Brad Lager Archives - Missourinet

Senator wants lower tax, more consolidation in House 911 bill

April 15, 2014 By Mike Lear

The Chairman of the Senate Committee that has the House’s 911 funding legislation says there are some things that need to be shaken out in that bill before it can advance.

Senator Brad Later (Photo courtesy; Senate Communications)

The proposal would let counties ask voters to establish a monthly fee of up to $1.50 no devices that can call 911 except for prepaid phones and service, which would be subject to a 3-percent sales tax.

Senator Brad Lager (R-Savannah) thinks those amounts are too high.

“Missouri would go from not having a 911 tax to being the highest in the country,” says Lager of the 3-percent rate. “I don’t think I’m comfortable with that move.” Lager isn’t sure what rate he thinks would be appropriate.

He also wants legislation to provide a financial incentive for call centers to consolidate.

“I have a couple in my district,” says Lager, “that are actually in, for all practical purposes, the same city block. Then a third one … like four blocks away. Taxpayers are having to fund every one of those.” Lager says taxpayers shouldn’t be paying for three call centers within four blocks of one another.

Representative Jeanie Lauer (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House sponsor, Representative Jeanie Lauer (R-Blue Springs) says it is very difficult to mandate consolidation because of the differences among counties, but the bill does include one incentive.

Grants would be one of the things proceeds from the proposal would support, to pay for implementation of 911 service and other needs. Lauer says any counties who go to the pool for the grant money would have to have some plans for consolidation.

“It may be where they actually consolidate or it could just be where they go out for contract to another Public Safety Answering Point,” says Lauer.

Lager also dislikes that the legislation would allow a portion of the money it would generate to go to purposes other than 911, specifically poison control.

Both lawmakers are confident that a solution can be found by the end of session in a little more than a month.

The House legislation is HB 1573.

House Republican Medicaid plan sponsor undeterred by Senate Republican comments

March 24, 2014 By Mike Lear

Work will continue on a House Republican proposal that would reform Medicaid and expand eligibility in Missouri, despite Senate Republicans reaffirming their opposition to Medicaid expansion. A House Committee will hold its third hearing on the proposal, HB 1901 sponsored by Representative Noel Torpey (R-Independence), early Tuesday in the basement of the Capitol.

“There is no path for Medicaid expansion to occur in Missouri this year,” said Brad Lager (R-Savannah) on Monday, one of five Republican Senators who said they would block any attempt to expand Medicaid eligibility this session.

“If we’re going to allow five people to run the state, that’s unfortunate,” says Torpey. He agrees that expansion by itself will not succeed in the Republican-controlled Missouri legislature.

“That was evident last year,” Torpey tells Missourinet, “but if people want reform and truly want reform, we’re going to have to do some type of eligibility changes, and so they’re linked together.”

Torpey says the Senators’ comments won’t cause him to do anything differently.

“Things can change in politics in a day, let alone eight weeks,” says Torpey.

House Speaker Tim Jones (R-Eureka) says the opposition to expansion is not limited to the Senate.

“The signals I’m receiving from the (House Republican) caucus and the signals I’m receiving from the Senate are that expansion is simply something that the legislature does not have much of an appetite for this year,” Jones says. “They’re very concerned about the long-term effects on the budget, and I share those concerns.”

Torpey thinks stripping out the expansion components of his legislation would not be successful either.

“I really think it’s a partnership,” says Torpey of reform and expansion of Medicaid. “We get both or nothing.”

The hearing Tuesday will focus on three aspects of Torpey’s bill, including increased eligibility in some populations.

Earlier stories:

Hearing highlights work requirement, premium in House Republican Medicaid plan

House Republican files Medicaid expansion, reform proposal

SPECIAL SESSION: Boeing incentive bill goes to Governor Nixon

December 6, 2013 By Mike Lear

The state legislature has sent Governor Jay Nixon everything he wants in an incentive package to try to get Boeing to build its 777X airliner.

Legislators discuss how to deal with a clerical error regarding the Boeing incentive bill. (Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

At least, that’s what House Speaker Tim Jones (R-Eureka) believes.

“It’s my understanding that Governor Nixon agrees that everything that he requested was placed into the Senate Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 1 that we have now truly agreed and finally passed to his desk.”

Jones has signed that bill and says Senate Leader Tom Dempsey (R-St. Charles) will be doing the same today. A staffer with Governor Nixon’s Office says it will review the bill as it would any other before offering comment or taking action.

“The ball is put back in his court to put Missouri’s best foot forward,” Jones says of Nixon.

The legislation extends for Boeing limits on four economic development programs, translating to an offer of up to 1.7-billion in tax incentives. Nixon hopes that, combined with local incentives and agreements by Union leaders and community colleges in the state, will get Boeing to create as many as 8,000 jobs in Missouri.

Missouri and at least 12 other states must submit offers to Boeing by Tuesday. Jones thinks Boeing will not make selections until some time in January.

While the House discussed that bill today, it was learned that part of an amendment offered by Senator Brad Lager (R-Savannah) was omitted in the copy it received from the Senate due to an error by Senate staff.

Majority Floor Leader John Diehl (R-Town and Country) explained to legislators how leadership intended to fix the problem in a way that it thought was transparent, starting with distributing to the representatives a copy that matched what was in the chamber’s journal.

“The journals are all correct … we’re going to ask the members to vote on a resolution acknowledging that everybody here understands that this is what we’re going to be voting on and third read in a few minutes.”

The fix was endorsed by Representative Jeff Roorda (D-Barnhart), who on the House floor told Diehl, “I think the record is clear that there is probably nobody in the room that is more likely to call you if you’ve got it wrong on procedural stuff (than me). I’m not here to do that today.”

Diehl says such problems are not uncommon, but leadership felt the resolution was necessary since lawmakers were dealing with only one bill in the special session, creating greater scrutiny on that one measure.

He says the Governor’s staff was involved in the discussion of that error and was comfortable with the fix.

A legislative staffer says there is also legal precedent establishing that an error by legislative staff can not impact the passage of legislation.