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Curls: farmers’ market bill will help Missouri agriculture and low-income seniors

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Legislation that would establish a Missouri senior farmers’ market nutrition program is expected to head to the House floor in Jefferson City.

State Sen. Kiki Curls (D-Kansas City)

The House Agriculture Policy Committee voted last week to approve the bill, which is sponsored by State Sen. Kiki Curls, D-Kansas City.

“It will increase the availability of more nutritious food for our seniors, increase the profitability of our local farmers and help to strengthen our local economies,” Curls testified Tuesday.

Curls’ legislation would require the Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA) to apply for a federal grant to provide low-income seniors with vouchers that could be exchanged for eligible food at farmers’ markets and roadside stands.

A diverse coalition ranging from the Missouri Soybean Association to Empower Missouri testified for Curls’ bill last week.

The Missouri State Alliance of YMCAs and the American Heart Association also testified for it.

“Missouri is one of only seven states that do not participate in this worthwhile program,” Curls testifies. “All of Missouri’s neighboring states participate, putting Missouri farmers at a competitive disadvantage.”

Curls says investing in Missouri agriculture is always a great way to support economic development and to provide nutrition for low-income seniors.

The Missouri Senate has already approved Curls’ bill, which now heads to the House Rules Committee. It would then go to the House floor.

Senator Curls testifies that under the bill, a couple over the age of 60 with an annual household income less than or equal to $20,826 would be eligible.

The Silver Haired Legislature said in January that about 330,000 Missouri seniors would qualify for the legislation.

Copyright © 2018 · Missourinet

Missouri Senate Ag Committee Chair optimistic about industrial hemp bill (AUDIO)

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The Missouri House Agriculture Policy Committee voted Tuesday in Jefferson City to approve legislation that would create an industrial hemp pilot program in Missouri.

State Sen. Brian Munzlinger (R-Williamstown)

The bipartisan vote was 11-2.

Senate Agriculture, Food Production and Outdoor Resources Committee Chairman Brian Munzlinger, R-Williamstown, the bill sponsor, tells Missourinet he’s optimistic it will pass.

“I think it would be a new agricultural product that Missouri can raise and one that they used to raise here in Missouri, you know, to help the war effort,” Munzlinger says.

He’s referring to World War II.

Both chambers have already approved industrial hemp bills, but only the House version contained language that the Missouri Highway Patrol “may perform aerial surveillance” to ensure that marijuana plants are not being cultivated near industrial hemp.

The House Ag Policy Committee, chaired by State Rep. Jay Houghton, R-Martinsburg, approved an amendment adding that provision on Tuesday, a provision that Munzlinger supports.

Munzlinger’s bill now heads to the House Rules Committee, before heading to the House floor.

Munzlinger says State Rep. Paul Curtman’s industrial hemp bill should be ready to go to the Missouri Senate floor soon.

Proponents and opponents of the legislation testified on Tuesday.

A southern Missouri food/health company called “Beyond Organics” supports the bill.

Lobbyist Brian Grace tells lawmakers that Chairman Munzlinger’s bill allows Missouri to capitalize on the ag component of hemp.

“I can go down the street right now to a grocery store and I can buy granola bars or protein powders or lotions that contain hemp,” Grace testifies. “None of that hemp is being grown in Missouri so Missouri farmers are missing out on that profit.”

While Grace testifies the bill is not a “steppingstone to legalizing marijuana,” retired Missouri state trooper Ed Moses tells the committee there have been shootings and “other criminal behavior” in Kentucky hemp fields.

Munzlinger’s bill would allow those licensed by the Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA) to grow, cultivate and market industrial hemp.

He tells State Rep. Deb Lavender, D-Kirkwood, that applicants would undergo a fingerprint criminal history background check, under the bill.

“With marijuana out there and other things, I don’t know,” Munzlinger tells Lavender.

“Yeah, and I’m ok for the checking and perhaps paying a fee to be able to grow it,” Lavender responds.

