District 151 Capitol Report
April 24, 2015
Tila Hubrecht's Capitol Report
Dear 151st District Constituents,
Hello to you!! It has been an incredibly busy week with less than a month to go of session. I was at the Capitol late each night this week, I don't think I left the building before 10pm any night!
This week we finished the final debate of the budget with it now being prepared to be sent to the Governor. I am glad to have this portion of our legislative work this far before May arrives. I was very pleased with some of our accomplishments on the budget. I will list just a few of these below:
Public Debt---ALL debt obligations will be met for FY 2016
Elementary & Secondary Education
• $5.78 billion for K-12 Education — record funding for our public schools
• Increased funding for the Foundation Formula by $84 million — $34 million more than the Governor’s recommendation
• Continued funding Parents as Teachers ($2.4m), Virtual Education for Medically Frail Students ($200k), Teach for America($1m) ...just to name a few of these programs with more of these being expanded to rural areas
• Defunded Common Core — that money must be used to create a MO-based testing system Higher Education
• $1.26 billion for higher education • Increased funding for 2 and 4 year public colleges and universities by $30 million
Dept of Revenue & MoDOT
• $200k for the implementation of a new registration and licensing system
• Cut travel expenses for executive agencies
• Funding for an I-70 tolling study
• $3m for capital improvements at Missouri ports
• $500k for transit providers Office of Administration & State Employees
• Cut travel expenses for executive agencies
• Eliminated funding across the budget for the Governor’s “Office of Community Engagement”
• $1.5m more than the Governor’s recommendations for IT security upgrades
I didn't vote to support HB 11 as I had some concerns with the expansion of Managed Care. I am relieved that before this can be fully implemented there will be a complete study done with many meetings during the interim, which I will be attending, to ensure that this will be a positive for Missouri.
Committee work has been very busy. I expect committee work to continue to be busy with this schedule becoming even busier as we count down to the end of session. I have worked closely with several other committee members on various bills to make changes or study to ensure that these bills will have a positive impact on Missouri.
The bill that I authored, House Bill 1262, regarding the Schools for the Severely Disabled, will possibly make the House floor this week or next week. I am very excited about this. With is being so late in session, I am also working to see if there is a possibility to add this bill as an amendment on another closely related bill to move it closer to the Governor's desk.
I will close for now but please free to call me or my office any time that I can be of service to you!!
Until Next Week,
Tila
Capitol News:
House and Senate Reach Agreement on Fiscal Year 2016 Budget (HBs 1 – 13)
After several long days of negotiations and discussion, the House and Senate finally worked out their differences and gave final approval to the Fiscal Year 2016 state operating budget. The bills now move to the governor’s desk a full two weeks ahead of the constitutionally-mandated budget deadline.
During the budget process, the Senate made significant changes to the House version of the state spending plan, including a lump-sum budgeting approach that included 4 to 6 percent cuts to health, mental health and social services programs. These changes drew the scrutiny of some on the House side and even lost the backing of leadership in the Senate as negotiations progressed. The final version of the budget approved by both chambers moves much closer to the original House spending plan, but does take some fiscally responsible steps to rein in the growth of the state’s social welfare programs. The final version of the budget does include the Senate’s plan to move Missouri’s Medicaid population to a system of managed care, but the transition will occur slowly and only after the plan has been reviewed.
The $26 billion spending plan that will take effect on July 1 of this year does include record levels of funding for elementary and secondary education. In total the state is now spending just under $5.8 billion on public K-12 schools, which represents more than 22.2 percent of total state spending. More than $3.2 billion of that funding is state general revenue, which represents more than 36 percent of the $8.85 billion state dollars over which the legislature has direct spending authority. The budget also includes significant boosts to several important education programs, and sizeable funding increases to the state’s public colleges and universities.
Some of the funding highlights contained in the FY 2016 budget include:
· An additional $84 million for the School Foundation Formula for K-12 public education;
· An increase of more than $2.4 million to the Parents as Teachers Program;
· Full funding for virtual education;
· Funding to create a state dyslexia coordinator;
· A $12 million increase for performance funding for Missouri’s public institutions of higher education;
· More than $5 million in new equity funding for Missouri’s two-year colleges;
· Funding to establish a state military advocate;
· A 3 percent funding increase to providers who care for elderly and developmentally disabled Missourians
· A 3 percent provider rate increase for autism projects; and
· Additional funding for MoHealthnet adult dental benefits.
House Sends Unemployment Reform Legislation to Governor (HB 150)
The governor will have the opportunity to sign legislation that supporters say will keep Missouri’s system of unemployment financially stable. House members gave final approval this to a bill that would link unemployment benefits to the rate of unemployment, and ensure the state keeps more money in the unemployment trust fund.
Supporters of the bill said it is meant to protect the state’s unemployment system from insolvency in the event there is another economic downturn. Missouri is the only state that has been forced to borrow money from the federal government to pay for unemployment benefits during each of the last five economic downturns. Borrowing federal dollars has the added negative impact of taking away a portion of a federal tax credit businesses normally receive.
The legislation is designed to make sure the state has enough money in its unemployment trust fund so that businesses don’t have to pay a penalty. Specifically, it would increase the minimum amount of money in the fund before employers’ contribution rates decrease. For example, Missouri businesses would see their contribution rates decrease by 12 percent if the fund has a balance greater than $870 million.
The bill also ties unemployment benefits to the average unemployment rate so that more benefits are available when unemployment is high. If the state were in a position of high unemployment (9 percent or higher) benefits would be available for 20 weeks. In periods of low unemployment (lower than 6 percent) benefits would be available for 13 weeks. Supporters noted that a similar system is already in place in states like Georgia and Florida. They call the change an important step toward ensuring Missouri can afford to help its citizens during times when they are without work.
The bill lost some support in the House after key changes were made in the Senate. Several House members who had supported the House version of the bill changed their votes to no because of a Senate amendment that would define severance pay as wages. Opponents said the change would make it even more difficult for unemployed Missourians to obtain the financial support they need to pay their bills and keep food on the table.
The governor now has the option to sign or veto the bill. The legislation received 88 yes votes in the House, which is 21 votes short of the number needed for a successful veto override.
Medical Malpractice Reform Legislation Receives Final Approval (SB 239)
The House and Senate this week approved a compromise version of legislation designed to contain ever-escalating medical costs and to keep medical professionals from fleeing the state.
The legislation would limit the amount an individual can receive for noneconomic damages in a medical malpractice lawsuit. In effect, it would reinstate the limits that were put in place in 2005 and then struck down in 2012 by the Missouri Supreme Court, which ruled that a cap on noneconomic damages violates the constitutional right to a jury trial. However, the compromise version of the bill increases the damage limits from where they were originally.
A version of the plan that was approved by the House in March restored the limits to the original level of $350,000. The compromise version of the legislation would cap most noneconomic awards at $400,000. For catastrophic injuries such as paralysis or even death, the bill would cap noneconomic damages at $700,000. The bill also includes a provision to increase the caps by 1.7 percent annually.
Supporters say putting the caps back in place is a necessary step to limit the cost of medical malpractice insurance for physicians. They say keeping costs down is vital to efforts to prevent doctors from leaving Missouri for other states with reasonable limits in place. They also point to the fact the bill would limit only noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering, and not the amount an individual can receive for medical costs or lost wages.
While the House version of the bill had numerous critics, the compromise version received strong bipartisan support in both chambers. The bill now moves to the governor’s desk where he can either sign or veto it. The bill received 125 votes in the House. A successful veto override requires only 109 votes.
Municipal Court Reform Bill Receives House Approval (SB 5)
The members of the Missouri House also took action this week to protect Missourians from some municipalities that have exhibited what House Speaker Diehl called “predatory practices” to raise revenue through excessive traffic tickets. The bill approved by the House is designed to shut down “speed traps” by limiting the amount of revenue municipalities can generate from traffic violations.
The plan that now has to move back to the Senate for another round of approval would limit the amount of revenue municipalities can generate from traffic tickets to 20 percent, which is down from the current limit of 30 percent. The bill further limits municipalities in St. Louis County, which has been plagued by excessive traffic violations, so that only 15 percent of their total revenue can be derived from traffic tickets.
The House version of the bill inserts additional protections for Missourians by ending the process of courts issuing failure to appear charges against defendants for missing court dates on minor traffic violations. The bill also would prevent courts from ordering jail time for individuals who fail to pay traffic fines. In addition, the bill now includes provisions to ensure accountability from municipalities in St. Louis County by requiring they meet minimum standards – police services, balanced budget, insurance, etc. – or face dissolution.
The bill drew strong bipartisan support as members from both parties said it will ensure municipalities act in the best interests of their citizens rather than treat them as sources of revenue.
Upcoming In-District Schedule
During the next few weeks of session, I am keeping Friday's schedule "empty" as we will have a possibility of being in session. When session ends, I will resume a normal schedule.
