governor mike parson Archives

Missouri gets $6 million in federal aid to create thousands of tech apprenticeships

November 10, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation is deploying $6 million in federal funding to create 5,300 new tech industry apprenticeships. During a virtual event Monday, President Dan Mehan calls the investment a game changer.

Missouri gets $6 million in federal aid to create thousands of tech apprenticeships

“There is an apprenticeship revolution going on in Missouri,” he says. “Over the last two years, our state ranks second in the number of completed apprenticeships – second only behind California.”

More than 10,000 Missourians have gone through an apprenticeship program that gives them real-world and traditional learning through a paid work experience. The effort is meant to give participants a feel for whether they would like to make a living in the profession.

According to the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, about 94% of apprentices are retained by their employers after they complete their apprenticeships and the average annual salary is not too shabby – about $70,000. The Chamber says the pay leads to a $300,000 lifetime earning advantage over non-apprentices.

Mehan says the state is “poised for strong growth” in apprenticeships thanks to a number of developments this year.

Mehan says House Bill 2046, passed this year by the Missouri Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Mike Parson, will boost the state’s apprenticeship efforts. The plan, sponsored by Rep. Derek Grier, R-Chesterfield, gives students industry credentials after they finish their program.

“This progress could not have come at a better time,” says Mehan. “We all know our state faces many challenges as we continue to confront COVID-19 and seek to grow our economy out of it. One of our biggest challenges will be training workers who find themselves unemployed or underemployed due to the pandemic. Apprenticeships will be a very important tool as we work to help get these workers back on the job and likewise ensure that Missouri employers have the talent they need to grow and power our economy.”

Another development Mehan points to is Missouri Apprentice Connect – the first in the nation apprenticeship matching program. The free service can be found by going to MoApprenticeConnect.com

Dr. Mardy Leathers, director of the Missouri Office of Workforce Development, says there is a wide variety of businesses contributing to the state’s apprenticeship success.

“In Missouri, it would be easy if I could rattle off the names of a couple employers. But the reality is, there are 493 employers who have apprenticeship programs in the state. So, we have a lot of employers who engage,” says Leathers. “It’s actually a great thing that I can’t rattle those names off because we have so many.”

U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, helped to secure the federal grant. Blunt chairs a subcommittee that funds U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and others.

“Nobody has taken better advantage of this than Missouri has,” says Blunt. “We’ve got a new Office of Apprenticeships and Work-Based Learning that has been set up in the Department of Higher Education. I think what these apprenticeship programs do and what our state, what you’ve done and what Governor Parson has done and others have done, is realize we have to look at the workplace a little differently.”

Cerner Corporation – a global healthcare technology company in Kansas City – was the lead partner in bringing the federal grant to Missouri.

Missouri’s largest hospitals feeling COVID-19 strain from rural areas

October 30, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Some of Missouri’s largest hospitals are getting an increased number of COVID-19 patients from rural communities. During a briefing Thursday in Springfield, Gov. Mike Parson says he met with CoxHealth in Springfield to talk about some of the challenges the southwest Missouri hospital is facing.

Gov. Mike Parson

“Areas like Springfield are seeing a lot of patients transferred in from smaller hospitals and surrounding communities – putting additional stress on systems like Cox,” says Parson. “During our meeting, we talked about empowering rural hospitals and equipping them with the tools to care for more COVID-19 patients, which would help relieve some of the stress on our largest hospitals. We are looking into ways that we might do this.”

According to Kansas City Public Radio, Kansas City area hospital leaders say admissions there are reaching near all-time highs because of patients coming from rural areas. In the past two weeks, some hospitals in that region have had to stop accepting ambulances and patient transfers from other places for periods of time due to capacity problems.

A Kansas City area hospital nurse says many rural area COVID-19 patients are arriving in critical condition because they did not receive adequate treatment early on in their community. Around 68% of Missouri counties lack intensive care units. Many rural counties don’t even have a hospital, let alone an ICU.

KCUR says Missouri has the eighth highest number of hospitalized patients in the country. About 1,500 individuals with the virus are being treated in a Missouri hospital.

According to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Service’s COVID-19 dashboard, Northwest Missouri’s remaining hospital bed capacity is at 28%. As for the Kansas City region, the state says it has about 39% of its beds available. The number of intensive care unit beds available statewide ranges from 28% to 41%, state data says.

