Sater: Budget Recap, Bills Advancing To Senate

Greetings from the Missouri House of Representatives.  We are here to represent the interest of the majority of our constituents.  Trying to find out what the majority wants is not always easy.  I was telling a constituent this past week that generally the people of the 68^th district want the same things that I do.  However, there are times when we don't agree, but usually we are on the "same page."

Early this week the House voted to approve all 17 Appropriation Bills that comprise the state's fiscal year operating budget.  The money appropriated by the House for 2012 equals just over 23 billion dollars.

We preserved basic aid for public schools at current funding levels of more than 3 billion dollars for the school foundation formula. This 3 billion is based on extra federal monies totaling $181 million.  Right now four senators are filibustering this money.  They think we should send the federal money back to Washington.  If this happens we would have to cut this money from other funds to support public education.

There was also a recommended cut of 7% to higher education (colleges & universities) by Governor Nixon.  Additionally, the budget contains cuts of 5% to statewide elected officials, which includes me.  We also cut the Governor's travel budget by $500,000.

I was able to make a few adjustments to the House budget.  One was $2 million to the UMKC-Missouri State Pharmacy Program located at Missouri State in Springfield.  I also obtained an extra $500,000 for the Dept. of Tourism's advertising budget.  This budget has been cut in half in the last several years, and this funding is needed to help entice out-of-state folks to Missouri to spend their money.  I also eliminated a couple of small programs that were not statewide programs, but focused on St. Louis.

Three of my bills are either on the Senate side or on the way over there.  One is a pro-life bill [HB28] concerning the rights of pharmacies to not stock certain drugs in their inventory such as abortion drugs.  Another [HB29] is a liability protection for medical personnel who volunteer their services for not-for-profit organizations like Camp Barnabas. The third bill [HB32] gives the Dept. of Health the right to offer, upon request, an ornamental birth certificate suitable for framing or display. This is actually a revenue generating bill and would make the state some money.

This week we also debated the congressional redistricting map.  We are losing one seat and Missouri will decrease from 9 to 8 seats.  The proposal would increase our 7^th Congressional District by adding all of Douglas and Ozark Counties.  We needed to pick up just over 40,000 people.

Thanks again for allowing me to represent you, and feel free to contact me anytime with thoughts or concerns.