The Capitol building in Jefferson City is busy as legislators try to wrap up this year’s session. Missourinet’ morning news with Bill Wise
Legislation aimed at helping Missouri police officers cope with stress and trauma from critical incidents heads to conference committee
Bipartisan legislation establishing a critical incident stress management program within the state Department of Public Safety (DPS) is heading to a Missouri legislative conference committee, after receiving House approval on Wednesday afternoon.
State Rep. Ron Hicks (R-Defiance) speaks on the Missouri House floor on March 2, 2021 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)
State Rep. Ron Hicks (R-Defiance), the bill sponsor, tells colleagues that police officers need help in dealing with stress and psychological trauma from critical incidents. He describes a deadly crash a few years ago near the Lake of the Ozarks.
“And I had come across a scene, where the (Missouri) Highway Patrol officers’ faces were nothing but lights out. And it was a scene where children had been killed in a car accident, along with their mother. And the things that those officers had to see are things that I hope none of you (House members) ever have to see,” Hicks says.
Senate bill 57 requires that officers meet with a program service provider once every three to five years for a mental health check-in. Hicks’ bill creates a public safety fund to provide services for police officers in coping with stress and trauma resulting from critical and deadly incidents.
“Something they can come to and they can use to get some of the help they needed, or maybe they didn’t even know they needed it,” says Hicks.
Because the Missouri House added an amendment Wednesday for a law enforcement officers’ bill of rights, the bill now heads to a conference committee. While both chambers have approved the overall bill, it’s not the same version.
While the debate on the law enforcement officers’ bill of rights amendment from State Rep. Nick Schroer (R-O’Fallon) was heated at the start, things cooled down during the discussion. State Rep. LaKeySha Bosley (D-St. Louis), the House Democratic Caucus vice-chair, supports Schroer’s amendment.
“To just give support in some way if we could to our law enforcement officers who do such a good job, the good ones, who do such a good job of serving us and serving our communities and just making sure that they feel as if they have backup,” Representative Bosley tells the House.
The Schroer amendment passed on a voice vote. Supporters say some red and some blue states have approved this. Opponents, such as State Rep. Peter Merideth (D-St. Louis) say St. Louis’ Police Chief opposes the amendment.
The overall Hicks bill received House approval on a 117-0 vote. 28 House members voted present.
State Sen. Karla May (D-St. Louis) is carrying the Senate version of Hicks’ bill. Lawmakers have until 6 p.m. on Friday to try to get the same bill language through both chambers.
Copyright © 2021 · Missourinet
Missourinet Morning Newscast 5-12-2021
The new gas tax passes and is headed to the governor. Missourinet’s morning news with Bill Wise
Missouri’s governor says federal unemployment programs have incentivized people to stay out of the workforce; Democrats criticize Parson directive
Saying that there’s a labor shortage across Missouri, Governor Mike Parson (R) has issued a directive to the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DOLIR) to end all federal pandemic-related unemployment benefits. Missouri’s House Democratic Leader is blasting the decision.
Governor Mike Parson meets an employee at Quaker Windows in mid-Missouri’s Eldon on May 6, 2021 (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)
Governor Parson made the announcement during a Tuesday afternoon briefing at the Statehouse in Jefferson City, telling Capitol reporters that businesses are struggling from labor shortages. He says they’ve resulted from excessive federal unemployment programs.
“While these federal benefits provided necessary financial assistance during the height of COVID-19, they were intended to be temporary. Continuing these programs only worsens the workforce issues we’re currently facing,” Parson says.
This will also impact pandemic emergency unemployment compensation. Under the governor’s directive, the maximum unemployment checks in Missouri will decrease from $620 to $320 per week. He emphasizes that the additional $300 per week from the federal government was intended to be temporary.
Governor Parson says Missouri’s unemployment rate is now 4.2 percent, and that the state is now first in the nation in small business wage growth. The governor says there are currently more than 221,000 job postings statewide.
“It’s time that we end these programs that have incentivized people to stay out of the workforce. This is an important step towards returning to normalcy, and strengthening our economy,” says Parson.
Under the directive, the state will also deny federal program funding that extended pandemic benefits to gig workers, like Uber and Lyft drivers.
He says there are labor shortages across the state.
“I’ll tell you, all you got to do is get out and drive down the road anywhere in Missouri and there’s “help wanted” in every location in the state of Missouri, whether it’s a small business or big businesses,” Parson says.
Parson was joined at the Statehouse briefing by Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe (R), who says that from Sarcoxie to Hannibal and everywhere in between, business owners are worried about the shortage of employees. Kehoe praises the governor’s decision, describing it as bold and decisive.