Parson calls special session Nov. 5 to access additional federal aid

October 21, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Gov. Mike Parson has called another special session – this time to focus on getting extra federal coronavirus funding made available to the state. The federal aid includes funding for school meals, grants for homelessness prevention and job training, child support payments, among others.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson briefs Capitol reporters in Jefferson City on October 15, 2020 (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

“COVID-19 has had an overwhelming impact on our state, and while we have made great progress, this additional funding will be critical as we continue to respond and work through the recovery process,” Parson says. “We look forward to working with the General Assembly to make sure these funds are distributed across Missouri as soon as possible.”

According to the State Auditor’s website, Missouri has been given nearly $3 billion in federal CARES Act funding. The state has allocated out about $1.7 billion of the money.

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, says the governor’s call for a special session is a political stunt.

“When the legislature passed the current state budget in May, it granted the governor broad authority to spend federal coronavirus relief funds precisely so he would have the flexibility to act without calling lawmakers back to Jefferson City. As a result, it is highly questionable whether this special session is even necessary,” says Quade. “The governor’s response to the pandemic has ranged from indifference to incompetence and thousands of Missourians have died. Calling a special session this close to an election he is in jeopardy of losing seems more like a desperate political move than leadership.”

Lawmakers are scheduled to begin the session November 5.

This is the second special session Parson has called lawmakers back to Jefferson City for this year. Over the summer, he called one to have the Missouri Legislature pass crime legislation.

Last call for Missouri schools to request rapid COVID-19 tests from the state

October 20, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Missouri K-12 public and private schools who want rapid COVID-19 tests must request them by Wednesday, October 21, at noon. Applications should be submitted to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). The department will then work quickly to get the BinaxNOW antigen testing to schools.

Last call for Missouri schools to request rapid COVID-19 tests from the state

The tests are not as uncomfortable as other nasal swab versions and they give results in about 15 minutes. They are supposed to be used on symptomatic school workers first and then students.

During a press conference last week at Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, Gov. Mike Parson said the new testing could be a “game-changer” for Missouri.

“Testing is the key to how we move forward, whether it’s the economy, whether it’s the school systems, whether it’s public safety, whether it’s everyday lives. We just have got to keep expanding,” said Parson.

Missouri has received about 120,000 of the tests so far from the federal government with another 1.6 million designated for the state.

“Eighty-nine percent of the kids in the state of Missouri are in school – in classrooms as we speak or a hybrid version across the state. So, I think those are important,” said Parson. “I think every expert, everybody you would talk to, believes those kids should be in school. So, we’ve got to make sure that we get the testing.”

The state’s colleges and universities will have the chance to apply soon to also get the antigen tests.

Missouri K-12 schools can click here for more information about applying.

Galloway bashes Parson on Right-to-work stance

October 20, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

State Auditor Nicole Galloway made a stop in southwest Missouri’s Joplin Monday afternoon. Galloway, a Democrat who is running for governor, criticized her opponent, Republican Governor Mike Parson, about his stance on making Missouri a Right-to-work state.

Gov. Mike Parson and State Auditor Nicole Galloway

In 2018, voters overwhelmingly opposed passing such a law that would ban mandatory union fees in the workplace.

“You know what those powerful special interests want – they want Missouri to be a Right-to-work state. We voted no on Prop A. Why aren’t they listening,” asks Galloway. “As Right to Work was going down in flames, Governor Parson’s administration was trying to figure out how to implement Right-to-work county by county.”

In 2018, KSDK-TV in St. Louis reported that Parson’s office began looking at options for Right-to-work to happen at the county level – before voters rejected the ballot measure.

Missourinet reached out to Parson’s campaign and is awaiting a response.

Right-to-work supporters contend that such laws improve the economy and create jobs. Opponents of Right-to-work say banning mandatory union fees would lead to a decline in wages and safety measures.

Ty Albright of Missourinet affiliate KZRG in Joplin contributed to this story.

Missouri submits 111-page COVID-19 vaccine plan to CDC

October 15, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri has submitted its plan for administering the impending COVID vaccine to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The state will receive feedback from the CDC on the 111-page plan by October 26.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) logo (image courtesy of DHSS)

State Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) Director Dr. Randall Williams tells Capitol reporters that the plan’s hallmark is collaboration and coordination.

“It represents more than 100 state employees, a whole government approach, working with FQHC’s, working with hospitals, working with nursing homes, working with partners in the state and our federal partners,” Dr. Williams says.

FQHC’s are federally qualified health centers.

Missouri’s plan is based upon CDC’s anticipation of a phased availability of vaccines within the state.

Dr. Williams says Missouri will collaborate with health care systems and pharmacy partners to vaccinate long-term care facility staff and other health care workers.

