May 5, 2011

The Senate began debate on Tuesday on whether to approve Senate Bill 18. The authorization bill to accept $500 million in federal stimulus funding.

Senators Lembke, Kraus, Nieves and Schaaf carried on protracted debate in a filibuster. They have publically proclaimed that they plan to cut $250 million from this funding and send it back to the federal government to send a message to the federal government to stop spending.

Some of this funding has already been contracted for capital improvements or renovation. Unfortunately, the money will not go towards the deficit. It will go to other states. Missouri would be the only state to send money back to DC. The debate went until 7:00am Wednesday. In the end after 14 hours of filibuster, $14 million of federal money for weatherization was cut. Inevitably, the House will restore the funding.

The legislature is still in session as of late Thursday. An end of session report will recap the final developments.

The House also mustered the required super majority to override the Governor’s veto of the Legislature’s redistricting plan.

News this week as of Thursday:

Nuisance Lawsuits
HB 209 (Guernsey) passed and sent to the Governor was vetoed by the Governor on Monday.

Guernsey testified that the bill was filed to prevent repetitive lawsuits against farm production.

Detractors believe that the bill would apply to nuisances beyond crop or animal production.

Link to HB 209: http://www.house.mo.gov/billsummary.aspx?bill=HB209&year=2011&code=R

A House agribusiness committee voted Tuesday to advance a version addressing some of the Governor’s objections including: allowing for punitive damages and limiting legislation to only agricultural nuisance lawsuits.

House Bill 18
HB 18 survived the Senate debate and funding for health-related grants and physicians loan forgiveness.

CAFO
SB 356 contains language by Representative Loehner defining the right to farm which could be utilized by CAFOs. We will be working to remove the amendment.

Link to the bill: http://www.senate.mo.gov/11info/BTS_Web/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&BillID=4200136

Henry County
The amendment by Representative Largent to require all regulations promulgated by the Henry County Health Department to be approached by the County Commission is contained in several bills including SB 290, SB 177, HB 889 and SB 90.

The state representative from the area sponsored the amendment. I contacted Senator Parson who is looking into the situation. However, he does not like health boards promoting taxes and fees. 

Status Updates
The General Assembly has enacted and sent House Bill 423 to Gov. Jay Nixon. It would authorize Missouri’s participation in an interstate compact that, subject to congressional approval, would give the participating states primary responsibility to regulate health care in those states, allow them to supersede federal regulation of health care and grant them a right to a share of federal funds appropriated to provide health services in the compact states.

A Senate committee has approved House Bill 265 with some changes. The bill would require state licensure boards to notify known employers of licensed practitioners of changes in practitioners’ licensure status. An employer may provide a list of employees to the boards and request notification. Among other benefits, this would help employers know if a practitioner’s license has been suspended or revoked for failure to pay required taxes.

The Missouri Senate has approved a Senate Committee Substitute for House Bill 270 with an amendment. The bill returns to the House for consideration of the Senate’s changes. The bill directs the Missouri Consolidated Health Care Plan to expand its offerings of high-deductible coverage. The plan provides coverage for many state and local employees. A House committee approved a similar bill, Senate Bill 90.

The Senate gave final approval and sent Senate Bill 122 to the House of Representatives. The measure would require each insurer to have a website by July 2012 that provides enrollees with estimates of total cost and out-of-pocket cost for procedures or services by each contracted provider or facility. Provider contracts with insurers could not prohibit disclosure of this information.

A House committee approved Senate Bill 65, which would create new standards for defining and regulating nonemergency abortions. The physician must determine the gestational age of the fetus and, if its age exceeds 19 weeks, the physician must assess the ability of the fetus to survive outside the womb. The exemption for abortions performed to preserve the life or health of the mother is revised to reference life-endangering physical conditions or substantial and irreversible physical impairment of major bodily functions. A second physician must be involved when the fetus is viable. Physicians who violate the bill’s standards could be charged with felony crimes, licensure sanctions and fines.

A Senate committee approved House Bill 223. It would authorize a “Caring for Missourians” program designed to fund nurse training programs.

State Funding Public Health
The Senate and House Conferees went with Governor's recommendation and deleted the $1.3 million addition the House added. This was to be expected.

We are fortunate that the funding is identical to last year. However, the Governor will probably announce additional withholds in June. 

Next Week
The Senate is still in session on late Thursday. The legislature adjourns in one week “Friday the 13th” of May.

The budget has not yet been resolved as of this communication. The General Assembly has until 6:00pm,  Friday May 6th. A final end of session report will be issued after the 15th the following week.

[top of page]