View from the 24th Story
A Message from Representative Chris Kelly
Volume 3, May 2009
As of May 15, the 2009 Legislative Session is over! Depending on your perspective, it was either wildly successful or depressingly off-track. Either way, it was intense. Several of the bills that passed will benefit Boone County enormously. Others, such as the Fifth State Bonding Fund, while ultimately unsuccessful, will live to see another day. The session was disappointing if you look at the time wasted and narrow interests represented in much of the legislation introduced. Democracy is messy!
I continue to be encouraged by the sheer number and thoughtfulness of your emails, phone calls, and other correspondence. Whether you favor or oppose my inclinations, your feedback keeps me grounded. It serves as my barometer when weighing ideas and thinking through the repercussions of each piece of legislation.
Don't stop just because the session is over! Please continue to share your opinions as I begin to form an agenda for the next session.
The FY2010 Missouri State Budget, as passed by the 95th General Assembly, is just over $23 billion. That amount is nearly impossible to understand in its complexity. Let's look at some highlights of how that money affects those of us living in the 24th Legislative District, as it pertain to:
University of Missouri
Perhaps the single issue having the largest impact on those living in my district is the agreement between the legislature, the governor and the University of Missouri to provide level funding in exchange for level tuition. In a terribly short budget year, the University will not face devastating cuts to its operating budget and students, for the first time in recent memory, will not face a tuition increase. This agreement helps stabilize jobs for our county’s largest employer and provides some predictability to thousands of Missouri families who send their children to our state university.
Mental Health Care
The closing of Mid-Missouri Mental Health Center under the State Department of Mental Health and its reopening as part of the University of Missouri will secure much needed mental health care services in central Missouri. With the closure of the inpatient mental health unit at Boone Hospital, the new Mid-MO Mental Health Center will be the only remaining inpatient mental health facility in our community. Under federal regulations, teaching hospitals, such as MU Health Care, receive federal Medicaid reimbursements for inpatient mental health costs at much higher rates than do state-run hospitals.
In addition, the state is allocating $13 million to University Hospital and Clinics for Mid-MO Mental Health Center renovation and repair. The 42-year old facility has not undergone major renovation in many years. The hospital is scheduled to reopen under the auspices of the University of Missouri on July 1.
Ellis Fischel
Perhaps the crowning achievement of my first year in the legislature was promoting the cooperation of the Boone County legislative delegation to secure funding for the new Ellis Fischel State Cancer Hospital. This facility, dedicated in 1940, was the first cancer center west of the Mississippi River and has provided state-of the-art cancer detection and treatment to the citizens of Missouri for seven decades. In fact, Ellis Fischel became part of the University of Missouri in 1990 as the result of legislation that Former Governor Roger Wilson and I sponsored during my previous stint in the Missouri Legislature.
With a new state-of-the-art facility, Ellis Fischel now enters its next chapter in providing cutting-edge research and treatment. The legislature allocated $31.1 million for this $50+ million project, with the remainder to be generated through private donations and university funds. Not only will this facility provide expanded health care, its construction will be a boon to the local economy.
Caring for Missourians
Tucked away in the Higher Education budget is $40 million for a project originally called “Preparing to Care.” This program, $24 million of which flows to UM campuses, will increase the number of medical practitioners—nurses, doctors, optometrists, dentists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, etc.—trained on our campuses to meet the growing health care needs of our state. The program is specifically designed to better meet the health care needs of rural residents who do not live in proximity to urban health facilities.
Columbia Career Center
After many attempts, the Columbia Career Center secured $2.5 million to expand its facility adjacent to Rock Bridge High School. This expansion will include new classrooms for culinary arts, a new computer lab, and space for the professional safety and security program. The expansion will allow a greater array of professional training options for area vocational students. Construction is scheduled to be completed by Fall 2010.
Thompson Autism Center
$5 million was allocated for expansion of the Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Having outgrown its small facilities near Columbia Regional Hospital, the Center’s expansion will allow it to better serve the growing diagnostic, assessment and treatment needs of autistic children, youth, and young adults across all of outstate Missouri. The Thompson Center is a partner in three major national research networks and is widely known for its outreach training and continuing education programs for students, practicing professionals and family members.
Support for Agricultural Research
The General Assembly approved a $2 million allocation for MU’s Agricultural Experiment Station facilities this session, in addition to more than $12 million for agricultural research and education facilities in eight locations across the state. A swine isolation research facility in Calloway County is among the MU stations funded. In addition, $2.5 million was allocated to the Missouri Technology Corporation for construction of a plant science research facility in Mexico, Missouri.
Quality Jobs Program
With Missouri unemployment at its highest rate in more than 25 years, the General Assembly passed Gov. Nixon’s “Quality Jobs” bill with less than two hours left in the legislative session. This program expansion raises the annual program cap from $60 million to $80 million on tax credits for expanding businesses that create new good-paying jobs with benefits. It would also eliminate the current per-company annual cap on technology businesses and on projects considered high-impact. The expanded legislation is estimated to result in 2000 to 5000 additional jobs.
Unemployment Insurance
A temporary change in unemployment laws (if found to be compliant with federal guidelines) will draw $133 million in federal stimulus money. More unemployed Missourians will be eligible and the coverage will be extended an additional 20 weeks. This change in the safety net will help unemployed workers survive until new jobs created by the stimulus spending materialize.
Our legislative system is both designed—and has further evolved—into a system that prioritizes the agenda of the majority party. The party in the majority in both the House and the Senate controls the calendar. By controlling the calendar, it determines whether hearings will be held and whether bills will be brought before each Chamber for a vote. Senate rules allow one or more Senators to filibuster a bill, thereby effectively blocking further action by the Senate on that bill. House rules do not permit filibusters.
A bill may also be either superseded by a similar bill or combined with a like bill, if the majority party’s leadership or the bill’s sponsor believes that chance of passage would be improved by such action.
In addition, amendments offered on a bill, whether friendly or hostile, sometimes reduce or kill the bill’s chances for passage.
Therefore in any legislative session the majority of introduced bills fail to gain traction and die without fanfare. The 95th General Assembly is no different in this regard, with only 8% of all non-budget bills passed by both Chambers and forwarded to Governor Nixon for his signature.
While this process can be frustrating for legislators committed to a particular issue, in the end it generally serves the state well by limiting the chances for narrowly focused laws that do not have widespread support. It also lessens the chance that bad bills will pass. With my previous twelve years in the state legislature and now having the opportunity to return, I have come to appreciate the process, in spite of my frequent disagreement with the outcome. I’m not a patient person, but I understand the caution and the slowness forced by the legislative process.
While this legislative session had its share of accomplishments both for the state and the 24th District, it also had its share of disappointments. We were unable to come to agreement on a number of important matters that I hope we can tackle either in a special session or early next year, such as…
Reducing the Number of Uninsured Missourians
The House and the Senate developed proposals during this legislative session that would have extended coverage to many Missourians currently without medical insurance. The Governor and the Senate proposed a plan that would have covered approximately 35,000 working parents who earn too much to be eligible for Medicaid but too little to afford medical insurance. Realizing the savings that would result from fewer uncompensated emergency room visits for routine care, the Missouri Hospital Association proposed to pay $50 million in self-imposed taxes, which would have, in turn, enabled the state to gain almost $100 million in additional federal funds. This proposal would have cost the state nothing. Unwilling to go along with the Senate version, the House proposed covering approximately 20,000 individuals who have chronic medical conditions that make it impossible for them to buy insurance.
Clearly, both uninsured groups need medical coverage. Either plan would help some of our state’s more than 700,000 uninsured citizens. Our problem was that the two houses had different visions and were, ultimately, unable to compromise. As elected officials, we must find ways to overcome our differences with the needs of our constituents foremost in our minds.
