Schupp: Autism Debate Expected TODAY!

This week in the Capitol was one of the busiest in terms of my committee meetings scheduled that I can remember.  Since several meetings overlapped, Legislative Assistant Casey and Intern Julie ran back and forth attending whatever meeting I was missing to keep me apprised of testimony and discussion and pull me in for votes.

Of particular importance was the Appropriations meeting for Public Safety and Corrections, since it involved the marking up of the committee budget bills, voting and passage back to the Budget Committee.  Read below to hear about this week's committee experiences in more detail.

Again, thank you for providing me the opportunity to serve you, our community and our state.

Truly,

Jill

Committee News

Appropriations:  Public Safety and Corrections

The critical budget process is one that, regardless of the level of importance it carries, moves very quickly through the initial committee process.  We spent 5 hours sprinting through the hundreds of pages of budget line items comparing the Governor's proposal for FY 11 against the budgeted and actual expenditures and withholds for the current fiscal year. 

While I spent quite a bit of time meeting with the non-partisan legislative liaison for the departments to deepen my understanding of the budget, it is clear there is much to learn and understand about how the funding sources and the categories of expenditures relate to each other and manifest themselves in programs, personnel, and infrastructure.

The majority party came into this week's actual "budget mark up" meeting and introduced cuts that would support the budget chair's charge of decreasing the budget an additional 5% across the board in every department from the budget proposed through the Governor's recommendations.

When I asked why this was the charge from the budget chair, I didn't feel that I was getting a response that warranted undermining the proposed budget.  I also disagreed with the premise that we would just continue to pile the cuts on in the areas in which the Governor had made withholds in the current budget year.  This would create a two year gap in the programs that had received some difficult cut backs already.  How would this end up affecting our ability to maintain a level of safety and run our corrections operations? 

In the end, with testimony from Corrections Director George Lombardi, we were able to get the majority side to agree with the rejection of the ill-conceived cuts in order for this budget to be reviewed in the Budget committee as a part of a whole.  In other words, the Corrections and Public Safety budgets will now be scrutinized alongside all other areas of the state's budget in order to make contextual decisions.

Higher Education

The current issues likely to face serious consideration in Higher Ed include the grade point average standards required to be maintained for recipients of need-based Missouri Access scholarships, and whether the higher scholarship amounts received by students attending Missouri's private universities versus public universities should remain intact.
 

Tax Reform

The Tax Reform Committee continues to hear proposals to reduce property taxes for seniors.  Though not heard yet this year, the proposal offered by Rep. Jake Zimmerman that allows seniors on fixed incomes to defer their tax increases until they sell their homes or pass on their estates supports the goal of helping seniors stay in their own homes while maintaining revenue-neutral status.     

Children and Families

Within the Children and Families Committee we are back to hearing abortion coercion legislation which continues to drive a wedge between pro choice and pro life camps.  The legislation is unquestionably designed to further intimidate and shame the woman who is making a decision to terminate her pregnancy.

Administration and Accounts

In Administration and Accounts, we have agreed to maintaining legislators' daily expense allowance at the current level, rather than accepting a raise, for two years.  This legislation will be moved forward in the process.

News Alert: Cutting the Budget

House appropriations committees have started (and by now, ended) the process of "marking up" the budget bills proposed  by the Governor's office in consultation with each department.  Governor Nixon's proposed $23.86 billion state operating budget has been reviewed and in some cases amended in appropriations committees. 

Budget Chair Allen Icet had instructed each committee chair to cut 5% out of their budgets, regardless of what services those budgets support.  It has been rumored that the cuts he proposed of at least an additional $300 million were based on the idea that the state will not receive promised federal dollars.  When I asked for the rationale in committee, as you read above, I was provided no reasonable explanation, and specifically not this explanation.

The departments of health, mental health and social services were particularly hard hit in committee, with majority members approving about $60 million in cuts to those agencies. Items that the cut may influence included funding for health clinics that serve the poor, domestic violence shelters and the state's Alternatives to Abortion program.

With the appropriations committees finishing their work, the bills will move to the House Budget Committee before the appropriations bills are debated by the full House.

