Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz Archives

Missouri PDMP debate personal for Rehder: Don’t judge “unless you’ve walked a mile in their moccasins”

May 11, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Legislation that would create a prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) is now heading to a Missouri House-Senate conference committee in Jefferson City, for negotiations.

State Rep. Holly Rehder, R-Scott City, speaks about her PDMP legislation on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on May 11, 2020 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

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.

While both chambers have approved PDMP this session, they’ve approved different versions. The Senate version contains a provision about fentanyl that isn’t in the House bill.

Monday’s House floor debate was emotional, as the bill sponsor delivered a passionate speech on why she believes PDMP is needed. State Rep. Holly Rehder, R-Scott City, urged colleagues to not judge people “unless you’ve walked a mile in their moccasins.”

“Many demeaning things have been said on this (House) floor over the years about those who are addicted,” Rehder says. “Things like, an addict will always get their fix, regardless of what we try to do to help.”

Rehder revealed to colleagues on Monday that her late mother and late sister were both sexually assaulted multiple times, and turned to prescription drugs for their pain.

She also says that many homeless veterans are addicted to some drugs, for their pain.

Not everyone in the House supported Rehder’s call to send the bill to a conference committee for negotiations.

State Rep. Justin Hill, R-Lake St. Louis, has privacy and other concerns about the bill. Hill, who’s been a vocal PDMP opponent, says House Republicans are divided 50-50 on the issue.

The Missouri House approved the bill in February by a bipartisan 95-56 vote, with every House Democrat voting for it. All 56 “no” votes came from Rehder’s fellow Republicans.

Hill opposes sending it to conference.

“And now we (the full House) are going to give our power to a select few to decide if this bill is going to be the bill that we pass this year,” says Hill.

State Rep. Tony Lovasco, R-O’Fallon, also urged against sending the bill to conference. He says 87 percent of Missouri is already covered by PDMP.

“Let’s have this discussion next year,” Lovasco says.

In the end, the House voted 110-33 on Monday to send Rehder’s bill to conference.

Time is the biggest factor now, and could be the biggest obstacle to the bill. The Legislature must adjourn by Friday evening at 6, under the state Constitution.

Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, tells Missourinet he’s optimistic.

“It’s always a coin toss on any bill this time in session. Any Senator can easily stop a piece of legislation,” Schatz says. “But I do think any bill that is still moving could potentially pass. We put a lot of effort into this early in session, and it would be disappointing if it fails.”

Pro Tem Schatz supports PDMP, as does Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, and House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield.

Approving budget is top priority for Missouri’s governor, Schatz and Haahr (AUDIO)

April 26, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s governor wants lawmakers to focus on the state operating budget during the final few weeks of the 2020 session, and GOP legislative leaders in both chambers say that is their top priority.

Missouri House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, at podium, and House Majority Leader Rob Vescovo, R-Arnold, speak at a virtual press briefing on April 8, 2020 in Jefferson City (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

During a media briefing last week, Missourinet asked Governor Mike Parson (R) what issues lawmakers should focus on, when they return to the Capitol in Jefferson City on Monday.

“They come here (to the Statehouse) to do the budget by May 8th, that’s what they’re coming back here for, that’s their main objective, my understanding of that, and that’s the one thing that we really need to focus on,” Parson says.

Under the state Constitution, Missouri lawmakers are required to approve a balanced state operating budget by May 8. That’s less than two weeks away.

While time will be a factor, Missouri’s Senate leader believes lawmakers will send a balanced budget to the governor’s desk by the May 8th constitutional deadline. Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, expects the House to give final budget approval on Wednesday.

“We believe that we (the Senate) can begin the process that week after the (April) 29th, work possibly through the weekend to get our budget markup done,” says Schatz.

Schatz knows the House and Senate budgets will have differences, and he’s allotting time for House and Senate budget writers to negotiate those differences in a conference committee. The conference committee work would take place next week.

The budget is also the top priority for House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield.

The House gavels-in Monday at noon, and House Majority Floor Leader Rob Vescovo, R-Arnold, says the House has scheduled six hours of budget debate for Monday. House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, expects the House to give initial approval to the budget on Monday. He expects final House approval on Wednesday. The budget would then head to the Senate.

Chairman Smith agrees with Governor Parson, that lawmakers may return to the Capitol this summer for a special session on another supplemental budget.

The Senate will gavel-in Monday afternoon at 4, although two Senate committees will meet before session begins.

Lawmakers have lost four to five weeks of session time because of the COVID-19 outbreak. The last day of the 2020 legislative session is Friday, May 15. Pro Tem Schatz tells Missourinet that many bills will die, in the session’s final three weeks.

“I would say probably more than has ever in the past, because there’s probably going to be a very, very minimal number of bills that will make it across the finish line,” Schatz says.

