absentee voting Archives

UPDATE: Haug to present 124-page supplemental budget request to Missouri lawmakers on Monday

January 31, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s state budget director will testify Monday morning in Jefferson City about a proposed supplemental budget. Budget director Dan Haug will summarize a 124-page report, and we’ll learn the final details about the total amount of the supplemental at that time.

House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, speaks on the Missouri House floor on November 9, 2020 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

The House Budget Committee meets Monday morning at 11 at the Statehouse, and they’ll hear Director Haug’s budget presentation and testimony. No public testimony will be taken, at the hearing.

Missouri’s current state operating budget is about $38 billion, which includes about $7.4 billion in supplemental budgets with federal money. The proposed supplemental budget that will be outlined on Monday is in addition to that.

Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, tells Missourinet that the supplemental “will be a cross section of the overall budget,” adding that there will be a little bit of everything in it.

For instance, the Parson administration is requesting $6.4 million in supplemental funding for the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE) Office of Special Education.

The 124-page report says the supplemental funding is needed due to a shortfall in funding for early childhood special education (ECSE) reimbursement from fiscal year 2020 and an anticipated shortfall in funding for FY 2021 ECSE reimbursement. The ECSE program provides individual instruction and therapy services to preschool aged children with disabilities.

Governor Mike Parson’s (R) administration is also recommending $1.6 million to cover COVID-19-related revenue losses impacting the Missouri State Fair fee fund. The report says the State Fair in Sedalia has lost significant revenue due to cancellations of off-season and fair events. That includes event rental fees, gate admissions, camping fees, entry fees and sponsorship fees.

The report also notes the Missouri State Fair has had to buy substantial amounts of janitorial and sanitizing supplies, along with a large quantity of additional signage to help ensure the safety of staff and event participants. The report notes that the State Fair has a long history of meeting its operational costs with its own fee revenues, which is the State Fair fee fund.

But because of COVID losses, the Parson administration says additional funding is needed to sustain State Fair operations through FY 2021 and to ensure that a full fair week can be done this year, including grandstand events and a carnival.

The supplemental budget request also includes about $223,000 for the Missouri Secretary of State’s office, for the April municipal election.

The report notes that state law requires mailing envelopes used for returning ballots to local election authorities to incorporate a business reply permit so that no ballot that’s returned by mail requires postage. Missouri law requires that all fees and costs for establishing and maintaining the business reply permit be covered by the Secretary of State’s office. The report says that because of the pandemic, more voters than ever will vote using the absentee option.

Missouri Supreme Court sending absentee voting case back to Cole County Circuit Court

June 23, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The Missouri Supreme Court issued a decision on Tuesday involving absentee voting, ruling that a lawsuit that aims to allow all Missourians to cast absentee ballots without notarization in 2020 can proceed.

Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice George Draper takes notes on June 15, 2020, while listening to oral arguments in the absentee voting case (photo courtesy of Missouri Supreme Court communications counsel Beth Riggert)

The Supreme Court is sending the case back to Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem. The decision means the lawsuit from the NAACP of Missouri and the ACLU of Missouri can proceed.

The circuit court dismissed the lawsuit, finding that the plaintiffs failed to state a claim on which relief could be granted. The Supreme Court reversed that decision, finding the plaintiffs had stated a claim and remanded the case to the circuit court so the parties can proceed.

The organizations filed a lawsuit in mid-Missouri’s Cole County, challenging the constitutional validity of absentee voting legislation that was approved by the Missouri Legislature on the final day of session in May.

Governor Mike Parson (R) signed the legislation from State Rep. Dan Shaul, R-Imperial, in June. It expands voting by mail through the rest of 2020. There are two but separate options under the bill.

The first option has been non-controversial, and is not part of the lawsuit. That option expands absentee voting to those 65 and older, or who are vulnerable to COVID-19. Elderly people are considered at greater risk. Under the bill, notarization is not required for those 65 and older or who are vulnerable.

The second option is the key part of the lawsuit. It expands voting by mail for everyone in 2020, but requires notarization.

The Missouri Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case on June 15.

During those oral arguments, Sophia Lin Lakin, who argued the case, told the Supreme Court that requiring some voters to get a notary could put their health and the health of others at risk, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“SB 631 still requires voters whom the Legislature did not deem at-risk for COVID or those caring for others who may be at risk, to comply with the notary requirement in order to vote by mail,” Lakin argued on June 15.

But state Solicitor General D. John Sauer, who represents the state attorney general’s office and Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, disputed that.

“A bad flu season does involve tens of thousands of deaths nationwide,” Sauer told the Supreme Court last week. “But nobody has ever contended that fear of contracting or spreading the flu is a statutory ground to cast an absentee ballot in Missouri.”

Sauer also argued in court that the NAACP and the League of Women Voters lack associational standing in this case.

Lin Lakin praises Tuesday’s ruling, saying “this decision is a big victory for Missouri voters.”

Click here to read the 73-page legal brief from the NAACP of Missouri, the ACLU of Missouri and others.

Click here to read the 85-page legal brief from state Solicitor General D. John Sauer.

Galloway tells Missouri Democrats she’ll put Jefferson City back on the side of working families (AUDIO)

June 15, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s presumptive Democratic gubernatorial nominee is urging voters to approve a Medicaid expansion proposal on the August ballot. State Auditor Nicole Galloway addressed the Missouri Democratic Party state convention this weekend.

Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway (D)
(Missourinet file photo)

“We’re going to bring our (Missouri) tax dollars home, to invest in our people,” Galloway says. “Giving coverage to working people, saving health care jobs and creating new ones in parts of our state that desperately need them.”

Amendment Two will be on the August 4 statewide ballot. 36 states have approved Medicaid expansion.

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced its support of the August ballot measure on Friday.

“Let’s not miss this chance to bolster our economy during this recovery, while expanding access to healthcare for our fellow Missourians,” Missouri Chamber President Dan Mehan says, in a written statement.

The Missouri Chamber describes the Medicaid expansion proposal as a “pro-jobs measure that will help fuel economic growth throughout our state.”

The Missouri Hospital Association says ten rural Missouri hospitals have closed since 2014.

Governor Mike Parson (R) and House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, oppose Medicaid expansion. Speaker Haahr says it would take dollars out of the classroom, noting it requires a ten percent match, for the 90 percent draw down.

During her Friday evening address, Galloway also condemned George Floyd’s recent death in Minneapolis. The Columbia Democrat says America’s criminal justice system is fractured.

“Addressing it begins with accountability, accountability for the law enforcement officers involved. And accountability in the systems that perpetuate systemic inequality,” says Galloway.

Galloway says the disparities in our criminal justice system are real.

The former Minneapolis police officer who was charged with murdering Mr. Floyd is now charged with second degree murder, and the three other officers have been charged with aiding and abetting.

Galloway also addressed the issue of voting, during her presentation. She is urging Governor Parson to issue an order that would allow any Missourian in 2020 to vote absentee, without notarization.

The governor signed absentee voting legislation this month.

It expands absentee voting to those 65 and older, or who are vulnerable to COVID-19. Elderly people are considered at greater risk. Notarization is not required for those 65 and older or who are vulnerable.

The bill also expands voting by mail for everyone, but requires notarization.

“Missouri’s notary requirement is voter suppression, especially during a pandemic,” Galloway told the convention on Friday.

Galloway faces four primary opponents in August: Jimmie Matthews of St. Louis, Antoin Johnson of St. Louis, Kansas City’s Eric Morrison and Robin John Daniel Van Quaethem of St. Louis.

Galloway is expected to face Governor Parson in the November general election.

Click here to listen to State Auditor Nicole Galloway’s full eight-minute address to the Missouri Democratic Party state convention on June 12, 2020: