COVID pandemic Archives

Quade, Stephens have different views on performance of former Missouri health director Williams (AUDIO)

April 21, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

Two key Missouri lawmakers from opposite parties view Tuesday’s resignation of state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) Director Dr. Randall Williams very differently.

Missouri House Health and Mental Health Policy Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Stephens (R-Bolivar) praises Dr. Williams, while House Minority Leader Crystal Quade (D-Springfield) says the resignation was long overdue.

State Rep. Mike Stephens (R-Bolivar) speaks on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on April 1, 2021 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Chairman Stephens says Williams did a fine job.

“We have lived through the year from hell that everybody got thrust into falling off a cliff into a dark abyss,” Stephens says.

Stephens says Dr. Williams never intended to stay in the position permanently, adding that his understanding is that Dr. Williams’ wife never moved to Missouri from North Carolina. Stephens also says Dr. Williams was responsive to lawmakers in both parties.

“And I think Dr. Williams has done a very credible job under circumstances that nobody else ever, ever, ever had to endure,” says Stephens.

Chairman Stephens also praises acting DHSS Director Robert Knodell, saying he knows and understands the bureaucracy. Stephens admits that Knodell is a “political guy” and not a medical person, but says he doesn’t expect Knodell to be the permanent director. Stephens predicts the next DHSS director will have a bureaucratic and a medical background.

As for Leader Quade, she blasts Dr. Williams and says his resignation is long overdue.

“We have seen Dr. Williams unethically track the menstrual cycles of women, without knowledge or consent. The implementation of legalized medical marijuana was through his department and has been a giant mess, in which the House has spent many months
investigating the rollout there,” Quade says.

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade (D-Springfield) speaks on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on March 30, 2021 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Leader Quade is referring to numerous hearings conducted by the bipartisan Missouri House Special Committee on Government Oversight, which focused on how licenses were approved. She has described Missouri’s medical marijuana rollout as “atrocious.”

Quade also tells Missourinet that Dr. Williams wasn’t responsive to questions from lawmakers about the vaccination rollout distribution.

“I can tell you from my office I had sent in a letter on behalf of the members of the (Missouri House) Health and Mental Health (Policy) Committee asking various questions of just how decisions were made and trying to get some answers for our constituents. And several weeks went by without any response from the office,” says Quade.

She says the lawmakers eventually received a meeting but that it took almost a month.

The top Democrat on the Missouri House Health and Mental Health Policy Committee, State Rep. LaDonna Appelbaum (D-St. Louis), is critical of Dr. Williams. Appelbaum has released a statement, which is also critical of Knodell.

“Knodell has no background in public health, and as the “czar’ of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, he shoulders much of the blame for the state’s early failures to provide vaccines to urban and suburban areas,” the statement reads, in part.

Governor Mike Parson (R) disagrees with that, saying that Knodell played an integral part in Missouri’s COVID response efforts.

“As Deputy Chief of Staff, Robert brings valuable knowledge and leadership experience to our team and the entire state of Missouri. For more than a year, he has also played a leading role in Missouri’s COVID-19 response efforts, and I am more than confident in him to take over as Acting Director of the Department of Health and Senior Services,” Governor Parson says, in a statement.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with Missouri House Minority Leader Crystal Quade (D-Springfield), which was recorded on April 20, 2021:

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with Missouri House Health and Mental Health Policy Committee Chairman State Rep. Mike Stephens (R-Bolivar), which was recorded on April 20, 2021:

Missouri House Oversight Committee chair announces DOLIR is suspending collection of unemployment overpayments (AUDIO)

April 16, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

Just two days after being grilled again by state lawmakers in both parties, the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DOLIR) is suspending all collection of unemployment overpayments, at this time.

Missouri House Special Committee on Government Oversight Chair Rep. Jered Taylor (R-Nixa) speaks on the House floor on March 4, 2021 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Missouri House Special Committee on Government Oversight Chairman State Rep. Jered Taylor (R-Nixa) made the announcement on the House floor Thursday in Jefferson City, to bipartisan applause.

“So I just want to let the members (state representatives) know that all collection efforts for all Missourians, 46,000 people who are having overpayment collection efforts being taken on them right now, are all on pause and again that’s due to the work that our (oversight) committee did so thank you, Mr. Speaker,” Chairman Taylor says.

DOLIR has posted a short message on its website, which confirms what Chairman Taylor said on the floor.

DOLIR has testified that the state overpaid more than $150 million in unemployment benefits last year and that 46,000 Missourians have been impacted by the unemployment overpayments.

Taylor says collections are being suspended “until we get the work done in this body.”