“Our north star is to get this vaccine to those families, for their loved ones to get it, and at the same time to prevent community transmission so we can reduce the stress on our health care system,” he says.

Dr. Williams spoke to Capitol reporters at a Jefferson City press conference on Wednesday afternoon, where he was joined by Governor Mike Parson.

The plan says the highest risk population for mortality from COVID is nursing home residents, with 75 percent of Missouri’s COVID deaths happening in these facilities.

Missouri has about 425,000 health care workers. Dr. Williams says that as vaccine availability expands, efforts will be aimed at residents most at risk, the elderly and those with certain medical conditions.

The Missouri Hospital Association is praising the plan. They have been a partner in the vaccine planning effort.

“Missouri’s hospitals will be actively engaged in advocating for vaccination and administering the vaccine in the communities they serve,” Missouri Hospital Association President Herb Kuhn says, in a written statement.

Click here to read the 111-page plan.

The state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) says the state has had 150,554 COVID cases this year, along with 2,442 deaths.

Missouri schools have a few days left to request rapid COVID-19 tests from the state

October 15, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Missouri K-12 public and private schools who want rapid COVID-19 tests must request them by next Wednesday at noon. Applications should be submitted to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). The department will then work quickly to get the BinaxNOW antigen testing to schools.

Missouri schools have a few days left to request rapid COVID-19 tests from the state

The tests are not as uncomfortable as other nasal swab versions and they give results in about 15 minutes. They are supposed to be used on symptomatic school workers first and then students.

During a press conference today at Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, Gov. Mike Parson says the new testing could be a “game-changer” for Missouri.

Missouri has received about 120,000 of the tests so far from the federal government with another 1.6 million designated for the state.

“Eighty-nine percent of the kids in the state of Missouri are in school – in classrooms as we speak or a hybrid version across the state. So, I think those are important,” says Parson. “I think every expert, everybody you would talk to, believes those kids should be in school. So, we’ve got to make sure that we get the testing.”

The state’s colleges and universities will have the chance to apply soon to also get the antigen tests.

Missouri K-12 schools can click here for more information about applying. Click on the antigen testing section.

Hegeman and Soendker-Nickolson to debate Missouri’s Amendment Three Wednesday night

October 14, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Southwest Missouri’s Drury University will host a virtual forum Wednesday evening about Amendment Three, which will appear on your November ballot. The issue has been a controversial one at the Statehouse in Jefferson City.

Tonight’s one-hour forum begins at 6, and you’ll be able to watch it live on this link. The event is being hosted by Drury University’s L.E. Meador Center for Politics and Citizenship. Drury is located in Springfield.

Missouri voters approved “Clean Missouri” in November 2018. It had several provisions, including one requiring a nonpartisan demographer to draw state legislative districts.

Amendment Three would roll back the provision involving redistricting, transferring the responsibility of drawing the districts from the demographer to a governor-appointed bipartisan commission.

During tonight’s forum, State Sen. Dan Hegeman, R-Cosby, and “No On 3” director Sean Soendker-Nickolson will be speaking via zoom. Senator Hegeman sponsored the legislation to place Amendment Three on the ballot. Soendker-Nickolson led the effort for Clean Missouri in 2018 and directs “No One 3” now.

Drury University spokesman Mike Brothers tells Missourinet that the forum will also include questions submitted by the public. Dr. Dan Ponder, the Meador Center director, will serve as moderator.

The League of Women Voters of Southwest Missouri, NAACP Springfield and Missouri State University’s public affairs office are also partnering with Drury for tonight’s forum.

Amendment Three has been a key issue in Missouri’s heated gubernatorial race, and was discussed by both major candidates at Friday’s debate in Columbia.

Governor Mike Parson (R) opposed Clean Missouri and supports Amendment Three.

“None of the big money behind this ever talked about how the redistricting would work, they talked about everything but that (in 2018),” Parson said Friday. “This is a major shift in how we do elections in the state of Missouri.”

Democratic State Auditor and gubernatorial nominee Nicole Galloway disagrees. She supported Clean Missouri in 2018 and opposes Amendment Three.

“In November of 2018, over 60 percent of voters said they want a fair, transparent government and they wanted to get rid of gerrymandering,” Galloway said at Friday’s debate.

Missouri’s candidates for governor prepare to square off today

October 9, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Gov. Mike Parson and State Auditor Nicole Galloway

A debate featuring Missouri’s candidates for governor is set for today at 2 p.m. in Columbia. It was postponed after Gov. Mike Parson tested positive for COVID-19.

The one-hour debate is hosted by the Missouri Press Association and KOMU-TV in Columbia.

