House Minority Leader Crystal Quade Archives

Missouri lawmakers to tackle Medicaid expansion issue on Tuesday

October 7, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

A Missouri House subcommittee will hear testimony on the issue of Medicaid expansion Tuesday at the Statehouse in Jefferson City.

State Rep. Steve Helms, R-Springfield

The House Subcommittee on Health Care Reform will hold Tuesday’s hearing at 12:30.

Subcommittee chairman Steve Helms, R-Springfield, tells Missourinet his committee aim is to improve access to health care and make it more affordable for Missourians. Helms says the subcommittee is looking at ways to reduce costs for individuals.

Helms also tells Missourinet the subcommittee will issue a report to the full committee.

Medicaid expansion has primarily been a party-line issue in the Legislature, and Republicans currently control the House 113-43.

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

Speaker Haahr says Medicaid expansion “would blow a sizable hole in our general revenue budget,” because of the match.

Missouri House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, briefs Capitol reporters on September 11, 2019, along with Assistant Minority Leader Tommie Pierson, D-St. Louis, and Minority Whip Keri Ingle, D-Lee’s Summit (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, shares Speaker Haahr’s position, because of the impact on the state budget.

House Democratic Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, supports Medicaid expansion, saying 100,000 children have lost their Medicaid health care coverage. She says it’s an emergency.

Statistics provided by the state Department of Social Services (DSS) show the number of Missourians on Medicaid has decreased from 953,000 in August 2018 to 850,000 now.

State Rep. Deb Lavender, D-Kirkwood, predicts state revenue will increase, if Medicaid expansion happens. Lavender is the ranking Democrat on the House Subcommittee on Appropriations for Health, Mental Health and Social Services.

Lavender notes eight rural Missouri hospitals have closed in recent years.

Missouri’s Medicaid budget is now about one-third of the state’s approximately $29 billion operating budget.

Haahr and Quade have different perspectives on Missouri Medicaid expansion

September 26, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

The Missouri House Speaker and House Democrats view the issue of Medicaid expansion differently.

Missouri House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, briefs Capitol reporters on September 11, 2019 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, says Medicaid expansion would hurt education, by taking dollars out of the classroom.

“To do Medicaid expansion in Missouri would require a ten percent match for the 90 percent draw down,” Haahr tells Capitol reporters. “That would blow a sizable hole in our general revenue budget.”

An initiative petition effort for Medicaid expansion is being criticized by Speaker Haahr, primarily because of that ten percent match.

“One of the things that we’ve done since I’ve been in the Legislature (since 2013) is we’ve fully funded the k-12 (education foundation) formula, we’ve made a big attempt to try to bring our higher education funding up,” says Haahr. “Those two areas would have an incredible hit if we were to have to cut several hundred million dollars out of the budget and fund that.”

House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, tells Missourinet he shares the Speaker’s position, because of the impact on the state budget.

Missouri House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, briefs the Capitol Press Corps on September 11, 2019 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Meantime, the Democratic leader in the Missouri House supports Medicaid expansion. House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, tells Capitol reporters about 100,000 Missouri children have lost their Medicaid health care coverage.

“This is something that we (lawmakers) should be talking about. We have Missourians all over the state, not just rural Missouri, urban Missouri, who are losing access to health care,” Quade says. “And that is a true emergency and not tax breaks.”

Leader Quade has called for a formal House committee investigation of the Medicaid enrollment decline. The state Department of Social Services (DSS) has provided statistics to Missourinet, which show the number of Missourians on Medicaid has dropped from about 953,000 in August 2018 to about 850,000 now.

During the recent veto session, Lavender spoke on the House floor in Jefferson City, noting that eight rural Missouri hospitals have closed.

“I believe our number is up to eight rural hospitals that we’ve lost in our state. So yes, this would be one of the ways that we would be able to at least provide some type of health care,” Lavender said that day. She was referring to a health care bill from State Rep. Chuck Basye, R-Rocheport.

Missouri’s Medicaid budget is now about one-third of the state’s $29 billion operating budget.

Republicans currently control the Missouri House 113-43.

20 House Democrats vote for vehicle sales tax bill pushed by Missouri GOP Governor

September 12, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

The Missouri House has voted to give final approval to bipartisan legislation in Jefferson City that involves a complicated state Supreme Court ruling about vehicle sales taxes.

House Transportation Committee Chair Becky Ruth, R-Festus, speaks on the Missouri House floor on September 11, 2019 in Jefferson City (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Wednesday’s vote was 126-21, and more than a dozen House Democrats voted for the bill. It’s sponsored by House Transportation Committee Chairwoman Becky Ruth, R-Festus.