As for DOLIR, Director Anna Hui says that during the 2008 recession, the federal unemployment supplement was $25 per week. The federal supplement during the COVID pandemic has been $600 and later $300 per week, respectively. You can read Director Hui’s letter to federal labor officials here.
The governor’s directive will take effect at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, June 12.
U.S. Rep. Cori Bush (D-St. Louis) is blasting Governor Parson’s announcement, saying he’s hurting people. Congresswoman Bush tweeted on Tuesday.
Missouri House Minority Leader Crystal Quade (D-Springfield) is also critical of the governor’s directive.
“Contrary to what the governor claims, the free market – not some federal boogeyman – is primarily responsible for Missouri’s tight labor market. When there are more open jobs than available workers, businesses must increase wages to attract prospective employees, particularly in industries with a high risk of COVID-19 exposure. That’s how supply and demand works. If companies provide a livable wage, applicants will respond. The notion that Missourians are refusing to work so they can temporarily collect $300 a week is an offensive right-wing myth,” Leader Quade says, in a written statement.
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Missouri Legislature votes to pump up the state’s gas tax
The Missouri Legislature has passed a proposal that would boost the state’s gas and diesel tax for the first time in about 25 years.
Photo by Alisa Nelson
The state House of Representatives voted Tuesday night 104-52 in favor of increasing the user fee by 12.5 total cents over five years. The plan would also give most drivers the choice to hold onto their receipts and turn them in to apply for a rebate if they don’t want to pay for the amount of the increase.
Another provision would increase annual fees on electric vehicles by 20% per year over a five-year period. The plan would also create a task force to study the impact electric vehicles have on the state’s transportation funding.
The bill could raise about $500 million annually to help fund Missouri’s roads and bridges.
When the legislation is fully phased in, the average passenger car driver traveling 12,000 miles annually is expected to pay an extra $70 per year. For pickups, the average increase is projected to be less than $100 annually.
Missouri’s fuel tax of 17 cents per gallon has not been increased since 1996, despite having the 7th largest highway system in the nation. Alaska is the only state with a lower gas tax – with an eight-cent-per-gallon rate.
In 2002, 2014, and 2018, Missouri voters opposed ballot measures that would have increased funding to help with the state’s highway needs.
Representative Becky Ruth, R-Festus, handled the bill sponsored by Senate President Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan.
“We are still on a 1996 budget in the year 2021,” Ruth said during debate.
Ruth said the legislation is modeled after South Carolina’s fuel tax law.
“In South Carolina that this got passed in 2017 with a supermajority Republican House and a majority Republican Senate and a Republican governor, but the governor actually vetoed that. Did you know? He vetoed it, but you know what happened the next day with that supermajority conservative Republican House and that conservative majority Senate? They overrode that governor’s veto and they enacted this back in 2017,” said Ruth.
Representative Dottie Bailey, R-Eureka, did not vote on the bill.
“If this is conservatism, then I’m Queen Elizabeth, and Queen Mary, and all the queens that have ever been on Earth. “When I think of a rebate, I think of a used car salesman. Sorry if there’s any used car salesmen here in the House. But when you go in to buy a used car, or a car in general, you see rebate in big, bold letters, and it says $5,000 rebate if you buy this car. If you’ve been in sales at all, you know the price is just jacked up a little and you don’t really get a rebate. They just want to make you happy and send you back a check. It’s just a bunch of bologna.”
Representative Jason Chipman, R-Steelville, unsuccessfully attempted to attach a provision that would have asked voters to decide whether to support the fuel tax hike. Representatives squabbled for about three hours over that effort. Chipman made several arguments, including that the fee is a regressive tax.
“Who’s going to get hurt the most? Poor people. Poor people drive older cars. Older cars get worse gas mileage. They’re going to be buying more gas,” said Chipman.
Representative Rasheen Aldridge, D-St. Louis, challenged Chipman’s effort.
“One of the most important ways that voters can have a say so in democracy is through the ballot initiative process,” he said. “When it comes to this amendment, I’m a little hesitant to believe, and with no disrespect, that this is going to be done in good faith. And the reason I say that is this body over and over has told the will of the people that they don’t care about their vote. When it’s came to minimum wage, and we have legislation that is trying to roll that back to a federal minimum wage. When it came to Medicaid and voters have voted and said that they want to expand Medicaid and we still won’t uphold the will of the people. Even the amendment handler said that there is still the possibility, regardless if we send this to the ballot, that we will still make a change on what people voted on.”
The next stop for the bill is Gov. Mike Parson’s desk. Parson has voiced support for increasing infrastructure funding in general.
To view Senate Bill 262, click here.
