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Republicans to file court challenge to health exchange ballot language

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Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder doesn’t like Secretary of State Robin Carnahan’s ballot language for an issue related to the federal health care law, and he says he’s going to fight it in court.

Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder and Secretary of State Robin Carnahan

The issue would bar the Governor from creating a health insurance exchange as related to the Affordable Care Act unless lawmakers or voters give him that authority. Kinder says the summary Carnahan has released to describe that issue on the November ballot is misleading.

It reads: “Shall Missouri law be amended to deny individuals, families, and small businesses the ability to access affordable health care plans through a state-based health benefit exchange unless authorized by statute, initiative or referendum or through an exchange operated by the federal government as required by the federal health care act?

“No direct costs or savings for state and local governmental entities are expected from this proposal. Indirect costs or savings related to enforcement actions, missed federal funding, avoided implementation costs, and other issues are unknown.”

Kinder says, “To use the very active verb ‘deny’ individuals, families and small businesses the ability to access affordable healthcare plans is outrageously biased. On its face it’s biased. I have not talked to anyone who believes it’s fair.” He says the language is worded “as though the Obama White House had written the language to illicit from Missouri voters a negative result.”

Kinder says he’ll file a lawsuit challenging the wording, “if not Friday then early next week at the latest.” He adds that House Speaker Steven Tilley (R-Perryville) and Senate Majority Floor Leader Tom Dempsey (R-St. Charles) have already committed to joining that suit.

Kinder says he won’t use public money for the suit, adding he doesn’t anticipate any problems getting private dollars to back it.

Carnahan’s office, in a statement, says “This office has always followed our legal obligation to provide Missourians with fair and sufficient summaries of ballot initiatives, and this summary is no different.”

Secretary of State Spokesman Ryan Hobart adds, “we feel it confident it will hold up in court,” and points out the state legislature had an opportunity to write its own ballot language and did not.

Buck O’Neil inducted into Hall of Famous Missourians (AUDIO)

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The newest member of the Hall of Famous Missourians has been remembered as a great baseball player, manager and scout, and a man who overcame racism and adversity and lead others to do the same.

House Speaker Steven Tilley, former Kansas City Royal Frank White and Negro Leagues Baseball Museum President Bob Kendrick unveil the bust of Buck O'Neil. Picture courtesy, Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications.

Buck O’Neil becomes the 39th person inducted into the Hall. Among those who spoke in his honor was the President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Bob Kendrick. “I tell people all the time that Buck had the same qualities of a Mother Theresa, of a Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior, a Gandhi. The only difference was, he could hit curve balls.”

Kendrick noted that the induction comes six years to the day after O’Neil fell one vote short of making it into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, something he says O’Neil took with great humility. “He was disappointed, but he walked into a room of about 300 people and he delivered one of the most amazing concession speeches that I’ve ever heard. When the world was saying he had been mistreated, he stood there at that podium and said, ‘Don’t be angry, don’t be bitter, don’t be upset with anyone that had anything to do with this decision. If I’m a Hall of Famer in your eyes, that’s all that matters to me. Just keep loving old Buck.'”

Shortly thereafter, O’Neil spoke for the induction of 17 other Negro League players into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. Kendrick says, “in what I believe, assuredly, is the most selfless act in American sports history.”

Learn more about the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

Five-time All Star with the Kansas City Royals, Frank White, called it an honor to be a part of the induction. He spoke about O’Neil’s commitment to making sure the story of the Negro Leagues and its players was told. “Had it not been for Buck and Ken Burns and their documentary that brought the Negro Leagues right into our living rooms, we probably never would have the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City today and we definitely wouldn’t have as good an understanding of the Negro baseball leagues as we do today.”

See more about Ken Burns’ documentary, Baseball.

Inductees to the Hall are chosen by the Speaker of the Missouri House. Speaker Steven Tilley says O’Neil broke barriers. “He’s a man who was loved and revered by all that met him, and his genuine nature gave him a platform from which to speak that caused people to listen.”

O’Neil was a star player and manager for the Kansas City Monarchs and the first African-American coach in Major League Baseball. After the color barrier was broken in 1947, O’Neil is credited with more than three dozen baseball players making it into the major leagues.

Hear the comments from Buck O’Neil’s induction ceremony:

AUDIO: Bob Kendrick, Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

AUDIO: Toby Cook, Vice President of Community Affairs and Publicity for the Kansas City Royals

AUDIO: House Speaker Steven Tilley

AUDIO: 5-time All Star and 8-time Gold Glove Winner Frank White

Audio courtesy of Missouri House Communications

Governor-backed auto industry incentives introduced

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The automotive industry incentive component of the Governor’s job creation strategy has found its backers in the House and Senate, and they come from both sides of the political aisle.
 