Representative Lavender says she’s still disappointed that background checks are required to grow what she calls an ag product.

Under Munzlinger’s bill, permits could not be issued to anyone found guilty of any state or federal felony offense involving a controlled substance in the past five years.

Curtman, R-Pacific, the House sponsor of industrial hemp, says the legislation aims to “keep Missouri economic development dollars in Missouri.”

 

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and Missouri Senate Ag Committee Chairman Brian Munzlinger, R-Williamstown, which was recorded on April 10, 2018 at the Statehouse in Jefferson City:

 

 

 

Nestle restores enthusiasm in northwest Missouri by purchasing Conagra

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The Conagra factory is by far the largest employer in northwest Missouri’s Trenton, according to Phil Tate. Conagra recently announced it was making final preparations to close the plant at the end of May – a devastating blow to the town of 6,000 and its neighboring communities. Conagra has been shuttering its doors and cutting costs at several of its factories across the country.

Photo courtesy of the Trenton Republican-Times

Tate, a former Missouri Department of Economic Development official, and Micah Landis of the North Central Missouri Development Alliance have been working quietly and tirelessly for several months to find a company to not only save the Conagra plant, but in many ways, save the community. That day finally came this month when Nestle announced it has reached an agreement with Conagra to take over the facility on June 1 – keeping the assembly line flowing without any disruptions.

According to Landis, a job fair held in Trenton last Thursday has yielded the hiring of more than 100 people and the company plans to hire another 20 salaried workers in the next two weeks. That figure is not the nearly 300 jobs once at the plant, but it has a great impact on many area households and businesses.

The factory that has employed nearly 300 people with good-paying jobs has brought stability to the area’s main street businesses, real estate, utilities, and school districts. Some of that stability has been lost by Conagra’s planned closure, but the community can now work to restore what has gone astray.

You can hear the undying relief and gratefulness in the voices of Landis, Tate and State Rep. Rusty Black, R-Chillicothe, as they talk about Nestle’s acquisition. Tate, also a former Democratic State Representative from Gallatin, tells Missourinet the community feels like a huge burden has been lifted off its shoulders.

“I’ve worked a lot of projects for the Department of Economic Development where went into Kansas City and announced maybe 500 new jobs or 700 new jobs. I’ll tell you what, when you come in to a small community like Gallatin or even one larger than Trenton and announce 150 jobs, you will get a whole lot more enthusiasm and energy than you will in Kansas City or St. Louis for the bigger numbers jobs because it makes a big difference in a small community,” Tate says. “Nestle is such an outstanding corporation with a real community conscience. That’s the reason we were able to negotiate this kind of a favorable agreement for the community.”

State Rep. Rusty Black speaks on the Missouri House floor on February 21, 2018 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Black agrees that Nestle has lifted the spirits of the people.

“Boy this was a cloud over the community. No matter what good thing happened, this was putting a shadow over it. The attitude with the people I’m around have totally changed. This is more than just jobs for that area. This is an important economic engine within Grundy County and within the City of Trenton,” he says.

According to 2016 statistics from the Missouri Department of Economic Development, the average annual income of individuals living in Grundy County is about $33,000.

Black thinks Nestle saving the factory will spark an increased focus on area businesses.

“I think it’s going to cause a new emphasis on ‘Let’s go out and try to do something great or let’s try to help another company be stronger in our community. It’s very important to retain what we have, especially in the area I’m from because it’s not as fluid,” Black tells Missourinet. “New companies don’t show up and just open doors overnight in that rural area.”

A negative impact that could have been felt by the area from a plant closure would have been by way of utility costs.

“Forty percent of Trenton municipal utility’s revenue, forty percent came from this plant. If this plant had closed, you can only imagine what kind of increases there would’ve been on the population of the people of Trenton to make up those differences,” Tate says.

