Dear Friends:

In an effort to keep you informed about the activities at your State Capitol and how those activities may impact your lives, I am offering a regular electronic newsletter. This column includes information about bills making their way through the legislative process, including legislation that directly affects the citizens of Kansas City. I welcome your feedback and encourage you to contact my office with any questions or concerns you may have.

Thank you.

Several of my legislative committees met this week to hear testimony on bills ranging from continuity in coverage of chemotherapy medications to addressing accreditation and student transfers in school districts across the state.

On Tuesday, the Senate Small Business, Insurance and Industry Committee held hearings on two bills relating to insurance companies covering chemotherapy treatments. Currently, there are different out-of-pocket costs for oral and intravenously administered chemotherapy medications, which often result in higher payments for treatments taken by mouth rather than through an injection. Senate Bill 663 and Senate Bill 668 would require insurance companies that already offer coverage for both treatment options to require the same out-of-pocket costs for each. The measures also prohibit raising the out-of-pocket costs for drugs administered by injection.

I served on the Missouri Oral Chemotherapy Parity Interim Committee, created by legislation I sponsored last year (Senate Bill 262) that was signed into law by the governor. When patients undergo chemotherapy, they should not have to add to their list of worries the cost of pills versus treatment injections. We were responsible for studying the disparity in patient co-payments between orally and intravenously administered chemotherapy drugs, the reasons for the disparity, and the patient benefits in establishing co-payment parity between these methods of treatment. One of the legislative recommendations issued by the interim committee was to introduce similar legislation this session, which is similar to the bills already filed and heard in committee this week.

Senator Curls sponsored the appointment of Mr. John M. Miles to the Jackson County Sports Complex Authority during the Senate Gubernatorial Appointments Committee on Jan. 29, 2014.

On Wednesday morning, I sat alongside Mr. John M. Miles of Kansas City before members of the Senate Gubernatorial Appointments Committee in support of his appointment to serve as a member of the Jackson County Sports Complex Authority. As a member of this board, Mr. Miles will be responsible for overseeing the maintenance and operation of the Harry S. Truman Sports Complex in a fiscally responsible manner in order to maintain this historic structure as one of the premier sports facilities in the nation. I was honored to sponsor Mr. Miles appointment, which was confirmed by the full Senate this week.

Last week the Senate Education Committee heard testimony on five bills sponsored by St. Louis-area senators that all tackle the school accreditation and student transfer issue that is gripping our students' education future. As we continue our discussion in committee on these bills, I look forward to the opportunity of taking up these bills in the full Senate to thoroughly discuss on how we can best provide a world-class education for all of Missouri's children.

This same committee held a hearing this Wednesday on Senate Bill 493, which also addresses school accreditation and student transfers. In addition, this measure creates a statewide achievement school district, which would transfer underperforming schools located in unaccredited school districts to the jurisdiction of the achieving district responsible for administering and overseeing them. This measure is hardly the first and won't be the last that we consider regarding this statewide issue this session. It's important during this process to consider all proposals relating to our students' education and encourage dialogue on behalf of our their future.

The Senate Appropriations Committee will continue its work next week taking public testimony from 18 government departments and offices. This is a vital part of the appropriations process to determine how much funding is allocated to each program and service provided by our state. As a member of this committee, we will spend several weeks considering funding requests before the appropriations bills move through the House and then on to the Senate.

This week I had the opportunity to introduce Mr. Bob Kendrick, Director of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, as a special guest on the Senate floor. The museum was recently included on the list of top 50 spots for 50 states released by cable news network CNN. I am always honored to introduce citizens from the 9th District to my colleagues in the Senate Chamber and meet with them at the State Capitol. If you plan to visit Jefferson City and stop by our Capitol, please let me know.

The Kansas City Chapter of the National Congress of Black Women is sponsoring a free Financial Aid Workshop on Feb. 22, 2014, from 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Southeast Library (6242 Swope Parkway, Kansas City).

This workshop is open to high school seniors and their parents who are interested in learning more about the types of financial aid available to students and their families. The workshop will feature presentations from the Educational Opportunity Center and the U.S. Department of Education. Sign in is from 1:30 p.m.-2:00 p.m. and the workshop will begin promptly at 2:00 p.m., so please arrive early.

Please RSVP by calling (816) 974-3237 or emailing ncbwkc@gmail.com by Feb. 12, 2014.