In his State of the State Address and stops around the state, Governor Jay Nixon has promoted his Missouri Works plan. It would expand on the provisions of the Missouri Manufacturing Jobs act of 2010, which helped promote expansion at Ford’s Claycomo Plant in Kansas City and General Motors’ plant in Wentzville. Legislation introduced this week basically targets those incentives at manufactures in the automotive industry.
 

Representative Chuck Gatschenberger (R-Lake St. Louis) is sponsoring HB 1455.

The House version, HB 1455, will be carried by Representative Chuck Gatschenberger (R-Lake St. Louis). He says, “Those manufacturers of vehicles … they need brakes, they need windshields, they need trim, they need engines … and not all of those are built right there on that spot.”

Parts makers qualify under the proposal if the products they make are used by an automaker. Companies with at least half of their sales coming from parts used to modify vehicles can also qualify for incentives.

Gatschenberger says it offers two options to those companies. “One is if you employee five employees, you’re gonna get the same benefits with withholding the taxes that you pay from the state for the benefit of the company. The other aspect of it … there’s a lot of companies in this state that are not going to be able to employ five people but they can employ two people. If they do two people and $100,000 of investment in their business, they can fall under the same guidelines.”

Gatschenberger says it also includes some clawback provisions.  “Let’s say they have those two people but they lay two other people off. Then they lose the benefit. It’s not the specific people that they hire, it’s the total number of people.”

See the Governor’s Office’s release on the introduction of the legislation.

The package increases the standard incentive period to five years, from the three found in the 2010 language. Companies would get a tax break equaling 5 percent of their new payroll if wages are at the average for the county, 5.5 percent for wages that are 120 percent of that average and 6 percent for wages at least 140 percent of the county average.

Senator Kevin Engler (R-Farmington) is the sponsor of SB 691.

Gatschenberger notes the package opens up incentives to all auto manufacturers, not just Ford and General Motors, “So if Nissan thinks, ‘Hmm, we might want to put a plant somewhere but where are we going to put a plant,’ it’s making the carrot bigger and jucier.”

The Governor’s Office says the package boasts a lengthy list of bipartisan supporters. Also in the House are Speaker Steven Tilley (R-Perryville), Majority Floor Leader Tim Jones (R-Eureka), Jerry Nolte (R-Gladstone), Minority Leader Mike Talboy (D-Kansas City), Assistant Minority Floor Leader Tishaura Jones (D-St. Louis), Minority Whip Mike Colona (D-St. Louis), Representative Stephen Webber (D-Columbia) and Representative Bert Atkins (D-Florrisant). Senator Kevin Engler (R-Farmington) is sponsoring the Senate version, SB 691 with Minority Floor Leader Senator Victor Callahan (D-Independence) a co-sponsor.

Education issues: so happy together?

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House Speaker Steven Tilley (R-Perryville)

State lawmakers are faced with several challenging education issues in the young legislative session. Facing them first is the question of whether to deal with those issues together, or individually.

The school funding foundation formula was not designed to work when not fully funded. That is at the top of the list along with a “Turner fix,” addressing how to deal with students being transferred from failing schools to neighboring districts.

House Speaker Steven Tilley (R-Perryville) has said he wants to package those with other issues that could include enacting tax credits to support private school attendance and repealing teacher tenure protections. “I think the only thing worse than putting them together is to continue to shuffle kids through failing schools, which is what we’ve done for now a decade or more.”

Tilley adds, “Since I’ve been here for seven years the opposition to trying to trying to step outside the box and try something new has been tremendous. These same people that have been fighting us tooth and nail to try and challenge the status quo now want us to come in and fix the problem for them.”

The Speaker says the House and Senate education committee chairs agree with the idea of bundling issues. The Chair of the Joint Education Committee wants to keep them separated, however.

 

Representative Mike Thomson (R-Maryville)

Representative Mike Thomson (R-Maryville) says his bill to lay out how education money should be distributed when the foundation formula is not fully supported died in the Senate last year because too much was attached to it. “What happened last year is that some of the other issues entered in and there were some people in the Senate that said, ‘Hey listen, we’re not letting anything go through unless we get what we want.’ The Turner Fix was one of those things.”

Thomson says the student transfer issue and the foundation formula are two unrelated items. “That’s what is so frustrating in this place is that we have different issues that we need to deal with and to hold a bill that is so necessary for the survival of our schools hostage because of personal biases or political purposes, to me, is absurd.”

Thomson says he is not talking about any individual person or cause.

 

House Minority Leader Mike Talboy (D-Kansas City)

House Minority Leader Mike Talboy (D-Kansas City) says he looks at the education questions much like Speaker Tilley has looked at economic development issues, which Tilley says he wants to deal with individually after they failed in the special session. Says Talboy, “We have certain aspects of education that have been tried, have failed, as far as votes on the floor.”

Talboy says discussing other proposals is healthy, but, “if you know that there is significant and majority opposition to certain things, that becomes where you’re going. There’s an insistence on making sure that’s there even though there’s this rampant opposition.”

Discussion of education issues will ramp up quickly this week, with meetings scheduled for the House Committees on Education Appropriations and Elementary and Secondary Education, the Senate Education Committee and the Joint Committee on Education.

House committee considers foundation formula challenges

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The Chairman of the House Education Committee says this morning’s will be the last dawn hearing on the foundation formula. It is sure not be the last hearing on the topic, however.

Representative Mike Lair’s (R-Chillicothe) committee heard a presentation from a the Executive Director of the staff for the Joint Committee on Education, Stacy Preis. She outlined the formula that is in place now, how it replaced its predecessor, and what some issues are that lawmakers should note when considering changing it.

The House Education Committee hears testimony from Representative Mike Thomson (R-Maryville).

She explained the current formula is based on adequately funding schools, with an “adequacy target” based on the spending practices of successful schools. That target has held steady since the new formula phase-in began in 2006, but it could change next year. “There is language in the statute right now that says if funding is insufficient to fully fund the formula, that adequacy target…may be adjusted to accommodate appropriations.”

She says that provision was not intended to accommodate multi-million dollar shortfalls. It was meant to make minor adjustments for differences between projection and actual revenues.

It presents an issue if the formula is not fully funded next year. “If the hold harmless calculation shows you’re funded as hold harmless, that adequacy target has no impact on you at all. You’re funded under your old money,” Preis said. This would mean hold harmless districts would receive their entire payment amount, while those that are funded through the formula might see a cut.

Joint Education Committee Chairman Mike Thomson (R-Maryville) says that means some hold harmless districts are less inclined to see a change in the formula. “I think they’re saying ‘hey, we’ve been taking a hit. Let’s let that thing go over the cliff…let’s get what we can.’ I don’t mean that critically…but everybody’s looking for the best dollar that they can get.”

Thomson says uncertainty over the adequacy target means that formula districts and hold harmless districts have reason to fear the outcome.

He outlined for the House Committee his bill that would not change the formula, but would lay out how money would be distributed if it is not fully funded. “There’s nothing in the statutes…that says if we do not fully fund the formula, how do we distribute the money?”

His bill would take effect next year, when the formula would be fully implemented. “This is the last of the seven-year phase-in period. Right now our schools are being funded 86 percent on a new formula, 14 percent on the old formula, and next year it will be 100 percent new formula.”

The same bill died in the Senate last year, Thomson says because other issues were attached to it, such as the Turner fix. This year he wants to see it go through the process unbridled, contrary to the wishes of others in his caucus including House Speaker Steven Tilley who has said he wants to bundle education issues together.

See our earlier story on the Speaker’s wishes for education issues.

Thomson says, “We think that it’s even more essential this year that this bill passes because now we have even a bigger difference between where we are and where we should be on the fully funded formula. That means…some of our schools are even taking a bigger hit that they shouldn’t be taking.”

The House Committee is scheduled to meet again Tuesday, January 17 at 1 p.m. and Wednesday, January 18 at 2 p.m.  Public testimony will be taken at those hearings.

Representative Thomson will present his bill before the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee Wednesday, January 18 at 8 a.m.

Leadership: post special session rift between House, Senate healed (AUDIO)

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The relationship between leadership in the House and the Senate collapsed along with the special legislative session last year. At one point in late October, Senate President Pro Tem Rob Mayer (R-Dexter) said he had not spoken to House Speaker Steven Tilley (R-Perryville) in three weeks, while Tilley went so far as to say Mayer had “lied” to him about the status of a deal on legislation.

Senate President Pro-Tem Rob Mayer (left) and House Speaker Steven Tilley pictures courtesy, Missouri Senate and Missouri House of Repsresentatives

The situation left many wondering if the two ends of the Capital would be able to work together in the regular session that just began last week. Cooperation between chambers and parties is key as lawmakers take on a budget with an estimated $500 million dollar gap between revenue and expenditures.

Representative Tilley says things are getting off on a good foot. “It’s well documented we had our difficulties last year and I’ll take the blame my part of that. I had a great dinner with the President Pro Tem of the Senate. I know our Majority Leader (Tim Jones, R-Eureka) has had numerous visits with the Majority Leader of the Senate (Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles) and we want to start off on a good note, and I told Rob (Mayer) that I want to focus on areas where we agree and let’s stay away from areas where we disagree.” Tilley says he hopes there will be time at the end of the session for areas where the two disagree.