The company is hiring full-time employees with the possibility of adding more lines and workers in time. The full-time approach is welcomed in an era when many manufacturing businesses are hiring temporary workers to avoid paying benefits and arguably spending greater costs re-training new employees because of an increased revolving door.

Tate says Nestle’s hiring strategy has always been to hire full-time staff. The approach also brings a sense of security to workers who want something permanent, instead of 90 to 180-day employment, for example.

“Being able to come back with 150 jobs at a very similar pay rate and the health care and benefits as well, is going to take care of by far the largest number of people who would have been unemployed,” Tate says.

The Missouri Department of Economic Development tells Missourinet the average annual salary position of a Nestle worker in the small rural town will be more than $41,000. The Conagra plant is an organized union factory and Nestle plans to continue operating it as one. Nestle has assured Tate that it has both union and non-union factories and it has no intention of “union busting” the Trenton location.

Tate and Black are also thrilled there are no incentive “giveaways” to the company. Through negotiations, a local agreement has been made of up to $75 million in Chapter 100 industrial revenue bonds that can be purchased by the company. Tate says these bonds mean there is no risk to the community. The bonds ensure that Trenton area taxing entities will continue to receive the same amount of tax revenue from the company for the first five years and a slightly lower amount for the following five years.

The Ohio-based company is starting off with a $55 million project but it wants bonding capacity of up to $75 million. Tate says that indicates Nestle is planning on additional equipment and improvements to the building.

“That just means more employment and more jobs for the people of the region,” he says. “We think that is very much of a distinct possibility over the next few years,” Tate says.

The Missouri Department of Economic Development is also allowing $2 million in incentives paid for through tax withholdings – not through the state budget – which would otherwise be collected by the company. Tate thinks the state could also do some additional funding in job training for the company.

Nestle’s ownership of the Trenton factory is not its first rodeo there. The company owned the location years ago, but it’s unclear when and why Nestle parted ways. The renewed relationship with the northwest Missouri region is one that Black says has ended the mindset that “the sky is falling” and will instead give a much-needed boost to the community.

Copyright © 2018 · Missourinet

British official emphasizes free trade and security in address to Missouri lawmakers

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The British Consul General in Chicago called for a free trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom, during an address this week to the Missouri House in Jefferson City.

British Consul General John Saville (left) listens as Senator Roy Blunt addresses the Missouri House on April 4, 2018. House Speaker Todd Richardson is on Mr. Saville’s left (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

British Consul General John Saville tells House members that the United Kingdom is the fourth-largest export market for Missouri companies.

“Missouri goods and services exports to the U.K. are worth well over $1 billion annually and support over 8,000 jobs here,” Saville says.

Saville says a trade working group has been formed.

He tells lawmakers that about 150 British companies currently employ more than 23,000 Missourians, adding that Missouri-based companies Monsanto and Emerson Electric employ thousands in the United Kingdom.

St. Louis-based Monsanto’s website describes the company as “a global modern agriculture company.” Monsanto has facilities in 69 nations.

Ferguson-based Emerson’s website says its “newly energized focus” is on its two core business platforms: automation solutions and commercial and residential solutions.

Saville says about one million people in the U.K. work for American companies, and that about one million Americans work for British companies.

He says tariffs between the two nations are low.

Saville also addressed security issues during Wednesday’s address, describing the United States as the United Kingdom’s greatest ally.

He says Missouri is the “birthplace of the special relationship” between the U.S. and the United Kingdom.

“Later today, I’ll be following in the footsteps of Winston Churchill when he visited Westminster College (in Fulton) at the invitation of President and Missourian Harry Truman over 70 years ago to deliver his Sinews of Peace,” says Saville.

The speech was later called the “Iron Curtain” speech.

Then-President Truman (D) joined Churchill at the 1946 event at Westminster College, which drew about 30,000 people to Fulton.

During a 2017 interview with Missourinet, former U.S. Sen. John Danforth noted that Churchill did not call it the “Iron Curtain” speech.

