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Missouri Senate President Pro Tem to file slot machine legislation for 2020

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The Missouri Senate leader will file legislation in December in Jefferson City to increase penalties for alleged illegal slot machines, setting the slot machine issue up as a major one for the 2020 legislative session.

Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz (R-Sullivan) visits the House chamber on May 17, 2019 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, told Missourinet on Wednesday that his legislation will enhance the penalties for the alleged illegal slot machines, which are also known as video lottery terminals (VLTs).

They can be found in bars, restaurants, gas stations and convenience stores.

Missouri’s first criminal case involving the alleged illegal slots will go to trial in December in western Missouri’s Platte County.

Pro Tem Schatz says the Missouri Gaming Commission has received multiple reports of sites that have these machines. The Missouri State Highway Patrol testified in October that the number of complaints it’s received about illegal gambling has increased from 39 in 2018 to at least 145 this year.

Most of those complaints are about alleged illegal slots.

A Missouri House gaming committee has held five hearings since August, and the slot machine issue has dominated discussion at three of them. House Special Interim Committee on Gaming Chairman Dan Shaul, R-Imperial, predicts the slot machine issue will end up at the Missouri Supreme Court. He told the audience during an October hearing that whichever side loses the Platte County case will appeal.

Schatz’s proposal will likely face some opposition. During a committee hearing last week in Jefferson City, representatives from convenience stories and restaurants testified they support legislation to allow the machines in their establishments.

The company that operates 74 Break Time convenience stores in Missouri says video lottery terminals have saved convenience stores in other states.

MFA Oil Company vice president James Greer of Columbia tells state lawmakers that Break Time would probably use the terminals in 25 of their 74 stores, if Missouri lawmakers approve legislation to do so.

“We are open to a separate room. We are open to a cordoned-off area, we will live with whatever rule comes out of that,” Greer testifies.

The co-owner of six St. Louis-area restaurants also wants Missouri lawmakers to allow the VLTs in establishments like his, saying it will help restaurants attract new customers and keep up with minimum wage increases. Webster Groves resident Chris Marshall, who co-owns Llywelyn’s Pub, testified last week before the House gaming committee, saying the machines can also help managers invest money in restaurant renovations.

“In documents I have seen, the average restaurant in Illinois that has five video game machines can average additional revenue of approximately $5,000 per month,” Marshall testifies.

He tells lawmakers he’s had to close a restaurant and diversify. Llywelyn’s Pub has six St. Louis locations: Soulard, Webster Groves, St. Peters, St. Charles, O’Fallon and Wildwood.

But opponents say the machines are illegal and are hurting public education.

The Missouri Gaming Association, which represents the state’s 13 casinos, opposes legalizing the VLTs, saying they are illegal and bypass Missouri voters.

And the Missouri Lottery has testified that alleged illegal slot machines are hurting public education in the Show-Me State. Lottery executive director May Scheve Reardon testified in September, telling lawmakers there’s a major issue with the alleged illegal slots along the I-44 corridor, from St. James to Lebanon.

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Parson predicts executive order on apprenticeships will strengthen Missouri’s workforce (AUDIO)

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Missouri’s governor traveled to Columbia on Tuesday afternoon to sign an executive order creating an Office of Apprenticeship and Work-Based Learning, within the state Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development.

Governor Mike Parson speaks at the Apprenticeship Missouri Summit in Columbia on November 12, 2019, as Higher Education Commissioner Zora Mulligan listens (photo from Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth)

Governor Mike Parson (R) signed it during the Apprenticeship Missouri Summit, at the Drury Plaza East. The department hosted the summit.

“Through this office we will continue working to increase apprenticeships and work-based learning opportunities,” Parson says. “We have some of the hardest-working, talented individuals in the nation right here in the state of Missouri.”

The governor says the state must ensure Missourians are getting the skills and training they need to fill high-demand jobs.

He says apprenticeships play a key role in developing a workforce that’s prepared to meet future demands. Parson told the audience that Missouri has reached 10,000 new registered apprenticeships.

“We recently reached the milestone of being second in the nation for new apprenticeships, second in the United States of America Missouri is,” he said to applause from the audience of about 100.

He also notes Missouri ranks second in the nation for completed apprenticeships.

Parson says the more training and education Missourians have, the more productive they can be. Governor Parson spoke to Missourinet after the ceremony, saying the executive order he’s signed will strengthen the state’s workforce.

“You really establish this apprenticeship program from here on out, is what you’re really doing. You’re making everybody know that this is truly something we’re putting a huge emphasis on in the Department of Higher Education that we want to get done,” says Parson.

He says Missouri must continue to take action on workforce development, noting only 28 percent of Missourians have degrees and that 72 percent do not. He praises the Legislature’s bipartisan passage of “Fast Track,” which allows Missourians to receive advanced training in high-demand areas.