Expanding the Children’s Health Program
Insuring children is relatively inexpensive. Insurance provides routine treatment that can often eliminate the need for more expensive treatment at a later date. The federal government voted to expand funding for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as SCHIP. However, once again, our legislature rejected expanding Missouri’s participation in SCHIP, ignoring the more than 150,000 children who are currently uninsured.
Providing Insurance Coverage for Autism Treatment for Children
Autism is a devastating condition that affects a growing number of Missouri children and their families. The Senate approved a bill requiring insurance coverage for treatment of autism for children under 18. The House never brought the matter to a vote largely because of opposition from the insurance industry. Treatment for this condition is long and arduous; we must find a way to lessen this burden on individual families without significantly escalating insurance costs.
Passing a Fifth State Building Bond Issue
“There’s never been a better time to issue bonds. The (educational) need is undeniable, contractors are hungry and interest rates are low. We can generate good-paying jobs in every corner of the state.”
Representative Chris Kelly, April 7, 2009, before the House Special Committee on Infrastructure and Transportation
The current condition of the economy is pressuring both national and state governments to create jobs and stimulate economic activity. At the same time, our state has a tremendous and overdue need for new and upgraded facilities in higher education.
Together with Republican House Majority Floor Leader Steven Tilley, I introduced House Joint Resolution 32 (HJR 32) to place a Fifth State Building Fund before the people. Like the first four State Building Funds, the Fifth would be a constitutional amendment requiring a public vote. Its purpose would be to stimulate the state’s economy by providing money for repair, maintenance, and capital construction on all of the state’s campuses.
HJR 32 proposed a bond issue of $700 million. That number would allow each of the public higher education institutions in the state, from the University of Missouri’s four campuses to all of the community colleges, to complete its top construction priority. This funding would also complete a number of the projects promised, but never completed, when sufficient funds failed to materialize from the sale of MOHELA assets. Bond funds would help construct facilities to educate future nurses, automotive technicians, engineers, scientists, and leaders in every profession throughout Missouri.
The Bond Issue passed the House overwhelmingly by a 131-28 vote. In Senate action the resolution was increased to $800 million, with $550 million for educational projects and $250 million for parks and other state needs. Even though the votes for passage appeared to be present in the Senate, the measure died because of a filibuster.
Well-paid jobs and improved higher educational facilities––what could be more important to the future of Missouri?Facilitating Tourism in Southern Boone County
HB338 would have authorized the City of Ashland, with voter approval, to impose a guest tax for tourism promotion. The bill was ultimately incorporated into another bill, which was much more controversial, therefore ending its chance for passage this term.
Overpass At the Airport
The Missouri Department of Transportation has put the Highway 63 Overpass at Route H on its list of bridge projects to be constructed and has begun the required engineering study. I will continue to monitor and encourage MoDOT progress on this important infrastructure and safety improvement.
Columbia Farmers Market
While proposed as a $2.6 million federal stimulus project, the Columbia Farmers Market was ultimately not included in the two-year $381 million federal budget stabilization funds. I am committed to seeing the building of a permanent Farmers Market pavilion and will help to bring all stakeholders to the table over the next few months in order to forge a plan and move forward.
State Historical Society
The General Assembly also rejected an attempt to provide $20 million in federal stabilization funds for construction for a new building for the State Historical Society of Missouri. I am optimistic that we can include this project as part of the Fifth State Building Fund as we move forward with that effort.
In the 95th General Assembly, there were:
- 1773 bills introduced
- 160 bills passed and sent to Gov. Nixon for signature
- 22 bills that dealt with only the state budget
- 92% of non-budget bills that did not pass in their original form
Track Missouri Stimulus $$
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“I believe that the Representative before our name is much more important than the (D) or (R) after our name. We are hired by the people in our district to represent them, not our political party.”
Rep. Chris Kelly (D), Columbia
“In seven years, this is the first time Boone County really, really worked well together. We talked to each other and worked together for a common cause. It’s been refreshing, and it’s been totally enjoyable.”
Rep. Steve Hobbs (R), Mexico
Email your thoughts to chris@chriskelly24.com