Politics / Govt Archives

Missouri becomes 38th state to expand Medicaid

August 5, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Missouri voters have spoken. They want to join 37 other states that have expanded Medicaid.

About 53% voted during Tuesday’s primary election in favor of providing Medicaid to another 230,000 low-income adults. Roughly 47% of Missouri voters opposed the ballot measure.

The outcome highlights Missouri’s urban and rural divide. Of Missouri’s 114 counties, 105 voted against expansion.

Missouri becomes 38th state to expand Medicaid

Under Amendment 2, Missouri adults could qualify for government-funded healthcare if they earn up to about $18,000 annually or roughly $36,000 for a household of four. It allows the federal government to pick up about 90% of the state’s Medicaid costs while the state covers the other 10%. Currently, the federal government pays for about 65% and the state shells out the rest of the funding.

The clash between those for and against the proposal has been largely about the way the measure would affect the state’s piggy bank and the philosophical differences. The other message Republicans have been raising is the plan also changes the Missouri Constitution to force additional people onto Medicaid. The feature effectively blocks Republican lawmakers from adding conservative elements to the program, such as work requirements and premiums.

The projected cost of the expansion has quite the range – either an additional $200 million to the state or a savings of $1 billion.

The ballot measure requires Missouri to expand Medicaid by next July and formally notify the federal government by March 1.

Longtime Missouri congressman defeated in Democratic primary

August 5, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Cori Bush

Activist Cori Bush has defeated longtime Missouri Congressman Lacy Clay of St. Louis for the Democratic nomination in the District 1 U.S. House race. Bush gained 49% of the vote compared to Clay’s 46%.

Bush’s win closes an era for the Clay family. Clay’s father, William, held the seat from 1969-2001. Lacy Clay took over in 2001 and has had it ever since. He is the Senior Democrat in Missouri’s Congressional delegation.

This is not the first matchup between Bush and Clay. She also challenged him in 2018 for the overwhelmingly Democratic seat.

Missouri Congressman Lacy Clay

Bush will take on Republican Anthony Rogers and Libertarian Alex Furman in November’s general election.

Bush, of Northwoods, is expected to cruise to a victory and become the first African-American woman to represent Missouri in Washington.

The district includes St. Louis City and County.

Polls have closed in Missouri

August 4, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Polls have closed in Missouri

Let the counting begin. Missouri polling precincts for today’s primary election have closed.

Some of the hot items on the ballot include a contentious Medicaid expansion measure, the governor’s race and many legislative seats.

Missourinet will have coverage of election information throughout the evening.

President signs Blunt-backed bill to help spruce up national park system

August 4, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

President Donald Trump has signed into law today a landmark bill designed to give the national park system billions of dollars over five years to reduce a maintenance backlog. It provides $900 million annually in oil and gas revenues for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which protects historical and environmentally-significant sites. The measure will help the National Park Service, the Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, among others.

Missouri U.S. Senator Roy Blunt

The bipartisan plan is also reportedly expected to create an additional 100,000 direct and indirect jobs.

It has been heralded as the most significant conservation bill in a generation. U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, says the legislation, dubbed the Great American Outdoors Act, will help to make the second century of the park system different from the first century.

“The park system, as we now know it, is a little more than a hundred years old. Some of these maintenance issues are decades old, maybe 50 years old, maybe half of the life of the entire park service,” Blunt says on the U.S. Senate floor.

The package will provide permanent aid for the Land and Wildlife Conservation Fund. Blunt says the fund has benefited the Mark Twain National Forest, the Ozark National Scenic River, the Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge in mid Missouri’s Rocheport, and Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield near southwest Missouri’s Republic.

Blunt, who co-sponsored the plan, says the funding will help to bolster Missouri’s outdoor recreation industry.

“The Outdoor Recreation Industry Association says that we generate about almost $15 billion in our state in consumer spending, about 133,000 jobs are created in Missouri because of outdoor recreation,” says Blunt. “This is obviously not a normal year. So, anything we can do to encourage people to use these facilities in a better way is important.”

In celebration of the legislation becoming law, U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt announced that tomorrow will be a fee free day at national parks and other public lands. Beginning next year, fee free day will be August. 4.

What you need to bring with you when you vote in Tuesday’s Missouri primary

August 3, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri voters heading to polling locations to vote on Tuesday must bring one form of identification.

Options include a voter ID card from your Missouri county clerk’s office, a Missouri or U.S. government-issued photo ID, such as a driver license or passport.

