schools Archives - Missourinet

Governor Parson adds COVID liability to Missouri’s special session call; Quade says it will worsen crisis

November 12, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s governor expanded his special session call on Thursday to include COVID-19 liability, relating to his declared state of emergency for health care providers, manufacturers, businesses, churches, schools and others.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson announces he’s expanding his special session call to include COVID liability, during a November 12, 2020 press conference in Jefferson City (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

The issue is a top priority for Missouri’s largest business organization and for GOP legislative leaders, but some labor unions and the House Democratic leader see it differently.

Governor Mike Parson (R) made his announcement at a Statehouse press conference in Jefferson City.

“None of these groups (health care providers, businesses, churches, schools) should be penalized for their efforts to respond to a declared state of emergency,” Parson tells Capitol reporters. “They must be able to continue operating and serving the public without risk of unnecessary and senseless claims.”

The governor is calling on the Legislature to approve a bill with three main components.

“Liability protection for health care workers who provide care as necessitated by a declared state of emergency,” says Parson. “Products liability protection for any person who designs, manufactures, labels, sells, distributes or donates products in direct response to a declared state of emergency.”

The third component is premises liability protection for exposure claims, relating to a declared state of emergency.

Governor Parson also wants lawmakers to approve an emergency clause.

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been urging the governor to expand the special session, saying six of Missouri’s eight bordering states have approved similar legislation. Chamber President Dan Mehan tells Missourinet that more than 800 Missouri employers, mostly small businesses, signed a letter requesting a special session. That includes a skate park and a pizzeria.

Mehan describes COVID-19 liability protection as an important step towards re-opening the economy.

You can read the governor’s special session call here. House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, told Missourinet this week he expects the House to be in session in December to work on COVID liability.

The top Democratic in the Missouri House is blasting the governor’s announcement, saying it encourages reckless behavior.

“Over and over, Governor Parson has stressed the need for personal responsibility in fighting COVID-19. But for businesses that negligently put their employees and customers at risk, he doesn’t want them to have to take any responsibility at all,” House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, says, in a written statement. “While providing protections for businesses that follow the rules and take the necessary steps to keep people safe might be warranted, a blanket exemption that also shields bad actors from legal liability will encourage reckless behavior and make a crisis that already has spun out of control far worse.”

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is also critical. SEIU Healthcare Missouri Kansas vice president Lenny Jones says the governor’s proposal would grant immunity to operators and owners of nursing homes and medical centers, during the COVID pandemic.

Haahr anticipates addition of COVID liability to Missouri’s special session (AUDIO)

November 11, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s House Speaker anticipates that the governor will expand his special session call to include COVID-19 liability.

Missouri House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, presides over the House on November 10, 2020 in Jefferson City (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, made his comments to Missourinet, during a Tuesday afternoon interview in his Capitol office in Jefferson City. He expects the Missouri House to be in session in December to work on COVID liability.

“We’ve been in long talks with the (Capitol’s) second floor (the governor’s office) on that for several weeks now and those talks have gotten pretty serious, and I think we’re at a place where we’re comfortable moving forward,” Speaker Haahr says.

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry is also urging the governor to include COVID liability in his special session call, saying January is too long to wait to shield businesses, schools and hospitals that follow public health guidelines from COVID suits.

Chamber President Dan Mehan describes COVID-19 liability protection as an important step towards re-opening the economy.

“There’s a lot of employers out there that are a little bit concerned about opening for fear of being sued on frivolous grounds for COVID, by customers, by employees, that sort of thing,” says Mehan.

Mehan says more than 800 Missouri employers, mostly small businesses, have signed a letter requesting it. He says that includes a skate park and a pizzeria.

Mehan also says many of Missouri’s neighboring states have passed similar legislation.

“We’ve seen six of the eight contiguous states, the border states, adopt something in this light. Most recently Iowa signed it into law,” Mehan says.

As for Governor Parson, he supports the COVID-19 liability proposal and has publicly stated at several Capitol press conferences that he would include it during the special session, if there’s a path for it to pass.

House Majority Floor Leader Rob Vescovo, R-Arnold, who will be Speaker in January, has also written a letter to the governor, asking him to expand the special session call.

“Right now there are numerous small businesses afraid to open because of the threat of litigation tied to COVID-19,” Leader Vescovo writes. “Additionally, many of our hospitals and health care professionals are asking us to help them to better be able to do their jobs by passing commonsense COVID-19 liability protections.”