State Rep. Kathy Swan, R-Cape Girardeau, sponsored Fast Track.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and Governor Mike Parson, which was recorded at the Apprenticeship Missouri Summit in Columbia on November 12, 2019:

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Missouri group leader: Growing number of kids should be in mental health system, not foster care

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The leader of a child welfare provider group says a growing number of Missouri kids should be in the mental health system, not in foster care. During a joint legislative committee hearing on Friday, Mary Chant with the Missouri Coalition of Children’s Agencies says the state’s foster care system is not built to handle mental health issues. Missouri has nearly 14,000 foster kids.

Photo courtesy of the Missouri Children’s Division website

“When we have a child welfare response to a child that may not really be a child welfare situation, but it’s the only resource that the family can do to keep their family safe perhaps, but also to get the child the services they need, are going through the child welfare system,” she says.

Chant says the federal government has 12 programs that Missouri could get funding for.

“We need mental health resources, especially for these older youth, who they’re 17, 18, 19 years old. They’re not child welfare. They need mental health, they need developmental disability resources,” she says.

Chant says about 60% of kids are in the child welfare system for neglect, not physical or sexual abuse.

“There are other opportunities to engage earlier in the process and keep the child in the home safe with supportive services for the family, which saves both in financial costs but also just life costs,” she says.

Chant says Missouri is a few steps past doing “true prevention”. She says true prevention happens through better access to public health care, stable housing, employment and good transportation.

Rep. Hannah Kelly, R-Mountain Grove, chairs the Joint Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect. To view the panel, click here.

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Missouri vaping related illness cases continue to climb

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As of Thursday, 33 confirmed or probable vaping associated illnesses and one vaping related death have been reported to the state. Of the cases reported, more than half involve users ages 15-24.

Missouri vaping related illness cases continue to climb

Gov. Mike Parson has ordered three state agencies to develop a statewide public service campaign about the dangers of vaping among youth. The state is also doing random compliance checks this month at Missouri retailers who sell e-cigarette products. Those under the age of 18 are banned from buying nicotine vaping products in Missouri.

St. Joseph in northwest Missouri has banned all indoor use of e-cigarettes. The Smithville Board of Aldermen in western Missouri is debating whether to pull flavored electronic cigarette products from store shelves. The Columbia City Council in central Missouri is also considering a temporary ban on flavored vaping products.

Critics of vaping say kids are attracted to flavored e-cigarette products. Smithville Mayor Damien Boley tells Kansas City station KCTV the number of kids caught with vape products at school is on the rise, including students all the way down to the third-grade level.

Here is the latest information about vaping figures provided by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services:

 

Missouri Vaping Associated Pulmonary Illness Cases

As of November 7, 2019
Status Sex Age Region
Confirmed or Probable 33 Male 25 15-24 19 Central 4
Female 8 25-34  7 Eastern 15
Deaths* 1   35-44 3 Northwest 9
*Death Included in the number of cases 45-54 3 Southeast 1
55-64 1 Southwest 4
65-74
75-84

Last month, State Department of Health and Senior Services Director Randall Williams said Missouri’s vaping related illness cases reflect the national trend in the use of illegal vaping cartridges.

“If you look nationally, about 70% of those are associated with THC and illegal cartridges. The other 30% is unknown,” said Williams.

As of November 5, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say 2,051 cases of e-cigarette use associated lung problems have been reported to the CDC from 49 states and the District of Columbia. Thirty-nine deaths have been confirmed in 24 states.

MLB: Missourians expected to wager $5.5 billion on sports, if it’s legalized

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A representative from Major League Baseball (MLB) predicts Missourians will spend billions of dollars annually to bet on sports, if it’s legalized.

Missouri House Special Interim Committee on Gaming Chairman Dan Shaul, R-Imperial, speaks during a hearing on August 22, 2019 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Jeremy Kudon traveled to Jefferson City to testify Thursday before the Missouri House Special Interim Committee on Gaming.

“According to the AGA’s Oxford report, Missouri bettors are expected to wager over $5.5 billion on sports, that’s about where New Jersey is right now,” Kudon testifies.

The AGA is the American Gaming Association. Kudon predicts casino operators would make about $376 million a year from that, and that Missouri would receive approximately $37 million annually in taxes.

Kudon also expresses some concerns, noting that MLB opposes allowing betting on spring training games.

“Where the Cardinals may have a plan for (pitcher) Adam Wainwright to throw curve balls the entire first inning, that’s a real-life thing,” Kudon tells lawmakers.

Kudon says he wants to see a bill that creates the best possible legal sports betting framework for Missouri. Kudon also represents the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the PGA Golf Tour.

The “St. Louis Post-Dispatch” has reported that at least 18 other states and the District of Columbia allow residents 21 and older to bet on collegiate and professional sports.

