 Website | E-Mail Me | Biography | Newsroom | Subscribe | Unsubscribe |
|||||||||||||
| December
Keaveny Connection |
Contact: Stacy Morse (573) 751-3599 |
||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
Governor Nixon announced a special session asking lawmakers to expand certain economic development programs in order to compete with a handful of other states for aerospace manufacturing projects. The Boeing project is expected to create a significant amount of jobs and provide a large capital investment for our state. The governor is asking lawmakers to enact legislation that would authorize large-scale aerospace projects to be funded under the Missouri Works Program, Missouri Business Use Incentives for Large-Scale Development Act (BUILD), Missouri Works Training Program, and the Real Property Tax Increment Allocation Redevelopment Act. There would be a $150 million funding cap, annually, should we pass the legislation through both chambers. I support expanding tax credits to lure Boeing to Missouri. |
|||||||||||||
With the federal Health Insurance Marketplace now up and running, Missourians have the opportunity to become part of the growing population of Americans who have affordable, quality health care coverage within their reach. This marketplace, made available by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), allows Missourians to compare health care options using side-by-side information regarding price, quality and benefits for each health plan under consideration. To sign-up visit www.healthcare.gov. Users will then create an account, fill out the application, compare plans and get coverage. The website is shutdown for repairs from 1-5 a.m. daily, until the repairs have been completed. Enroll by Dec. 23, to be covered by Jan. 1, 2014. Enroll by March 31, to avoid penalty. Penalty for not having insurance is $95 a year or 1 percent of household income. There will be a new box on your W-2 tax form to verify health insurance. Fill out an application at www.healthcare.gov to see if you qualify for a discount or tax credit.
There are no fees to use the marketplace and no one should solicit health coverage to you. Report fraud to the Missouri Attorney General’s office, by calling 1-800-392-8222. Here is a checklist of information you will need when you sign up:
The federal government has already announced that the timelines for enrollment for 2015 coverage will be pushed back one month, to allow consumers more tim,e to compare the plans. Enrollment will continue through Jan. 15, 2015. For information on health care seminars in the St. Louis area go to: http://covermissouri.org/tools/events/events.php To learn more about the ACA or the federal Health Insurance Marketplace, visit www.healthcare.gov or call 1-800-318-2596. |
|||||||||||||
The Senate Interim Committee on Medicaid Transformation and Reform voted not to include Medicaid expansion as one of the formal recommendations in its report. This decision by the majority party serving on the committee was made despite what most witnesses who testified before the committee recommended: Missouri should lower the income eligibility for Medicaid in order to receive matching federal funds and increase health care access to the neediest Missourians. Currently, citizens can earn only up to 18 percent of the federal poverty level to be eligible for Medicaid, or MO HealthNet. This is far too low of an income threshold in order to have healthy families in Missouri. The General Assembly should consider waiver options for expansion to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, allowing Missouri to accept the federal money promised with Medicaid expansion. The Kaiser Commission released a new survey stating states not expanding Medicaid income limits are expecting a larger increase in their state budget portions dedicated to Medicaid. The commission also indicated that state spending growth will be lower for 25 states that are moving forward with the Medicaid expansion (4.4 percent) compared to the remaining states (6.1 percent). The committee has until Dec. 15 to issue its final report with its recommendations to the General Assembly for legislative action. I am disappointed in the committee’s failure to include expert testimony in the recommendations to the Senate and its failure to present a fiscal analysis of the benefits of Medicaid expansion in the report. The 15 recommendations in the report are insignificant considering the short window of opportunity that states have to receive federal money that Missouri will do without. For more about the committee go to www.senate.mo.gov/medicaidtransformation. |
|||||||||||||
| Missouri's Tobacco Quitline | |||||||||||||
The Quitline is free to anyone in Missouri; both the toll-free number and the website (www.quitnow.net/missouri) will register you in the program that pairs citizens with trained coaches who will help plan your road to a tobacco-free life, as well as other resources, like nicotine replacement therapy. The Quitline can assist:
|
|||||||||||||
| Wood Duck Banding at B.K. Leach Conservation Area | |||||||||||||
Department staff used a cannon net to capture the ducks. Each bird was carefully fitted with a metal leg band before it was released. The leg bands contain an identification number and a toll-free telephone number. When a hunter takes a banded duck during our state's specified hunting season for this waterfowl (the season is staggered between zones, with the northern zone of the state operating earlier than the middle and southern zones), they may simply call the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to report the duck's identification number. The information is gathered annually to draw a flight line showing when and where ducks were banded and harvested. Information from the monitoring program helps MDC manage this species for future generations of bird watchers and hunters. B.K. Leach Conservation Area contains a wide variety of wetland habitats, ranging from early successional marshes to deep backwater sloughs. The wetlands are managed to provide food for migrating waterfowl, while also providing habitat for resident marsh birds and other wetland-dependent wildlife. The conservation area is a popular bird-watching and hunting designation. I encourage you to visit this incredible conservation area. |
|||||||||||||
While medical advancements are making it possible for senior citizens to stay in their homes longer, there may come a time when an older adult simply needs help with day-to-day tasks. ElderLink, a resource center for Jewish seniors in St. Louis currently has openings for services in their agency. They can also provide more basic in home assistance in the form of meal preparation, laundry services, housekeeping, and more. The agency offers a wide range of services, that include:
The Jewish Family & Children's Service in-home service/homemaker program no longer has a waiting list. ElderLink St. Louis is a project of the Senior Service Integration Commission of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis and administered by Jewish Family & Children's Service. ElderLink can be reached online at www.elderlinkstlouis.org or by calling (314) 812-9300. |
|||||||||||||
Musicians from the St. Louis Symphony are taking part in a series of free chamber concerts with events schedule through next year. Each concert is scheduled to last about one hour and is open to the public. Seating is first-come, first-served basis for the casual dress performances. These are the upcoming concerts: Dec. 9, 2013, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 12, 2013, 2 p.m. Dec. 17, 2013, 7 p.m. Jan. 17, 2014, 7 p.m. Jan. 23, 2014, 6 p.m. For more information about the St. Louis Symphony visit its website www.stlsymphony.org. |
|||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||
