former Missouri Governor Jay Nixon Archives

Missouri motorcycle helmet legislation is still under review

June 10, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s governor is still reviewing legislation that would allow some motorcyclists to ride without a helmet.

State Rep. Jered Taylor, R-Nixa, speaks on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on February 20, 2020 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

The provision is included in a large transportation bill that is now on Governor Mike Parson’s desk. Parson’s spokeswoman, Kelli Jones, told Missourinet on Wednesday that the large bill is still under review.

Current Missouri law requires every person operating or riding a motorcycle to wear protective headgear.

The provision in the transportation bill would allow riders 26 and older to operate a motorcycle without a helmet, if they have both medical insurance and proof of financial responsibility.

A national highway safety organization is calling on the governor to veto the bill, because of the helmet provision. The organization “Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety” says the helmet law saves lives and prevents life-long brain trauma.

The group also says it will be difficult to enforce, saying it will be hard for police to know if a motorcyclist driving by is 26 or older.

State Rep. Jered Taylor, R-Nixa, and other supporters of repealing the helmet law say it’s an issue of freedom. They say Missourians 26 or older should be able to decide whether or not they want to wear a helmet.

The organization “Freedom of the Road Riders” also supports the repeal. Their members travel to the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City each year to ask lawmakers to support a helmet repeal.

This is a perennial issue that’s been debated annually at the Capitol for more than 25 years.

At least three governors, including GOP Governor Parson, have vetoed helmet repeal legislation. Governor Parson vetoed a broad bill in 2019, that included a helmet repeal. The governor’s objections were to a different part of that overall bill.

Then-Governor Mel Carnahan (D) vetoed a similar motorcycle helmet bill in 1999, and then-Governor Jay Nixon (D) vetoed a similar bill in 2009. None of those three vetoes were overridden.

Medicaid expansion emerging as key issue in Missouri gubernatorial race

February 25, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s GOP governor and his likely November Democratic opponent clashed over the issue of Medicaid expansion, during separate press conferences Tuesday in Jefferson City.

Former Missouri House Speaker Todd Richardson opens a special session on June 11, 2018. Richardson is now the state’s Medicaid director (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Medicaid is a federal and state program that assists with medical costs for residents who have limited incomes. Missouri’s current Medicaid budget is about $10 billion, accounting for about one-third of the state’s $30 billion operating budget.

Governor Mike Parson (R) and State Auditor Nicole Galloway (D) spoke to Capitol reporters at separate press conferences, after they filed for governor at the Kirkpatrick Building.

Missourinet asked both candidates about the issue, during their briefings. Governor Parson opposes Medicaid expansion, saying the system is broken.

“When (Auditor) Galloway was there and (Democratic Governor Jay) Nixon was there, we had over one million people on the state Medicaid roll out of six million. So when you think of that practically, one out of every six people on Medicaid,” Parson says.

Parson also says no one verified the Medicaid rolls, for more than a decade. He also emphasizes that children who qualify for Medicaid should receive it, and that his administration wants them to receive it.

Auditor Galloway, the presumptive Democratic nominee, backs Medicaid expansion. She says rural Missouri hospitals are closing, and that thousands of children have lost their health insurance coverage, under Parson.

Galloway says Medicaid expansion is crucial.

“We have a governor that has kicked 100,000 children off of their health insurance, and he has no vision and no solution on how he’s going to fix that,” Galloway says.

Medicaid expansion supporters, including “Healthcare for Missouri”, note that eight rural Missouri hospitals have closed in recent years. The group says Arkansas and Ohio have expanded Medicaid, and that they’ve used Medicaid-derived savings to cut income taxes.

Governor Parson sees it differently, asking why someone would want to expand a broken system. He also suggests that some lawmakers are grandstanding on the issue, and asks if they’ve trying to sign people up for Medicaid.

House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, also opposes Medicaid expansion. He says it would take dollars out of the classroom, noting it requires a ten percent match for the 90 percent draw down.

Two other Republicans filed today against Governor Parson in the GOP gubernatorial primary: State Rep. Jim Neely, R-Cameron, and Seneca resident Raleigh Ritter.

St. Louis Democrats Jimmie Matthews and Antoin Johnson have filed in the Democratic gubernatorial primary.

Filing will continue on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Kirkpatrick Building. The final day of filing is March 31.