U.S. Senator Josh Hawley’s allegations that State Auditor Nicole Galloway used “blatantly biased staff” to audit his office. Galloway, a Democrat running for governor, is having her office do an exit audit of Hawley’s office while he served as attorney general. A closeout audit of a statewide office is a standard practice by the Auditor’s Office.

In his mid-January tweets, Hawley revealed e-mails written by the Auditor’s Office in which an employee appeared to discuss changing part of the audit. Hawley released an e-mail from auditor Pam Allison which said she would “beef up” part of the audit that involved Hawley’s use of personal email/personal calendar.

State Auditor Nicole Galloway

During this week’s committee hearing, lawmakers learned that Galloway has a different employee heading the Hawley review. Jon Halwes, Galloway’s new audit director, says the staffing change was in response to the appearance of bias. The worker donated $50 to former Democratic U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill’s campaign.

During a press event Thursday, Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, says individual rights should be at the forefront.

“If you’re a state employee, if you want to support a candidate, I don’t have a problem with state employees supporting a candidate. Do I think they should carry a sign around with them to work every day doing that? Probably not,” says Parson.

Gov. Mike Parson

“Whether somebody contributes to a candidate or not, I don’t have a problem with that. I probably have a problem if it affects the job they’re doing and if they’re using it for political gain. I’ve got a real problem with that.”

Halwes says he has not found any bias in the audit. He says the office has four levels of review and the layers would make it impossible to release a biased audit. Halwes went on to say that he’s voted Republican most of his life and it does not impact his work of being independent.

During a different Missouri House committee hearing this week, Galloway told the lawmakers that they should reserve judgement until they review the audit for themselves. The audit is not finished yet, but Galloway expects it to be released in the coming weeks.

See previous story:

Missouri House committee hears testimony from Galloway’s office about ongoing Hawley audit (AUDIO) https://wp.me/p16gMv-w7b

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Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to create crop research center in Missouri

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Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to create crop research center in Missouri

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is making plans for a crop research center in the St. Louis metro area. In a press release, the Gates Ag One foundation says it intends to speed up efforts to give small farms in developing countries the tools and technology to lift them out of poverty and adapt to climate change effects.

Excerpts from the release:

“In two of the fastest growing regions of the world—sub-Saharan Africa, home to around 1 billion people, and South Asia, with a population of about 1.8 billion—approximately 60 percent of the population lives in rural areas that typically depend on smallholder agriculture for food and income. In sub-Saharan Africa, agriculture accounts for more than half of the region’s employment, and for South Asia it contributes about 40 percent. Yields on farms in these regions are already far below what farmers elsewhere in the world achieve, and climate change will make their crops even less productive,” the release says.

“Gates Ag One will collaborate with a diverse community of regional and international public- and private-sector partners, as well as interested governments, to enable the advancement of resilient, yield-enhancing seeds and traits globally and facilitate the introduction of those breakthroughs into specific crops essential to smallholder farmers, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia,” it says.

The foundation is still in the early planning stages. A launch date for the center is unknown.

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Missouri reviewing ways to boost mental health services in schools

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Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven says there are essential ingredients that schools need to be successful. During a Missouri House subcommittee hearing, Vandeven says one ingredient is not enough. The department is refocusing its priorities to include additional avenues to ensure safe and healthy schools, early learning and early literacy and teacher recruitment and retention.

Missouri Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven

“If you leave out sugar in a cake, for example, you can have the best flour but you’re still going to have a flop,” she says. “You have to think of education in that way too. We’ve got to focus on early learning. We have to have great teachers. We need to make sure they’re future-focused and thinking about ‘How will I apply these skills today and later to make sure our students are engaged in the actual learning process?’ The parental involvement cannot be underestimated – it is a key factor to a child’s success and a school’s success.”

One of the ingredients Vandeven says teachers are “hungry” for help with is addressing the mental health needs of students.

Representative John Black, R-Marshfield, says there should be a universal plan to deal with students facing mental health problems.

“They (schools) want help developing a mechanism to deal with this issue and it’s not being done. You go to one school – they’re trying to do it this way. You go to another school and they’re trying to do it another way,” says Black.

Black, an attorney, cites some schools using federally funded social workers, paying for social workers or professional counselors themselves, or having counselors pick up the slack.

Representative Ingrid Burnett, D-Kansas City, a longtime educator, says bureaucracy is a problem in getting students help sooner rather than later.

“It becomes a 12 to 16 week process gathering data to prove that what we’re trying to do that we know these children need,” she says.

Representative Doug Richey, R-Excelsior Springs, says providing mental health support in schools is not the job of educators.

“Would it be better for us to look at the Department of Mental Health and say ‘You guys need to figure this out’? DESE needs to work out the access points but it’s not DESE that needs to fix the behavioral health problems of the children of the state of Missouri, nor a local school. It’s Department of Mental Health and quite frankly and more importantly, it’s the parents,” he says.