Other options include a Missouri university, college, vocational or technical school ID, a current utility bill, or a bank statement.

You can also bring a government check or a paycheck.

If you don’t have identification, you can still vote on Tuesday by provisional ballot.

Polls are open statewide on Tuesday from 6 a.m. until 7 p.m.

Despite earlier plans, GM has been able to keep third shift at eastern Missouri plant

August 3, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s top economic development official says despite earlier plans, General Motors (GM) has been able to keep the third shift open at its massive plant in eastern Missouri’s Wentzville.

State Department of Economic Development (DED) Director Rob Dixon briefs Missouri Capitol reporters in Jefferson City on July 14, 2020 (file photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

In July, the company said it planned to temporarily eliminate its third shift, due to COVID-19. The “St. Louis Post-Dispatch” reported in July that the United Auto Workers (UAW) said 23 plant employees had the coronavirus.

State Department of Economic Development (DED) Director Rob Dixon told Missourinet on Monday that GM’s Wentzville plant has been able to keep its third shift, despite earlier plans to the contrary.

Dixon says the issue was related to concerns about absenteeism, due to the pandemic. He says General Motors is able to keep the shift open with workers from other plants.

“This is obviously good news, but it certainly highlights the challenges we continue to face as a result of COVID-19,” Dixon says.

He also reiterates what he told Capitol reporters in mid-July: that the company still plans to invest about $1.5 billion into the plant, which produces the GMC Canyon and the Chevrolet Colorado.

Director Dixon says GM’s Wentzville plant supports about 12,000 jobs across Missouri. DED says out of Missouri’s 227 automotive suppliers, 178 supply GM.

Sen. Blunt is optimistic a compromise can be reached this week on stimulus package

August 3, 2020 By Ashley Byrd

The Senate is scheduled to leave Washington, D.C. after Friday for its annual August recess.

-BRENT MARTIN, KFEQ

United States Senator Roy Blunt is optimistic a compromise can be reached this week on another economic stimulus package in the battle against COVID-19 and its impact on the economy.

Blunt, a Republican involved in the negotiations, insists Senate Republicans and House Democrats are not that far off, even if the Senate approved a $1 trillion package to counter the House $3 trillion measure.

“We’re never going to outspend Democrats in the House,” Blunt told reporters during a weekend stop in St. Joseph. “They put $7 ½ billion for child care subsidies, I put $15 (billion), they say, maybe we need $40 (billion). Now, this is the number they thought should be $7 ½ billion 90 days ago. So, part of this is just politics. It’s election-year politics. We’re 90 days from a presidential election.”

After a visit to Mosaic Life Care, a medical center in St. Joseph, Blunt told reporters there are three sticking points: how much federal unemployment assistance should be allocated, whether state and local governments should be provided assistance, and whether COVID-19 liability protection should be extended for businesses and groups.

An additional $600 weekly federal payment to unemployed workers ended at the end of July. House Democrats included nearly $1 billion of aid to state and local governments; the Senate did not. Senate Republicans included liability protections to businesses and groups which reopened during this coronavirus pandemic; the House did not.

Both and Senate and House include another round of $1,200 stimulus checks.

Some deadline pressure is growing for negotiators. The Senate is scheduled to leave Washington, D.C. after Friday for its annual August
recess. Blunt doesn’t see that as a problem though, saying negotiations over such proposals normally come together in a 72-hour period.

“You just need to decide when that 72 hours is, so you can do whatever’s necessary to finally bring these bills together,” Blunt said. “They’re different
in money, but they’re not different in much else.”

Blunt said many of his fellow Senate Republicans question the need for the bill and he says if one is to pass, it will need bipartisan support.

“So, this will be done by some number of Republicans and enough Democrats to get to 60 in the Senate,” according to Blunt.

Though Senate Republicans backed the last $1trillion-plus package, Blunt expects some to vote against this latest round of
relief.

“Well, I think Senate Republicans are probably reverting back to a normal pattern where some of my Republican colleagues never vote for
anything that spends money,” Blunt said, “That’s actually a workable strategy as long as somebody else will vote for what spends money.”

August 10th groundbreaking set for major Bicentennial bridge project in Jefferson City

July 31, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A well-known Jefferson City family is donating $75,000 to a bridge project that will link the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City to the riverfront. It’s a project that’s been discussed in Jefferson City for more than 25 years.