NEWS ALERT: House Debates Autism Measure

On Tuesday, the House debated legislation that would require insurance companies to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of children with autism.

The legislation approved by the House provides for payments of up to $36,000 per year for treatment up to age 18.
 
HB 1311 passed final approval, 135 to18 votes, on Thursday Feb. 18 and will now move to the Senate for consideration.

Rumor has it that the Senate will raise the capped amount for annual treatment.

Freshmen Dems' Caucus Sessions

The Freshmen Democratic Caucus welcomed three speakers this week who discussed science and biotechnology. Jason Hall with Missouri Technology Corporation (MTC) led the discussion, accompanied by Dr. Anthony Harris of the University of Missouri, Columbia and Cynthia Kramer of S.C.O.P.E. (Science and Citizens Organized for Purpose and Exploration.) We discussed some of the important biotechnology and life sciences legislation that will be debated this session including the MOSIRA bill [HB1511] that Rep. Schupp is co-sponsoring.

Next week, the caucus will host a presentation on nursing homes and long-term care facilities in the public and private sector.  Speakers will include Director Margaret Donnelly, Department of Health and Senior Services;  Barbara Madison, Right at Home;  and Fmr. Sen. Chuck Graham, representing AFSCME.

We have rescheduled our session on state healthcare options and will have Ruth Ehresman of the Missouri Budget Project immediately following the nursing home and long term care discussion.

Kraus: A Tax Cut for Struggling Families

Knowing that many families are struggling to pay the bills, I filed legislation, HB 1227, to help them out by raising the state dependency exemption.   Last week, this bill was heard in the Committee for Tax Reform.

Currently, Missouri allows a dependency exemption from state income taxes of $1,200 for each qualified child.  My bill would increase the exemption to $2,000 for each dependent claimed by a resident.

Even though the cost of living has greatly increased, this exemption has not been raised for over ten years.  At that time, it was also raised by $800.  Increasing the amount would put Missouri in line with adjoining states such as Kansas, where the exemption is $2050, and Illinois, where the exemption is $2000.  It would still be significantly below the federal exemption of $3650.

Many families work hard to bring home a paycheck, but still have difficulty paying for all of the things that their children need.  This bill would allow families to keep more of their hard-earned money to spend on groceries, school supplies, and children's clothing.

It is worth noting that no special interests were represented in any testimony before the Tax Reform Committee.  It was simply your representative at the microphone, presenting legislation to help families in these difficult times.  I am so fortunate to be able to represent District 48 in the House of Representatives and have the opportunity to fight for the taxpayer.

Jobs Creation and Retention

The House Committee on Job Creation and Economic Development, on which I serve, has been one of the most active committees by far this session.  We have made jobs a first and foremost priority for Missouri, and it shows in our level of effort.  We started meeting even before session began and have continued to meet at least once, and often twice, a week.  Below are the bills that have been heard so far in this committee.  You can click on the bill number to learn more about the content of the legislation.

• HB 1511, which establishes the Missouri Science and Innovation Reinvestment Act and the Missouri Science and Innovation Authority.
• HB 1512, which establishes provisions to encourage the investment in and the development of technology-based early stage Missouri businesses.
• HB 1635, which is designed to create jobs by fostering partnerships between municipalities and institutions of higher education and is also known as the Missouri Jobs for the Future Act.
• HB 1684, which establishes the Missouri Business First Act that allows for the authorization of increased tax credits, withholding retentions, or other benefits for certain Missouri business expansion.

We will be hearing five more bills tonight.  With Missouri's unemployment rate at around 9.6 percent, we cannot afford to wait around for solutions to appear.  We must actively seek to create them, and we are doing just that.

House Says No to Raising Taxes

In December, Governor Nixon's State Tax Commission proposed increasing taxes, by as much as 29 percent, on four categories of high quality agricultural land generally used to grow crops.  Although taxes were decreased on some categories of ag land, as a package, the proposal would have resulted in an 11 percent increase statewide if allowed to go into effect.

The problem is that Missouri farmers are currently carrying some of the highest debt load in the nation and simply cannot afford to pay a property tax increase at this time.  This tax jolt comes after one of the worst farm income years since 1945.

Fortunately, by statute, the General Assembly has the power to disapprove, within the first sixty days of this regular session, the agricultural values as proposed by the State Tax Commission.  In keeping with our pledge to not raise taxes, the House used that power last week to pass a resolution, HCR 7, to disapprove the State Tax Commission's proposed tax increase.  Later in the week, the Senate also passed a similar resolution.

Missouri farmers feed our state, our nation and our world. Raising their taxes does not help to keep farmers in business or our food prices affordable.  That's why I voted for HCR 7.

Carter: Updates from Committees, State Happenings, and General Revenue Report

At right: Representative Chris Carter and Representative Mary Still with the Granddaughter of Dred Scott

As your Representative in Jefferson City, it is of utmost importance that you, the constituent, know what I am doing and how I am working to serve you.  Recently in the Healthcare Transformation Committee on which I sit, a bill [HB1377] was introduced that would develop a system to screen and drug test work-eligible applicants and recipients of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, taking away aid from individuals who tested positive and either refused drug treatment or failed to stay clean once they had completed a drug treatment program.  While I understand the chronic drug problems we face as a state and a nation, and the frustration taxpayers may have concerning tax dollars possibly being spent on illicit drugs, I believe this bill is a public policy disaster, and for the following reasons I opposed it in committee.

1. This bill is not revenue-neutral; it will cost the state money.  Enough money will not be recouped from not making payments to recipients who use drugs to pay for the program.  In the current state budget crisis, the creation of a new system to find ways to take assistance from people already in dire circumstances is unacceptable.
   
2. This bill unjustly targets poor people, who, according to testimony given during the committee hearing, are not statistically more likely to use drugs.
   
3. This bill will add names to an ever-growing waiting list for individuals seeking drug treatment from the State of Missouri.  Our current system cannot accommodate all who seek treatment, yet this bill adds to that system.

Lastly, this bill has major constitutional problems, and whether or not it is upheld by the courts, the state will have to mount a costly legal defense. Proponents of this bill actually said in committee that while this bill may cost money, the social benefit of fighting drugs is worth the cost.  I could not agree more, but I believe the best way for us to move forward and fight drugs, while defending families from the awful affects of drug abuse is for us to better fund the system we already have in place, not by infringing on the rights of poor families.  Using the money this bill would cost on more drug treatment and for more social services will help achieve the stated goals of this bill much better then the bill itself.  To address the concerns that some have about the use of state funds for illicit drugs, I will propose an amendment to the bill when it comes before the House insisting that everyone who receives state money, whether they are students receiving scholarships, farmers receiving subsidies, or state officials, including the Governor, who receive a salary, be screened and tested too, since this is the only way we can ensure that no state funds are supporting illicit drug use.

FLOOR ACTIVITY

All activity as of January 25, 2010

# House Bills Filed -625
# of HBs Referred to Committee -37
# HBs Reported Do Pass - 4
# HBs Reported Do Pass Consent - 0
# HBs Perfected - 0
# HBs Third Read - 0
# HBs Reported Do Pass in the Senate - 0
# HBs Third Read in the Senate - 0

COMMITTEE ACTION

On the Week of January 4, the following bills were referred to the House Special Committee on Health Insurance:

• HB 1311 - Requires health carriers issuing or renewing a health benefit plan to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders.
  
• HB 1341 - Requires certain health benefit plans to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of autism

During the Week of January 19:

• The House Special Standing Committee on General Laws voted do pass a committee substitute for HCR 18, which urges the Missouri Congressional delegation to vote against the federal health care reform legislation.
  
• The House Health Care Transformation Committee voted do pass a committee substitute for HB 1377, which requires the Department of Social Services to test applicants for or recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits or the illegal use of controlled substances.
  
• The House Job Creation and Economic Development Committee held a hearing on HB 1511, which establishes the Missouri Science and Innovation Reinvestment Act and the Missouri Science and Innovation Authority.
  
• The House Budget Committee heard testimony from State Budget Director Linda Lubbering regarding the Consensus Revenue Estimates for Fiscal Year 2010 and 2011.