Greetings, My Fellow Missourians
On Thursday, July 20, I attended the 52nd Anniversary Celebration of the West Central Missouri Community Action Agency (WCMCAA) at the Appleton City Park. Dedicated to empowering people to make positive change by coordinating and administering resources, WCMCAA offers a variety of services including: Community Development, Community Empowerment, Early Childhood Education, Emergency Assistance, Employment and Training, Energy Assistance, Energy Conservation, Family Support, Family Self-Sufficiency, Local Food Systems, In-Home Health Services, Home Ownership, Housing Assistance, Housing/Debt Counseling, Nutrition, and Weatherization. They currently have 400+ staff overseeing more than two dozen individual programs.
Friday morning was spent in conference with the Army Corps of Engineers in Warsaw followed by a conference with Osceola Mayor Rob Heckenlively and City Clerk Lila Foster. We are trying to correct some glitches on requirements for a new boat ramp and an outdoor restroom at the RV park being made possible through grant funding awarded to the City of Osceola.
Monday, I met with Darin Hamelink, Area Engineer, and Travis Koestner, District Engineer, both with MoDOT Southwest District. I was provided with updated maps and schedules of upcoming maintenance and construction plans through 2020. Currently, a section of U.S. Route 54 is receiving an overlay between Preston and Camdenton. Bridge rehabilitation is the next upcoming project that will soon begin at the bridge on Missouri 7 in Warsaw next to the Joe Dice Swinging Bridge. Plans include resurfacing, joint refurbishment and structural repairs underneath. We are looking forward to an upcoming safety project in 2018 that will take place along the Hwy. 13 corridor that will include vital improvements to the intersections at Humansville, Lowry City and Osceola.
Special session ends with Senate approval of pro-life legislation:
The extraordinary session that began on June 12 ended late Tuesday afternoon as the Senate passed the House version of legislation (SB5) that is meant to better ensure the health and safety of women by putting common sense safety requirements in place for abortion clinics. The bill was signed into law by Governor Greitens on Wednesday and contains several provisions to protect the health and safety of women. It will go into effect in 90 days on Oct. 24, 2017. Some of the main provisions of the bill will:
• Allow the attorney general to prosecute violations of state abortion laws with no obligation to first inform local prosecutors;
• Require the physician who is to perform an abortion to inform the woman orally and in person of the immediate and long-term medical risks associated with the proposed method of abortion 72 hours prior to the procedure;
• Allow the Department of Health and Senior Services to adopt rules governing complication plans to ensure patients undergoing abortions induced by drugs or chemicals have access to safe and reliable care;
• Prevent abortion clinic staff from requesting emergency responders to alter their normal response procedure by turning off lights or sirens;
• Require an abortion facility to provide affirmative evidence that each person authorized to perform abortions is a physician currently licensed to practice in Missouri;
• Allow the state health department to adopt separate rules to apply to ambulatory surgical centers and to apply to abortion facilities;
• Permit the health department to make an unannounced on-site inspection of any abortion facility at least annually;
• Strengthen penalties for abortion clinics and hospitals that do not comply with the requirements for submitting fetal tissue after an abortion; and
• Require that all tissue removed at the time of abortion be sent to a pathologist within five days for examination.
Following the passage of the bill, the governor issued a statement saying, “Today is a great victory for pregnancy care centers that help women and children all over the state. I’m proud that many of Missouri’s lawmakers stood strong to protect the lives of the innocent unborn and women’s health.”
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