Getting the Conversations Going

We had several complex issues come up in committee and during floor debate this week, including our state Medicaid system, and the discrepancy between how much Missouri lawmakers are paid, relative to our state employees. While these may appear to be completely separate issues, they both deal with an inappropriate distribution of money.

For the current fiscal year, 34 percent of our state’s budget was allocated to MO HealthNet, Missouri’s $9.2 billion dollar Medicaid program. That’s a tremendous amount of money to expend on a program that is more broken than whole. A runaway budget and a lack of oversight are two of the most troubling issues concerning MO HealthNet.

During the 2013 interim, I chaired the Medicaid Transformation and Reform Committee. One of the top findings, based on those hearings, is that we desperately need to find a way to provide the legislature with an independent source of information to help us streamline the program and make it more efficient. Remedying this problem is at the heart of why I filed SB 38. Senate Bill 38 will amend current statute so that the Joint Committee on MO HealthNet will become a permanent fixture in the legislature.

As you may know, my district has the second largest total of state workers in Missouri. And we desperately need to find the funds somewhere in our budget to give these state workers, who have suffered little to no raises over the last several years, truly meaningful salary increases. What many people do not realize is that our state employees, even full-time employees, have been forced to utilize our social services programs. 

This week, a proposed pay raise for state legislators and elected officials was brought up in the Senate. While several members of the democratic caucus initially filibustered, the measure was eventually allowed to come to a vote, and the Senate blocked the salary increase. Had a vote not been allowed to take place, the pay raise would’ve automatically taken effect this coming Sunday, Feb. 1. Missouri legislators currently rank 16th in the nation for pay, while Missouri state employees rank 50th.

In light of the conversations we’ve had this week about the overspending in Medicaid and the lack of spending on the majority of our state workers, I found the pay-raise issue to be especially frustrating. One silver lining is that the convergence of all these problems at once was a great place for us to begin having some long-overdue conversations: we must reform our Medicaid program, so that we can reduce costs and free up more of our budget and invest more in our state employees. 

In other legislative news, Senate Concurrent Resolution 5 was heard in committee on Tuesday. If passed, the measure would re-authorize the functions of the Missouri Lead Industry Task Force. We’ve had some positive movement on the part of the EPA and the Department of Justice in working with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to bring about a resolution to the issues we’ve had in St. Francois County. I look forward to continuing as chairman with the task force in the future.

Also taken up in committee this week was Senate Bill 68, legislation I filed concerning directors of industrial development corporations and the Farmington residency requirements. This bill may not be geographically far-reaching, but it’s very important for me to address issues that are close to home, as well as statewide.

I welcomed a number of visitors to the Capitol this week, including the Meramec Regional Planning Commission; Missouri Port Authorities; and Ginger Williams, the General Manager with Missouri Community Improvement Industries, Inc. (MCII). I also hosted a meet and greet for Dr. Kevin Gwaltney, our new Executive Director of the Joint Committee on Education.

Finally, I want to highlight the Lean Mean Spring Challenge, a weight-loss challenge that Senate members and staff are participating in to see which team can lose the most pounds by Spring Break. I’m happy to have as my teammates, Dan Hutton, from my staff, and Sen. Bob Dixon. We have chosen the very appropriate team name of Trimming the Fat. Be on the lookout for our team’s final results in the weeks to come.

Contact Me