Independence Archives

What we’re watching this week in the Missouri Legislature: Medicaid expansion debate, budget and daylight saving time bill

April 26, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

You can expect a debate about Medicaid expansion on the Missouri Senate floor in Jefferson City later this week.

Missouri Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo (D-Independence) and other Democratic lawmakers tour a vaccination center at Cerner in North Kansas City in March 2021 (file photo courtesy of Leader Rizzo’s Twitter page)

The Senate is expected to debate the proposed $34.1 billion state operating budget this week. Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz (R-Sullivan) tells Missourinet Sullivan affiliate KTUI that it will take some floor time.

“The budget will be the floor probably on Wednesday, and we will work our way through that. And so that’s normally a fairly long process with a lot of conversation debate,” Pro Tem Schatz says.

Earlier this month, the Missouri House voted to give final approval to a $34.1 billion budget, one that does not contain funding for Medicaid expansion.

In August, 53 percent of Missouri voters approved Medicaid expansion, although it failed in 105 of the state’s 114 counties. The opposition to Medicaid expansion in the Missouri House primarily came from rural GOP lawmakers who represent districts that voted against Medicaid expansion.

Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo (D-Independence) tells Missourinet that the issue will be debated this week, on the Senate floor.

“I fully anticipate that a vote to fund Medicaid expansion will happen on the floor when it comes up for debate,” Leader Rizzo says.

Medicaid is officially known as MO HealthNet, and it’s a federal and state program that assists with medical costs for residents with limited incomes. Medicaid expansion supporters say Amendment Two, the August ballot measure, would help the working poor. They note it would expand 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 also say that Missouri voters have spoken, in August.

House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith (R-Carthage) and other opponents say Medicaid expansion would help able bodied adults. Smith wants to use $342 million of funding to instead support seniors in nursing homes and to provide care for the developmentally disabled.

Smith’s alternative plan includes $88 million for long-term care in nursing facilities, $15.5 million for k-12 school transportation, $2 million for adult high schools, $11.6 million for the Department of Mental Health (DMH) for alcohol and drug abuse treatment, $53 million to DMH for adult community programs and $30 million for programs like respite care, adult day care and home-delivered meals.

The state Constitution requires Missouri lawmakers to approve a balanced budget, by early May.

State Rep. Chris Sander (R-Lone Jack) testifies before a Missouri House committee in Jefferson City on March 24, 2021 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications}

There are just three weeks left in Missouri’s 2021 legislative session, which means floor time in both chambers is critical.

Other bills we’re watching this week in the Legislature involve bipartisan drunk driving legislation and Daylight Saving Time legislation.

The Missouri Senate Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee meets Tuesday morning at 8:30 to hear testimony from State Rep. Bob Bromley (R-Carl Junction), about his DWI legislation. The Missouri House has voted 149-3 to give final approval to the bill, which requires that any person who’s pleaded guilty or been convicted of driving while intoxicated to complete a victim impact program approved by the court.

And the Missouri Senate Rules, Joint Rules, Resolutions and Ethics Committee meets Tuesday morning to hear testimony from State Rep. Chris Sander (R-Lone Jack) regarding daylight saving time.

Sander’s bill establishes the “Daylight Savings as New Standard Time Pact,” which would exempt all of Missouri from federal Daylight Saving Time provisions. Under the bill, when a majority of states bordering Missouri have passed legislation entering those states into the pact, each state will switch clocks to Daylight Saving for the final time, and Daylight Saving Time will be eliminated.

The Missouri House has voted 126-16 to give final approval to the Sander legislation.

What we’re watching this week in Missouri Legislature: federal stimulus funding, state budget and workers compensation issues (AUDIO)

April 12, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

Testimony involving stimulus dollars under the federal “American Rescue Plan Act of 2021”, alternatives to Medicaid expansion and workers compensation for firefighters and first responders will highlight this week in the Missouri Legislature in Jefferson City.

State Rep. Doug Richey (R-Excelsior Springs) speaks on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on March 18, 2020 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

The 2021 session has about a month to go. The last day of session will be Friday, May 14.

A brand-new Missouri House Subcommittee on Federal Stimulus Spending will meet for the first time Monday morning in Jefferson City. They’ll gavel-in at 11 a.m. Committee Chairman State Rep. Doug Richey (R-Excelsior Springs) is humbled by the appointment.

“It is a committee that will be doing some very important work in terms of vetting both the priorities and the need for these federal stimulus dollars that are yet to even be received,” Richey says.

The subcommittee will hear testimony on Monday about capital improvement needs that could be eligible for federal stimulus funds under the Rescue plan. President Joe Biden (D) signed the bill, and House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith (R-Carthage) has said that he expects Missouri to receive billions of dollars in federal funding.

“There will be opportunity for several one-time appropriations for capital improvements and deferred maintenance that we know exist throughout the state,” says Richey.