“He (Churchill) called the speech ‘Sinews of Peace’, meaning binding the world together, the post-World War II world together, free nations together, in the face of the threat of the Soviet Union and the Iron Curtain,” Danforth told Missourinet in 2017.

During Wednesday’s address in Jefferson City, Saville blasted Russia for recent actions, noting 60 Russian diplomats were expelled from the United States.

Bagpipe players from the Boone County Fire Protection District perform in the Missouri House on April 4, 2018 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Saville tells lawmakers the partnership between the U.S. and the United Kingdom “is vital to international peace and security.”

The Boone County Fire Protection District’s bagpipe players were in the House chamber, performing before Mr. Saville’s address.

Missouri Congressman defends Trump tariffs: “China has been a bully on the playground for a long time”

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Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Missouri, says President Trump’s method of negotiating with other countries is to “grab them by the neck and shake them a little bit to get their attention.” He tells Missourinet affiliate KWIX in Moberly that Trump is a businessman who thinks at 30,000 feet and long term. Luetkemeyer, whose district covers 13 counties east-central Missouri, is defending Trump for threatening $50 billion and possibly another $100 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports.

Missouri Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer

“You have to be watching out for a whole lot more things than just a straight tariff war going on between the two countries. The Chinese have been big bullies on the playground for a long, long time. They have subsidized their industries to try and undermine ours, our economy and our workers. This is just the president trying to push back against that bully,” he says. “These guys are some bad actors. The president is trying to get their attention to get them to the table.”

Luetkemeyer, who serves as the U.S. House Small Business Committee vice chair, says China often “slips in the back door” and tries to buy American companies.

“If they (China) can’t buy it one on one in this country, they’ll buy a Canadian company and try and get in that way,” he says.

China is fighting back by proposing $50 billion in tariffs on U.S. products including wheat, pork, beef, corn, cotton, automobiles and aircraft.

“He (Trump) starts at the top with some sort of big, rash statement and then sort of gets down to where he wants to get down to, which is in this situation, a negotiation with the Chinese to be able to stop the nonsense of trying to undermine our industries here,” Luetkemeyer says.

He says it doesn’t make sense for China to impose tariffs on American corn and soybeans. Luetkemeyer says China has built up its agricultural production through hogs and cattle to the point the country can’t do without corn and soybeans.

“There are some other markets in the world they could go to, but they get huge amounts of it from us. So, it’s going to be hard to replace that amount. If they don’t, they’d just raise the price of the corn and beans to their own producers by 25%. So, it’s going to have an inflationary effect on their own economy,” says Luetkemeyer.

Opponents of Trump’s tariffs say his approach could cripple the U.S. economy for many years.

Trump’s tariffs are not set to take effect for 60 days.

Missouri agriculture official on tariffs: Trump has entered into a high-risk policy

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Missouri Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst says it’s hard to remember a “more potentially calamitous week for U.S. agriculture.” He’s responding to President Trump’s second round of tariffs on Chinese imports and China’s proposed tariffs on American goods. Trump is proposing $50 billion and possibly another $100 billion in Chinese import tariffs. China has retaliated by proposing $50 billion in tariffs on U.S. products including beef, pork, soybeans, cotton, automobiles and aircraft.

Missouri Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst

“If fully implemented, China’s proposed tariffs spell trouble for Missouri agriculture. China is by far the leading destination for U.S. soybeans, with the country buying nearly two-thirds of all U.S. soybeans exported, and one-fourth of our total crop. The Trump administration has entered into a high-risk policy, one that can bring great benefits to our citizens, but one that is fraught with danger for farmers and the U.S. economy.

Hurst says the costs of failure will cripple agriculture for a generation.

“There is one thing for certain: Round after round of increasing import taxes between our two countries will make everyone poorer. There is no winner in a trade war without a negotiated peace,” he says.

A recent Purdue University study estimates that tariffs similar to ones proposed by China would cause a 40% decline in U.S. soybean exports and up to $3.3 billion in annual economic losses. Hurst says that figure doesn’t include the economic costs of lost sales of pork, corn, cotton, and beef, all important products for Missouri agriculture.

Trump’s tariffs take effect in 60 days.

“There is time for an agreement that can both satisfy U.S. farmers and protect U.S. companies and employees who have suffered because of past Chinese actions,” Hurst says.

Trump says the U.S. tariffs are meant to address China’s longtime illegal trade practices. He says China has chosen to retaliate by harming America’s farmers and manufacturers.

Southeast Missouri Republican Congressman Jason Smith, a key Farm Bureau ally, supports Trump’s tariffs on foreign aluminum and steel.

Sports betting in Missouri? A House member wants to legalize it.

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You might not have to travel to Vegas to place your sports bets. Some Missouri lawmakers want to make sports gambling legal in the state. Under one proposal heard this week by a House committee, casinos would have to pay a sports gambling tax if Rep. Dean Plocher’s bill passes.

Rep. Dean Plocher (Photo courtesy of his Twitter page)

The House Budget Committee is considering the idea, along with whether to place a 12% tax from sports gambling and require casinos to pay a 1% integrity fee that goes to the sports leagues. The tax revenue would go toward education.

“(Gambling) stays in Missouri,” Plocher said. “It would be regulated by Missouri. The algorithms that are used would be able to be monitored by Missourians so there’s a level of security here that I believe is a must rather than send money overseas and let foreign countries make the money.”

Representatives from Major League Baseball, the Kansas City Royals, the St. Louis Cardinals and the National Basketball Association are in favor of the bill and offered letters to the committee.

Members of a House committee discussed how this would increase revenue for the sports teams and the casinos alike by getting more people involved and invested in teams.

A witness from the Missouri Gaming Association testified against the bill.

“The gentleman from Major Leave Baseball mentioned the margins of the casinos and that this will be a cash boom for the casino industry,” the representative from the Missouri Gaming Association said. “We take a little bit of a different approach. We don’t see this as a cash boom for the industry. We see this as another amenity we can offer to patrons who come visit our facilities.”

The committee has not yet voted on the measure.

By Missourinet contributor Waverly Colville

Missouri House could debate Haahr tax reform package this week

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Legislation that would reduce Missouri’s highest personal income tax rate from 5.9 to five percent could be debated by the House in Jefferson City this week.

Missouri House Speaker Pro Tem Elijah Haahr presides over the chamber on March 27, 2018 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Missouri House Speaker Todd Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff, spoke to the Capitol Press Corps about Speaker Pro Tem Elijah Haahr’s tax reform bill, right before the Easter break.

“Our intent all along has been to work with our colleagues on the other end of the building (the Missouri Senate), as well as our colleagues here in the House to come up with a broad-based tax reform bill that we could get all the way through the process,” Richardson says.

Haahr’s 429-page legislation also reduces Missouri’s corporate income tax from 6.25 to five percent.

Haahr, R-Springfield, notes his bill is also aimed at providing funding for Missouri’s deteriorating roads and bridges.

It would index vehicle user fees to the cost of inflation.

Haahr testified before the Missouri House Ways and Means Committee in March, saying that change would generate about $174 million annually for the state’s road fund.

“Ours would provide about $2 billion over the next ten years for roads plus an additional $700 million that would go to counties,” Haahr told Capitol reporters before the Easter break. “So that’s kind of the number we’ve been operating off.”

Haahr says the state’s current vehicle license and registration fees haven’t changed in more than 30 years.

Missouri House Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Reiboldt, R-Neosho, has a competing version, which would place a ten-cent gasoline tax increase before voters in November.

Meantime, a top Missouri House Democrat says neighboring Kansas “fell apart” because of massive tax cuts.

House Assistant Minority Leader Gina Mitten, D-St. Louis, has concerns with GOP tax cut plans in both the Missouri House and Senate.

