Missouri Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden Archives

Former Missouri lawmaker who championed jobs for the disabled dies

May 20, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A former Missouri state senator and representative who championed disability rights has died, after suffering a heart attack.

Then-State Rep. Chuck Graham, D-Columbia, briefs Missouri Capitol reporters in Jefferson City on February 16, 2004 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Former State Sen. Chuck Graham, D-Columbia, died this morning at the age of 55, according to his wife, Kate. She posted on Facebook that he died at home, after suffering what’s believed to be a massive heart attack.

Graham served 12 years in the Missouri Legislature: eight in the House and four in the Senate.

Graham was first elected to the House in 1996 and served four terms. He was forced out by term limits, and ran for an open Missouri Senate seat in 2004. The incumbent that year, former State Sen. Ken Jacob, D-Columbia, was term-limited as well. Graham won the 2004 race and served one term, losing a 2008 re-election bid to Columbia Republican Kurt Schaefer.

The top issue that Graham championed in both chambers was disability rights. Graham, who used a wheelchair, emphasized the importance of job opportunities for disabled residents in his district, and across the state.

Graham successfully led the bipartisan legislative effort in 2001 to obtain money for construction for a new Mizzou basketball arena in Columbia. Graham’s legislation provided $35 million in revenue bonds for construction of the new arena, which replaced the Hearnes Center as the home for Tiger men’s and women’s basketball.

Political figures on both sides of the aisle have been praising Graham’s service and focus on disability rights.

U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, who served with Graham in the Legislature for four years, tweeted today that Graham was a “great Missouri Democrat, and even a better man. Proud to call him my friend. He will be deeply missed.”

Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, who now holds the Senate seat Graham once did, tweeted his condolences as well.

“Chuck served our community in a number of meaningful ways while always staying focused on protecting our community’s most vulnerable citizens. His passion to help those in need serves as a reminder and motivation to each of us. I will be praying for his family as they mourn his passing,” Rowden tweets.

Rowden tells Missourinet that he and Graham talked numerous times in various settings. Rowden notes that Graham moderated a few disability-themed forums, when Rowden ran for the Missouri House and Senate.

Former U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) praises Graham too. She served as the Missouri state auditor for eight of the years that Graham served in the Legislature.

“A fearless advocate for stem cell research, mental health coverage, and for those with disabilities,” McCaskill tweeted Wednesday.

Legislators to return to Missouri Capitol to vote on supplemental for COVID-19 funding (AUDIO)

April 2, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri lawmakers will return to Jefferson City next week to vote on a key supplemental budget, which includes millions of dollars in federal funds to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.

Missouri Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, (left) talks to House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, in the House chamber on May 9, 2019 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, says senators will come back on Tuesday.

“We will get it done. I don’t envision it becoming a hyper-partisan thing by any means,” Rowden says.

Rowden and House Majority Floor Leader Rob Vescovo, R-Arnold, have been working with MU Health Care to make sure it’s safe for state lawmakers to get back inside the Capitol to vote.

The Capitol has been closed to the public since March 24, to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. The Capitol closed after veteran State Rep. Joe Runions, D-Grandview, tested positive for COVID-19. Runions has since been released from the hospital, and continues to recover.

Leader Rowden tells Missourinet that those entering the Capitol next week will have their temperature taken. They’ll also receive health questions.

“Taking temperature, asking questions making sure they’ve not been in any of the hot spots, that they don’t have any symptoms, etc.,” says Rowden.

He says they’re taking steps to mitigate risks for senators, staff and the public. The roll call will be much slower next week.

“And people for the most part will probably be in their offices,” Rowden says. “Their name will be called and we’ll give them plenty of time to come from their office into the chamber, cast their vote and then leave again. I think the House is going to do something fairly similar.”

The Senate is expected to return Tuesday morning. The 34-member chamber now has 31 senators, with three vacancies.

The 163-member Missouri House will gavel-in Wednesday afternoon at 1. House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, and Floor Leader Vescovo say it’s imperative that “the Legislature move without delay to keep Missouri’s government operating during this crisis and provide the needed resources to those on the front lines of the pandemic.”

The state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) says there are now 1,834 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Missouri, along with 19 deaths.

Governor Mike Parson announced this week that he’s withholding $180 million in state spending, to ensure a balanced state budget during the pandemic. The governor is warning that the state could see a $500 million budget shortfall between now and the end of June.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, which was recorded on April 2, 2020:

How will the coronavirus affect Missouri’s state budget?

March 13, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

The Missouri Legislature is working on a more than $30 billion state budget for the fiscal year beginning in July. Lawmakers are crafting a balanced budget they are required to pass in early May. Now they are faced with the effects of COVID-19, often referred to as the coronavirus, and how it will creep its way into the current and future state budgets and state revenues.

Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia

Several events, businesses and schools in Missouri have taken precautionary steps in an effort to avoid an outbreak of COVID-19. Missouri cities hosting major college and high school basketball tournaments will take a hit for getting the games called off or limiting the number of fans allowed, not to mention the St. Louis Blues having the plug pulled on the team’s season.