Representative Allen Andrews, R-Grant City, thinks the state needs a bigger approach to addressing the growing mental health needs of Missourians.

“Somewhere we’re losing our society,” he says. “We can continue to kick this can down the road and keep trying to figure out how we’re going to keep spending more and more money on these growing problems that are happening exponentially. Somewhere some way, the can is going to stop rolling.”

In another budget committee hearing, Representative Deb Lavender, D-Kirkwood, says she thinks there’s too much emphasis on policing schools and not enough caring for students.

A statewide school safety task force created last year recommended the integration of school-based mental health services and healthcare. The panel’s report says there is an urgent need for effective prevention, interventions and the ability to identify youth at-risk for mental illness and connect them with needed treatment and services.

The report refers to information from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry that says 13% of youth aged 8-15 live with mental illness severe enough to cause significant impairment in their day-to-day lives. This figure jumps to 21% in youth aged 13-18.

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State racks up millions in unpaid bills owed to Amtrak

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Daily Missouri River Runner service from St. Louis to Kansas City continues chugging along but if the state doesn’t start paying its bills, the trips could get derailed. During a Missouri House Budget Committee hearing, MoDOT Director Patrick McKenna says Missouri owes the company more than $6.5 million in unpaid bills and about $12 million for its service contract this year. He’s requesting more money from the Legislature to help pay off the debt.

State racks up millions in unpaid bills owed to Amtrak

“Actually, it is an embarrassment,” says McKenna. “We have to deal with these folks at the federal level. We’re not paying our bill. They’ve been giving us a pass. They’re now charging interest on the arrearage.”

Amtrak is charging 12% interest on what Missouri owed last year.

“To retain the service, is a $12 million annual bill. We’re currently paying 9 (million dollars) a year and it’s an arrearage that’s growing,” says McKenna.

“How did it get to that point in the first place,” asks Representative Don Mayhew, R-Crocker.

“The requests to fund the operating costs have not been granted through the budget process annually,” says McKenna.

“And that started how long ago,” asks Mayhew.

“2010,” says McKenna.

McKenna tells Mayhew the debt could endanger the service’s future.

Some lawmakers, including Representative Deb Lavender, D-Kirkwood, says the River Runner plays an important role in Missouri’s tourism. The line stops in Lavender’s hometown of Kirkwood, as well as Hermann and Sedalia. All three are tourism points.

The Missouri Legislature is in full swing with its fiscal year 2021 budget work.

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Missouri lawmakers say Supreme Court got it wrong on ‘disastrous’ bail changes

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Eighty-two state lawmakers have signed a letter denouncing the Missouri Supreme Court’s rule changes limiting judges from requiring bail. A task force – including prosecutors, defense attorneys, law enforcement and judges – recommended the changes to the court. The high court launched the rules last July.

The rules say judges must first consider non-monetary conditions for pretrial release. The judges can only charge bail fees to help ensure the safety of the defendant’s appearance in court. They are also required to speed up when court hearings are held to set or review bail.

State Rep. Justin Hill speaks on the Missouri House floor in February 2017 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

GOP State Representative Justin Hill, a former police officer from Lake St. Louis, issued the letter saying the court should pitch the “flawed rules” that make it too difficult for judges to impose bail. He tells Missourinet the high court circumvented the lawmaking process by adopting House Bill 666 as a rule.

“I’ve never seen a more gross violation of separation of powers,” he says. “They need to leave the lawmaking up to lawmakers – the direct representatives of the people. For the Supreme Court to do this, particularly one Supreme Court justice, it’s almost like ruling as an emperor. They can’t select the bills they like and then make it law through rule making. How do we stop this? What’s my recourse? I’m asking lawyers – can I sue the Supreme Court for overstepping their bounds or do I have to sue them in federal court? I don’t know but that can’t happen again.”

Hill says Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice George Draper III lead the charge to implement the rule changes he calls “disastrous”. During last week’s State of the Judiciary address, Draper said the changes ease inconsistencies with Missouri’s constitutional mandates to promise bail with sufficient guarantees in all but capital offenses, like murder.

After the rules were released, J.R. Hobbs, a Kansas City defense attorney and task force member, told Missourinet the court is simply restating federal law. He says increased court cases nationwide show cash bond does not respect one’s rights of due process, fair trial and equal protection.

Hill, a member of the Missouri House Judiciary Committee, says the rules essentially allow many felons back out on the streets without using bail to encourage them to show up to court. He says rural Missouri is really feeling the pain.

“Now we have rapists being released. It is akin to literally a policeman making a traffic stop for rape, writes them a ticket saying please come to court. And that’s just not going to cut it,” he tells Missourinet. “Monetary bail does something very unique in that it allows the risk of that person to return to court to be underwritten. When I say underwritten, that’s a risk assessment of whether or not they’re going to flee the country.”