Speaker Haahr tells Missourinet that many businesses across the state have reached out, adding that lawmakers are working to keep the language tight.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Dan Mehan, which was recorded on November 6, 2020:

Missouri House committee to hear Tuesday testimony from Vandeven and Williams about COVID-19

August 7, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s health director and the education commissioner will both testify Tuesday in Jefferson City before a bipartisan Missouri House Committee that’s related to the coronavirus.

Missouri Commissioner of Education Dr. Margie Vandeven briefs Capitol reporters in Jefferson City on July 6, 2020 (file photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

The Missouri House Special Committee on Disease Control and Prevention will meet Tuesday morning at 10:30 at the Statehouse in Jefferson City. The committee is chaired by State Rep. Jonathan Patterson, R-Lee’s Summit, a private practice general surgeon. The committee’s ranking Democrat is State Rep. Kip Kendrick, D-Columbia. Kendrick is the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee.

The committee will be examining the decision by school districts in reopening buildings to students, and will get an update on Missouri’s use of federal CARES Act funding.

The state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) says Missouri now has 57,379 confirmed cases, up from 55,321 on Wednesday.

Chairman Patterson tells Missourinet that DHSS Director Dr. Randall Williams will testify on Tuesday morning, about the trajectory Missouri is on. Dr. Patterson is also interested what will happen if/when a COVID-19 vaccine is developed. Patterson wants to know if DHSS has a plan in place.

Another key part of Tuesday’s hearing will involve Missouri Commissioner of Education Dr. Margie Vandeven, who will testify about schools.

Chairman Patterson notes that he has a nine-year-old and a six-year-old in public school. He says the number one issue he’s hearing about from constituents is about school plans.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson says his office has worked closely with the State Departments of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and DHSS to address questions about reopening.

Earlier this week, DESE and DHSS released updated schoool reopening guidance, which addresses frequently asked questions. DESE and DHSS recommend that local school leaders require school staff members to wear face coverings, “as the data indicates COVID-19 transmission is more likely from adult to student, than from student to adult.”

Contact tracing is also addressed in the report from DESE and DHSS.

Governor Parson says the state is working to help school districts with personal protective equipment (PPE), noting that 1.8 million cloth masks have been made available through the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).

The governor says DESE and SEMA are currently working to develop a plan to distribute the masks to Missouri school districts.

Missouri House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, announced the committee’s creation earlier this year. Chairman Patterson notes this will be the committee’s second hearing: they met on March 2 and heard testimony from Dr. Williams.

At that time, Dr. Williams testified there had been no confirmed cases in Missouri. About 100 people had been self-monitoring, according to testimony.

Governor Parson says Missouri is one of the states the White House is concerned about, with increasing COVID-19 cases. The governor told Capitol reporters this week that Vice President Mike Pence called him on Sunday, to offer additional assistance and resources to battle the pandemic.

EPA grant will help Missouri schools test for lead contamination in water

July 6, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Bipartisan legislation that’s aimed at providing protections for safe drinking water in Missouri schools has been signed into law by Governor Mike Parson.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson signed two pieces of legislation on July 2, 2020 in Tipton. One involved safe drinking water in schools, and the other involved rural broadband (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

One of the key provisions in House Bill 2120 is from veteran State Sen. Gina Walsh, D-Bellefontaine Neighbors, the former Senate Minority Leader. That provision allows Missouri schools to submit a test of potable water for lead content to labs approved by state health officials.

“Getting clean water in today’s times, what we’ve seen over time, really starting to focus on that,” Parson tells Capitol reporters in Jefferson City. “Water is just so essential to us. One is lifestyle, but everything we utilize has water involved in it.”

With the governor’s signature on Thursday at a Tipton ceremony, Missouri schools and the state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) will be able to capitalize on a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant of $719,000 that will assist with lead water testing in schools built before 1996.

“So I think passing that bill, making everybody draw a little attention to it and step up a little better to deliver that is a good thing,” says Parson.

Senator Walsh notes a review found numerous schools with elevated lead levels in water.

State Rep. Bill Kidd, R-Buckner, sponsored the House bill. Under it, each school district can test a sample of a source of water in buildings constructed before 1996. If the samples tested exceed the EPA standard, the school districts would need to notify parents of enrolled students.

The Missouri Senate approved the bill by a 25-4 vote, and the House passed it 108-34.