According to a press release from the Missouri Press Association, this will be the first debate with all four candidates for governor. Parson faces State Auditor Nicole Galloway, a Democrat, along with Libertarian Rik Combs and the Green Party’s Jerome Howard Bauer.

The event will be held at the Missouri Theatre. It will not be open to the public.

Missourinet will cover the debate with stories to follow.

After deaths, Parson orders review of COVID-19 procedures within Missouri Veterans Homes

October 2, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Gov. Mike Parson is ordering an external review of Missouri’s seven Veterans Homes to determine if their efforts go far enough to combat COVID-19. The move follows a briefing Thursday with the governor that he says “raised concerns” about how well the homes are uniformly and systematically operating to prevent and, if necessary, contain COVID-19 outbreaks.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson briefs Capitol reporters in Jefferson City on July 27, 2020 (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

“We are deeply saddened by the news of the deaths in four of our Missouri Veterans Homes,” says Parson in a press release. “As a veteran myself, I care a great deal about the quality of care our veterans receive at the Veterans Homes in our state and have raised an alarm bell more than once when I felt we as a state weren’t meeting the standard of care I believe they are owed. We have been fighting COVID-19 for over seven months now, and we have learned a lot about how to fight the virus since March. The recent sudden positive case growth among staff and residents in our Veterans Homes, and most importantly, the tragic loss of lives of veterans in our care are, in my opinion, unacceptable.”

The Missouri Veterans Commission (MVC) has provided information showing 155 active cases of COVID-19 currently exist among veterans and employees within the nursing homes.

• Cameron Veterans Home – active COVID-19 cases: 2 veterans (reported Oct. 1); 2 staff members
• Cape Girardeau Veterans Home – active COVID-19 cases: 57 veterans; 12 staff members
• Mexico Veterans Home – active COVID-19 cases: 0 veterans; 0 staff members
• Mt. Vernon Veterans Home – active COVID-19 cases: 27 veterans; 4 staff members
• St. James Veterans Home – active COVID-19 cases: 24 veterans; 9 staff members
• St. Louis Veterans Home – active COVID-19 cases: 0 veterans; 2 staff member
• Warrensburg Veterans Home – active COVID-19 cases: 12 veterans; 4 staff members

Until September, the commission says there had been a total of one death of a resident of a Veterans Home while there was an active COVID-19 case in a home. The one veteran death was at the St. Louis Home in April. For September, the following total deaths were reported at each home indicated while there were known COVID-19 cases among veterans in the home. MVC says the number of deaths that were caused by COVID-19 is not known at this time.

• Cape Girardeau Veterans Home – 21 total deaths reported
• Mt. Vernon Veterans Home – 7 total deaths reported
• St. James Veterans Home – 10 total deaths reported
• Warrensburg Veterans Home – 3 total deaths reported

In a press release from the commission, it says after months of few or no COVID-19 cases among veterans at Missouri’s Veterans Homes, five of the seven homes have reported active veteran cases this past month. Two new veteran cases were reported at one home for the first time Thursday.

Upon the first COVID-19 case being reported in Missouri on March 7, the commission immediately restricted access to visitors, vendors, and volunteers at all the homes. MVC then began training and made infectious disease protocols, including twice daily temperature checks and contact interviews with all employees.

In August, MVC began outdoor visits with family members and loved ones as conditions permitted. All outdoor visits included a screening process and wearing masks.

According to the release, over the last four months, more than 21,000 tests have been conducted among veterans and staff. In some of the homes staff and veterans are tested twice per week.

“From the first day that COVID-19 was detected in Missouri, the Veterans Homes implemented an extensive plan based on best practices to attempt to keep the virus out of our homes and protect our veterans,” MVC Executive Director Paul Kirchhoff says in the press release. “This has included limiting access, setting up quarantine and isolation areas in advance, extensive use of Personal Protective Equipment and increased cleaning and hygiene measures. We are concerned to see the heroes we care for dealing with this disease that is so virulent among the elderly and vulnerable populations.”

The governor has instructed Missouri Veterans Commission Chairman Timothy Noonan to launch a speedy, external to assess their performance and find ways, if any, to improve their management of COVID-19.

According to Parson’s release, the governor has also directed the deployment of the new Abbott BinaxNOW rapid antigen tests to Missouri Veterans Homes. An initial shipment of 2,400 tests was delivered to the MVC headquarters today to be distributed to priority Veterans Homes. The release says the nursing homes will then be supplied with sufficient antigen and PCR tests to support ongoing testing requirements.