State Rep. Ashley Bland Manlove Archives

Missouri’s health director testifies the state is well-prepared for coronavirus

March 2, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s health director testified Monday afternoon in Jefferson City that he’s hoping for the best and preparing for the worst regarding the coronavirus.

Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) Director Dr. Randall Williams testifies before the House Special Committee on Disease Control and Prevention in Jefferson City on March 2, 2020 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

State Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) Director, Dr. Randall Williams, appeared before the newly-created Missouri House Special Committee on Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Williams testifies there have been no confirmed cases in Missouri. About 100 people have been self-monitoring, and Dr. Williams says the department has had fewer than 15 people under investigation, which includes testing.

DHSS says about 80 people in Missouri have been evaluated by epidemiologists.

Director Williams testifies that hand washing is the key thing to remember.

“When people ask me how good or bad this is, the answer I always give is I’m not going to speculate. I don’t know but I’ll tell you this,” Williams testifies. “If you will use good handwashing for 20 seconds, as described by the CDC.”

The CDC is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Williams also recommends avoiding touching your eyes or mouth with unwashed hands.

“We don’t have a vaccination, so that will not be available to us. We do not have antivirals that are readily available,” says Dr. Williams.

Director Williams testifies Missouri is well-prepared, noting DHSS has held daily meetings since January 27. He emphasizes that the United States has an excellent health care system, and also praises the preparation of Missouri’s health directors and providers.

Williams is not making a supplemental budget request right now, regarding the coronavirus. He tells the committee that the federal government will be offering the money Missouri will need. Williams doesn’t think DHSS will need general revenue.

During a Statehouse press conference on Monday, House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, told Missourinet that the Legislature will be ready if a request comes. Haahr notes he spoke about the issue earlier on Monday, with House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage.

“If money is needed, the ability to put that in the supplemental (budget) to get that money to the people who need it quickly,” Speaker Haahr says. “I know on the federal level, there has been quite a bit of discussion about the amount of money that’s needed. Obviously, it’s going to take some time to turn around a vaccine on this.”

Governor Mike Parson and DHSS Director Williams will meet with Cabinet members Tuesday afternoon in Jefferson City. The governor and Dr. Williams also plan a press conference.

State Rep. Jonathan Patterson, R-Lee’s Summit, chairs the House Special Committee on Disease Control and Prevention. He’s a surgeon. State Rep. Kip Kendrick, D-Columbia, is the ranking Democrat. Both lawmakers emphasize this is a bipartisan issue. Speaker Haahr agrees.

State Rep. Ashley Bland Manlove, D-Kansas City, who serves on the committee, has requested an unclassified briefing on the impact on the Missouri National Guard, specifically those who have been overseas. Representative Bland Manlove is a former intelligence analyst for the Missouri National Guard.

Parson to discuss violence with large city mayors and police chiefs at Missouri Capitol

November 24, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

The mayors and police chiefs of Missouri’s four largest cities will be in Jefferson City Monday morning to meet with Governor Mike Parson (R). They’ll be discussing crime and other issues.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson (center) meets with Columbia Mayor Brian Treece, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson and Springfield Mayor Ken McClure on October 18, 2019 in Springfield (file photo courtesy of KSGF’s Bailey Strohl)

St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, Springfield Mayor Ken McClure, Columbia Mayor Brian Treece and their four respective police chiefs will travel to the Missouri Capitol to meet with the governor behind closed doors.

Crime and violence will be a main topic, but they’re also expected to discuss issues like jobs as well. Governor Parson will hold a 12:15 p.m. Statehouse press briefing with Capitol reporters, and will be joined by the mayors and chiefs.

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. Governor Parson met with the four mayors in October in Springfield, and reiterated that the violent crime issue will take a coordinated effort among federal, state and community leaders.

Governor Parson has sent state troopers to St. Louis to patrol interstates, and supports working with churches to help prevent violence. He’s traveled to several churches in St. Louis, to meet with pastors.

The governor has also met with members of Missouri’s Legislative Black Caucus, which supports legislation allowing cities with high gun violence to approve their own gun control legislation.

State Rep. Ashley Bland Manlove, D-Kansas City, has told Missourinet that gun violence is ravaging the streets, noting that Kansas City and St. Louis have consistently ranked in the top ten deadliest cities for at least a decade.

Kansas City Police say there have been 131 homicides there in 2019, up from 120 last year. State Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis, notes that at least 13 children have been killed in St. Louis city shootings in 2019.

A snapshot of the Missouri Legislature’s special session this week

September 9, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri lawmakers will return to the State Capitol in Jefferson City on Monday for a special session involving a complicated State Supreme Court ruling about vehicle sales.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson signs legislation on July 10, 2019 (file photo courtesy of Governor Parson’s office)

While it’s not officially on the special session agenda, Democrats in both the House and Senate will have an opportunity to speak on the respective floors about the issue of gun violence, which is a top priority for the Legislative Black Caucus.

Governor Mike Parson (R) announced in August that he’s calling the special session over the Supreme Court’s “Kehlenbrink vs. Department of Revenue” case.

“After reviewing the court’s decision, we’ve decided to call a special session because it’s simply the right thing to do for the people of our state,” Parson announced in August. “The enforcement of this decision would create a financial burden on Missouri taxpayers and unnecessary government red tape that we can proactively prevent.”

The Supreme Court’s summer ruling involves using the sale proceeds of a vehicle as a credit against the purchase price of a new vehicle when calculating sales tax. Essentially, the Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that state law unambiguously permits the sale proceeds of only one vehicle as a credit against the purchase price of a new car, for the purposes of calculating sales tax.

“And really, the simple version of it (the Supreme Court’s ruling) is when you trade cars in, for example if you trade two cars in, you get a credit back on those two cars or for that model if you’re buying another one. There was a ruling by the Supreme Court that says you can only do one,” Parson told Missourinet on August 15 at the State Fair in Sedalia. That was the first time the governor had spoken publicly about the issue.

Parson says the ruling impacts about 2,000 to 3,000 Missourians, adding this is money out of their pocket.

GOP leaders in both chambers indicate the special session should end by Friday.

House Majority Leader Rob Vescovo, R-Arnold, has released a schedule indicating the House will have a technical session on Monday, with floor debate and discussion expected Wednesday morning and afternoon. The House is expected to give final approval to the vehicle tax bill on Wednesday.

Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, tells Missourinet he expects the Senate to take possession of the bill on Thursday. A Senate hearing would take place Thursday, and Schatz expects the Senate to approve the bill on Friday.

Under the state Constitution, both chambers will also hold the annual veto session Wednesday at noon, which means they will stop the special session and then reconvene it after veto session ends.

Governor Parson vetoed six bills this year. State Sen. Denny Hoskins, R-Warrensburg, tells Missourinet he doesn’t expect any override attempts in the House or the Senate.

As for the Legislative Black Caucus, they support legislation allowing cities with high gun violence, like St. Louis and Kansas City, to approve their own gun control legislation. They wanted Governor Parson to include the issue in this week’s special session.

The governor opposes that, saying there are “many different opinions on how to find a solution.” Governor Parson met with State Rep. Ashley Bland Manlove, D-Kansas City, and other Black Caucus leaders behind closed doors last week at the Capitol. Representative Manlove says the governor is pushing for improved job opportunities in St. Louis and Kansas City.

The governor told Missourinet’s Jill Enders in St. Charles last week that he plans to send Missouri state troopers to St. Louis within the next 30 days. Parson also supports working with churches, to help prevent violence.

Manlove and other Black Caucus members will have an opportunity to discuss the issue on the floors of the House and Senate. Manlove tells Missourinet children are still dying, noting there have been more than 100 Kansas City homicides in 2019.

She says gun violence is “ravaging our streets,” and notes Kansas City and St. Louis have consistently ranked in the top ten deadliest cities for at least a decade.

Governor Parson and Missouri Legislative Black Caucus discuss gun violence; agree to future meetings

September 4, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s governor and leaders of the Legislative Black Caucus met behind closed doors Tuesday afternoon at the Statehouse in Jefferson City, discussing gun violence.

State Rep. Ashley Bland Manlove, D-Kansas City, speaks on the Missouri House floor on February 20, 2019 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

State Rep. Ashley Bland Manlove, D-Kansas City, tells Capitol reporters while Governor Mike Parson (R) won’t be adding the gun violence issue to next week’s special session, he will have additional meetings with the Black Caucus.

“And unfortunately I think he’s feeling some of the pressure that we feel,” Manlove says. “The General Assembly is in a (GOP) supermajority and that is apparently even hard for him to navigate.”

Republicans have a two-thirds majority in both chambers of the Legislature.

The Black Caucus met with the governor for about 40 minutes inside his Capitol office, while reporters and photographers waited outside in a Capitol hallway. Representative Manlove, the Black Caucus’ vice chair, says the governor is focusing on ways that they can move forward together.

“Tying back into that workforce development (issue) and how if a person has a good-paying job, that might deter them from some of this crime,” says Manlove.

Representative Manlove says the governor is pushing for improved job opportunities in St. Louis and Kansas City.

Governor Parson opposes a September special session on gun violence, saying there are “many different opinions on how to find a solution.” He outlined a few possible solutions, during a news conference last week with Capitol reporters.

“I think you can partner up with the federal government, the city (St. Louis) and the county can do some things. I think on the state level, there’s things we can do, maybe put the (Missouri State) Highway Patrol, put them back in there on the ground. That’s things we can do right away,” Parson told reporters on August 28.

The governor also supports working with churches, to help prevent violence.

The Black Caucus supports legislation allowing cities with high gun violence to approve their own gun control legislation. Manlove tells Missourinet that children are still dying, noting there have been more than 100 Kansas City homicides in 2019.

She says gun violence is “ravaging our streets,” and notes Kansas City and St. Louis have consistently ranked in the top ten deadliest cities for at least a decade.

State Reps. Richard Brown, D-Kansas City, and LaKeySha Bosley, D-St. Louis, joined Manlove at Tuesday’s press briefing. Brown serves as the Black Caucus’ treasurer, and Bosley serves as secretary.

Parson: Missouri lawmakers should address gun violence in regular, not special, session

August 29, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s governor said Wednesday in Jefferson City that a September special session is “not the correct avenue” to address the issue of gun violence, and that it should be addressed when lawmakers return to Jefferson City in January.

Governor Mike Parson addresses DED employees at the Missouri Capitol on August 28, 2019 (Brian Hauswirth photo)

Governor Mike Parson (R) spoke to Capitol reporters during a Statehouse press conference on the issue of state government reorganization. Most of the questions from reporters were about deadly gun violence.

Parson says it will take a coordinated effort among federal, state and community officials to reduce violence.

“If you want to bring the gun violence (topic) into special session, I’m not for sure what the outcome you think going to be out of that,” Parson says. “That’s why I think that needs to be done in regular session (in January). Special session, you want to do something in a limited time that you think you can get a fix to.”

13 children have been killed in shootings in St. Louis city in 2019.

The “St. Louis Post-Dispatch” reports St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson is urging state lawmakers to let the city require concealed weapon permits. The governor tells reporters “that’s going to have to go through the legislative branch.”

Governor Parson says he’s spoken to both Mayor Krewson and to Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas about gun violence.

“We got to figure out some solutions to these kids getting shot in the streets up there in St. Louis and Kansas City or wherever it is in the state of Missouri,” says Parson.

The governor is against a September special session on gun violence, saying there are “many different opinions on how to find a solution.”

Parson outlines a few possible solutions.

“I think you can partner up with the federal government, the city (St. Louis) and the county can do some things,” Parson says. “I think on the state level, there’s things we can do, maybe put the (Missouri State) Highway Patrol, put them back in there on the ground. That’s things we can do right away.”

Parson also supports working with churches, to help prevent violence.

The Missouri Legislative Black Caucus has asked the governor to add the issue of gun control during the special session. The Black Caucus supports legislation allowing cities with high gun violence to approve their own gun control legislation.

State Rep. Ashley Bland Manlove (D-Kansas City), the Black Caucus’ vice chair, says Kansas City and St. Louis “have shamefully and consistently” ranked in the top ten deadliest cities for at least a decade.

Bland Manlove describes the gun violence as a public health crisis.

Governor Parson has called a special session involving a complicated Missouri Supreme Court ruling about vehicle sales. Lawmakers will return to Jefferson City on September 9 for the special session, which is expected to last one week.

Parson spokeswoman Kelli Jones tells Missourinet she believes the vehicle tax issue will be the only agenda item at special session.