“And it’s due to the good work of the Government Oversight Committee, so I just wanted to thank the members for holding the Department (of Labor) accountable and holding them to what they agreed to to our body,” says Taylor.

State Rep. Raychel Proudie (D-Ferguson), the oversight committee’s ranking Democrat, has raised the same concerns that Taylor has.

The issue has been the subject of several bipartisan hearings by the Oversight Committee, which also learned about the COVID pandemic’s massive impact on Missouri’s economy and on the unemployment system.

DOLIR Director Anna Hui testified in February that Missouri paid out $236 million in unemployment benefits in 2019. That number increased to $5.1 billion in 2020, due to the pandemic.

During that February hearing, lawmakers in both parties said that Missourians who didn’t commit fraud should not have to repay money, because the state made the error.

State Rep. Richard Brown (D-Kansas City), the assistant minority floor leader, told Director Hui that a woman he knows received a letter in January, asking her to repay $23,000. Representative Brown has said the woman doesn’t have the money.

During the February hearing, State Rep. J. Eggleston (R-Maysville) read a letter from a northwest Missouri teacher who was told that she must repay $9,000, because of the state’s error. Representative Eggleston said that day that the teacher wishes she had been denied unemployment, to begin with.

Click here to listen to the short announcement from House Special Committee on Government Oversight Chairman State Rep. Jered Taylor (R-Nixa), which was made on the Missouri House floor on April 15, 2021:

Missouri Nurses Association: it’s more dangerous to be a health care worker than a police or corrections officer

March 17, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri lawmakers in both parties are expressing frustration about the growing number of assaults against health care employees across the state. Numerous health-related associations are backing legislation that’s aimed at addressing it.

State Rep. Justin Hill (R-Lake St. Louis) speaks at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City on March 9, 2021 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

State Rep. Justin Hill, R-Lake St. Louis, who chairs the Missouri House Insurance Committee, presented his House Bill 1022 this month. The proposed bill creates the offense of interference with a health care facility and the offense of interference with an ambulance service.

While no one testified against the bill, numerous groups testified for the bill, which is aimed at protecting health care employees against assaults.

The 110,000 member Missouri Nurses Association testified for Hill’s bill, telling lawmakers that incidents are happening all the time.

“It is more dangerous to be a health care worker than it is to be a police officer or a prison guard,” Missouri Nurses Association state director Heidi Lucas testifies. “They are more likely to see violence than those folks.”

Ms. Lucas also testifies that her brother, who works in the health care field, has already suffered three concussions this year, from patients. She says he’s been head-butted, punched and bitten.

Several nurses also traveled to Jefferson City on March 2 to testify for Hill’s bill. One testified about an assault where a man allegedly kicked a pregnant nurse in the abdomen, trying to kill her baby.

St. Louis-based BJC Healthcare supports Representative Hill’s legislation, as does Springfield-based CoxHealth. CoxHealth’s Michael Grote testified in-detail about the hundreds of assaults that are happening on Cox premises.

“In this last year, CoxHealth has seen 649 assaults on our property resulting in 364 injuries. Unfortunately, that number is up every single year,” Grote testifies.

CoxHealth, which operates six hospitals and more than 80 clinics across southwest Missouri, also says that a number of health care employees choose not to file complaints because they fear retaliation and further actions by the attacker.

The Missouri State Medical Association and the Missouri Hospital Association (MHA) also support Hill’s legislation. MHA spokesman Dave Dillon tells Missourinet that maintaining a safe environment is required for state licensure, so patient, visitor and workplace safety is always a top priority. MHA is also focused on the COVID pandemic.

MHA released an eight-page report in 2019, which found that 48 percent of hospitals reported workplace violence or violent intruders as one of their top three internal risks.

Hill is currently working to tweak some of the language in HB 1022. It’s expected return to his Insurance Committee for a vote sometime after the legislative spring break.

A top state lawmaker says Missourians have already paid their share for stimulus checks

February 15, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s House Budget Committee chairman says you shouldn’t be taxed on federal stimulus checks.

House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, speaks on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on January 28, 2021 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Budget Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, says under Missouri’s tax code, federal stimulus checks related to COVID are subject to personal income tax.

“This legislation would waive that personal income tax not only on the most recent round of stimulus related to COVID-19, but on anything going forward related to this pandemic specifically,” Smith says.

Eligible Americans have been receiving $600 stimulus checks, which are part of the $900 billion stimulus package signed on December 27 by former President Donald Trump.

Chairman Smith says Missourians have already paid their share for the stimulus checks.