House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, tells Capitol reporters there’s a lot of support for the bill’s merits.

“Anytime you have a special session, there’s a lot of people that say ‘what about this issue’, ‘what about that.’ But on the actual issue that we were debating (the Ruth bill), we had across (bi)partisan support since the beginning,” Haahr says.

Governor Mike Parson (R) called this week’s special session, following the summer court ruling.

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, also briefed Capitol reporters following Wednesday’s vote. She is critical of the special session, saying it’s wasting tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars.

“It makes no sense to prioritize tax breaks for a few over the lives of Missourians who die nearly everyday due to gun violence,” says Quade.

Despite Leader Quade’s comments, 20 House Democrats voted for the bill. It involves using the sale proceeds of a vehicle as a credit against the purchase price of a new vehicle when calculating sales tax.

The bill now heads to the Senate Ways and Means Committee for a hearing Thursday morning at 11:15 at the Capitol. State Sen. Andrew Koenig, R-Manchester, chairs Ways and Means.

Missouri governor calls special session on car sales; Quade blasts decision

August 21, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri lawmakers will return to Jefferson City in September for a special session involving a complicated Missouri Supreme Court ruling about vehicle sales.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson briefs reporters at the State Fair in Sedalia on August 15, 2019 (Brian Hauswirth photo)

Governor Mike Parson (R) announced the special session today. Parson told Missourinet on Thursday at the State Fair that he was considering the special session over the Supreme Court’s “Kehlenbrink vs. Department of Revenue” case.

“After reviewing the court’s decision, we’ve decided to call a special session because it’s simply the right thing to do for the people of our state,” Parson announced today. “The enforcement of this decision would create a financial burden on Missouri taxpayers and unnecessary government red tape that we can proactively prevent.”

The Supreme Court case involves using the sale proceeds of a vehicle as a credit against the purchase price of a new vehicle when calculating sales tax. Essentially, the Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that state law unambiguously permits the sale proceeds of only one vehicle as a credit against the purchase price of a new car, for the purposes of calculating sales tax.

“And really, the simple version of it (the Supreme Court’s ruling) is when you trade cars in, for example if you trade two cars in, you get a credit back on those two cars or for that model if you’re buying another one. There was a ruling by the Supreme Court that says you can only do one,” Parson told Missourinet Thursday at the State Fair in Sedalia.

Parson said at the fair that the issue “needs to be fixed.” The governor says the ruling impacts about 2,000 to 3,000 Missourians, adding this is money out of their pocket.

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, has issued a statement, saying Governor Parson is “putting taxpayers on the hook for unnecessary special session.”

“Roughly 100,000 Missouri children have lost their state health care coverage, but the Parson administration says there’s no problem. Missouri’s irresponsible and weak gun laws have contributed to a sharp spike in gun violence and recently enabled a heavily-armed man to cause a panic at a Springfield Wal-Mart, yet Governor Parson does nothing. There are several issues that demand immediate legislative attention and would justify the cost of a special session. Creating an unnecessary tax break for a handful of people isn’t one of them,” Quade’s statement says.

Governor Parson told Missourinet on Thursday that the special session would be technical, adding that “it would be a very limited special session.” The governor’s comments at the fair indicated that issues like Medicaid and guns were off-the-table for a special session.

Under the governor’s call, lawmakers will return to Jefferson City on September 9. The special session will run concurrently with the veto session, which begins on September 11.

Haahr and Quade reflect on Missouri’s 2019 legislative session (AUDIO)

May 20, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

The Missouri House Speaker describes the 2019 legislative session as the most successful policy session he’s seen in his seven years in the Legislature.

Missouri House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, delivers a rare House floor speech on May 17, 2019 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, tells Capitol reporters the Legislature passed 94 bills that are now on the governor’s desk.

“Obviously the Missouri Stands for the Unborn Act, what we believe to be the boldest most comprehensive pro-life legislation in the nation. We also passed three different major criminal justice reforms,” Haahr says.

The heartbeat abortion legislation received final approval from the House on Friday afternoon. The vote was 110-44. The bill from State Rep. Nick Schroer, R-O’Fallon, would essentially ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected.

The criminal justice reform measures passed with bipartisan support, and were top priorities for both Speaker Haahr and Missouri’s Legislative Black Caucus. One of the bills eliminates mandatory minimum sentences for some nonviolent crimes.

