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Missouri House oversight committee to hold third hearing on medical marijuana issues

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The Missouri House Speaker says there are still many questions and concerns about the state’s medical marijuana program.

House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, briefs Capitol reporters on February 13, 2020, as Majority Floor Leader Rob Vescovo and Speaker Pro Tem John Wiemann look on (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

During a briefing Thursday with Capitol reporters in Jefferson City, House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, says he expects the House Special Committee on Government Oversight to hold another hearing next week.

“I think the big thing that we sort of figured out from the (Wednesday) hearing is there’s a lot of questions that remain unanswered,” Haahr says.

Wednesday’s marathon hearing took more than four hours.

The oversight committee has held two hearings on the issue, and has been focusing on how licenses have been approved. An attorney for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) testified this week that they expect about 600 lawsuits over the issue.

“We (state lawmakers) just need to figure out when decisions were made, who was making those and try to make sure that the process was followed to the best of the department’s ability,” says Haahr.

House Special Committee on Government Oversight Chairman Rep. Robert Ross, R-Yukon, tells Missourinet there will be another hearing next week in Jefferson City, likely on Wednesday.

The oversight committee has questions about DHSS’ decision to hire a third-party scoring company whose partners are already active in the industry.

Lawmakers in both parties want to hear testimony from the Office of Administration (OA), which awarded the contract to Wise Health Solutions.

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Missouri county is a step closer to banning wind energy projects

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Members of the Buchanan County Planning and Zoning Commission in northwest Missouri have gone beyond proposing regulations for wind farms in the county. The commission, instead, has proposed banning wind farms in Buchanan County altogether.

Missouri county is a step closer to banning wind energy projects

The commission, meeting to discuss proposed regulations for commercial wind energy development, voted 8 to 4 to ban wind turbines. Its recommendation now goes to the Buchanan County Commission to consider.

The vote comes after 13 months of study which included hiring a consultant to draft proposed wind energy regulations.

Northwest Missouri has several large wind farms, including outside of Maryville and Burlington Junction in Nodaway County and Grant City in Worth County.

A group, Friends of Buchanan County, formed to fight against wind energy. The group argued wind power turbines made for a poor fit in a densely-populated county. It advocated a ban, but also gathered more than 700 signatures on petitions that called for a mile setback from property lines for commercial wind developments if the county did adopt regulations, a requirement which would have been difficult for any wind energy company to meet.

The County Commissioners and the Planning and Zoning Commission held two nights of public hearings last month on proposed wind regulations. All who testified opposed wind power development in Buchanan County. No one spoke in favor.

Previous stories:

Campaign launches to oppose wind turbines in Missouri county
https://wp.me/p16gMv-vRz

Missouri county slowly moves toward wind farm regulations
https://wp.me/p16gMv-vDv

By Brent Martin of Missourinet affiliate KFEQ in St. Joseph

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Missouri House panel questions medical marijuana program’s choices, calls on RFP agency to testify (AUDIO FROM HEARING)

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A special Missouri House committee is ramping up its scrutiny of the state’s new medical marijuana program—focusing on how licenses have been approved.

The program director and the state health department decided to go with an independent group to screen applicants and now those selections are being challenged in a state administrative court. A health department attorney told lawmakers they expect as many as 600 lawsuits over the issue.

The panel focused on the department’s choice to hire a third-party scoring company whose partners are already active in the industry.

The House Committee on Government Oversight member Jered Taylor, R-Republic, asked medical marijuana program director Lyndall Fraker if he knew that partners in the chosen scoring company had in the past been hired for training by potential applicants:

Listen  (:43)

The new company, Wise Health Solutions, is made up of members from a California cannabis industry training college and a compliance consultant and health specialist who helped create the medical marijuana program in Nevada.

But Republic representative Jered Taylor questioned Lyndall Fraker of the Health Department about why they were granted the contract- with the score they got. (:17)

Fraker and DHSS attorney Richard Moore explained that no one applied for the contract to be Missouri’s screener until DHSS relaxed the rule to allow the scoring company to take part in the Missouri medical marijuana business sooner.

Rep. Dirk Deaton of southwest Missouri, R-Noel, questioned the decision: (:29)

Fraker said they were avoiding political influence and anticipating a large volume of applications  (1:11)

Rep. Maria Chapelle-Nadal, D-University City, pressed Fraker on the cost and scope of the lawsuits:

Listen (:29)

Committee members from both parties have requested testimony from the Office of Administration, which awarded the RFP to Wise Health.