“They’ve either already paid these tax dollars or will pay them in the future, and they shouldn’t be taxed again on these stimulus checks especially in a time of need if they can put the money to better use,” says Smith.

Unless state lawmakers take action this session, the federal stimulus checks will cause your state income tax liability to increase. But Smith says he’s “very optimistic” that lawmakers will approve his bill or a similar version.

Click here to read Chairman Smith’s House Bill 991. It’s a seven-page bill.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with Missouri House Budget Committee chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, which was recorded on February 13, 2021:

Missouri lawmakers in both parties critical of Labor Department’s reimbursement request for unemployment overpayments

February 3, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s labor director was grilled by state lawmakers in both parties, during a Tuesday hearing in Jefferson City involving unemployment overpayments and the department’s subsequent request for reimbursement.

State Rep. Richard Brown, D-Kansas City, speaks on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on January 13, 2021 (file photo courtesy of Ben Peters at House Communications)

State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations director Anna Hui testified before the Missouri House Special Committee on Government Oversight, saying the state overpaid more than $150 million in unemployment benefits last year. She also says overpayments are a regular part of the unemployment program.

The $150 million number frustrates committee chairman Rep. Jered Taylor, R-Nixa, who notes the number was about $100 million three days ago. Director Hui says the number changes each day.

Director Hui testifies that about 46,000 Missourians have been impacted by the unemployment overpayments, and emphasizes that her department will work with them on a payment plan. She also says it’s critical for Missourians who have received unemployment overpayments to communicate with her department, for a repayment plan.

“And they can cover a number of different things whether it’s offset against future benefits, offset against tax returns, refunds or again, we establish a payment plan,” Director Hui testifies.

Lawmakers in both parties are critical of that. State Rep. Doug Clemens, D-St. Ann, has filed a bill to change current law that mandates that the Labor Department collect on overpayments. State Rep. Richard Brown, D-Kansas City, tells Director Hui that a woman he knows has received a letter, asking her to repay $23,000. Brown says the woman doesn’t have the money.

State Reps. Tony Lovasco, R-O’Fallon, and Peter Merideth, D-St. Louis, say Missourians who didn’t commit fraud should not have to repay money, because the state made the error.

“I think we need to figure out a way to let these people keep this money because ultimately they’re never going to trust us again if we don’t,” Lovasco says.

As for Representative Merideth, he’s filed a resolution that calls on Governor Parson to forgive the balance of non-fraudulent overpayments.

During the three-hour hearing, State Rep. J. Eggleston, R-Maysville, read a letter from a northwest Missouri teacher who’s being told she must repay $9,000, because of the state’s error. He says the teacher wishes she had been denied unemployment, to begin with.

Lawmakers also learned new details about the pandemic’s impact on the state’s economy and the unemployment system.

Director Hui testifies that Missouri paid out $236 million in unemployment benefits in 2019. That number increased to $5.1 billion in 2020, due to the pandemic.

Missouri Medicaid expansion implementation discussion to begin after State of State address

January 24, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

The Missouri House Budget Committee is expected to hold its first meeting of 2021 this week in Jefferson City.

Missouri House Budget Committee Chair Cody Smith, R-Carthage, speaks at the Statehouse in Jefferson City on November 9, 2020 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

House Majority Floor Leader Dean Plocher, R-Des Peres, has released a revised House schedule. A technical session has been added on Friday, which will allow the Budget Committee to meet that day.

Missouri’s current operating budget is about $38 billion, which includes two supplemental budgets with federal money.

Governor Mike Parson (R) will deliver his State of the State Address on Wednesday afternoon at 3 in Jefferson City, before a joint session of the Legislature. The governor will outline his 2021 legislative priorities at that time, and will also unveil his proposed budget blueprint.

The implementation of Medicaid expansion is expected to be a key issue this session.

“We will wait until after the state of the state (speech) to discuss new budget items like medex (Medicaid expansion). We need to see what the department (state Department of Social Services) proposes and spend a little time unpacking it,” House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, tells Missourinet.

Medicaid is formally called MO HealthNet. It’s a federal and state program that assists with medical costs for residents with limited incomes.

About 53 percent of Missouri voters approved Medicaid expansion in August. Amendment Two expands Medicaid for residents between the ages of 19 and 64 with an income level at or below 133 percent of the federal poverty level. Medicaid expansion supporters say the measure will provide healthcare to Missourians who earn less than $18,000 annually.

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, speaks on the Missouri House floor on January 6, 2021 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Medicaid expansion implementation is a top 2021 priority for House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, and other House Democrats. She notes Medicaid expansion will extend health care coverage to more than 200,000 Missourians.