“We’ve already talked about the fact that our public education is in trouble, our roads and bridges are in trouble, our seniors are in trouble, what more trouble do we need to put Missourians in just to win elections,” Mitten says.

Haahr says his bill would transform Missouri’s tax system to the most competitive in the nation.

This is a short week in the Missouri House, because of the Easter break. Lawmakers were off on Monday and didn’t return to Jefferson City until Tuesday afternoon.

Missouri Senator Roy Blunt (R) is scheduled to address the House on Wednesday morning.

Senator Blunt will address the Missouri House on Wednesday

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Senator Roy Blunt (R) is scheduled to address the Missouri House Wednesday morning in Jefferson City.

Missouri Senator Roy Blunt speaks in West Plains in August 2017 (file photo courtesy of Missourinet West Plains affiliate KWPM)

He’s expected to update the 163-member House on congressional issues impacting Missourians.

Blunt has been a vocal supporter of the federal tax cut, saying it’s boosting paychecks and helping Missourians keep more of what they earn.

He voted for the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” which was signed into law by President Donald Trump (R) in late December.

Blunt says the bill has provided bonuses and higher wages for employees at numerous Missouri companies.

Blunt just traveled to Kandahar, Afghanistan, where he spent his Easter weekend with airmen and women from the 442nd Fighter Wing deployed from Whiteman Air Force Base, which is two miles south of Knob Noster.

He’s serving his second Senate term. He was elected in 2010 and won a tough re-election race in 2016 against Democrat Jason Kander.

Blunt served two terms as Missouri’s Secretary of State, from January 1985 until January 1993.

The Missouri House convenes Wednesday morning at 10 at the Statehouse.

Rehder says right-to-work would increase Missouri’s union jobs (AUDIO)

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The House sponsor of Missouri’s 2017 right-to-work bill says unions would benefit from the measure.

Missouri Democrats and labor unions have a different perspective.

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

State Rep. Holly Rehder, R-Sikeston, predicts right-to-work would lead to thousands of new jobs.

“All that it is saying is if you want to be a part of the union you can,” Rehder says. “If you choose not to be, if you don’t think it’s a service worth paying for, you are not forced to any longer.”

Rehder tells Missourinet right-to-work would increase union jobs in Missouri.

Rehder, who chairs the House Economic Development Committee, says she’s looked at right-to-work states.

“Those states are the ones increasing in jobs and those states have union membership increasing, while Missouri has had union membership decreasing every single year for the last, what, 30 years,” says Rehder.

Right-to-work says that a person cannot be required to join or refrain from joining a labor organization, as a condition of employment.

Missouri Governor Eric Greitens (R), who campaigned for right-to-work, signed Rehder’s bill in February 2017.

During the bill-signing ceremony that day, Greitens said that from 1995-2015, the five fastest states for job growth were all right-to-work states.

He called the right-to-work bill signing a “great victory” for Missourians, especially those who were looking for work.

Rehder says within 30 days of Greitens signing the bill, companies were calling saying they wanted to move to Missouri.

After the bill was signed in 2017, labor unions and their backers were able to collect enough signatures to place the referendum on the statewide ballot, so Rehder’s bill is essentially on-hold until the ballot measure.

Missourians will cast ballots in November on the right-to-work referendum, unless the Legislature designates a different date for Proposition A.

A few thousand union members from across Missouri rallied last week on the wet Capitol lawn in Jefferson City against Prop. A.

Senate Minority Leader Gina Walsh, D-Bellefontaine Neighbors, told the audience that union workers and their families in Missouri “are under attack”, with Proposition A.

Walsh says right-to-work would lower wages, and would tear down what labor built.

About 60 percent of Missourians rejected a right-to-work ballot measure in 1978.

Rehder says she and Senator Walsh respect each other, but disagree on the right-to-work issue.

 

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and State Rep. Holly Rehder, R-Sikeston, which was recorded at the Statehouse in Jefferson City on March 28, 2018: