Roorda: Autism Legislation Passed, Filibuster Warning on "Unethical" Bill, Storm Recovery Help From 2008 Still Available

As everyone at the Capitol is getting ready for the end of session, some of the most important bills we're working on are still waiting to be passed. Thirty-one bills have been sent to the Governor's desk so far, with the exception of budget bills. These bills impact important, less controversial, issues like the prompt payment of health insurance claims and safety in mental health facilities. But none have dealt with Governor Nixon's legislative priorities as mentioned in his State of the State address like ethics reform, strengthening drunk driving laws and the autism insurance mandate. Bills dealing with these issues are still being debated, and pressure is increasing to reach our goals before the legislative session ends. The General Assembly did accomplish its main goal of approving a balanced budget by the constitutional deadline of May 7^th. However, parts of this budget rely on funds that would be made available by bills that haven't been passed yet. The constitutional deadline for all bills to be passed by the General Assembly is May 14^th at 6pm.

Autism Insurance Coverage Bill Truly Agreed and Finally Passed

The Missouri House of Representatives passes House Bill 1311 & 1341, the Autism Insurance Coverage Bill.  The bill now awaits the signature of Governor Jay Nixon who has pledged to sign the bill into law.  Watch for this week's newsletter for more details on this landmark legislation to extend coverage to children with Autism.

Read the St. Louis Post Distpatch Article: Missouri Legislature Approves Autism Insurance Mandate

Read the Associated Press Article: Autism Insurance Mandate Passes Mo. Legislature

Senate Leaders Warn of Filibuster on House Ethics Bill

[link to original article]

By Chad Livengood ~ Springfield News-Leader

JEFFERSON CITY - A controversial ethics reform bill [SB844] House Republicans crafted and passed in the matter of a day last week has "constitutional problems with multiple subject matters," Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields said Monday.

"It was a very far-reaching bill," Shields told reporters Monday night. "It went way past ethics."

The bill was chocked full of provisions that have nothing to do with the ethical behavior of elected officials, such as mandating a secret ballot voting system for creating a union - a poke in the eye to Democrats and their cozy relationship with labor unions.

Stopping short of saying the legislation was dead on arrival, Shields said the 66-page bill has a lot of problems that may not be fixable in the final four days of the legislative session.

"We'll try to send it back to conference, but I don't know that we'll be successful in that effort," said Shields, R-St. Joseph.

The state constitution prohibits legislation from dealing with multiple subjects that don't match the title.

Getting the bill to conference committee could be blocked by a filibuster of the bill by Senate Democrats, an issue House Republican leaders didn't plan for, said Sen. Kevin Engler, R-Farmington.

"It didn't occur to them that (Democrats) could filibuster the motion to go into conference," Engler said of House Republican leaders. "I said, 'how do you think the minority's going to let us take it up?"

Engler has repeatedly noted this session that the Senate rules don't have the luxury of cutting off debate from the minority Democrats like House Republican leaders can do very quickly.

"Over here, it's not that easy - you just go say, 'OK, we're going to go to conference,'" Engler said.

Shields said he will make a motion on the Senate floor Tuesday to send the ethics bill to a conference committee of senators and representatives to negotiate a compromise.

If the bill can get into conference, Shields said, it would need to be scaled "way back and get it closer to what came out of the Senate. But we've got to get it to conference first."

Read the May 11th Article in the St. Louis Post Article

Read the May 11th Article in the Kansas City Star

Millions of Dollars in Long Term Recovery Help is Still Available for Missourians Impacted by 2008 Flooding, Tornadoes and an Ice storm

Eligible residents affected by presidential declared disasters are urged to apply

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The State Emergency Management Agency announces financial assistance is still available for eligible Missouri residents impacted by five presidential declared natural disasters that struck Missouri in 2008. SEMA is managing a $12.2 million U.S. Department of Health and Human Services long term recovery grant for Missourians impacted by three flooding events, a series of tornadoes in southwest Missouri and an ice storm in southern Missouri, all of which occurred in 2008.

"In some cases two years after the disaster hit, Missouri families are still struggling to pay bills and clean up their properties and make necessary home repairs," said Gov. Jay Nixon. "This important financial assistance helps eligible citizens rebuild, repair or replace their damaged homes and helps communities provide a boost to local workers, contractors and merchants. I urge everyone who is eligible to apply for this valuable assistance."

Residents are eligible to apply for help if their home was destroyed or sustained damage as a result of a 2008 presidential declared disaster for Missouri and they have remaining unmet needs from that disaster. The long term recovery grant covers the following presidential declared disasters:

• Feb 10-14, 2008 ice storm in southern Missouri
• March 17-May 9, 2008 floods in southern and eastern Missouri
• May 10-11, 2008 tornadoes in southwest Missouri
• June 1-August 13, 2008 floods in many parts of Missouri
• Sept 11-24, 2008 floods in many parts of Missouri

Funding from the grant, which is called a Social Services Block Grant Disaster Supplemental (SSBG), is already assisting more than 100Missouri families to move out of residences in floodplains, replace destroyed mobile homes and to make structural or foundation repairs.

SEMA has already spent or obligated more than $3.5 million of the grant, which was secured by the Missouri Department of Social Services. According to federal requirements, the entire grant must be spent helping families impacted by the 2008 disasters before December 31, 2010. The grant will be distributed across Missouri, since the entire state has been declared eligible for assistance by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

"I encourage eligible residents to apply to their nearest Long Term Recovery Committee for assistance. Eligible families will be working with a trained long term recovery case manager for their entire home recovery project," said SEMA's Statewide Volunteer Coordinator Dante Gliniecki.

A complete list of the Long Term Recovery Committees is posted on SEMA's homepage: www.sema.dps.mo.gov. Click on the link marked "Long Term Recovery List." Residents directly affected by these disasters who do not live in an area with a Long Term Recovery Committee should contact Chelle Haynes, SSBG grant and budget administrator at (573) 526-9233 or chelle{dot}haynes{at}sema{dot}dps{dot}mopublic{dot}org. She will refer residents to the casework supervisor for their area.

If there is anything I can do for you, please do not hesitate to contact my office.  I enjoy serving my constituents as "their" voice in the Missouri State Capitol.