MO Lawmakers Return to the State Capitol, Elect New Leaders

The 95^th Session of the Missouri General Assembly convened last Wednesday, January 7^th and officially elected Rep. Ron Richard (R-Joplin) as Speaker of the House and Sen. Charlie Shields (R-St. Joseph) as President Pro-Tem. Kansas City’s children will be well represented this year by legislative leadership, with Rep. Bryan Pratt (R-Blue Springs) serving as House Speaker Pro-Tem, Rep. Paul LeVota (D-Independence) serving as House Minority Leader, and Senator Victor Callahan (D-Independence) serving as Senate Minority Leader.

View the full list of leadership positions for the House and Senate.

In their opening speeches, both Rep. Richard and Sen. Shields pledged bi-partisan cooperation and outlined their legislative priorities while facing a $340 million budget deficit this year. The state constitution requires that lawmakers pass a balanced budget.

Rep. Richard outlined a family recovering plan focusing on job creation, reducing the number of uninsured, tax-relief, and investing in alternative energy sources. Senators Shields urged the General Assembly to adopt a strategic vision and plan for the state and highlighted the need to invest in the entire education spectrum, from birth to higher ed, to ensure that Missouri’s next generation is ready for the workforce.

The full text of the speeches may be found online at www.house.mo.gov and www.senate.mo.gov.

The legislative session runs through May 15, 2009.

Missouri’s 55^th Governor, Democrat Jay Nixon, will be sworn-in today during inaugural festivities at the State Capitol in Jefferson City.

Though the new administration officially begins today, Nixon’s transition team has been busy since their November 4^th victory replacing cabinet and administration positions across state government. Below is a summary of key department positions relating to children and families:

• Director, Department of Health & Senior Services: Margaret Donnelly. During her 6 years representing St. Louis in the Missouri State House, Rep. Donnelly proved herself a tireless advocate for Missouri’s children, families, and seniors and a leader in the state budget process.
• Director, Department of Economic Development: Linda M. Martinez
• Director, Department of Social Services: Ronald Levy
• Director, Department of Corrections: George Lombardi
• Commissioner of Administration: Kelvin Simmons

 View a listing of communications and senior staff in the Governor’s office.

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HEALTH

• SB 87 (Crowell): Exempts MO HealthNet expense reimbursements received by doctors, dentists, and nurses from state income tax
• HB 34 (Sater): Requires the State of Missouri to match any grant moneys received by the state for smoking cessation up to a $2 million cap
• HB 38 (Sater): Creates the Tobacco Use Prevention, Cessation, and Enforcement Trust Fund to be used by the Department of Health and Senior Services for a comprehensive tobacco control program
• HB 76 (Lampe): Changes the laws regarding the identification, assessment, and education of children with autism spectrum disorder
• HB 79 (Lampe): Requires health benefit plans to include coverage for the treatment of autism spectrum disorders
• HB 166 (Dusenberg): Requires health screenings for public school students in the second grade and eighth grade

 EARLY CARE & EDUCATION

• SB 4 (Shields): Establishes a quality rating system for child care facilities
• SB 94 (Justus): Modifies provisions on child care subsidies
• SB 139 (Mayer): Uses revenue from the repeal of the gaming loss limits to fund minimum salary supplements for teachers, early childhood, and school transportation 

K-12 EDUCATION

• SB 33 (Wilson): Creates the Missouri Strive to Succeed Graduation Program to distribute grants to certain school districts for drop-out prevention efforts
• SB 116 (Bray): Creates the Persistence to Graduation Fund to distribute grants to certain school districts for drop-out prevention efforts
• HB 77 (Lampe): Lowers the age for beginning school from seven to six years and requires full-day kindergarten at all public schools

 PROTECTION & SAFETY

• SB 36 (Goodman): Makes the penalty for forcible rape or sodomy of a child under the age of twelve life imprisonment without eligibility for probation and parole at any time
• SB 53 (Days): Allows adopted persons eighteen and over to obtain copies of their original birth certificate under certain circumstances
• SB 61 (Wilson): Creates a trust fund and commission for youth smoking prevention
• SB 79 (Wilson): Modifies the definition of "bullying" as used in school district antibullying policies to include cyberbullying and electronic communications
• SB 96 (Justus): Establishes educational rights for foster care students and requires a full school day of education for certain children
• SB 132 (Smith): Modifies provisions relating to school anti-bullying policies
• SJR 3 (Crowell): Creates an exception to the prohibition against laws retrospective in operation by allowing certain laws pertaining to sexual offenders and other felons to be applied retrospectively
• HB 48 (Davis): Allows certain adopted adults who are 21 years of age or older to receive a certified copy of his or her original unaltered birth certificate and adoption records
• HB 69 (Storch): Defines "adoption resource center" and specifies that qualified centers will get a portion of the unclaimed funds for tax credits for special needs child adoption which now goes to three other agencies
• HB 154 (Ruestman): Requires the state to make diligent efforts to locate the grandparents of a child needing emergency placement and requires the grandparents to be given first consideration for foster care placement
• HB 175 (Cox): Prohibits persons from operating a motorcycle or motortricycle while carrying a passenger 10 years of age or younger
• HB 186 (Flook): Prohibits any person who commits the crime of nonsupport of a spouse or child from being admitted on an excursion gambling boat or casino until the arrearage is satisfied

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In December, Partnership for Children testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee on behalf of our 2009 Early Care & Education agenda in Missouri, urging the committee to increase income eligibility for child care assistance and reimbursement rates for child care providers.

Missouri’s low-income families are struggling now more than ever to afford the high cost of child care – but parents need child care to maintain employment, support their families, and stay off of welfare or unemployment assistance. Investments in child care directly support Missouri’s workforce, a sound economic investment during these difficult economic times.

Read our full testimony online.

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Gov Sebelius Delivers State of the State Speech Tonight

The Kansas State Legislature kicks off the 2009 legislative session today in Topeka. Governor Sebelius will deliver the annual State of the State Address this evening at 7pm and will likely share her plans to address gloomy budget forecasts for the state.

Budget estimates projecting a $186 million deficit in the current year and up to a $1 billion deficit in Kansas by 2010 will mean that promised investments in K-12 education, higher education, and social services may go unfunded or even be cut for the next two years.

You can listen to the speech live online tonight at http://www.governor.ks.gov/.

Until next week –

Carrie Shapton

Policy & Outreach Coordinator

Partnership for Children

Shapton@pfc.org

816-531-9200 x227