Kirkton: Plenty of important issues, but we'll be talking guns again

In a portion of her latest newsletter, Rep. Jeanne Kirkton, D-Webster Groves, notes that while a number of crucial issues could be discussed, once again the Missouri State Legislature is going to spend its time seeing who can strut their support of guns the most. The biggest of those bills is the scaled-down version of last year's gun law, written by Sen. Ron Richard, R-Joplin, whose vote siding with Gov. Jay Nixon on the gun law veto kept the veto from being overridden.

In 2013, the General Assembly passed sweeping pro-gun legislation that even many of its supporters eventually conceded was blatantly unconstitutional. The bill purported to declare all existing or future federal gun laws "null and void and of no effect in this state," made it a crime for federal officials to enforce federal gun laws in Missouri and also made it a crime for anyone to publish the name of a gun owner in print or online for any reason in any context. Both crimes would have been punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

The bill violated both the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which holds that federal laws trump contradictory state laws, and the free speech and freedom of the press provisions of the state and federal constitutions. Although the House of Representatives voted to override Gov. Jay Nixon's veto of the bill, the override attempt fell a single vote short in the Senate when the chamber's top two Republican leaders abandoned their previous support for the bill and voted to sustain the veto.

 Supporters are expected to try again in 2014 with scaled-back legislation that drops the provisions imposing criminal penalties for enforcing federal law or publishing the names of gun owners. However, supporters likely will still attempt to nullify federal gun laws, which would again render the measure unconstitutional.

DESE at Common Core meeting:If you don't like the way we do things, you can go ahead and leave

New York is not the only place where a Commissioner of Education is pushing through Common Core Standards without answering questions and without caring what people thinks, and treating them rudely in the process.

The accompanying video was taken at the meeting DESE (Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) held in Springfield earlier this year on Common Core. You did not see Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro in attendance, just one of her lieutenants, showing a boring power point presentation on Common Core and then refusing to answer any questions.

Write down the questions and someone will answer them on the DESE website is not a reasonable answer when what is being proposed is such a dramatic change in our way of doing things.

The top video shows what those attending the meeting ran into when they attempted to ask questions. The bottom video features the droning DESE employee who presented the program.

Why I am not running for Joplin R-8 Board of Education...and why others should

At least once a week ever since my hearing, I have been asked by one person or another to run for a seat on the Joplin R-8 Board of Education.

"You know the problems," I have been told by some, while others have suggested that because I did not quietly fade away after C. J. Huff, Angie Besendorfer, and their crack team of administrative assassins worked me over during my termination hearing that somehow that gives me some kind of special quality that would make me a strong candidate.

And, of course, there is name recognition. I have heard it suggested that I have a major advantage in that everyone knows who I am.

For the most part, the people who are deeply interested in the school district know who I am. Others likely do not and it is how they would be introduced to me by those interested in the continuation of C. J. Huff's administration that convinces me that even if I wanted to run for school board I could not win and C. J. Huff would be in a position to try even more of the brand of character assassination that he and the Besendorfer groupies employed during my hearing.

This election cannot be about me. It has to be about doing what is best for the students, teachers, employees, and taxpayers.

The election has to be about restoring a sense of decency to a school district that has been stripped bare of that quality by Huff and Besendorfer running roughshod over their teachers and placing their ambition ahead of the well-being of the children and the financial health of the district.

The election has to be about restoring access of the people to the board members they have elected. When the board agenda is controlled with an iron fist by the superintendent to the extent that issues that deserve a public airing are never heard, local control of schools has vanished. Public involvement must be more than a made-for-television special that masquerades as a governmental meeting. While school board members should not be meddling in the day-to-day operation of a district, there is a big difference in watching out for the taxpayers and the children and meddling. When every vote is 7-0, even when some board members disagree, that is not the board speaking with one voice, that is creating a cult of personality and as C. J. Huff told the Missouri School Boards Association in October 2011, he and the R-8 Board of Education are "joined at the hip."

