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Kansas City state representative arrested on marijuana charges

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Some Missouri Democrats say Rep. Jeremy LaFaver (D-Kansas City) might lose his seat in the state legislator if charges of marijuana possession stick.

LeFaverThe Highway Patrol reports LaFaver was stopped in Boone County for failing to show up for traffic court in Moniteau County on charges of driving with expired plates and driving without insurance. During the stop, troopers found a marijuana pipe and a small quantity of marijuana.

LaFaver has issued the following statement:

“I made a serious mistake, I apologize for it, and I am prepared to face the consequences of my behavior,” he says. “I want to stress that I was not operating under the influence.”

“I deeply regret the embarrassment I have caused my family and the people of the 25th District by this incident,” he says. “I want to assure my constituents that I have received no special considerations, nor do I expect to be treated any differently than any other citizen in my situation.”

LaFaver was unsuccessful in passing a bill he sponsored this year that would have lowered penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. He was elected to his first two-year term in November 2012.

Cardinals have new plan for Ballpark Village

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Plans for the Cardinals Ballpark Village

The Cardinals newest plans for Ballpark Village are scaled back to a 100,000 square foot retail and entertainment complex that would be built north of the left field bleachers of Busch Stadium.

The plan was released on Monday and while it isn’t as big as previous proposals, the club thinks this will likely succeed. The new Village plans call for a team hall of fame and a themed restaurant, space for huge outdoor events, restaurants, bars and other entertainment.

Cardinals president Bill DeWitt III isn’t publicly naming tenants but says 80% of the space is already spoken for. The Cardinals and co-developer Cordish Co. plan to foot most of the $100 million bill. If the plan is approved by state and city officials, the project could begin as early as this fall.

Amendment passes to stop Jayhawk license plate (AUDIO)

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After legislation earlier in the session would allow license plates to have a University of Kansas Jayhawk on them, the House adopted a proposal to require out-of-state schools to get legislative approval to have a specialty Missouri license plate.

AUDIO Columbia representative Stephen Webber (3:30)

The new amendment’s sponsor, Columbia representative Stephen Webber, says especially after the events of the past year, he doesn’t want to see KU promoted on a Missouri plate. Webber points out, the KU-MU game represented a lot of revenue in the Kansas City area. He says if they teams will play again in the next year, he will file legislation to repeal his proposal.

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

 

Top House democrat wants new DED offerings

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The Minority Leader in the Missouri House of Representatives says rather than focus only on ideas that have already been vetted, the legislature needs to consider some fresh ideas.

State Representative Mike Talboy (D-Kansas City)

Mike Talboy (D-Kansas City) points to the states neighboring Missouri, all of which he says have angel investment opportunities. Those could be tax credit programs or funds that are typically smaller than some of the economic development programs already in Missouri.

He says putting programs like that into effect can provide “good bang for your buck in the beginning. But then also as the budget years get better and as we have more revenue in the state and as we see the returns on those types of programs, then you can look at expanding them if you need to or be able to expand them into different parts of the state.” Talboy says there is nothing like what he is talking about currently offered by DED.

Talboy says just having some new tools for economic development can spur some important discussions by stirring discussion that might not happen without them. “It allows tangentially some of these ideas to come out of those conversations that are new that we don’t have…you see some of these new ideas sprout up from those conversations.”

The Department of Economic Development has come under scrutiny by lawmakers investigating a failed project to bring a sucralose plant to Moberly. Talboy says that should not have any impact on discussion of new incentives that department might offer. “Whether or not they’re a good program…I don’t think depends on the conversations and whether people have an issue with department or another. I think that if the program’s worthwhile we’ll find a way to make sure that it gets done. If people have objections to certain departments, we’ll deal with those separately.”

The new legislative session begins tomorrow.

Senate budget chairman considers first post-stimulus budget

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In the last few legislative sessions lawmakers have been faced with increasing challenges to create a state budget. Another great one awaits them when General Assembly convenes again on Wednesday.

Lawmakers return to the State Capital on Wednesday.

The last of the federal dollars from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, about $400 million, went into the budget for fiscal year 2012. With none left to help shore up the new plan, Senate Appropriations Committee chairman Kurt Schaefer (R-Columbia) says legislators will be tested. “What we’re looking at is kind of hitting part of that wall that we would have hit back then, but for all that money that the federal government borrowed and then sent out to the states. So this is the year that, I think, where we have to decide what our priorities are going to be.”

Schaefer says those priorities are clear, based on a provision in the Constitution. “Number one in that list is public debt, and that always is our first thing that we fund, but number two is public education. So, I think this is really the year that we need to demonstrate that we’re going to follow our constitutional responsibility and what the people of the state of Missouri have determined is a top priority, and that’s K through 12 and higher education.”

The House, the Senate and the Governor arrived at an estimate of projected revenue of 3.9 percent growth. Senator Schaefer thinks that is fairly accurate, and represents about $7.5 billion, or about $285 million more for fiscal year 2013 than 2012.

The Senate Appropriations Committee’s first hearing of the new session is set for Tuesday, January 10.