Alabama Archives - Missourinet

Missouri Medicaid expansion effort escapes election ballot removal attempt

June 9, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

The Missouri Supreme Court has rejected a request to have a Medicaid expansion court case transferred to the high court. The decision ends an attempt by conservative group Americans for Prosperity to get the issue kicked off the August primary election ballot.

Missouri Medicaid expansion effort escapes election ballot removal attempt

The organization, along with United for Missouri, filed lawsuits contending the measure unconstitutionally requires the state to spend money without providing a revenue stream to pay for it.

Americans for Prosperity-Missouri State Director Jeremy Cady issued the following statement:

“The Western District Court of Appeals clearly held that the Medicaid Expansion Initiative on the August ballot does – and could – not infringe upon the Legislature’s exclusive right to set spending priorities through the appropriation process, and took its proponents at their word that Amendment 2 of the Missouri Constitution would not do so. While this was not the decision we were seeking, the rationale underlying the Court’s decision, that the separation of powers will be respected, should be viewed as a win for Missourians.”

Healthcare for Missouri’s plan would let Missourians earning up to $18,000 annually qualify for state-funded health insurance – increasing the state’s Medicaid rolls by about 230,000.

Attorney Chuck Hatfield, who’s representing the pro-expansion side, tells Missourinet he believes the courts have made the correct decision.

“An issue like expanding healthcare is a matter for the voters and the Court should not stop the voters from having their say at the ballot box,” he says in a written statement.

Missouri is one of 14 states without Medicaid expansion.

Five states join Missouri in challenge of California egg law

March 6, 2014 By Mike Lear

Missouri is not going it alone in challenging the State of California’s egg law.

Attorney General Chris Koster has announced that five states have joined in his suit against California alleging that it is unconstitutionally trying to regulate farming practice outside its borders. Those states are Nebraska, Alabama, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Iowa.

With Missouri, those five states produce more than 20-billion eggs per year, 10-percent of which are sold to consumers in California.

California voters in 2008 passed Proposition 2 that, beginning next year, would regulate the size of the enclosures that house egg-laying hens. To avoid a potential competitive advantage to that state’s own egg producers, the California State Assembly passed a bill requiring producers in other states to comply with that law in order to sell eggs in California.

The six states’ suit asks the federal court to rule that California’s legislation violates the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. Koster says that clause prohibits any state from enacting legislation that regulates conduct wholly outside its borders, protects its own citizens from out-of-state competition, or places undue burdens on interstate commerce.

In a statement Koster says he welcomes those five states joining the effort.

“This case is not just about farming practices,” Koster says. “At stake is whether elected officials in one state may regulate the practices of another state’s citizens, who cannot vote them out of office.”

QB’s girlfriend flattered by Musburger’s comments (VIDEO)

January 10, 2013 By Bill Pollock

The biggest story of the BCS title game between Alabama and Notre Dame has nothing to do with the game itself, but Katherine Webb, Alabama QB A.J. McCarron’s girlfriend. ESPN apologized for the comments made by announcer Brent Musburger, but on Wednesday, Webb appeared on NBC’s Today Show with Matt Lauer and said she was flattered by his comments.

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Looking back, Musburger did nothing more than pay a compliment to Webb and it wasn’t in poor taste, I think he was just having fun, trying to liven up the broadcast for a game that was already getting out of hand. He then joked that “you quarterbacks get all the good lookin’ girls,” which I took as a comment being directed at his partner Kirk Herbstreit, a former Ohio State quarterback. He also added that boys should start playing catch with their dads so they can become quarterbacks at Alabama. It was a funny comment.

Given the fact that Musburger stated the obvious and ESPN continued to show Webb, her Twitter followers shot up from 2,300 to over 200,000 in 24 hours.