The election has to be about restoring fiscal sanity before a district that only a few years ago prided itself on climbing "Mount Joplin" finds itself in bankruptcy court. The mess that has been made of the R-8 District's finances cannot be blamed on the tornado. It is a man-made disaster that happened when this board (and there has been only one change in its membership in the past seven years) decided to hire an inexperienced superintendent from a small school district who was not ready for the big time and who was willing to cede his responsibility for most of the school's operations to a power-driven assistant, an assistant, I might add, who knows when the handwriting is on the wall and is, to coin a phrase, deserting a sinking ship.

The election has to be about restoring intelligence to a board that does not seem to realize that hundreds of teachers are leaving the district, some by choice, many not. How can the board not even question the clean sweep Huff and Besendorfer have made of the district's principals? It appears that High School Principal Kerry Sachetta and South Middle School Principal Steve Gilbreth are the only ones who have survived the Huff-Besendorfer principal purge and they were reportedly on Besendorfer's list for this year, I have been told by sources within administration. Many of them have been replaced through the Besendorfer junior administrator system, the teaching/learning coaches.

Filing for school board begins later this month. My name won't be on the list, but for the first time in recent memory, there should be plenty of choices for voters- people who are not caught up in the glow of bright futures- people who are willing to cast a dissenting vote and dissolve the illusion that all is right in the Joplin R-8 School District.

Seeing new names on the list of candidates will be a welcome change. Seeing current board members deciding not to try for three more years would be the best early Christmas present this school district could receive.

That would truly be a miracle on 32nd Street.

Video: Chris Nicastro has got to go

Speaker of the House accuses Nixon of hypocrisy over Boeing plan

Leave it to Speaker of the House Tim Jones, R-Eureka, to use one issue of importance to Missourians as leverage to bring up another one.

During an interview with Missourinet, Jones indicated the governor has some nerve to ask for a package for Boeing to be debated in a special legislative session when Nixon vetoed HB 253 which would have given deep tax cuts to businesses.

“Our Governor decided that he would veto a policy that would give a tax break to all Missouri families, farmers and small businesses. He didn’t feel that such a tax break was appropriate at that time so one of the questions that’s going to have to be answered is, ‘Why is a tax break for this project appropriate at this time?’” 

During the interview, Jones said that Nixon needs to come to the legislature and explain exactly what he wants.

Anonymous reader- Mr. Turner, you have failed this community miserably

Since I authored a commentary Saturday accusing the Joplin Globe of failing this community with its fawning coverage of Joplin city and school leaders since the May 22, 2011, tornado, I feel obliged to offer this post, a comment I received last night, claiming that I am the one who has failed the community.

You can judge for yourself.

The Joplin Globe has served this community well, Mr. Turner. It is you that has failed it miserably.

You were a failure as a newspaper editor, a failure as a teacher, and your Turner Report, Inside Joplin, and those other ridiculous blogs are going down in flames.

It is laughable to think that anyone in Joplin is going to support a cheap-looking, tabloid trash blog, which tries to build readership by attacking good people like Angie Besendorfer and CJ Huff.

You were quite accurately described as a bully. You have such an inferiority complex that you have to make yourself feel better by attacking people who contribute more in five minutes than you have in your entire miserable life.

People do not want to pay for a subscription to the Joplin Globe, which has real news, why would they pay for a cheap pretender who has never met a lie he wouldn't print? I certainly hope Joplin will not have to put up with you much longer. Move somewhere else, start on your next failure and stop attacking people who have reached a status you will never attain- they are decent human beings.

I wish the reader had hot held back and would have told us how he or she really felt.

Kraus plans to push HB 253-type legislation again

(In his latest newsletter, Sen. Will Kraus, R-Lee's Summit, lets us know that the 2014 legislative session is likely to be a repeat of 2013. He loved HB 253 and is ready to have another go at following the Kansas and Oklahoma example and cutting taxes drastically.)

 Last month, I detailed a broad case as to why Missouri needs tax reform.  In this Capitol Report, I want to give you some of the details we used to support last year’s tax bills.

The biggest concern of those that seek tax reform is that Missouri is not growing at a fast enough pace. The best barometer of that fact is our state’s loss of congressional districts. Those districts are based on population, and Missouri has lost eight seats since 1930, three seats in the last 40 years. Contrast that with the state of Washington — where there is no state income tax — which has gained five seats since 1930 — and Tennessee — another state with no state income tax — which has held steady. Both states now have more representatives in Washington D.C. than Missouri.

Critics of House Bill 253 claim Missouri is already a low-tax state. While our corporate rate is competitive, our personal income tax rate is not, ranking only 27th best in the nation. More than 50 percent of for-profit businesses file taxes at the individual rate, which is a striking realization that we are not competitive where it counts most — for small businesses.

Those statistics bear out in another way — our business-friendly rankings. Several organizations rank states every year in this area. Forbes Magazine ranks Missouri at No. 30, CNBC ranks us No. 26 and CEO Magazine rates Missouri at No. 31. Those are numbers we need to be committed to improving.

Finally, we need to look at Missouri’s actual economic competitiveness. The best economic statistic in this regard is our state Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and our GDP growth compared to other states. Missouri currently ranks No. 37 in GDP per capita. Even worse, we only rank No. 47 in GDP growth from 1997-2012. Our state GDP growth in 2012 was 2 percent compared to the nation’s average: 2.5 percent. All those numbers, combined with our 28th place rating for unemployment, show that Missouri is lagging economically.

Tax reform isn’t the only area we need to improve, of course. Lowering oppressive business regulations, fixing our broken tort system and reforming tax credits are all just as important. But tax reform is a big part of the puzzle, and the area I must focus on as chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

It is also important to look at what is happening in surrounding states. That doesn’t mean we are reacting to, or copying, what they have done.  But tax changes in Kansas and Oklahoma will have an effect on our competitiveness. While Kansas may have gone too far, and may pay for that down the road, we can’t ignore the fact that its tax structure could attract Missouri businesses.

Some opponents of tax reform claim that Kansas’ tax policy will not draw residents and businesses from Missouri. However, I have had several conversations and received several emails from people in our own district who are considering a move. The most recent was a gentleman whose CPA advised him to consider moving his small business and family to Kansas. The CPA had already done so herself. They calculated that the tax savings — remember, Kansas now has no tax at all on pass-through earnings for small businesses — outweighed the higher home prices. This puts Missouri in a dangerous position to lose revenue.

Oklahoma’s 2004 tax cuts may show a better path: small, incremental changes over time. Since those cuts, Oklahoma has never had a decline in revenue. In fact both income and sales taxes rose well above expectations. Those tax cuts, signed by a minority party governor, worked so well that Oklahoma instituted another cut last year. That leaves a second neighboring state who has gained a clear competitive advantage.

As we move forward with tax reform legislation in 2014, economic development will be our main focus.  Exactly how to do that, and how to do it without negatively impacting crucial budgets, is still being discussed. To do nothing will only set Missouri further behind, and present a larger risk of reduced revenues in the future.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns at any time. We look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions and trying to answer any questions you may have. You can reach us by phone at 573-751-1464, or e-mail at will.kraus@senate.mo.gov.

St. Louis Democrat recommends Medicaid expansion

(From Sen. Joseph Keaveny, D-St. Louis)

The Senate Interim Committee on Medicaid Transformation and Reform voted not to include Medicaid expansion as one of the formal recommendations in its report. This decision by the majority party serving on the committee was made despite that most of the witnesses who testified before the committee recommended Missouri lower the income eligibility for Medicaid in order to receive matching federal funds and increase health care access to the neediest Missourians.

“Currently, citizens can earn only up to 18 percent of the federal poverty level to be eligible for Medicaid, or MO HealthNet,” Sen. Keaveny said following Wednesday’s committee meeting. “This is far too low of an income threshold in order to have healthy families in Missouri.”

Keaveny continued, “The General Assembly should consider waiver options for expansion to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, allowing Missouri to accept the federal money promised with Medicaid expansion.”   

The Kaiser Commission released a new survey stating states not expanding Medicaid income limits are expecting a larger increase in their state budget portions dedicated to Medicaid. The commission also indicated that state spending growth will be lower for 25 states that are moving forward with the Medicaid expansion (4.4 percent) compared to the remaining states (6.1 percent).

The committee has until Dec. 15 to issue its final report with its recommendations to the General Assembly for legislative action.

“I am disappointed in the committee’s failure to include expert testimony in the recommendations to the Senate and its failure to present a fiscal analysis of the benefits of Medicaid expansion in the report,” said Sen. Keaveny. “The 15 recommendations in the report are insignificant considering the short window of opportunity that states have to receive federal money that Missouri will do without.”
For more about the committee go tohttp://www.senate.mo.gov/medicaidtransformation.

Legislators latch onto Cardinals World Series, playoff tickets

John Bardgett is certainly one remarkable lobbyist.

In all of the years I have been poring over lobbyists' disclosure records, I cannot recall Bardgett ever charging a meal to any of his clients- it is always charged to his firm, Bardgett and Associates.

So even though Bardgett is a lobbyist for the St. Louis Cardinals, his disclosure form shows all of the free World Series and playoff tickets he doled out to legislators were all credited to his lobbying firm, to the tune of $5,473.99.

And plenty of legislators were eager to grab the freebies.



Those receiving $275 World Series tickets on Oct. 28 included the following:

Sen. Ryan Silvey, R-Kansas City
Rep. Penny Hubbard, D-St. Louis
Rep. John Diehl, R-Town and Country
Sen. Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles County

On Oct 27, again for $275 tickets

Diehl
Dempsey
Sen. Wayne Wallingford, R-Cape Girardeau

Oct. 26

Rep, Rick Stream, R-Kirkwood $215
Sen. Scott Rupp, R-St. Charles $185
Rupp's wife Carissa $185
Sen. Gary Romine, R-Farmington $275
Rep. Todd Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff $275
Sen. Doug Libla, R-Poplar Bluff $275
Rep. Shelley Keeney, R-Marble Hill, $310
Sen. Dan Brown, R-Rolla, $275

Oct. 18 playoff tickets

Rep. Paul Wieand, R-Imperial $78
Rep. Dave Schotz, R-Sullivan, $174
Romine $174
Sen. Mike Parson, R-Bolivar $174
Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis $174
Sen. Ryan McKenna, D-Crystal City $174
Libla $174
Diehl $174

Oct. 9 playoff tickets, all $41.50

Rep. Anne Zerr, R-St. Charles
Sen. Gina Walsh, D-St. Louis County
Romine
Libla
Rep. Mike Leara, R-St. Louis
Hubbard
Rep. Stephen Webber, D-Columbia
Rep. Genise Montecillo, D-St. Louis
Rep. Marsha Haefner, R-St. Louis
Dempsey

St. Louis lobbyist spends $2,000+ on Carthage Republican during 3-day Silicon Valley junket

Lobbyists gave Joplin area representatives $2,108.67 in gifts during October, according to documents posted this morning on the Missouri Ethics Commission website, but that is a bit misleading.

All but $16 of that total came from one lobbyist and was provided to one legislator.

The Ethics Commission documents indicate lobbyist Richard McIntosh of the St. Louis-based Flotron & McIntosh firm provided Rep. Tom Flanigan, R-Carthage, with $2,092.67 in air travel, ground travel, a three-day hotel stay, and meals during a trip to San Jose Oct. 14-17.

The largest amounts, for hotel stays and air travel were paid for by Flotron & McIntosh, according to the Ethics Commission documents.

EMC, a Massachusetts-based tech firm, paid for a $109.33 meal, while Cisco System footed the bill for a $129.43 meal.

Another Flotron & McIntosh client, Oracle, paid $7.60 for a meal during a briefing at Oracle headquarters.

The only other Joplin-area legislator to accept a gift, a meal worth $16, was Rep. Charlie Davis, R-Webb City.

The Ethics Commission documents indicate Rep. Mike Kelley, R-Lamar, Rep. Bill Lant, R-Joplin, Rep. Bill Reiboldt, R-Joplin, and Rep. Bill White, R-Joplin, accepted no gifts.

For the year, Davis tops the area legislators at $4,849.78, followed by Flanigan at $4,351.77, Kelley $723.10, Lant $683.16; and  Reiboldt $25.52. White has not accepted any gifts.