Haahr is disappointed the Legislature didn’t pass prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) legislation. During a Friday evening Statehouse press conference, Speaker Haahr told Missourinet he expects PDMP to be filed again in 2020.

“Obviously, the prescription drug monitoring bill was not able to get across the finish line. We remain committed to it, and I believe (Scott City) Representative Holly Rehder remains committed to it as well,” says Haahr.

Missouri is the only state in the nation without a PDMP, which is an electronic database that collects data on controlled substance prescriptions within a state.

Missouri House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, briefs Capitol reporters on May 17, 2019 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

As for Representative Rehder, she tells Missourinet she intends to file PDMP again in January. Rehder says that year after year as lawmakers have failed to act, “thousands of our children have lost their lives.”

Speaker Haahr is also praising the Legislature’s passage of Fast Track, which allows Missourians to receive advanced training in high-demand areas. He’s also pleased with the General Assembly’s quick passage of legislation aimed at attracting a $1 billion expansion at the sprawling General Motors plant in Wentzville.

Haahr says the Legislature has approved a $29.7 billion state operating budget, which fully funds the k-12 school foundation formula. He also praises passage of the bridge bonding bill.

House Democrats were outnumbered this year 114-46, putting them in a superminority.

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, delivered a floor speech just before session ended on Friday, saying her members feel ignored by House GOP leaders. Missourinet asked Quade about her comments during Friday evening’s press conference. She says no Democratic budget amendments were approved in committee or on the floor in 2019.

“This is the first time since the Republicans took control of the House (in 2003) that the minority leader didn’t have a single bill move. So few of our members got hearings it was laughable,” Quade says.

Quade says she’s proud of her caucus, adding that Democrats will “work tirelessly” to flip seats in 2020.

Quade says her caucus fought in 2019 to hold the state Department of Revenue (DOR) accountable, over this year’s surprise tax bills.

“House Democrats fought for taxpayers, demanding answers from the Department of Revenue and ultimately forcing the resignation of its director,” says Quade.

Former DOR Director Joel Walters resigned in March, after being criticized by lawmakers in both parties about a tax withholding issue.

House Special Committee on Government Oversight Chairman Robert Ross, R-Yukon, told Missourinet recently that the committee is working to draft a final report about DOR.

One key bill that did pass that had strong support from both Speaker Haahr and Leader Quade is Hailey’s Law, which would require Missouri’s Amber Alert System Oversight Committee to meet at least annually.

The bill, which is sponsored by State Rep. Curtis Trent, R-Springfield, is in response to the gruesome 2014 kidnapping, rape and killing of ten-year-old Hailey Owens in Springfield.

The murder happened in Quade’s district.

Click here to listen to the full press conferences from House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, and House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, which happened on May 17, 2019 at the Statehouse in Jefferson City:

Missouri lawmakers approve $29 billion budget; tuition for undocumented immigrants was key issue

May 10, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

The Missouri Legislature has approved an approximately $29.7 billion state operating budget, one that prevents undocumented immigrants from receiving in-state college tuition.

Missouri House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage (left) and House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, talk on May 9, 2019 in Jefferson City (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

The state Constitution requires Missouri lawmakers to approve a balanced budget by today. The House approved the budget at about 11:15 Thursday evening, and the Senate approved it at about 1:45 this morning.

House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, led Thursday’s House effort to reject a budget conference committee’s recommendation that would have allowed those with unlawful immigration status to receive in-state tuition.

“And the House position is that we are going to reserve our limited resources and taxpayer dollars to subsidize in-state tuition for those with legal, lawful status,” Smith says.

State Rep. Curtis Trent, R-Springfield, who serves on the Budget Committee, also successfully urged his House colleagues to reject the budget conference committee’s recommendation.

“I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that if we allow this language to stand, people primarily in rural areas will be most injured by this, who will be most denied the opportunities that this state subsidy for education provides,” says Trent.

Missouri House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, speaks on the House floor on May 9, 2019 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Trent says his southwest Missouri constituents oppose providing in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants. State Rep. Dean Dohrman, R-La Monte, agrees with Trent, citing his constituents in Johnson, Pettis and Saline counties.

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, criticized Thursday’s House vote on the undocumented immigrants, noting the House hasn’t rejected a conference committee recommendation since 2009.

State Rep. Peter Merideth, D-St. Louis, is also critical, saying the conference committee had compromised on the issue.

As for the overall budget, Senate Democratic Leader Gina Walsh, D-Bellefontaine Neighbors, says it fully funds the school foundation formula and increases school transportation funding.