Hill gives another example involving a convicted felon suspected in last October’s deadly Tequila KC mass shooting. Hill calls the case of Javier Alatorre, 23, “a breakdown in justice”.

“The Jackson County Courts – the prosecutor tried to get bond on the criminal, on a felon, and the judge refused it using these new rules. The defendant was released, and a month later killed four people and went to Mexico. We are not looking after who we are all charged at looking after first and that’s the public’s safety,” he says.

Audrain County Sheriff Matt Oller posted information on Facebook about a convicted felon on the run from law enforcement. He indicates his displeasure with the bail rules and the Missouri Department of Corrections.

According to Hill, the restrictions also add the amount of work for the court system and law enforcement if a defendant does not show up for court. The failure to appear creates a new docket entry or charge against the defendant. Law enforcement officers, with many working for understaffed departments, then must search for the missing individual.

He says court problems in St. Louis County have brought us to where we are today with bail changes.

“I venture to guess there’s probably over 30 or 40 of these municipal courts compounding fines on top of people – people that don’t have money. They’re being held too long for misdemeanor offenses,” he says. “Then they’re put on probation and they’re being held in probation for too long for misdemeanor offenses.”

So now what? Hill hopes the court will come to the table and work with the Missouri Legislature to craft “a responsible, narrowly-tailored set of changes meant to improve the judiciary.”

“We all want swift justice,” says Hill. “We want to make sure that the right person is arrested and convicted. We want to make sure that they’re brought to justice quickly. We want to make sure that someone is not sitting in jail because they can’t afford bond, but we also want to make sure that the public’s safety as our priority.

If they don’t come to the table, then we have to go to more extreme measures. That might be calling for the public to remove these justices on the ballot.”

Hill has also filed House Bill 1937 in response to the rules. He says the measure would change the order of what pretrial conditions judges can impose on the defendants. The measure is awaiting committee assignment.

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Missouri study: Super Bowl victory is economic win for team’s community

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A Missouri University of Science and Technology study says when a NFL team wins the Super Bowl, the team’s metro area also scores a financial victory. The Kansas City Chiefs play the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl on February 2.

Missouri S&T Economics Professor Michael Davis

Economics Professor Dr. Michael Davis says on average, NFL teams with 10 or 11 wins in the season will fuel about a $100 additional income per person.

“Which may not sound like a lot but $100 spread over millions of people is quite a bit of money,” he says. “What we’re looking at is the more general impact of people going to business that have nothing to do with the sports team. So nothing to do with the Chiefs, just a company that is headquartered in Kansas City is going to have a lot of Chiefs fans as employees.”

His analysis covers decades of data going back to 1969.

“If the local football team does well, you are happier,” says Davis. “Therefore, that happiness will then translate into either you being more productive at work – you go in on Monday, your team having won and you do a lot better job – or you consume more.”

Davis says his study does not consider hungover fans the day after a game.

(Thumbnail photo courtesy of Kansas City Chiefs/Twitter)

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What you need to know about Parson’s proposed prison budget

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Gov. Mike Parson’s proposed state budget of $30.5 billion includes $825 million to fund the Missouri Department of Corrections and the 21 prisons it operates. The plan is about a $44 million increase compared to the current fiscal year.

What you need to know about Parson’s proposed prison budget

Parson wants to reduce the number of housing units within Missouri’s prison system. During a House subcommittee hearing, Department of Corrections Budget Director Trevor Foley says the proposal would close twelve housing units statewide.

“The Department is requesting a total of 1,756 bed reduction at six sites,” says Foley. “This has a savings of 131 FTE on an annual basis. At six-and-a-half million dollars that the department is then requesting to reinvest in a number of priorities.”

Priorities include upgrading the department’s employee phone system, security measures, officer radios, and protective vests for probation and parole workers.

Parson’s budget plan for the fiscal year beginning in July would slash a total of 137 job vacancies within the department.

“Similar to last year, the Department’s intention is there would be no staff layoffs,” says Foley. “Of the 131 FTE reduction, 128 positions at the same job class, at the same job site are vacant today. So, we will have over five months to attrite three, which we’re reasonably confident is doable.”

FTE stands for full-time employees.

The proposed Corrections budget would put an additional $211,000 towards covering staff overtime costs with the overall price tag being about $6.5 million. The governor wants to double the amount of retention pay for workers to an overall $18.2 million.

Parson is proposing $200.7 million for the Division of Offender Rehabilitative Services – a nearly $5.5 million dollar reduction over the current year. Substance misuse and recovery services would get an additional $118,000. Community-based corrections programs would get an extra $325,000.

Parson’s plan would give parole board operations a $1.7 million increase compared to the current amount of 0.

Lawmakers are reviewing Parson’s state budget blueprint for the fiscal year that begins in July. Legislative budget hearings continue next week.

Other budget stories:

What you need to know about Parson’s proposed K-12 schools budget
https://wp.me/p16gMv-w3T

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