State Reps. Robert Ross, R-Yukon, and Cody Smith, R-Carthage, filed sports wagering bills in 2019, but the bills died because of a lack of consensus in the Legislature. Ross, who serves on the interim committee, tells Missourinet he plans to file a similar but improved bill for 2020.

The National Football League (NFL) Players Association and the National Hockey League (NHL) Players Association also testified before the committee on Thursday.

The NFL Players Association is calling on Missouri to establish a hotline for players to call, if the state legalizes sports wagering. Players Association counsel Joe Briggs expressed some security concerns for players, during his testimony.

“So if I’m sitting at home and someone tries to drop a bag of cash on my doorstep to try to make sure that I play a certain way or not next week, who do I pick up the phone and call.” Briggs testified.

Briggs tells state lawmakers the hotline could be run by Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s office, the Missouri State Highway Patrol or the Gaming Commission.

While the bulk of Thursday’s hearing involved sports wagering, the committee also heard some testimony about alleged illegal slot machines. That’s been a major issue at previous hearings.

Committee Chairman Dan Shaul, R-Imperial, tells Missourinet the committee plans to submit a report to House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, by December 1.

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Missouri police group leader says hiring and keeping officers is a statewide problem

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St. Louis city prosecutor Kim Gardner said her city has about 120 police officer openings. During a state Senate committee hearing this week, Missouri Police Chiefs Association President Sean Fagan says the state’s police departments are facing major problems with hiring officers and keeping them. He says the problem emerged after Ferguson protests in 2014.

Rolla Police Chief Sean Fagan (Photo courtesy of the Rolla Police Department’s website)

“A lot of people call it the Ferguson effect,” he says. “There are just people that do not want to be police officers nowadays.”

During the hearing Kansas City Police Chief Rick Smith says his department is not dealing with shortages like some of the other law enforcement agencies are.

Fagan, Rolla’s police chief, says his greatest challenge in hiring officers is lower pay. He’s short five officers.

“There were once what we can call our cops program, which were programs provided by both the federal government and by the state to help us hire additional officers by having partial or if not all of their salaries covered through these grants,” Fagan says.

He also points to a strong economy.

“Why would you want to put yourself through the liability and the problems that are nowadays associated with police officers,” Fagan says. “Police officers are very much under a microscope right now.”

The law enforcement group includes more than 640 Missouri police chiefs.

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Major League Baseball to testify Thursday at Missouri Capitol (AUDIO)

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A representative from Major League Baseball will testify Thursday before a Missouri House gaming committee in Jefferson City about sports wagering legislation.

State Rep. Robert Ross, R-Yukon, speaks during an August 22, 2019 hearing of the Missouri House Special Interim Committee on Gaming (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Jeremy Kudon of Major League Baseball is traveling from New York to Jefferson City to testify before the House Special Interim Committee on Gaming. Committee Chairman Dan Shaul, R-Imperial, tells Missourinet that he expects an informative presentation.

“MLB will be here (the Missouri Capitol) on November 7th and they’ll talk about their role in sports betting, and what they’d like to see and what they’ve done in other states,” Shaul says.

Gaming executive Chris Krafcik of San Francisco-based Eilers and Krejcik Gaming testified before the committee in October that legalizing sports betting at Missouri casinos and via mobile devices would generate about $289 million annually in revenue.

Multiple gaming executives testified in October that they want to make sure that legalized sports betting in Missouri is easy to use, secure and is fair for the consumer.

State Reps. Robert Ross, R-Yukon, and Cody Smith, R-Carthage, filed sports wagering bills in 2019, but the bills died because of a lack of consensus in the Legislature. Representative Ross, who serves on the interim committee, tells Missourinet he plans to file a similar but improved bill for 2020.

The “St. Louis Post-Dispatch” has reported that at least 18 other states and the District of Columbia allow residents 21 and older to bet on collegiate and professional sports.

Las Vegas-based Boyd Gaming, which operates the Ameristar Kansas City and St. Charles casinos, testified last month for legislation to legalize sports betting in Missouri. Boyd Gaming’s Ryan Soultz tells lawmakers Missouri is losing tax revenue to other states, citing customers in the Kansas City area.

“We’ve heard from some customers that are making the drive up to Iowa for football Saturdays and football Sundays because we don’t have a sports book here,” Soultz testifies.

The House Special Interim Committee on Gaming meets Thursday at noon. This is the committee’s final hearing. They plan to submit a report to the full House by December 1.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and House Special Interim Committee on Gaming Chairman Dan Shaul, R-Imperial, which was recorded on October 24, 2019 at the Statehouse in Jefferson City:

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Gunby beats Pitman in Missouri House seat pickup for Democrats

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Democrats are celebrating Tuesday’s election of Manchester’s Trish Gunby to the Missouri House, in a pickup of a seat formerly held by a key Republican.

Renovation work continues at the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City (2019 file photo)

Gunby received 3,357 votes to beat Ballwin Republican Lee Ann Pitman, who received 2,855 votes. The district, which is in west St. Louis County, was formerly held by Missouri Republican Party executive director Jean Evans.

Lawmakers in both parties traveled to the suburban district to campaign for their respective candidates, and Governor Mike Parson (R) also knocked on doors for Pitman.

Democrats won five of the six special elections on Tuesday. Four of those five seats are in strong Democratic districts, but Gunby’s race was a priority for both parties.

The other newly-elected state representatives are:

** Democrat Rasheen Aldridge, in St. Louis’ 78th district. He was unopposed and will replace former State Rep. Bruce Franks, D-St. Louis.
** Shell Knob Republican Scott Cupps, who defeated Cassville Democrat Lisa Kalp in southwest Missouri’s 158th district. It includes Barry County and small parts of Stone and Lawrence counties. Cupps will replace former State Rep. Scott Fitzpatrick, R-Shell Knob, who’s now the state treasurer.
** Democrat Yolanda Young in the 22nd district, which includes Kansas City and parts of Jackson County. Young defeated Republican Tammy Louise Herrera and Green Party nominee Jeff Francis. Young will replace former State Rep. Brandon Ellington, D-Kansas City, who’s now a Kansas City Councilman.
** Democrat Mark Sharp in Kansas City’s 36th district. He defeated Green Party candidate Roberta Voorhees, and will replace former State Rep. DaRon McGee, D-Kansas City.
** Democrat Mike Person in north St. Louis County’s 74th district. He beat Libertarian Nicholas (Nick) Kasoff, and will replace former State Rep. Cora Faith Walker, D-Ferguson.

The newly-elected state representatives are expected to be sworn-in when the 2020 legislative session starts in January.

Republicans will control the Missouri House 114-48 in January, with one vacancy.

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Missouri lawyer calls area heroin problem ‘unimaginable’

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A southwest Missouri lawyer calls the heroin problem in his region unimaginable. During Monday’s interim state Senate committee hearing about gun violence, Craig Heidemann of Springfield, says with drugs come guns.

Missouri lawyer calls the heroin problem ‘unimaginable’

“You can buy heroin for cheaper than a six pack of beer,” says Heidemann. “It’s devastating our community.”

Last month, the Springfield area had about 40 reported overdoses and four suspected fentanyl related deaths in one week.

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley wants the federal Drug Enforcement Administration to investigate Springfield’s recent string of drug overdoses. In a press release, Hawley is calling on the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy to designate the region as a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area that could include additional federal funding and focus on the area’s drug problems.

The state Supreme Court is limiting Missouri judges on the use of cash bail for a defendant’s release from jail before trial. The changes will only allow judges to charge bail fees to help ensure the safety or the defendant’s appearance in court.

Heidemann says assuming all drug offenses are non-violent and to let the criminals go with bonding conditions should require further study.

“To put somebody with that kind of problem back out on the street without treatment, it just means that they are going to potentially continue to do what they need to do in order to feed a habit that has an addictive factor that I can’t even begin to understand or articulate,” says Heidemann.

He questions how many chances people should be given if they can’t follow bail conditions.

“I think you give them a chance,” Heidemann says. “There’s lots of good excuses – I’ve heard them all. Some of them are very legitimate. I’m not saying you can take all of the discretion away from the judges, but it’s kind of like fool me once – shame on you. Fool me twice – shame on me.”

The Senate committee is charged with making recommendations for the 2020 legislative session beginning in January.

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Missouri lawyer, firearms dealer says gun background check system is faulty

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A southwest Missouri trial lawyer says the federal background check system used for firearms sales is flawed. During a Monday hearing before an interim Missouri Senate committee studying the state’s gun violence problem, Craig Heidemann of Springfield, says Missouri is not providing mental health information to the database, to keep guns away from unstable people.

Missouri lawyer, firearms dealer says gun background check system is faulty

“If your goal is to understand the relationship between mental illness and the acquisition of firearms, you better make sure, respectfully, that we are reporting our mental health data to the Fix NICS computer system. Otherwise, background checks are going to do nothing,” he says.

A 2018 federal law is intended to penalize government agencies for not reporting to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Heidemann, who is also a federal firearms dealer, says the feds give more grant funding if states share 100% of their criminal and mental health information in the database.

He says the NICS system is only as good as the data that is put into it. Heidemann wants lawmakers to require that correct information is entered into the system.

“I had a client come in to purchase a firearm and he says ‘Man, I’ll tell you what, I’m sure surprised I passed that background check. I acquired all of my other firearms before I had my felony conviction,” he says.

Convicted felons are not allowed to have guns.

The Senate committee is charged with making recommendations for the 2020 legislative session beginning in January.

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