Senator Mayer says he holds no animosity about what unfolded last year. “This is a tough business and sometimes things don’t work out, and you have to put all that behind you to go forward to get some things done for the people of Missouri, so I hold no ill feelings about the House or the leadership there and look forward to working with them this year.”

Representative Tim Jones picture courtesy, Missouri House of Representatives

Representative Jones talked about appearing together with Senator Dempsey “in front of several groups over the last several months…I will tell you we had no arguments together in public. We actually spoke about common themes and principles and even common specific legislation.”

Representative Mike Talboy picture courtesy, Missouri House of Representatives

Jones says he hopes the Senate as a whole is on board with its leadership, which he says plans to pick three or four key topics to attempt to address early in the session. “I hope that there’s not any individual agendas over there that are simply thinking of themselves and not of the state as a whole. I do truly believe that there are a majority of senators that want to work with a majority of the House and actually move and pass some significant legislation that will help the state as a whole.”

The top Democrat in the House, Minority Leader Mike Talboy (D-Kansas City) says for his part, he has a good relationship with Representative Tilley and Senators Mayer and Dempsey, “so I don’t necessarily have the issues but then again I’m also not in the same position that Steve is and I realize that there are some disagreements that when you’re in charge you have to sit at the table and be able to do some things.”
 
Talboy adds “I can’t speak for what their relationship’s like but, we’ll see.”
 
AUDIO:  Mike Lear reports – 1 minute

House Speaker wants to bundle education issues (AUDIO)

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Beside the budget, education will be one of the primary topics in the 2012 legislative session. The primary issue is what some are calling a crisis, in the need to reform the foundation formula.

House Speaker Steven Tilley (R-Perryville) addresses the media with House Republicans following day one of the 2012 regular session.

On the opening day House Speaker Steven Tilley (R-Perryville) outlined his “Blueprint for Missouri,” highlighting key issues in several areas including education. Along with the foundation formula it lists reform of laws governing student transfers and establishment of tuition tax credits for students in unaccredited districts, expansion of charter schools statewide, and creation of what Republicans are calling the “Missouri Teacher Quality Act.”

Tilley plans to tie those issues together. “We feel like if we’re going to do the Turner fix, which we believe we should, if we’re going to rework the foundation formula because it was never intended to be partially funded, which we should, we also believe in return we should get some long sought after reforms which we think are important.”

The Perryville republican says it’s time some of these issues are passed. “The reality is that we’ve tried to achieve some meaningful reforms, and the ‘educrats’ and the groups that just say ‘no’ to everything just keep saying no, and so we haven’t been able to get over the hill on the education reform and I think this may present a window that we can do it.”

Representative Rick Stream (R-Kirkwood) discusses education issues with the media after day one of the new session.

Representative Rick Stream (R-Kirkwood) discussed the issue of charter schools. Last year he sponsored a bill that would have expanded them in unaccredited and provisionally accredited districts. “That’ll be the starting point for this year. We may scale it back to just unaccredited, because it barely passed the house last year and it didn’t get through the Senate.”

Stream says he is also sensitive to issues that neighboring school districts may face in having to accept students from failing districts. “I was on the Kirkwood School Board for twelve years. My brother is the president of the Kirkwood School Board now. We’re very cognizant of the influx of students that will come to the county school districts of St. Louis County.”

Stream filed legislation in 2011 that he called the “Turner fix.” It was “…to limit the number (of students being transferred) to the space that the school districts had available at the time.”

The other issues included in Tilley’s “Blueprint for Missouri” include:

Taxpayers

  • Passage of a balanced budget with no new taxes
  • Improve government transparency by requiring disclosure of county debt
  • Passage of a Taxpayer Protection Act that constitutionally limits the growth of government
  • Create savings by implementing recommendations of the Missouri Working Group on Sentencing and Corrections

Jobs

  • Reform Missouri’s workers’ compensation law
  • Ensure solvency and reform Missouri’s Second Injury Fund
  • Reform Missouri employment discrimination laws
  • Institute ‘loser pays’ law and reform Missouri’s joint and several liability law
  • Establish the Missouri Entrepreneur Resource Network to provide resources for entrepreneurs
  • Reform Missouri prevailing wage laws

Schools

  • Reform Missouri’s education foundation formula
  • Create Missouri Teacher Quality Act
  • Reform student transfer laws in response to Turner decision and establish tuition tax credits for students in unaccredited districts
  • Expand charter schools statewide

Values

  • Protect Missouri pharmacists right of conscience from providing abortion drugs
  • Review Missouri mandatory reporter law to ensure children are protected
  • Expand college savings options for Missouri families
  • Require driver’s license tests to be administered in English
  • Establish photo identification requirement for voting
  • Establish steady source of funding for Missouri Veterans homes

AUDIO:  Listen to House Speaker Steven Tilley’s opening day address – 12 mins, 37 seconds