Missouri’s governor focusing on rural broadband, especially for schools (AUDIO)

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Governor Mike Parson (R) emphasized the importance of broadband in rural Missouri during a Jefferson City appearance on Tuesday, and is praising USDA’s announcement that the state will receive $61 million to expand it.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson delivers his State of the State Address on January 15, 2020 in Jefferson City, as House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, looks on (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

The governor discussed the issue, while addressing a few hundred Missouri Farm Bureau members at Jefferson City’s Capitol Plaza Hotel. While the Farm Bureau event was closed to the news media, Parson spoke with Missourinet after his presentation.

“If we can get electricity in every home, and we did that back years ago, we can get internet to everybody’s home to where they can be out there and be competitive,” Parson says.

One of the grants announced in late January by USDA is a $2.5 million grant to help the Green Hills Telephone Corporation expand its fiber network in northwest Missouri’s Caldwell and Livingston counties. That’s expected to help a fire district and two educational facilities.

Governor Parson has noted that there are about ten Missouri school districts that still don’t have broadband. The governor says broadband ties-in with education and his workforce development initiatives.

“We’ve got to make sure we got broadband available to our schools, to give those kids a fighting chance out there in today’s world in technology and everything,” says Parson.

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R) also praises USDA’s announcement, calling it an important step toward ending what he calls the digital divide. Senator Blunt says one-third of rural Missourians lack access to broadband.

As for Governor Parson, he’s also emphasizing the importance of infrastructure, rural health care and the rural way of life.

“I always say the agriculture is so important to our state and what it means for the way of life for a lot of these people (Farm Bureau members), but really for what it means for everyday Missourians no matter where you’re from,” Parson says.

The governor is also concerned about possible flooding again this spring. He tells Missourinet he spoke to President Trump about the issue a few weeks ago, and that the president is engaged on the issue.

Parson’s proposed budget sets aside $4 million in disaster recovery funds.

Agriculture is an $88 billion industry in Missouri. The state has about 100,000 farms.

Click here to listen to the full three-minute interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and Governor Mike Parson (R), which was recorded on February 18, 2020 at Jefferson City’s Capitol Plaza Hotel:

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

House panel to continue to question DHSS on medical marijuana application screening

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The Missouri House panel will meet again this week to review how applications have been approved for medical marijuana manufacturers and dispensaries. Wednesday, February 12, the DHSS program’s deputy director Amy Moore told the Special Committee on Government Oversight that the department has looked into the concerns from applicants who were denied.

More than 200 applicants have filed complaints to the state Administrative Commission, alleging conflict of interest involving the company chosen to do the selection scoring.  The company, Wise Health Solutions, a Missouri-based company, is a new joint venture between Oaksterdam University (“Oaksterdam”) in California and Veracious Investigative & Compliance Solutions LLC (“Veracious”). Chad Warren Westom of Veracious, who oversaw the development of Nevada’s medical cannabis regulations, is the project’s executive Lead.

Oaksterdam, before winning the Missouri RFP to screen applicants, conducted training “bootcamps” leading up to the licensing process.

Moore told the panel there was no evidence of conflict of interest:

“We’ve heard a lot of allegations about potential conflicts. Some have been vague, some have been specific. Whenever we have received a specific allegation, we looked into it. So far nothing has been confirmed to be true. We do investigate each of those specific allegations.”

State health department (DHSS) spokesperson Lisa Cox says the application process was blind, “because the questions asked in Missouri applications are unique to Missouri and no identifying information of any applicant was provided to the vendor, any prior relationship would be irrelevant, as the vendor would not know who any given applicant was.”

House Speaker Elijah Haahr told Missourinet that lawmakers are trying to learn more about how the program works.

“Frankly it’s hard to say that there are problems, all we’ve got is people that didn’t get in and maybe complaining.”

State Sen. Doug Libla, R-Poplar Bluff (file photo courtesy of Missouri Senate)

Poplar Bluff Senator Doug Libla has been one of those complaining about the outcomes in the press and on the Senate floor on the behalf of his constituents and “people I know.” He attended and observed last week’s Government Oversight Committee testimony from Moore and medical marijuana program director Lyndall Fraker.

Friday, he disclosed to the St. Louis Post Dispatch that he was one of the rejected investors.

 

Presidents’ Day is a federal and Missouri holiday

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Monday is Washington’s Birthday, which is a federal, Missouri state and county holiday. It’s also known as Presidents’ Day. It’s celebrated and observed on the third Monday in February of each year.

Most federal, state and county offices are closed on Monday, with the exception of emergency services such as the Missouri State Highway Patrol and county sheriff’s departments.

County courthouses will be closed across the state. Banks and financial institutions will be closed, and there will be no regular mail delivery.

Washington’s Birthday is one of the 12 Missouri state holidays.

While Monday is a state holiday, the Missouri Legislature will be in session that afternoon in Jefferson City.

George Washington, one of the nation’s Founding Fathers, served as the first American President from 1789 to 1797.

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Clay to host Census job fair Saturday in St. Louis

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Noting that the U.S. Census Bureau is short of workers, U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, and the bureau are hosting a job fair Saturday afternoon at Harris-Stowe State University.

U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, (left) speaks to U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R) at November’s NGA groundbreaking ceremony in St. Louis (November 2019 file photo from Missourinet’s Ashley Byrd)

Congressman Clay, a senior member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, says the job fair is aimed at helping St. Louis get a complete count.

Saturday afternoon’s job fair is from 1-3 at Harris-Stowe, inside the William L. Clay Early Childhood Center on North Compton.

The Census Bureau conducts the Census every ten years. The Census determines federal funding and also determines congressional maps, with population shifts. The 2010 Census essentially eliminated then-U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan’s district.

Clay notes more than $650 million in federal funding is annually allocated by the census data.

The bureau is actively seeking to hire neighborhood workers, and the Census jobs pay more than $20 per hour.

Congressman Clay describes the positions as the “best part-time job in America.”

“Not only are you earning good money, you’re helping our community get its fair share of federal funding and political representation at all levels,” Clay says.

2020 Census job applicants must be at least 18, have a valid Social Security number, be a U.S. citizen, have a valid e-mail address and be able to speak and write in English.

They also must undergo fingerprinting and pass a criminal background check. They also need access to a computer with internet and an e-mail account.

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Missouri House passes bill aimed at transporting people in tubes

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An effort to bring a Hyperloop to Missouri has picked up some steam again. The Missouri House passed this week legislation that would add the ultrafast tube travel system to the list of projects that could be funded through public-private partnerships, like ports and light rail systems are.

Dev Loop (Virgin Hyperloop’s test track in the Nevada desert)

Think of a Hyperloop like the cylinders you put your deposit in at the bank drive thru. The vacuum-like system whisks the container through a tube to a bank teller in a matter of seconds.

A Hyperloop is said to haul passengers in a much larger version of the vacuum-like system and go up to 640 mph. Hyperloop officials say travelers could get from St. Louis to Kansas City in about 30 minutes.

The end goal of some legislative supporters, including House Speaker Elijah Haahr of Springfield, is to build a roughly 250-mile track from St. Louis to Kansas City – a project that could cost about $10 billion. Elected leaders have said a Hyperloop is not an effort the state is going to pick up the tab on. Instead, it would need to be headed by a private firm.

Rep. Travis Fitzwater, R-Holts Summit, says both Kansas City and St. Louis have made the top 10 of Virgin Hyperloop’s list of places it’s looking to build a 15-mile test track. The track could help federal regulators decide whether the system can be certified and used commercially to carry passengers and cargo.

Fitzwater says his bill would also ban the government from taking private land to build a 15-mile test track in Missouri.

“I think it was important, but honestly I don’t think impacted the bill that much. That’s why we passed it with that piece on it to dissuade concerns from members of our caucus in particular that had a real issue with being consistent,” he says.

Some Democrats voiced concern that banning eminent domain would create roadblocks to getting a certification track built.

The measure, House Bill 1963, is headed to the Senate. Sen. Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, is expected to carry the bill.

Earlier stories:

Missouri House Speaker, Majority Leader say Hyperloop should happen
https://wp.me/p16gMv-vMD

Task force: Hyperloop would fuel Missouri economy by billions, make 17k jobs
https://wp.me/p16gMv-vMp

Is flooding a problem for a potential Hyperloop in Missouri?
https://wp.me/p16gMv-vjP

Push for Hyperloop certification track in Missouri
https://wp.me/p16gMv-vjy

Engineers rally around study about transporting Missourians through tubes
https://wp.me/p16gMv-sp9

Coalition hyped up about tubes taking you from KC to St. Louis in 31 minutes
https://wp.me/p16gMv-sfe

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Haahr and Hansen focused on Missouri property rights legislation

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Legislation aimed at preventing private entities like the Grain Belt Express from using eminent domain could hit the Missouri Senate floor in Jefferson City soon.

State Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Frankford, briefs Capitol reporters about eminent domain legislation on February 13, 2020, as House Speaker Elijah Haahr and other GOP lawmakers look on (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

The legislation from State Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Frankford, was the first bill sent by the House to the Senate earlier this year.

“This legislation is just to protect people’s personal property rights against a private company wanting to use eminent domain, and that’s the bottom line on what we’re working on,” Hansen says.

Grain Belt Express plans to construct and operate a high-voltage transmission line across eight northern Missouri counties: Buchanan, Caldwell, Carroll, Chariton, Clinton, Randolph, Monroe and Ralls.

A Missouri Senate committee has approved legislation from State Sen. Justin Brown, R-Rolla, that bans private entities from using eminent domain to build above-ground merchant lines. Senator Brown’s bill is similar to Representative Hansen’s bill.

“I’ve requested my bill to be heard over there (Missouri Senate) in the committee here in the near future and then we’ll decide which bill we’ll maybe get on the floor in the Senate,” says Hansen.

Hansen and House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, briefed Capitol reporters Thursday in Jefferson City.

Haahr says his chamber is leading the fight to protect the property of Missouri’s farmers and ranchers. He also notes that last year’s Hansen bill wasn’t approved by the House until mid-April.

“Representative Hansen’s bill, we didn’t really start this process until after spring break of last year,” Speaker Haahr says. “This year it was the first bill out of the House, so I think that gives us a little bit more lead time.”

Last year’s bill died in the Missouri Senate in May.

The House approved Hansen’s bill in late January, on a bipartisan 118-42 vote. Five African-American House Democrats voted for the bill: State Reps. Rasheen Aldridge, D-St. Louis, Raychel Proudie, D-Ferguson, Michael Person, D-Ferguson, Maria Chappelle-Nadal, D-University City, and Kevin Windham, D-Hillsdale.

The Grain Belt project does have support. Backers say it would generate $7 million annually in property taxes to Missouri political subdivisions.

Supporters also say it would save towns like northeast Missouri’s Hannibal about $1 million annually in electricity costs.

The Grain Belt project also cleared another legal hurdle in December, when the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District ruled in favor of multi-state power lines, rejecting the arguments of Missouri Farm Bureau and landowners.

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Kansas City mayor: “Economic development is about providing affordable housing”

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An annual Kansas City survey shows 25% of all residents have reported taking a second job, working more hours and using credit cards to pay for rent or their mortgage. During Mayor Quinton Lucas’ first State of the City address last night, he says the city will work to better leverage its funding resources to provide more affordable housing.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas

“One of the biggest divides in wealth between east side and west side in Kansas City, between black and white in Kansas City, relates to the dealt between home ownership in our city. We’re not allowing for wealth creation enough in the inner city of Kansas City, Missouri and we’re not doing enough to help support lending in our inner cities,” he says.

Lucas says several recent meetings with the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department have led to Kansas City getting nearly $14 million in regional funding for local homelessness and housing programs. He says the city needs to ensure adequate housing and housing conditions in every part of Kansas City.

“When we think about economic development, it isn’t just a strip mall, it isn’t just a three-story building somewhere. It’s about providing new affordable housing for families,” he says. “It’s about providing jobs for people in our neighborhoods. It’s about providing funds to help support rehabilitation of our significant single-family stock in Kansas City, which importantly we cannot forget. New multi-family housing is something we see all the time. We’re talking about maintaining our neighborhoods and doing that in every part of Kansas City.”

Lucas, who grew up poor in Kansas City and was homeless part of the time, says housing security affords citizens the chance to better their lives.

“This is key and central to every part of economic development policy,” he says. “Everyone sleeps somewhere. We need to make sure that when we talk about housing, it isn’t just advocates at city hall. It’s us making sure we care about the homeless. It’s us making sure that we care about the housing and secure. It’s us making sure that when we talk to schools and we talk to businesses, we’re seeing that the core reason sometimes that there may not be the success that we want is because of our own failures and policy at city hall and the state Capitol.”

Lucas, who was elected last summer, says the city has made great strides in housing quality, but more work needs to be done.

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet