Sullivan Archives - Missourinet

Southeast Missouri lawmaker: state employees and teachers should receive pay raises, not elected officials (AUDIO)

November 30, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A veteran state lawmaker from southeast Missouri will file a resolution this week, aimed at blocking proposed pay increases for state lawmakers and for statewide elected officials.

State Rep. Andrew McDaniel, R-Deering, speaks on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on February 26, 2020 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

State Rep. Andrew McDaniel, R-Deering, was first elected to the Missouri House in 2014, and will be a senior member in January during his final House term in Jefferson City. He’s voted against previous pay raises for lawmakers, and says it’s state employees and teachers who should receive a raise.

“Until we can keep our promises to the state employees across-the-board and to the teachers and stuff, I don’t think any elected official deserves a pay raise. That’s pretty much the simple gist of it,” McDaniel says.

The bipartisan Citizen’s Commission on Compensation for Elected Officials is recommending a five percent pay raise for state lawmakers and for statewide elected officials. The “Springfield News-Leader” reports salaries for state lawmakers have remained the same since 2007, about $35,000 annually.

The proposed pay raises would take effect on February 1, unless the Legislature approves McDaniel’s resolution.

“When January comes around (for the 2021 legislative session), hopefully it gets referred to committee right out the door and we get it all done and hopefully it gets to the Senate and they concur with what I believe and what probably the rest of the Missourians believe,” says McDaniel.

McDaniel represents Dunklin and Pemiscot counties in the Missouri House, two of the poorest counties in the state. He says his Bootheel constituents support his position.

Meantime, the Missouri Senate leader wants to see the details of the commission’s report, before he takes a position. Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, emphasizes that the commission’s work is independent.

“What I do believe is what it was designed to do was to not make it a political issue, where legislators weren’t setting their pay,” Schatz says. “But this commission has been charged with trying to address that in a fair and reasonable manner.”

The last time the pay raise issue came up was in early 2017, and it was defeated by lawmakers.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with State Rep. Andrew McDaniel, R-Deering, which was recorded on November 24, 2020:

Schatz: Missouri Senate to return next week; two senators who tested positive for COVID have recovered (AUDIO)

November 24, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The Missouri Senate leader says two state senators and a Senate staff member who tested positive for COVID-19 have recovered.

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)

Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, says the full Senate plans to return to Jefferson City next week.

“I haven’t spoken to both of them (the two state senators who tested positive for COVID) but I’ve spoken with one of those senators and he has fully recovered and feeling fine. And I do believe the other senator according to reports, that he is fine also and fully recovered,” Schatz says.

Schatz and Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, announced last Monday that the Senate would postpone debate and votes on the proposed $1.2 billion supplemental budget until after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, due to the positive COVID cases. Schatz says that decision was not made lightly and was done in the best interest of protecting senators, staff members and the public.

Pro Tem Schatz tells Missourinet that the Senate will return next Tuesday afternoon to debate and vote on the supplemental budget. He says the Senate needs two days to get it done, and that will include time for committee hearings.

“Our plan is we adjourned until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, December 1,” says Schatz. “So we are planning to come back and take up some of the appropriations work that the House has sent over to us.”

The House approved the supplemental budget on November 10, on a bipartisan 133-4 vote. The budget deploys federal resources across numerous state departments.

It also provides more authority to spend federal dollars on personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing. It also addresses Missouri’s unemployment fund shortage.

Schatz expects a final vote on the supplemental budget next Wednesday. If the Senate approves it as is, it would go straight to the governor’s desk. If any changes are made, the budget would go to a conference committee.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, which was recorded on November 23, 2020:

Missouri Senate committee to hear crime legislation on Tuesday (AUDIO)

July 27, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s special legislative session on violent crime is underway at the Statehouse in Jefferson City. The Missouri Senate gaveled-in Monday at noon and listened to about an hour of floor speeches.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson briefs Capitol reporters in Jefferson City on July 27, 2020 (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, says a Senate committee will hold a hearing on the crime bill Tuesday afternoon at 12:45 in the Senate chamber.

“The Transportation (Infrastructure and) Public Safety Committee will be meeting and hearing the legislation at that time,” Schatz says.

The committee is chaired by State Sen. Doug Libla, R-Poplar Bluff. With the hearing taking place in the Senate chamber, public seating for Tuesday’s hearing will be in the Capitol’s fourth-floor gallery.