He tells Missourinet that examples include universities, public safety, mental health and hospitals and state buildings.

Chairman Richey is emphasizing the importance of due diligence. He tweeted Saturday that “the American Rescue Plan isn’t funded by tax payer dollars, it’s funded by tax payer indebtedness.”

The Medicaid expansion issue will also come up again this week in the Legislature.

The Missouri House Budget Committee is expected to vote Tuesday on a budget blueprint from Chairman Smith, a plan which directs dollars slated for Medicaid expansion for other programs, including MO HealthNet. That’s the state Medicaid program.

Smith outlined the plan last week. House Bill 21, an eight-page bill, is just over $1 billion. $894 million of that would come from federal funds.

Funding includes $26 million for programs like respite care, adult day care and home-delivered meals. Chairman Smith testifies the funding also includes $88.2 million for funding long-term care services for care in nursing facilities. HB 21 also includes $18 million for k-12 public school transportation, and $2 million for adult high schools. It also includes $11.6 million for treatment for alcohol and drug abuse, and $2.2 million for youth community programs. It also provides about $1 million in additional funding for the State Public Defender System.

State Rep. Robert Sauls (D-Independence) speaks on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on March 31, 2021 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

House Democrats on the Budget Committee are expected to oppose the plan, saying that 53 percent of Missouri voters approved Medicaid expansion in August. Regardless of the committee vote, the issue will almost certainly be debated again on the House floor soon.

The Missouri House Public Safety Committee will meet Tuesday morning to hear legislation from State Rep. Robert Sauls (D-Independence), which involves workers compensation for firefighters and first responders.

“This is a bill that protects those who protect us. The firefighter cancer presumption bill creates a presumption that if a firefighter develops cancer, he or she got it as a result of the hazardous toxins of which he or she was regularly exposed. There is also a component to PTSD for first responders. I am proud of this bill and it is far overdue,” Sauls tells Missourinet.

Sauls’ House Bill 863 would allow Missouri firefighters and first responders to receive workers compensation for diseases of the heart or cardiovascular system, any infectious diseases, diseases of the body systems or organs from carcinoma, and diseases of the lungs or respiratory tract.

Across the Capitol Rotunda in the Missouri Senate, the chamber is expected to take up legislation involving mechanical contractors early this week. Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz (R-Sullivan) tells Missourinet he expects his Senate Bill 11 to hit the floor on Monday.

Schatz’s bill is called the “Missouri Statewide Mechanical Contractor Licensing Act.” Under the bill, the statewide mechanical license for mechanical contractors would be regulated by the Division of Professional Registration, within the state Department of Commerce and Insurance. The bill creates the Office of Mechanical Contractors, within the division.

Pro Tem Schatz also says education reform legislation could go to the Senate floor this week.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full four-minute interview with Missouri House Subcommittee on Federal Stimulus Spending Chairman Rep. Doug Richey (R-Excelsior Springs), which was recorded on April 9, 2021:

Missouri public utility crews working to restore power in Louisiana, after Hurricane Delta

October 12, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

14 lineworkers representing four rural Missouri hometown public utilities worked throughout the weekend to help restore power in hurricane-damaged Louisiana. CNN reports about 320,000 Louisiana residents are without electricity, because of Hurricane Delta.

Linemen from western Missouri’s Harrisonville stop for a quick picture, before leaving for Louisiana on October 8, 2020 (photo courtesy of city of Harrisonville)

Missouri Public Utility Alliance (MPUA) spokesman Kerry Cordray says the lineworkers are working in difficult conditions.

“But these guys are great at what they do, and they’re very dedicated to doing their work well, wherever they’re doing it,” Cordray says.

The MPUA crews are from four Missouri municipal utilities: Harrisonville, Nixa, Palmyra and Poplar Bluff. They’re working in Alexandria, which is northwest of New Orleans. Cordray tells Missourinet the damage in Alexandria wasn’t as big as it was for Hurricane Laura six weeks ago.

“If there are still outages in nearby public power communities when restoration at Alexandria is complete, the crews may be made available to another location before coming home,” he says.

Harrisonville is located south of Kansas City, while Nixa is south of Springfield. Palmyra is in northeast Missouri, and Poplar Bluff is in southeast Missouri. Cordray says the four towns have “public power” electric utilities and are part of MPUA.

“These public power utilities (MPUA) are as large as Springfield, Columbia, Independence, but include many smaller towns and rural communities, some with only a few hundred residents,” says Cordray.

MPUA has 79 Missouri members that provide electricity. The Missouri crews in Alexandria are equipped with four bucket trucks, another specialty truck and other linework vehicles and machines.

The town of Alexandria, Louisiana issued a call to the MPUA for mutual aid assistance, which is coordinated through MPUA’s mutual aid network. Towns that assist are reimbursed by the municipal utilities receiving assistance.

Cordray also notes last week was public power week.