“As we head into our second year of the (COVID) pandemic, we must take the lessons learned so far about what works and what doesn’t and translate it into action,” Leader Quade said on January 6, opening day for the Legislature. “We must work together to ensure Missourians can get vaccinated as quickly as possible. And the need to expand health care access as commanded by voters has never been more critical.”

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry and many labor unions endorsed Amendment Two. The Chamber frequently quoted a study from the Missouri Foundation for Health, which says Medicaid expansion will create more than 16,000 new jobs annually during its first five years. The Chamber says many of those jobs will be in rural Missouri.

However, Medicaid expansion failed in 105 of the state’s 114 counties. All 105 counties that voted against it are in rural Missouri, which is a GOP stronghold.

House Budget Committee Chairman Smith warned before the August election that Amendment Two was projected to cost $200 million in state general revenue, and $1.8 billion in federal funding each year.

While GOP Governor Parson campaigned against Medicaid expansion, he has told Capitol reporters several times that Medicaid expansion will be implemented because that was the will of the voters.

Missouri’s governor releases $127 million; says state is in top ten in recovery efforts

January 7, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

Citing the improving economy and Missouri’s 4.4 percent unemployment rate, Governor Mike Parson has released about $127 million in previously restricted funds.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson briefs Capitol reporters in Jefferson City on January 6, 2021 (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

“Thanks to our Show-Me strong recovery plan, we continue to outpace our economic recovery forecast, which is why we are able to release these funds today,” Parson says.

The governor tells Capitol reporters that 67 percent of the jobs lost during the pandemic have been recovered.

The funding released by Governor Parson on Wednesday includes $26 million for the Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development, $8.5 million for Missouri’s Division of Tourism, $120,000 for the meat and poultry inspection program and $50,000 for the food, beverage and forest products initiative.

Click here to see the full list of the funding that’s been released.

“Right now, the revenues look good in the state,” says Parson. “We’ve been so fortunate here in this state, I mean a 4.4 (percent) unemployment rate, I think we’re in the top ten in the recovery efforts.”

In October, Governor Parson released $40 million in general revenue and also allocated $95 million in CARES Act funding for critical services. When he made that October announcement, he also noted that Missouri’s unemployment rate had improved and that state revenues had outpaced expectations.

New Missouri House Speaker focusing on education and adoption: “I will work with any member from any party”

January 7, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

The Missouri House on Wednesday elected the first Speaker in state history from eastern Missouri’s Arnold. House Speaker Rob Vescovo, R-Arnold, was elected Speaker on his 44th birthday, with his wife Amanda and their five children in the chamber in Jefferson City.

A law enforcement color guard presents the flags at the Missouri House in Jefferson City on January 6, 2021 (photo courtesy of Ben Peters at House Communications)

Education was a primary theme during Vescovo’s address to the House. He says he was ridiculed by other students and by some of his teachers while growing up, due to his ADHD and other learning challenges. ADHD is attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Speaker Vescovo says it’s important to learn from students who struggled within the education system.

“As a student who struggled, I believe I do have valuable insight on what works and what doesn’t. I believe it is time our system of education listens to these students, including me, who have seen firsthand how the system can and should improve,” Vescovo tells the House.

He says Missouri’s teachers need the time, resources and flexibility to be able to work with children on a personal level.

Vescovo wants to provide parents with the option of sending their children to schools that will best serve their needs. He says the COVID pandemic has taught parents across Missouri an important lesson.

“Every parent wants to keep their kids safe and healthy, but we have also learned that teachers are more effective as educators in person, and that kids must be in school to learn effectively, in school,” says Vescovo.

House Republicans in the chamber stood up and applauded that call.

New Missouri House Speaker Rob Vescovo, R-Arnold, shakes hands with House colleagues after being elected Speaker on January 6, 2021 (photo courtesy of Ben Peters at House Communications)

Vescovo says the Legislature must continue to examine ways to give schools the resources they need to stay open.

He’s also challenging the Legislature to make a stronger commitment to early childhood education. Vescovo says the General Assembly must support policies that focus on empowerment, rather than imprisonment.

“If we want to better serve the people of our state, we must invest in our young people on the front end, rather than pay the cost of incarceration on the backend when our system fails them,” Vescovo says.

That line received a bipartisan standing ovation from the House.

Vescovo, who was adopted, is also calling on the Legislature to expand Missouri’s adoption tax credit, so that families who want to adopt a child aren’t blocked from doing it simply because of cost.