“At the start of the 2019 legislative session (in January), the Senate Democratic Caucus called for fully funding the school foundation formula, increasing school transportation dollars, strengthening our workforce through Higher Education and job training, and making sure our mental health safety net is there for anyone in crisis. Today, Senate Democrats passed a bipartisan, balanced budget that achieves all of these goals and more,” Senator Walsh’s statement reads, in part.

The budget also includes a three percent pay increase for state employees, along with an $8 million retention pay plan aimed at wage increases for state Department of Corrections (DOC) staff.

The budget also includes the closing of the maximum-security Crossroads Correctional Center in northwest Missouri’s Cameron. House Budget Committee ranking Democrat Kip Kendrick, D-Columbia, supports the plan.

“Which I know is important to a lot of people in this building (Missouri Capitol), the consolidation of the two correctional facilities on the western side of the state,” Kendrick says.

Kendrick backs Governor Mike Parson’s (R) plan to consolidate Crossroads with Western Missouri Correctional Center, which is also located in Cameron.

Governor Parson says the estimated $20 million savings from closing Crossroads will give DOC employees a one percent pay raise for two years of continued service.

Parson outlined the corrections plan in January, at a Statehouse press conference with DOC Director Anne Precythe.

Precythe noted in January that Western Missouri Correctional Center has 1,900 beds, about 800 more than Crossroads. She also says there’s more programming available there and more space, which gives prisoners the opportunity to participate in more activities and keep them busy, which she says makes it a safer environment.

Missouri lawmakers will return to Jefferson City on Monday. The 2019 session ends on May 17.

Haahr and Quade both optimistic about Missouri General Motors legislation

May 3, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

The Missouri House Speaker expects the Legislature to unveil an incentives package for General Motors (GM) by next week, a package aimed at attracting a reported $1 billion expansion at the massive Wentzville plant.

The General Motors plant in Wentzville has about 4,600 employees, according to GM’s website (photo courtesy of GM website)

The expansion package was first reported by the “St. Louis Post-Dispatch.” GM’s Wentzville plant produces vehicles such as the Chevrolet Colorado and the GMC Canyon.

Wentzville is located on I-70 and is about 40 miles west of St. Louis.

GM’s website says the Wentzville plant is located in a former wheat field. It covers 438 acres and has about 4,600 employees that work over three shifts.

House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, told the Capitol Press Corps on Thursday that lawmakers received a “high-level overview” Thursday, including a short briefing with Governor Mike Parson (R). Speaker Haahr says lawmakers will work on the plan this weekend.

“The governor’s office is working with us on the possibility of some legislation,” Haahr says. “We’ll be working over the weekend to fine-tune that, and we’ll probably hopefully roll it out next week.”

Governor Parson says lawmakers must pass an incentives package in the next two weeks, to help land the project that other states are competing for.

Missouri House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, briefs Capitol reporters on April 18, 2019 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Speaker Haahr tells Capitol reporters we’ll know the package’s cost by next week. He’s optimistic that lawmakers will approve an incentives package by the end of session, which is May 17.

“You know at this point we don’t believe a special (legislative) session is necessary. We still got two weeks of runway left to use,” says Haahr.

This is an issue that has bipartisan support in the Missouri House.

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, describes a possible expansion of the Wentzville plant as a “great opportunity for the state of Missouri.” Leader Quade also spoke to the Capitol Press Corps on Thursday, noting that she had just received a briefing from GM.

“I’m excited about the labor jobs that are going to come through with great pay and good benefits, and I’m excited to see how those negotiations work out,” Quade says.

While there aren’t a lot of details yet, Quade believes an expansion would also have a positive ripple impact on other Missouri manufacturers. She’s interested in seeing Governor Parson’s incentive proposal.

Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, says the expansion project would benefit the entire state.

“The only thing that was promised was we are going to do everything we can to make Missouri an attractive place for them (General Motors) to do business, from the governor, from the leadership of the House and the Senate, is to do that- is to make sure we’re putting our best foot forward so that we can try to make sure that they stay here, they invest here, and they continue to build on the operation they have,” Pro Tem Schatz told reporters Thursday.

The plant opened in 1983. The GM website notes the Wentzville plant was outfitted so it can produce both vans and mid-size trucks on a single line. The plant also has an on-site stamping facility that produces the majority of parts used in production of the Chevy Express and GMC Savana vans.

It’s a union plant. Wentzville is represented by United Auto Workers Local 2250.