Copyright © 2021 · Missourinet
To help reduce a K-12 teacher shortage, Missouri to offer recruitment and retention grants
Missouri is taking a significant step to help reduce its critical K-12 teacher shortage. The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is designating $50 million in federal coronavirus aid to recruit more teachers and keep them in the profession.
During today’s state Board of Education meeting, Dr. Paul Katnik, assistant commissioner of the Office of Educator Quality, says there has been a 25% decline in Missouri K-12 teachers over the last six years.
Missouri to offer K-12 teacher recruitment and retention grants
“Why are we doing this? Teachers are the number one school-based factor in student success. They are the single most influential component of effective schools,” says Katnik.
The effort will make $10,000 grants available to all 554 Missouri public school districts and charter schools to create or expand local teacher recruitment programs, known as Grow Your Own (GYO) programs.
Katnik says about 20% of Missouri districts currently have some type of Grow Your Own program.
“If our efforts are successful and we recruit just three or four students in the 585 high schools in this state, we would put an estimated 2,000 new teacher candidates in our educator preparation programs that aren’t there today, which by the way reflects a 25% increase, which is what we’re trying to turn around,” he says.
The department hopes to have the grants ready for the next school year.
DESE will also make additional grants available to the districts and charter schools to carry out efforts to improve teacher retention, with a focus on providing funding to those schools with harder to fill positions.
Plans that could impact retention include:
*Providing stipends for mentors of new teachers or for other non-contractual duties
*Supporting teachers who are pursuing National Board Certification
*Addressing issues identified in staff culture and climate surveys
*Expanding professional learning and networking opportunities for educators
*Increasing teacher voice and teacher leadership opportunities
Related story:
As Missouri deals with ongoing teacher shortage, education leaders want to step up recruiting efforts: https://www.missourinet.com/2020/12/28/as-missouri-deals-with-ongoing-teacher-shortage-education-leaders-want-to-step-up-recruiting-efforts/
Copyright © 2021 · Missourinet
Gov. Parson halts extra unemployment benefits (Video)
Governor Mike Parson today announced that Missouri will not offer the additional jobless benefits made available by the federal government after June 12. Federal aid to states added $300 to weekly checks of $320 or lower. Parson said that is not helping businesses get back on their feet.
“From conversations with business owners across the state, we know that they are struggling not because of COVID-19 but because of labor shortages resulting from these excessive federal unemployment programs,” Parson said.
State benefits will not go beyond 20 weeks with this order.
Watch the entire press conference at the Capitol May 11, 2021
The leader of House Democrats, Crystal Quade issued this statement after the governor’s announcement:
“Contrary to what the governor claims, the free market – not some federal boogeyman – is
primarily responsible for Missouri’s tight labor market. When there are more open jobs than
available workers, businesses must increase wages to attract prospective employees, particularly
in industries with a high risk of COVID-19 exposure. That’s how supply and demand works. If
companies provide a livable wage, applicants will respond. The notion that Missourians are
refusing to work so they can temporarily collect $300 a week is an offensive right-wing myth.”
Missouri Attorney General sues St. Louis County over COVID-19 health rules, county says legal foundation is solid
-updated May 11
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt is suing St. Louis County Executive Sam Page and the county health department for its COVID-19 restrictions. Read full lawsuit here, filed in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County, 21st Judicial Circuit.
According to the Attorney General’s press statement, “the suit takes issue with the restrictions on religious institutions, masking requirements for K-12 education, government pre-approval for events, and outdoor mask requirements, among others.”
“The seemingly unending control over people’s lives must end. Vaccines are widely available to all adults – it’s past time for St. Louis County to lift these restrictions, and that’s why I filed suit today,” Schmitt said in the press release.”
St. Louis County Executive Page and St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones announced ReOpen St. Louis orders in early May.
It also takes issue with the new, revised rules for the county and agreed to by St. Louis City, announced May 3, by “refusing to consider important aspects of the problem and refusing to consider less restrictive alternatives that are reasonable under the circumstances.”
Doug Moore, spokesman for St. Louis County responded today:
“We all know Mr. Schmitt is trying to increase his profile statewide and suing those protecting the health and safety of residents is apparently one of the ways he has chosen to do that. Our focus is on getting people vaccinated and on economic recovery.
Litigation around public health orders across the country is nothing new and St. Louis County has been successful in defending every legal challenge around public health orders. Our legal foundation is sound.”
Missourinet Morning Newscast 5-11-2021
The proposed gas tax is on the agenda in this final week of the legislative session. Missourinet’s morning news with Bill Wise
Missourinet Morning Newscast 5-10-2021
This is the last week of the state’s legislative session. Missourinet’s morning news with Bill Wise.