While he’s keeping his expectations low on policy issues, Pro Tem Schatz remains hopeful that lawmakers can approve a bipartisan prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) and a legislative redistricting plan. The redistricting proposal has been a priority for Republicans, but Democrats oppose it, saying Missourians overwhelmingly passed the 2018 “Clean Missouri” proposal.

As for PDMP, Missouri is the only state in the nation without one.

Missouri House Chief Clerk Dana Rademan Miller tells Missourinet they have supplied all House members and staff with cloth masks, which are cotton and washable. She says all are encouraged, but not required, to wear them and to continue to practice social distancing protocols when they return to the Capitol on Monday.

Click here to listen to the full six-minute interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, which was recorded on April 24, 2020:

Missouri Senate leader Schatz is optimistic about finishing budget

March 19, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The Missouri Senate leader is optimistic that state lawmakers can approve a balanced budget by the constitutional deadline of early May.

Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz (R-Sullivan) briefs Capitol reporters on March 12, 2020 in Jefferson City, as Democratic Leader John Rizzo (D-Kansas City) and Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden (R-Columbia) look on (file photo from Missourinet’s Alisa Nelson)

The Senate was not in session this week in Jefferson City, and is out next week for its regularly-scheduled spring break. Missouri House Budget Committee members met on Sunday and Monday, and the full 163-member House was in session on Wednesday, where they approved millions of dollars in funding to battle COVID-19.

Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, told Missourinet on Thursday that Senate leaders are receiving daily updates about the coronavirus.

Pro Tem Schatz says they’ve had discussions with House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, and other House leaders “on what it might look like in a few weeks in order for us to resume session and finish the budget.”

It’s unclear now when lawmakers will return to Jefferson City. The only people at the Capitol on Thursday were some staff members, Capitol Police, janitors and reporters.

“Every day brings new developments, so we will continue to remain flexible on how we move forward, but optimistic we will find a way to get the budget done,” Schatz says.

Governor Mike Parson and the state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) announced this afternoon that there are now four new confirmed cases of coronavirus in Missouri, bringing the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases to 28.

The Missouri House voted 147-3 this week to approve about $40 million in new funding to fight coronavirus.

The governor has said several times at his daily Capitol press briefings that his top priorities continue to be public health and public safety.

Governor Parson also warned this week that “it’s going to be tremendously expensive to get through this next year or two, however long it might be.”

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.

Missouri Senate President Pro Tem to file slot machine legislation for 2020

November 14, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

The Missouri Senate leader will file legislation in December in Jefferson City to increase penalties for alleged illegal slot machines, setting the slot machine issue up as a major one for the 2020 legislative session.

Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz (R-Sullivan) visits the House chamber on May 17, 2019 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, told Missourinet on Wednesday that his legislation will enhance the penalties for the alleged illegal slot machines, which are also known as video lottery terminals (VLTs).

They can be found in bars, restaurants, gas stations and convenience stores.

Missouri’s first criminal case involving the alleged illegal slots will go to trial in December in western Missouri’s Platte County.

Pro Tem Schatz says the Missouri Gaming Commission has received multiple reports of sites that have these machines. The Missouri State Highway Patrol testified in October that the number of complaints it’s received about illegal gambling has increased from 39 in 2018 to at least 145 this year.

Most of those complaints are about alleged illegal slots.

A Missouri House gaming committee has held five hearings since August, and the slot machine issue has dominated discussion at three of them. House Special Interim Committee on Gaming Chairman Dan Shaul, R-Imperial, predicts the slot machine issue will end up at the Missouri Supreme Court. He told the audience during an October hearing that whichever side loses the Platte County case will appeal.

Schatz’s proposal will likely face some opposition. During a committee hearing last week in Jefferson City, representatives from convenience stories and restaurants testified they support legislation to allow the machines in their establishments.

The company that operates 74 Break Time convenience stores in Missouri says video lottery terminals have saved convenience stores in other states.

MFA Oil Company vice president James Greer of Columbia tells state lawmakers that Break Time would probably use the terminals in 25 of their 74 stores, if Missouri lawmakers approve legislation to do so.

“We are open to a separate room. We are open to a cordoned-off area, we will live with whatever rule comes out of that,” Greer testifies.

The co-owner of six St. Louis-area restaurants also wants Missouri lawmakers to allow the VLTs in establishments like his, saying it will help restaurants attract new customers and keep up with minimum wage increases. Webster Groves resident Chris Marshall, who co-owns Llywelyn’s Pub, testified last week before the House gaming committee, saying the machines can also help managers invest money in restaurant renovations.

“In documents I have seen, the average restaurant in Illinois that has five video game machines can average additional revenue of approximately $5,000 per month,” Marshall testifies.