State Rep. Rusty Black, R-Chillicothe, nominated Vescovo for House Speaker. Black says Vescovo is focused on helping others and has worked to make a difference for Missourians. Vescovo was sworn-in as House Speaker by Judge Darrell Missey of the 23rd Judicial Circuit Court in Hillsboro. Vescovo and Judge Missey both live in Jefferson County.

Vescovo takes over for Springfield Republican Elijah Haahr, who termed-out of the House after eight years.

During his address, Vescovo also emphasized that he’s committed to working with both sides of the aisle to find legislative solutions to problems.

“I hope my time in the Floor Leader’s office has made it clear that I will work with any member from any party,” says Vescovo. “That will not change when I am Speaker. My door will be open and my time will be yours if and when you need it.”

Republicans control the Missouri House this session 114-47, and they control the Senate 24-10. The GOP has supermajorities in both chambers, and Governor Mike Parson is a Republican.

Missouri’s third-largest city saw record traffic fatalities in 2020; half of victims were on motorcycles (AUDIO)

January 5, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

Despite the COVID pandemic and fewer vehicles on the road, southwest Missouri’s Springfield had a record 27 traffic fatalities in 2020.

Springfield Police saw a record 27 traffic fatalities in 2020. Speed and distracted driving were the primary factors in most of them (2020 photo courtesy of Jasmine Bailey at the Springfield PD)

Springfield Police Chief Paul Williams is urging residents to slow down.

“The pandemic had a double-edged sword effect in traffic,” Williams says. “There was less traffic but people seemed to drive faster and be less interested in paying attention to what they were doing.”

The Missouri State Highway Patrol also warned about this issue several times last year.

Williams says speed and distracted driving are the primary factors in the traffic fatalities. He also tells Missourinet that Springfield Police wrote twice as many speeding tickets in 2020 as the previous year.

Chief Williams notes 13 of the 27 victims were traveling on motorcycles. He’s urging motorists to slow down, and to watch for motorcycles on both sides of their vehicle.

“We’ve created a motorcycle safety program that we kicked off internally for city employees earlier in the year, and we’re looking at rolling that out to the general public here in 2021,” says Williams.

Five of the victims were pedestrians.

“We got a grant from the state to do some pedestrian safety education and enforcement. Getting ready to kick that off,” Chief Williams says.

Springfield has about 168,000 residents.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with Springfield Police Chief Paul Williams, which was recorded on January 4, 2021:

Christmas Eve and Christmas Catholic masses will be different this year in Missouri (AUDIO)

December 22, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The COVID pandemic has prompted the Roman Catholic Church to schedule additional Christmas Eve masses this year, and 3 p.m. Christmas Eve services will be allowed for the first time ever in Missouri.

St. Mary Parish in mid-Missouri’s Glasgow is located in the Diocese of Jefferson City (December 2020 photo courtesy of Bishop McKnight)

Diocese of Jefferson City Bishop Shawn McKnight, who was appointed by Pope Francis in 2017, says the early Christmas Eve masses are the most popular ones of the year.

“We are stepping things up in order to provide even multiple opportunities for mass perhaps even in the same parish. Having more than one mass going at the same time,” Bishop McKnight says.

The Diocese of Jefferson City has 110 parishes in 38 counties in central, west-central and northeast Missouri. The diocese includes Jefferson City, Columbia, Boonville, Hannibal, Moberly, Marshall, Rolla and Sedalia.

Columbia’s Our Lady of Lourdes church, the largest parish in the diocese, is offering two separate 3 pm and 5 pm masses on Christmas Eve.

Some of the other larger parishes in the state have similar plans. Assumption Parish in eastern Missouri’s O’Fallon plans a 4 p.m. Christmas Eve mass in the church and a 4:15 p.m. mass in the chapel.

“The more opportunities that we have available, then the greater allowances for social distancing,” says McKnight.

Bishop McKnight has asked every available priest in his diocese to celebrate a 3 p.m. Christmas Eve mass. He says it’s about safety during the pandemic.

“It was a recommendation of the priest council of the diocese to me several months ago that we move up the time period for Christmas vigil masses,” McKnight says. “Normally, it’s at 4 o’clock, the earliest mass that can take place before a holy day.”

Masks and social distancing are required at all masses in Missouri, and the bishops in all four dioceses have given Catholics dispensation from mass obligations until further notice. That’s due to the pandemic.

Bishop McKnight says divine law still requires Catholics to pray the rosary, read scripture or watch a live-streamed mass, if they’re unable to attend mass in-person.

He’ll celebrate a Christmas Eve mass at 7 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Jefferson City.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with Diocese of Jefferson City Bishop Shawn McKnight, which was recorded on December 17, 2020: