2187S.02I
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 17
WHEREAS, faith-based and community organizations are currently providing quality social services and making a positive difference in the communities they serve; and
WHEREAS, faith-based and community organizations are serving their communities in areas such as the prevention and treatment of juvenile delinquency, child care services, support services for the elderly, the prevention of crime, the intervention in and prevention of domestic violence, and a number of other social service areas; and
WHEREAS, some of these faith-based and community organizations are currently receiving funds from federal government, or through a state, city, or local government that itself receives federal funds, to carry out their missions; and
WHEREAS, because of the quality services provided by these organizations, it is important for the state and local governments to utilize their services by working in partnership with faith-based and community organizations; and
WHEREAS, faith-based and community organizations that currently work in partnership with local governments or judicial circuits are doing so within the framework of the Constitutional church-state guidelines:
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the members of the Missouri Senate, Ninety-Second General Assembly, First Regular Session, the House of Representatives concurring therein, hereby express their gratitude to faith-based and community organizations working in their communities to improve the lives of the citizens of this state; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we support the mission of faith-based and community organizations to provide social services to improve the lives of our citizens; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we support and encourage the state and all local governments to work in partnership with faith-based and community organizations to provide quality social services that improve the lives of so many of our citizens in particular and better our society in general; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Missouri Senate be instructed to prepare properly inscribed copies of this resolution for the Governor, the presiding judge of each judicial circuit in this state, and to the director of each state department.
Senators Mathewson and Steelman offered the following concurrent resolution:
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 18
To establish a Joint Interim Committee on Community Health.
WHEREAS, growing concerns and complexities of health issues in this state have lead to higher costs of administration and implementation of health care; and
WHEREAS, the manner in which health care is currently administered at the state level is fragmented and often unresponsive to health care issues; and
WHEREAS, the responsibility for health care policy, purchasing, planning, and regulation is spread among many different agencies and departments; and
WHEREAS, there is a need to have a central agency serve as the lead planning state entity for all health insurance and pharmacy benefit issues in the state to remedy the current situation; and
WHEREAS, the state could benefit from maximizing its purchasing power inasmuch as the state now has none of its health care purchasing coordinated; and
WHEREAS, minimizing the duplication and maximizing the administrative efficiency in the state's health care systems by removing overlapping functions and streamlining uncoordinated programs would lead to increased cost savings to the state in a time of fiscal uncertainty; and
WHEREAS, the state has a need to develop a better health care infrastructure that is more responsive to the consumers it serves while improving access to and coverage for health care:
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the members of the Missouri Senate, Ninety-Second General Assembly, First Regular Session, the House of Representatives concurring therein, hereby create a joint interim committee to be composed of seven members of the Senate, to be appointed by the President Pro Tem of the Senate and seven members of the House of Representatives, to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, whereof at least three members from each house shall be from the minority party to conduct a study to determine the feasibility of achieving the objectives of decreasing health insurance costs to all state employees and streamlining state medicaid programs to achieve cost savings, as well as the other objectives expressed herein; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT THE JOINT COMMITTEE AND ITS MEMBERS SHALL HAVE NO CONTACT, WRITTEN OR ORAL, WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI OR ANY EMPLOYEES THEREOF; AND
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT THE JOINT COMMITTEE SHALL BE PROHIBITED FROM REQUESTING ANY RESEARCH OR INFORMATION FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI OR ANY EMPLOYEE THEREOF; AND
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the joint committee shall call its first meeting within fifteen days of the signing by the Governor of this concurrent resolution; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that House Research, the Committee on Legislative Research, and Senate Research shall provide such legal, research, clerical, technical, and bill drafting services as the committee may require in the performance of its duties; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the joint committee shall perform a study of the feasibility and economic impact of achieving the objectives provided herein for submission to the General Assembly prior to the commencement of the Second Regular Session of the Ninety-second General Assembly; the study analysis shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1) An inventory of current health care and pharmacy benefit plans and related programming offered to state retirees and their dependents and state beneficiaries and their dependents;
(2) The financial feasibility and programming implications of integrating benefit plans, or portions thereof, to achieve financial economies to the state and state retirees and their dependents and state beneficiaries and their dependents;
(3) A prioritized analysis of infrastructure and appropriations necessary to adequately implement any joint committee recommendation; and
(4) If, by a majority vote of the members of the joint committee, a determination is made that one of the existing health or pharmacy benefit plans of one of the member agencies, or any part thereof, would be better served by being excluded from the Division of Community Health, such determination and a detailed analysis thereof shall be included; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the joint committee shall be authorized to contract for consulting services, subject to appropriation, to assist with the requirements of the study; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Missouri Senate be instructed to prepare a properly inscribed copy of this resolution for the Governor of Missouri.