Pro Tem Schatz says there’s agreement in the Legislature on the majority of Governor Mike Parson’s special session call on violent crime. Schatz says eliminating the residency requirement for St. Louis Police officers is the most controversial proposal. The Sullivan Republican tells Missourinet it’s still the right thing to do.

“We’re 150-plus law enforcement officers short in the city of St. Louis right now. Residency will help solve some of that problem,” says Schatz.

St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden testified in January that the residency requirement is the greatest challenge that his department has with recruitment and retention.

St. Louis has had at least 143 homicides in 2020. KMOV-TV reports that compares to about 110 at this time last year. Kansas City has now had 110 homicides in 2020, a 35 percent increase from last year.

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, and Missouri’s Legislative Black Caucus are calling for legislation to utilize unused funds from the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) to support programs for gun violence survivors.

“Missouri has failed our survivors of gun violence by not properly utilizing available VOCA funds,” Leader Quade says, in a statement. “The governor’s special session to address violent crimes is the perfect avenue for us to help these survivors and provide money for efforts that stem gun violence before it starts.”

Quade and House Democrats are calling on Governor Parson to utilize $4 million of Missouri’s average annual VOCA funding, that would provide assistance to eligible community-based gun violence intervention groups. Quade says while the VOCA funds directly assist crime victims, they also work to mitigate violent gun crimes from happening in the future.

Governor Parson (R) told Capitol reporters on Monday that he’s narrowly focused on violent crime and does not intend to expand the special session call. He was not specifically asked about VOCA.

The governor says witness protection and juvenile certification are key parts of the call, along with eliminating the residency requirement for St. Louis Police officers.

Parson also says last week’s roundtable discussions with local leaders and law enforcement officers about violent crime were productive. The governor traveled to St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield and Columbia. He also went to eastern Missouri’s Hannibal and Cape Girardeau.

“One of the reasons I went to Hannibal, Cape Girardeau is I really wanted to drive the point home that this violent crime is just not a Kansas City, St. Louis issue,” Parson says.

The governor says violent crime impacts all Missourians, adding that Hannibal recently had a homicide.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s two-minute interview with Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, which was recorded on July 27, 2020 at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City:

McKenna pleased with progress of Missouri’s $350 million bridge bonding plan

June 25, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

More than 100 bridges in Missouri’s $350 million bridge bonding plan are now under contract, and 13 have already been completed.

Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) Director Patrick McKenna briefs Capitol reporters in Jefferson City on June 25, 2020. Governor Parson listens (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

State Department of Transportation (MoDOT) Director Patrick McKenna briefed Capitol reporters about the bonding plan’s status, during a Thursday media briefing in Jefferson City. McKenna says an additional 58 bridges are currently under construction.

“Before the fiscal year is concluded (on June 30), we’ve already got 114 of those (bridge projects) under contract. Our team and our consulting partners have been working very hard,” McKenna says.

A heavily-traveled bridge on Highway 79 in eastern Missouri’s Lincoln County will open to the public on Friday afternoon. During the media briefing, Director McKenna told Missourinet that the 82-year-old bridge in Lincoln County has been replaced, using funding from the 2019 bridge bonding plan.

“It’s replacing a bridge that was built in 1938, and that will be upgraded to current standards. It’s going to be eight feet wider and 20 feet longer,” says McKenna.

Lincoln County, which is north of St. Charles County, has been one of the fastest-growing counties in the state.

McKenna says 13 bridges have already been completed, so the Lincoln County bridge will be the 14th.

In 2019, Missouri lawmakers approved the $350 million bridge bonding plan, which is repairing or replacing 250 deteriorating bridges. The plan was a top priority for both Governor Mike Parson (R) and Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz (R-Sullivan).

McKenna tells Capitol reporters that MoDOT crews are staying busy during the COVID-19 pandemic. There are more than 400 active construction projects. McKenna praises the agency’s construction partners.

He also notes that the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission has authorized more than $1 billion in construction awards this year.

McKenna joined the governor at this afternoon’s media briefing. Earlier in the day, McKenna testified before a legislative committee about the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on MoDOT.

McKenna testified before the bipartisan Joint Committee on Transportation Oversight, telling lawmakers that the pandemic has had a $45 to $100 million impact on his agency.

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: