Visit www.senate.mo.gov/keaveny to see these and other online services

• Review Sen. Keaveny's sponsored legislation
• Request a courtesy resolution
• Find information about visiting the Capitol
• View Sen. Keaveny's photos
• Apply to be an intern with Sen. Keaveny's office
• View press releases and other media
• Sign up to receive the Keaveny Connection monthly newsletter

• Missouri Coordinating Board for Early Education
• St. Louis City Board of Election Commissioners
• State Board of Education
• State Highways and Transportation Commission

You can view Missouri's Blue Book by visiting www.sos.mo.gov/BlueBook.

• Senate Bill 69 will improve efficiency when mistakes are found in administrative child support orders. The bill grants authority to administrative hearing officers from the Missouri Department of Social Services (DSS) to set aside or correct administrative child support decisions. Although such mistakes are rare, this bill helps make the process of correcting errors more proficient.
• Senate Bill 99 makes the position of City of St. Louis Public Administrator an appointed position, rather than one in which the administrator is elected. The bill also allows the Official Manual of the State of Missouri (known as the "Blue Book") to be printed again. The book is currently published online only. The state's Blue Book provides information about local, state, and federal governments, as well as stories, essays, and pictures that help preserve Missouri's heritage.
• Senate Bill 100 increases protections for Missourians involved in bankruptcy proceedings. Funds accumulated in a health savings plan or received from an inherited individual retirement account (IRA) are now exempt from bankruptcy.

In April, an estimated 1,000 people packed three floors in the Capitol Rotunda to advocate for health care for 300,000 uninsured citizens.

• The federal government will pay the entire cost of expansion for the first three years, gradually reducing its percentage of the cost of the program to 90 percent.
• Expanding the Medicaid program would have created up to 24,000 new jobs in the first year of the expansion.
• Medicaid expansion has the potential to generate $856 million in state and local taxes from 2014-2020 — more than enough to pay Missouri's share of the cost of expansion.
• Without Medicaid reform, the cost of providing care to the state's uninsured citizens at Missouri hospitals could nearly triple to $3.5 billion annually by 2019.

Report Medicaid Fraud: Call toll-free at 1-800-286-3932

Senate Interim Committee on Medicaid Transformation and Reform

I was appointed to the Senate Interim Committee on Medicaid Transformation and Reform. The committee was established with the goal of reforming Medicaid by improving system efficiency, financial stability and delivery of care. Medicaid serves citizens most in need, including pregnant women, seniors, and people with disabilities.

I'm disappointed that the Missouri Legislature did not expand our state's Medicaid program this year, but I am hopeful this committee will determine a plan for the Legislature to help improve access to health care for our most vulnerable citizens and utilize federal dollars that belong to Missourians.

Open Enrollment for Missourians

The open enrollment period for Medicare is from October to December. I encourage you to access CLAIM, which answers questions about Medicare for Missourians. All services offered by CLAIM are free and confidential, provided by trained volunteer counselors who are happy to answer your questions about Medicare. During open enrollment, you can review your current Medicare plan and make changes, or choose a different plan that better suits your needs. Visit www.misssouriclaim.org or call 1-800-390-3330.

Over the last three years, up to March 31, 2013, there have been 456 motor vehicle fatalities on Missouri roadways.

Promoting Seat Belt Use

Seat belts can reduce your risk of fatal injury by 45 percent in the event of a motor vehicle accident. In Missouri alone, more than 240 teens were killed in traffic crashes between 2010 and 2012. Of those killed, 78 percent were not using a seat belt.

To encourage more Missourians to buckle up, Senate Bill 62 would have raised the fine for seat belt violations from $10 to $50. Research shows a strong correlation between increased fines and seat belt use. Studies also note that the average charges billed for an unrestrained Medicaid patient involved in an accident are $85,300, compared to $33,500 for a restrained individual.

Health Fair Update

My annual Health and Back-to-School Fair commenced on July 20 was a great success. More than 2,900 people registered at the
fair, and approximately 85 booster seats were distributed to
children in need (more than 700 have been donated so far this
year).

I applaud the Betty Jean Kerr People's Health Centers for their continued partnership and great assistance in organizing the fair. Thank you to our vendors for participating and our guests for attending — you helped make an extraordinary day for our community.

Senator Keaveny speaks at the rally at the Capitol supporting early education.

• For every $1 invested in early care and education in Missouri, a total of $1.87 is generated in additional spending in the state.
• Without quality early childhood intervention, at-risk children are 25 percent more likely to drop out of school, 40 percent more likely to become a teen parent, and 70 percent more likely to be arrested for a violent crime.
• In the absence of quality early childhood programs, colleges and businesses have to take on remedial training with students and employees, which is a waste of resources.
• If all Missouri children age 5 or under were given access to quality early-learning programs at a cost of an additional $1.9 billion, that investment would generate $3.5 billion in total new spending in Missouri businesses.
  

Missouri's 529 College Savings Plan

Missouri's 529 College Savings Plan — MOST — is a qualified tuition program established to help people save for the costs of education after high school. Owners of MOST 529 accounts are able to make a deduction for contributions of up to $8,000 per year per taxpayer from their Missouri state income taxes.

Several public universities in Missouri have created scholarship programs rewarding students and families who have taken advantage of the MOST 529 Program, including Missouri State University, Truman State University, and the University of Missouri system. Visit the treasurer's website to learn more at www.treasurer.mo.gov.

• Eyewitness identification procedures,
• Post-conviction DNA testing,
• Jailhouse informant testimony,
• Custodial interrogations, and
• Biological evidence procedures.

Examining the Cost of the Death Penalty

Senate Bill 61 would have required the state auditor to review the cost of sentencing a person to death versus a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.

Studies note that more than a dozen states have found that the death penalty is up to 10 times more expensive than sentences of life or life without parole. A study conducted in Florida noted that the state would save $51 million annually if the death penalty were abolished.

The American Bar Association highlights inefficiencies in Missouri's criminal justice system:

• Missouri is in compliance with only nine out of 95 best practices to ensure that innocent people are not executed.
• Several people in Missouri have been wrongfully convicted due to eyewitness misidentification, false confessions, and untruthful jailhouse informant testimony. Wrongful convictions cost the state money and innocent people are punished.
• Death penalty cases cost Missouri's underfunded state public defender system seven to 10 times more to defend the other murder cases.