Missouri will miss out on all those fans once coming through its airports, spending money to hitch a ride to the events, crashing at a hotel, shopping, eating, and drinking. Speaking of drinking, Kansas City and St. Louis have both canceled their St. Patty’s Day parades. That’s a lot of green beer sales not bringing in as much green paper.

The financial impact of these events collecting far less money than planned will trickle down to the state level. There might also be a growing state-level price tag for coronavirus response for agencies like the State Health and Human Services Department. It all depends on how the disease plays out.

During a press conference Thursday at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City, Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, says lawmakers might have to make some tougher decisions.

“This is unchartered waters for us and so we’re going to take it as it comes,” says Rowden. “It’s probably two-fold: One, we figure out how much money we’ve got coming in and obviously what we have to spend. But also, potentially what dollars need to be utilized and resourced for the purposes of dealing with this particular issue.”

Rowden says Gov. Mike Parson and legislative budget leaders did not reach a consensus revenue estimate – an agreement on how much they project the state to earn in revenue during the upcoming state budget year. The estimate helps lawmakers shape the budget.

“At least maybe a silver lining in that, which is not something we are celebrating, but it provides Senator (Dan) Hegeman a little bit of flexibility when the House budget comes over to recognize, I think we were under the general assumption that the economy has been good. And so, we thought if anything, that we might have the chance to spend a little more money than the House did on our priorities. But if that’s reversed, based on the information that we have, based on the economic realities of the coronavirus and the backlash, we’ll have to deal with that as well,” he says.

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

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States has more than 1,200 cases of COVID-19. So far, 36 people have died from the illness. Globally, the virus has sickened more than 125,000 people and killed about 4,600. About two-thirds of the cases originate in China.

So far, Missouri has tested 73 patients for the virus and that number continues to grow.

Thursday, Gov. Parson announced the state’s second “presumptive positive” case of the respiratory illness is a Springfield patient in their 20s who recently traveled to Austria.

Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed a positive case involving a St. Louis County woman in her 20’s who recently studied abroad in Italy.

Schatz: Rural Missouri hospitals are critical to their communities

January 24, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s Senate Majority Leader says he’s working with state health officials and leaders in mid-Missouri’s Boonville in an effort to reopen a hospital which closed last week.

Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz testifies before a House committee on May 1, 2019 in Jefferson City (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Pinnacle Regional Hospital is located in the district of State Sen. Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, who’s the Majority Leader. Last week’s closing impacts about 160 employees.

Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, is also concerned about the Boonville hospital’s closing. Schatz says reimbursements are a major issue for rural hospitals.

“And obviously those rural hospitals struggle with that type of population of being, they’re payment-based and things of that nature, so it’s problematic,” Schatz says.

Pro Tem Schatz tells Missourinet that rural hospitals are critical to their communities. He notes the importance of Missouri Baptist Sullivan hospital in his eastern Missouri hometown.

“I live in Sullivan, Missouri and obviously we have a good rural hospital right there, but again, they struggle at times meeting financial obligations that are there,” says Schatz.

As for Leader Rowden, he says Pinnacle ceased surgical operations after the state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) discovered that Pinnacle allegedly wasn’t sterilizing surgical tools and equipment.

DHSS spokeswoman Lisa Cox tells Missourinet the agency and Pinnacle agreed to a 90-day suspension last week. Rowden says that gives any potential buyers time to repair and reopen the hospital as quickly as possible.

Rowden also praises Columbia-based MU Health Care for holding open interviews this week in Boonville, for affected staff.

Senator Rowden also says he’s outraged at reports about how Pinnacle has treated their employees and patients. He notes those are his constituents.

Hospital closings have been an issue in rural Missouri. The “Columbia Missourian” reported in June that six rural Missouri hospitals had closed, in the previous five years.

NCAA’s sanctions against Mizzou athletics are blasted by Missouri lawmakers in both parties

November 28, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

A Missouri lawmaker is working to draft a House resolution that will criticize the NCAA for its sanctions against Mizzou athletics.

State Rep. Greg Razer, D-Kansas City, speaks on the Missouri House floor on April 11, 2019 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

State Rep. Greg Razer, D-Kansas City, a Mizzou graduate, is the ranking Democrat on the House Higher Education Committee. He tells Missourinet he’s working on the resolution’s language now.

Representative Razer is upset with the NCAA for upholding the sanctions against Mizzou’s football, baseball and softball teams, including a one-year postseason ban for the programs.

Razer spoke to our Kansas City television partner KMBC, the day the sanctions were upheld this week.

“What the NCAA is telling institutions with today’s ruling is cheat, and then when you get caught, lie about it and hide it,” Razer told KMBC on Tuesday.

Missouri lawmakers return to Jefferson City on January 8 for the 2020 legislative session. The resolution would put the House on record as opposing the NCAA’s decision. It would also provide Razer and lawmakers in both parties with an opportunity to address the issue on the House floor.

Missouri Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, also criticizes the NCAA, describing the organization as a “fraud.”

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R) also blasts the NCAA, saying the sanctions are unfair and unwarranted. He says Mizzou “did the right thing by self-reporting the actions of the tutor and a small number of players.”