This is an artist’s rendering of part of the planned $3.75 million Bicentennial bridge project in Jefferson City (photo courtesy of bicentennialbridge.org

The Naught family from Naught-Naught Insurance Agency made the contribution.

Jefferson City Mayor Carrie Tergin tells Missourinet that a groundbreaking ceremony for the $3.75 million project is set for Monday August 10 at 8:30 a.m. It will take place at the State Capitol.

Mayor Tergin describes the project as a “game changer,” as well as an amazing legacy gift for Missouri’s Bicentennial in 2021. She has said it’s the most exciting news that that’s ever announced as mayor.

The project will provide a pedestrian and bike linkage from the Capitol to the Missouri River, an area known as Adrian’s Island. Tom Naught says the Bicentennial bridge will enhance the Capitol grounds, and will bring more tourists to Jefferson City. The 12-foot wide pedestrian and bicycle bridge will connect the Capitol complex to a 30-acre parkland located north of the Union Pacific Railroad.

The island will have trails that allow visitors to hike through the wooded area. Click here to view artist renderings of the project, and also a video.

“The entrance to the bridge will honor our veterans and when the Naught family learned of this, they knew they wanted to be a part of it. Thank you to the Naught’s for having a place in your heart for the Bicentennial Bridge and for veterans, and we deeply appreciate your support of this project,” Mayor Tergin says, in a statement.

Mayor Tergin tells Missourinet that she expects construction to begin in late summer or this fall, and for clearing work to begin in September. The project is expected to be done in August 2021. The mayor says the 830-feet bridge will span over railroad tracks.

Bridge supporters note more than 400,000 people visit the Missouri Capitol Complex annually, and that there’s no current way to access the riverfront without crossing Union Pacific’s railroad tracks.

Missouri’s Hawley says U.S. Senate has not acted on his duck boat legislation

July 31, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s junior senator is calling on his U.S. Senate colleagues on Capitol Hill to approve his legislation aimed at preventing a repeat of the deadly 2018 duck boat tragedy on southwest Missouri’s Table Rock Lake.

Missouri State Highway Patrol crews assist the U.S. Coast Guard during the duck boat recovery efforts on July 23, 2018 (file photo courtesy of the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Twitter page)

17 people were killed in the incident, including nine from one family. The victims drowned when the vessel sank quickly, during a storm. The second anniversary of the tragedy was last week.

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R) tells Missourinet that the Senate has not acted on his bill.

“It is more vital today than ever. It would help prevent exactly the kind of tragedy that we saw on Table Rock Lake,” Hawley says.

Hawley’s legislation would require amphibious passenger vessels to be equipped to stay afloat, in the event of flooding. The legislation would also require duck boats to remove canopies, and would require additional life preservers.

Hawley describes the legislation as tough and important.

“It would impose new security requirements on every single duck boat in our state and nationally. It would require new inspections, it would require new reporting efforts and standards, and put those in place,” says Hawley.

He says the tragedy never should have happened, because the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) made several recommendations to the U.S. Coast Guard after a similar 1999 tragedy in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R) has introduced the same bill as Hawley. During last week’s second anniversary, he called for the bill’s passage.

“Today we remember the 17 victims who lost their lives in the duck boat tragedy at Table Rock Lake, and the loved ones who are missing them every day. We owe it to these families to do everything we can to make sure a tragedy like this one never happens again,” Senator Blunt’s statement reads, in part.

Missouri elevates to federal “red zone” for coronavirus cases

July 30, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Missouri has been added to the 21 states considered in the federal “red zone” for new COVID-19 cases. A report this week by the White House coronavirus task force is urging leaders to consider more restrictions in virus hot spots, including closing gyms and bars and restricting gatherings to no more than 10 people.

Missouri elevates to federal “red zone” for coronavirus cases

The report, released Wednesday by The New York Times, shows Missouri’s problem spots include the Branson area and Joplin in southwest Missouri, the Lake of the Ozarks region in central Missouri, northeast Missouri’s Hannibal, Pemiscot and Dunklin counties in the bootheel, and the home of the State Fair in west-central Missouri’s Sedalia.

As for St. Louis and Kansas City, the task force considers them to be in the yellow zone because their positivity rates were below 10% last week. Their metro areas make up most of the state’s coronavirus cases.

Missouri has set another record today for the daily increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. The state reports more than 2,000 people have tested positive for the coronavirus, bringing the overall count to nearly 49,000 confirmed cases since March. Thirteen new deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours, amounting to at least 1,233 people dying in Missouri from the virus.