He tells lawmakers he’s had to close a restaurant and diversify. Llywelyn’s Pub has six St. Louis locations: Soulard, Webster Groves, St. Peters, St. Charles, O’Fallon and Wildwood.

But opponents say the machines are illegal and are hurting public education.

The Missouri Gaming Association, which represents the state’s 13 casinos, opposes legalizing the VLTs, saying they are illegal and bypass Missouri voters.

And the Missouri Lottery has testified that alleged illegal slot machines are hurting public education in the Show-Me State. Lottery executive director May Scheve Reardon testified in September, telling lawmakers there’s a major issue with the alleged illegal slots along the I-44 corridor, from St. James to Lebanon.

New Missouri Senate committee studying gun violence to hold first hearing Monday (AUDIO)

October 30, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

A key Democratic state senator is pleased that Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, has formed an interim committee to study gun violence, saying she hopes the committee will come up with a blueprint to reduce the violence.

State Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis, briefs Capitol reporters in January 2018 (file photo courtesy of Missouri Senate photographer Harrison Sweazea)

The committee’s first hearing is Monday in Jefferson City.

State Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis, called on Pro Tem Schatz to create the committee, back in September. Nasheed describes the gun violence in her hometown as an epidemic.

“I mean when we have children dying on the street by way of AK 47’s and AR-15’s, yeah this is a massive, massive crisis,” Nasheed says.

She also says it’s a public health crisis.

“And I’m just happy that the senators are ready to roll up their sleeves and begin to look at best practices in terms of legislation so that we can help reduce the violence that’s plaguing the inner cities as well as outstate,” says Nasheed.

U.S. Attorney Tim Garrison has noted that St. Louis, Kansas City and Springfield are three of the top 15 most violent cities in the nation, on a per capita basis.

At least 13 children have been killed in St. Louis city shootings in 2019, and Kansas City Police say there have been 122 homicides there this year. In central Missouri’s Columbia, there were five murders during the month of September.

The Senate Interim Committee on Public Safety is chaired by State Sen. Doug Libla, R-Poplar Bluff, and State Sen. Jeanie Riddle, R-Mokane, is the vice-chair. Republicans have a 4-3 majority on the committee, which Nasheed serves on.

Senator Nasheed tells Missourinet the committee’s first hearing is Monday morning at 10 at the Missouri Capitol, where they’ll hear from expert witnesses in areas like public safety and social work.

She has also called for increased protection for crime witnesses, saying they are fearful for their safety. Governor Mike Parson (R) has also expressed that concern.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and State Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis, which was recorded on October 30, 2019:

Schatz: Eight-hour backups on I-70 Rocheport bridge would have had “astronomical costs” (AUDIO)

July 22, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

The state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) has received an $81 million federal grant to replace the aging I-70 bridge in mid-Missouri’s Rocheport, a bridge that carries millions of vehicles annually.

Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) crews work on the I-70 Rocheport bridge (2019 file photo courtesy of MoDOT)

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt and Governor Mike Parson made the announcement Monday afternoon.

Parson says the funding will allow the existing bridge to be used during construction of the new bridge. Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, tells Missourinet motorists would have faced three to eight-hour backups without the grant, under a bridge rehabilitation.

“When you put the commerce that goes across I-70 basically in those types of traffic jams, you know seven, eight-hour traffic jams, the reality of what that really costs at the end of the day is astronomical,” Schatz says.

MoDOT says the 59-year-old bridge is in poor condition. The agency says more than 12 million vehicles cross the bridge annually. Pro Tem Schatz notes more than three million trucks cross it.

“Within 48 hours, there are trucks that are traveling across that bridge that are ending up somewhere within the lower 48 states in the United States,” says Schatz.

U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, agrees with Schatz, saying the new bridge will connect America’s east and west coasts. Hartzler’s sprawling district includes Rocheport.

The successful effort to land the $81 million grant has the strong, bipartisan support of Missouri’s congressional delegation. Hartzler tells Missourinet that U.S. Reps. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, and Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City, signed her letter in support of the project.

In Jefferson City, Pro Tem Schatz says the bipartisanship highlights the project’s importance.

“I think Senator Blunt, Senator (Josh) Hawley, going to bat for Missouri obviously making the case for how critical this is to our state, not only to our state but to the economy in general across the whole country,” Schatz says.

Governor Parson says the grant will allow the $240 million project to build a new six-lane I-70 Rocheport bridge near the current one, as well as reconstructing the nearby Route BB interchange. The governor expects construction of the new bridge to begin in 2021.

The grant will also mean $301 million in state bonding that is expected to repair or replace another 215 bridges across the state. Schatz sponsored that provision in the Senate.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, which was recorded on July 22, 2019: