Missouri State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick Archives

Governor’s inauguration to celebrate Missouri’s rich history

December 9, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

When Gov. Mike Parson takes the oath of office next month, his inauguration will look and feel like a celebration of the state’s 57th governor making his mark on history and a celebration of Missouri officially becoming a state. That’s according to Parson’s campaign manager Steele Shippy. He tells Missourinet the Inaugural events will be historic.

“It’s also the bicentennial,” says Shippy. “So, there’s a lot of focus around celebrating the state’s rich heritage and history. There’s going to be elements of not just about the governor – it’s about celebrating our state at the same time.”

August 10, 2021, will mark the 200th anniversary of Missouri’s entry as the 24th state of the United States.

First Lady Teresa Parson and GOP ally James Harris are serving as co-chairs of the governor’s Bicentennial Inaugural Committee. About 50 of the governor’s close friends and supporters are serving on the panel.

“To kick off Missouri’s bicentennial, we will celebrate our state’s rich heritage with a historic Bicentennial Inauguration,” First Lady Teresa Parson says in a press release. “The strong bonds that tie Missourians together have endured for over 200 years and will provide the strength needed to continue moving Missouri forward.”

The inaugural events will kick off with a prayer service on January 9 in the governor’s hometown of Bolivar in southwest Missouri. The gathering will be at Southwest Baptist University at 4 p.m.

The traditional ceremony of the governor taking the oath of office will be on January 11 at 11:30 a.m. on the south lawn of the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City. Other statewide elected officials being sworn in at the ceremony include Missouri Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe, Attorney General Eric Schmitt, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick.

The crowd at the ceremony can expect a 19-gun salute and a Missouri National Guard flyover has been requested.

The press release says the committee has consulted with state and local health officials and will follow their guidance to protect the attendees, participants, and staff from COVID-19. Health and security screenings will be conducted. Masks will be provided and encouraged. Social distancing measures will be taken and hand sanitizer will also be available.

The event is free and open to the public. Guests are encouraged to RSVP to help with social distancing efforts. More information, including how to request tickets to the events, will be announced at a future date.

Following the inauguration ceremony, the committee will release information about future inaugural events, such as the traditional inaugural ball and parade, in conjunction with Missouri’s bicentennial celebrations later in 2021.

“As we learn more about COVID-19 and how it’s progressing or regressing, that will dictate what types of events or the timing of those events,” Shippy says.

Shippy did not have information about the cost associated with these events. Parson’s Bicentennial Inaugural Committee is raising money for them through a newly-created 501c4 organization called Moving Missouri Forward. The release says benefactors and their donations will be disclosed at a later date.

Missouri’s state treasurer is warning against Medicaid expansion; both sides cite different numbers

July 26, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s state treasurer and the House Budget Committee chairman will travel across the state on Monday, urging Missourians to vote against Medicaid expansion on the August ballot.

Missouri State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick speaks at a CARES Act funding working group on May 21, 2020 in Jefferson City (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Medicaid, which is formally known as MO HealthNet, is a federal and state program that assists with medical costs for residents with limited incomes.

House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, tells Missourinet that Medicaid’s current budget is almost $12 billion for fiscal year 2021. The state’s current operating budget is about $35.2 billion.

Smith and State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick (R) will visit Joplin, Springfield, Kansas City, Creve Coeur, Cape Girardeau and Jefferson City on Monday. They’ll brief Capitol reporters immediately following the governor’s 3 pm press conference at the Statehouse.

Missourians will cast ballots on Amendment Two, the Medicaid expansion proposal, on August 4. If approved by voters, Medicaid would be expanded for residents between the ages of 19 and 64 with an income level at or below 133 percent of the federal poverty level, as set forth in the Affordable Care Act.

Medicaid expansion supporters say the measure would provide healthcare to Missourians who earn less than $18,000 annually.

Chairman Smith says the August Medicaid expansion ballot measure is projected to cost $200 million in state general revenue, and $1.8 billion in federal funding each year. He also says it will raise Missouri’s Medicaid rolls from 950,000 to more than 1.2 million participants.

Smith also says COVID-19 has had a major impact on Missouri’s economy.

“More than $1 billion has been cut from the state’s general revenue budget in recent months,” Smith says, in a statement. “Just this month, services requiring state support have been drastically reduced, including elementary school funding, college scholarships, and support services for those in need. Amendment Two will be a knockout blow to the state budget as more services will be cut or eliminated to pay for the healthcare of able-bodied adults.”

Supporters of Medicaid expansion disagree, saying the measure will create thousands of new jobs, many of them in rural communities.

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry and many unions have endorsed Amendment Two. The Chamber has quoted a study from the Missouri Foundation for Health, which says Medicaid expansion will create more than 16,000 new jobs annually during its first five years, while increasing personal income by $1.1 billion annually.

The Foundation for Health says most of the new positions would be outside of St. Louis and Kansas City, and that 90 percent of those jobs will pay more than $15 an hour.

Medicaid expansion supporters also say that Amendment Two will help keep rural hospitals open.

The Missouri Hospital Association (MHA) says ten rural Missouri hospitals have closed since 2014. Five of the ten ten closings happened in the southeast Missouri district of U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Salem.

The Missouri Farm Bureau, the state’s largest general farm organization, is opposed to Amendment Two. Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst says it could cripple the state budget by imposing massive new healthcare costs on Missouri taxpayers.

37 states have expanded Medicaid.