Love note from Jeff City

My Fellow Missourians:

After arriving home late Friday night from the last week of the 2017 Session, I started Saturday morning bright and early with a Pancake and Sausage Breakfast fundraiser event at the Wayside Inn Museum in El Dorado Springs. Sponsored by the “Preserve Our Past Society,” this museum, housed in an 1882 building, is a very interesting place to spend the day with numerous artifacts on display.

Following breakfast, I headed to Stockton for the Vietnam Veterans “Wall That Heals” Memorial Ceremony at 10:00 a.m. The ceremony was a very moving tribute to three local Cedar County young men who laid down their lives for our freedom. There was not a dry eye in a crowd of 300 people. The Cedar County officials, and especially Cedar County Clerk Peggy Kenney, are to be highly commended for making this travelling display possible and free to the public. I hope everyone in the district had an opportunity to visit this emotional display while it was in Stockton over the weekend.

Saturday afternoon, Marla and I attended the 150th Anniversary Celebration of the Cedar Grove Baptist Church in Warsaw. Founded in 1867, the church has been blessed with an active congregation that offers several different wonderful ministries in the community and beyond. The church members celebrated this special occasion with a cake and ice cream social.

2017 Highlights of truly agreed to and finally passed legislation:

With just seconds to spare in the 2017 legislative session, House members approved a bill that will create the Senior Services Protection Fund to preserve several services for the elderly and disabled. The move represents an effort by the House to preserve nursing home and in-home care services for some of Missouri’s most vulnerable citizens. This piece of legislation is necessary because the budget approved by the General Assembly this year relies on the Senior Services Protection Fund to restore a cut proposed by the governor to in-home care and nursing home services. The governor had recommended increasing the eligibility requirements (21 points to 27 points) for these services, which would have resulted in approximately 20,000 seniors and disabled Missourians no longer qualifying for the state-funded care. The House then moved to fully restore them to their original levels so that no one would be cut off from care. The final version of the budget represents a compromise that increases requirements slightly (24 points), but also includes a provision that would completely restore the governor’s proposed cut if the Senior Services Protection Fund bill becomes law.

The bill would also restore funding for brain injury services provided by the Department of Health that have been withheld in previous budget cycles; restore a portion of a cut proposed by the governor to reimbursement rates for Medicaid providers; and provide additional funding for the state’s Area Agencies on Aging for use in the Meals on Wheels program that provides meal assistance to seniors.

Ensuring Consistency with the State’s Minimum Wage (HB 1194):

In response to a Missouri Supreme Court decision that invalidated part of Missouri’s minimum wage law, lawmakers moved to implement a fix that will provide a consistent wage in municipalities throughout the state. The approved legislation will reaffirm that the state’s minimum wage is applied throughout Missouri, and keep the decision to raise wages in the hands of the employer and employee.

While the state currently has a minimum wage that increases based on the Consumer Price Index, and is currently higher than the federal minimum wage, some municipalities have considered their own increases. St. Louis passed an ordinance to raise its minimum wage to $10 an hour this year and $11 an hour by 2018. The legislation approved by the House will preempt and nullify the minimum wage enacted by St. Louis, and provide that other municipalities cannot enact a minimum wage that exceeds the one established by state law.

Organ Donor Program Fund (SB 248):

In the final moments of the 2017 legislative session, lawmakers moved to support organ donation in Missouri by giving approval to a bill that would continue the organ donor program fund tax checkoff on state income tax returns. The checkoff is set to expire on Dec. 31, 2017. The bill, which is identical to my sponsored HB105, approved by the General Assembly would remove the sunset entirely and allow the checkoff to continue indefinitely. Supporters say the checkoff has been very successful, along with the driver’s license donations, Employee Charitable Campaign and direct donations in funding the Organ and Tissue Donor Program.

Protecting Police Officers (SB 34):

In an effort to ensure law enforcement officials quickly receive the information they need to apprehend individuals who injure or kill peace officers, the House and Senate approved legislation to create a Blue Alert System. The bill is one of the priorities of Governor Eric Greitens, who called for the creation of the Blue Alert System when the legislative session began. Similar to the Amber and Silver Alert systems, the Blue Alert system would send out identifying information such as a physical description of the suspect and the suspect’s vehicle. Twenty-seven states already have a similar system in place.

The Missouri General Assembly took action to deter crimes against law enforcement officials. SB54 will create enhanced penalties for individuals who assault officers of the law. The legislation will increase by one degree the penalty for first and second degree involuntary manslaughter; first and second degree property damage; first and second degree stalking; and first-degree trespassing; when those crimes are committed against a law enforcement officer or a family member of the officer. As an example, first degree involuntary manslaughter is a class C felony under current statute, but will increase to a class B felony if SB 34 becomes law. Enhanced penalties are necessary because crimes against law enforcement officers have increased in recent years.

Legislation Approved to Establish Adult High Schools (HB 93):

The Missouri House hopes to give the approximately 500,000 Missourians without a high school diploma a second chance to obtain an education that will allow them to secure good-paying, family-supporting jobs. To accomplish this goal, legislation approved during the final week of session will establish four adult high schools in Missouri. Modeled after a program in Indiana, the bill would establish four adult high schools located in Southeast Missouri, St. Louis City, Mid-Missouri, and Southwest Missouri for individuals age 21 and up who do not have a high school diploma. It would give priority to Missourians who are currently on government assistance. The schools would help these individuals complete their high school education and obtain a diploma. They would offer skills certifications based on regional demand through partnerships with community colleges and other programs. Additionally, they would offer a child care center to remove a significant barrier for many adults who would like to participate.