Memorial Day should always remind us of those who have served and are serving in our armed forces. As we remember our fallen, we should also honor those whose commitment includes laying down their lives if necessary.
First responders is another group whose commitment goes beyond self. They were on the ground regardless of the danger last week as residents throughout Missouri were impacted by recent storms. All our thoughts and prayers go to the residents throughout Missouri who were impacted.
Three of my constituents lost their lives when a tornado ripped through the area of Golden City, and the region suffered significant property destruction.
Later, an EF3 twister passed through Jefferson City. A number of historic homes near the Capitol building were among the many structures damaged.
For information on recovery resources, or direction as to where you can donate or volunteer, please log onto the State Emergency Management Agency’s website athttps://sema.dps.mo.gov.
It’s hard to imagine it was little more than a week ago that the Missouri General Assembly concluded its legislative activity for the year. We’ll come back to Jefferson City briefly in September for our annual veto session but, absent any unexpected special session, we’re finished passing laws until January 2020.
Lawmakers passed a statewide budget that spends $14 billion on social services, largely Medicaid. The School Foundation Formula, which funds K-12 classrooms, was fully funded at an ever-increasing level. Missouri will spend more than $6 billion on childhood education, with hardly any money allocated to supporting alternatives to failing public schools. The state’s public colleges and universities will receive $1.3 billion. Transportation accounts for $3 billion. The remaining 20 percent of Missouri’s $29 billion budget will fund all other government programs and services.
The First Regular Session of the 100th General Assembly will likely be remembered most for the strong stance we took in defense of unborn Missourians.
It’s hard to imagine it was little more than a week ago that the Missouri General Assembly concluded its legislative activity for the year. We’ll come back to Jefferson City briefly in September for our annual veto session but, absent any unexpected special session, we’re finished passing laws until January 2020.
Lawmakers passed a statewide budget that spends $14 billion on social services, largely Medicaid. The School Foundation Formula, which funds K-12 classrooms, was fully funded at an ever-increasing level. Missouri will spend more than $6 billion on childhood education, with hardly any money allocated to supporting alternatives to failing public schools. The state’s public colleges and universities will receive $1.3 billion. Transportation accounts for $3 billion. The remaining 20 percent of Missouri’s $29 billion budget will fund all other government programs and services.
The First Regular Session of the 100th General Assembly will likely be remembered most for the strong stance we took in defense of unborn Missourians.
House Bill 126, often referred to as “The Heartbeat Bill,” includes provisions that outlaw abortions after eight weeks, 14 weeks, 18 weeks and 20 weeks of fetal development.
The bill is drafted so that if one or more of these thresholds is overturned in court, the rest will stand. The bill also prohibits selective abortions due to race or gender or because the child has been diagnosed with Down syndrome.
Some have criticized the absence of an exemption for rape or incest. They are forgetting that the bill considers the product of conception, not the means. The unborn bears neither responsibility nor guilt for the means.
Infrastructure investment, one of the governor’s priorities for 2019, was addressed by Senate Concurrent Resolution 14, which authorizes $301 million in bond-based borrowing and 50 million from general revenue to pay for the repair or replacement of distressed bridges throughout Missouri. Twelve bridges in the 31st Senatorial District are scheduled for work under the transportation improvement plan.
House Bill 192 allows parole boards to deviate from mandatory minimum sentences in cases that don’t involve violent or sexual offenses. The bill also prohibits jailing offenders solely for failure to pay fines. Other criminal justice reforms passed this year added more non-violent offenses to the list of charges eligible for expungement from criminal records and allow victims of domestic violence to break their leases if they need to move for personal safety reasons. In addition to the humanitarian aspects of the bill, it should also save the state money without sacrificing public safety.
In other measures, House Bill 220 clarifies Missouri’s tax law so that taxes from wind energy projects will benefit local communities. Among the many provisions of Senate Bill 147 is legislation that allows the operation of a motorcycle without a helmet, so long as the rider carries medical insurance. The same bill also increases the exemption from motor vehicle inspections for new vehicles from five years to 10 years, or 150,000 miles. Finally, Senate Concurrent Resolution 14, which encourages public schools to offer an elective course on the Bible, was approved.
The Legislature passed more than 90 bills and resolutions in 2019. Some of these merit further discussion and elaboration in future legislative reports. In the end, I’m hopeful most will think we did some good for the citizens of Missouri and relatively little harm. If so, it was a relatively good legislative session.
11 comments:
I am a Republican and don't believe in abortion in MOST circumstances. However, what if, God forbid, your 14 year old daughter, niece, granddaughter, etc. were raped and became pregnant. You're saying she should have to go through another terrifying situation of being that young and HAVING to give birth? That is NOT right. It may not have been the "products" fault, but it sure as heck wasn't the young girls fault. People need to rethink this. Not everything fits into "one box".
I guess this could be correct, except for:
A) Father is deviant and might pass on numerous bad genes
B) Forcing a woman to relive that moment 9 months later is not a sane gesture
C) You and other narrow minded men are forcing your will on a woman who has experienced sheer terror at the hands of some person other than normal
D) It is unfair to condemn a child or mother to some possible disease carried by this bad person
E) Is this what you would condemn your wife or daughter to if it happened to them
Your republicans are playing a dangerous game deciding who can afford or is able to go somewhere else to make a decision that is right for them and not for your self righteous demigods.
Applies to less than 2% of abortions.
But still applies to about 2%, if your math is right.
The mother should NOT have the baby who has been developed by rape or incest. No woman should have to carry that fetus if she chooses not to. The female did not choose to be raped or molested and should not have to choose to carry the fetus.
Yeah, 2% is 2%, Stevie. Google it, it isn't my math.
The problem is, it becomes a sloppy slope anytime you make exceptions to anything. I do agree that these cases are horrible and because of their existence it makes this topic open to any debate.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/05/24/rape-and-incest-account-few-abortions-so-why-all-attention/1211175001/
If abortion is killing a human life, then what difference does it make how it got started? It’s still killing. No matter how you wrap up the package with a nice bow on top to make it more palatable, same result. I have mixed feelings about abortion and have never understood this logic. Either it is or isn’t taking a life.
2:58, bingo! It amazes me how people can be so nonchalant about the whole thing. The people on the left tend to be pro abortion yet they also tend to balk at the death penalty. Also, they act like abortion doesn't end life yet if someone murders a pregnant woman they are charged with two counts of murder.
It takes mental gymnastics to make the whole topic make sense.
Imagine how different the law would read if women and girls forced to endure both the RAPE of her body and mind during said violent act and further be FORCED to carry a pregnancy to term (cruelty at its finest) were then able to SUE their attacker or participant for damages? Mandatory DNA testing of the baby in question? Full time care provided by the State to feed, clothes, school, and provide medical care for the child through its lifetime? It shouldn't also fall upon the woman who carried the Rape baby or baby who is disabled to provide ongoing care for the rest of its life- shouldn't that fall to the OTHER parent? The one who WANTED to make that baby, without regard of HER choice in the matter?
Not all women are raped at random. No means No.
Why should I have to cede my autonomy to strangers? All these pro-lifers should sweep behind their own backdoor and help clean up what's happening in our country with children unfed, uncared for and unloved. What about their rights? They are ALIVE. They are HERE. They need care more than an unviable bunch of cells trying to morph into the succubus of a woman's body, draining her of nutrients and growing into another potentially UNWANTED CHILD.
The bottom line is this: Either a woman is fully human, an end in and of herself, or she is simply the means to another’s end. Disqualifying women from decisions regarding their own bodies and their OWN lives reduces them to a means, a slave, a producer, a machine that produces a baby for the benefit of others and not herself. Abortion is not the issue. The issue is whether or not we have the right to make that decision for ourselves. Whether WE HAVE THE RIGHT. I am a woman. I pay taxes. I raised 8 children on my own back and work ethic. Sans government funding. I have the RIGHT to govern myself. I am PRO-WOMEN - PRO-CHOICE. That doesn't make me PRO-ABORTION or PRO-DEATH. It makes me a thoughtful, intelligent, respectful of others, empathetic, sympathetic human being.
If it isn't your body, it really should not be YOUR choice.
Rise Up. Activists and advocates should continue to call out these harmful laws — and the full on lying mouths behind them — every time we see them, and rally in support of proactive policies that expand access to high-quality, affordable abortion care and other reproductive health services. Together, we will keep fighting back until every woman in the United States has the freedom to choose for herself, and is able to access the care she needs with dignity and without barriers.
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