YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY

Springfield, MO

Log in Subscribe

Legislative update: Senate votes to fully fund K-12 formula

Posted online
Editor’s Note: Below are articles on recent Missouri General Assembly moves provided to Springfield Business Journal by the Missouri Press Association.
Republican split leads Senate to fully fund K-12 formula
The General Assembly had a historic moment April 25 when a bipartisan coalition of senators agreed to fully fund a state formula that allocates money to school districts.

Ten Republicans joined all nine Senate Democrats to amend the recommendation of the Senate Appropriations Committee and fund the formula, over the objections of Republican leadership.

Senators forcefully debated whether to fully fund the foundation formula, which was created to depoliticize school funding and enforce a mechanical way to calculate how much each district should get in state money. Once the formula is fully funded, it triggers a clause that would require the state to fund early child care programs next year.

Sen. Gary Romine, R-Farmington, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, proposed the amendment to fully fund the formula, adding about $40 million to the budget. His recommendation matched action in the House, which already approved fully funding the formula.

He was met with firm opposition from Sen. Dan Brown, R-Rolla, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee. Brown said senators shouldn't change a committee's decision, allowing differences with the House to be worked out in a conference committee.

As the vote neared, Sen. Jason Holsman, D-Kansas City, reminded senators of the importance of their vote.

"We’re getting ready to take a vote of historic proportions for the first time in the 11 years I’ve been here,” Holsman said. "We’re getting ready to vote to fully fund (the formula) in both chambers. That’s good for our kids, that’s good for our communities and that’s good for the future of the state of Missouri."

After the vote, some Republicans took to Twitter to celebrate. Sen. Ryan Silvey, R-Kansas City, noted that the vote was taken over the objection of his own party's leadership.

"Doing the right thing is the right thing, regardless if 'leadership' tells you not to," Silvey tweeted. "The Senate is a body of equals, not lemmings."

Progress stalls on paid parental leave
When Gov. Eric Greitens signed an executive order providing paid parental leave for the executive branch earlier this year, he encouraged lawmakers to extend those policies.

But with time running out in the legislative session, it's unlikely Missourians will see expansion of those policies in the public or private sectors.

"I still consider having a public discussion about it a win," said Rep. Tracy McCreery, D-St. Louis, sponsor of one of the pending bills. "I think that it's great that there are both Republican and Democrat sponsors and co-sponsors. All those things show this is a nonpartisan issue."

There are four bills in the legislature regarding paid family or medical leave, sponsored by both Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate. Three of the four bills have had hearings, but not one has been voted on or made it out of committee.

Sen. Jill Schupp, D-Creve Coeur, has been working on the Family and Medical Leave Program for the past three years.

As the sponsor of Senate Bill 69, Schupp has worked alongside McCreery, the St. Louis University law clinic, human resources professionals, and both small and large businesses on this legislation over the last several years. McCreery is sponsoring the House version of the bill, HB 659.

Schupp and McCreery's bills would establish the Missouri Earned Family and Medical Leave Program, which would require Missourians to contribute a quarter of 1 percent of their income to a fund that would pay employees 100 percent of their income while on family or medical leave for up to six weeks.

The bill also would allow employers already offering paid leave to continue offering it or add on to the percentage of income paid during leave.

Schupp's bill was heard in committee, but it never came to a vote. According to Schupp, Sen. Doug Libla, R-Poplar Bluff, chairman of the Small Business and Industry Committee, didn't like the bill. When contacted, Libla confirmed he opposes the bill but didn't provide reasons for his opposition.

"Not this year," Schupp said when asked if she thought her bill would pass.

Abortion regulation bill heads to Senate
A bill seeking to regulate the donation of fetal tissue will move to the Senate after more than an hour of debate in the House on April 24 ranged from discussions of the animal kingdom to accusations of grandstanding.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Diane Franklin, R-Camdenton, would prohibit the donation of fetal tissue from an abortion for medical research, unless it is used to determine the reason for an anomaly, illness, death or paternity of a fetus, or for law enforcement purposes.

The bill also would establish annual unannounced inspections of abortion facilities and would require all tissue removed during an abortion to be submitted to a pathologist who would draft a detailed report. Currently, only a sample of the tissue is required to be sent by law.

Rep. Stacey Newman, D-St. Louis, was the first to speak out against the bill, saying she felt it was based on "alternative facts." Newman reminded the House videos allegedly showing Missouri Planned Parenthood representatives selling aborted tissue in 2015 were proven to be highly edited.

Since the allegations in 2015, the Missouri General Assembly has pushed for stricter abortion regulations, despite an investigation by then-Attorney General Chris Koster finding no laws were violated in disposing the aborted tissue.

Newman and Rep. Judy Morgan, D-Kansas City, both spoke about a recent preliminary injunction against abortion restrictions in the state issued by a federal judge last week.

Newman said lawmakers were wasting taxpayers' time by discussing a bill that "goes even further and imposes even more regulations," in light of the injunction's restrictions.

"Why do we keep wanting to pass legislation that we already know is unconstitutional?” Newman asked.

Much of the debate between representatives not only centered around the law, but when life begins.

"Do you want to live?" Rep. Keith Frederick, R-Rolla, asked Rep. Sarah Unsicker, D-Shrewsbury, across the House floor.

"I do," Frederick continued. "If you get to the point in your life that you don't want to live anymore, you need professional, psychiatric help to get you out of that dark place. So I think it's pretty obvious that the child before birth wants to live just like you and I want to live. If you'd ask them, they'd say, 'Yes, I do.'"

"The fetus can't answer," Unsicker replied.

Frederick then interjected: “I know, that's why we have to answer for them."

Program would create four adult high schools in Missouri
Four adult high schools would be created in the state through a bill awaiting final approval in the Senate.

The goal of the legislation is to help increase Missouri's high school graduation rate, which lags slightly behind the national average.  According to a report by the National Center for Education, there was an 82 percent graduation rate nationally in 2014. Missouri ranked at 78 percent.

Currently, anyone older than 21 has to receive a high school equivalency, formerly known as a GED, instead of a high school diploma. However, according to the National Center for Education, the median earnings in 2014 for a person without a diploma was 20 percent lower than the median earnings for a person with a high school diploma.

Sen. Jay Wasson, R-Nixa, a supporter of the bill, said high school diplomas are a huge factor when employers are considering applicants.

"From the employers I've talked to, I think there is a stigma if you don't have a regular high school diploma. A GED is OK, but I think they feel there is something missing there — a gap," Wasson said.

The Missouri House passed House Bill 680 on March 27. This bill would establish four adult high schools in Missouri, where adults 21 and older could attain a high school diploma. In addition, these schools also would provide workshops with local community colleges and other programs to teach skills and techniques necessary for job training.

Bill sponsor Rep. Travis Fitzwater, R-Holts Summit, said these schools would create new opportunities for adults, aside from just receiving a diploma.

"We want to give them skills so they can be in our community working and providing value to their families," Fitzwater said. "So, it's just really providing an opportunity for job training and skill development where they haven't had that opportunity before."

Wasson said possible locations include mid-Missouri, St. Louis, Springfield and southeast Missouri. The placement of the schools would be in rural, urban and suburban areas, testing the success of the schools in different locations.

"Ideally, we'd expand it to all over the state and give the opportunity to every adult who doesn't have a high school diploma to get them in one of these schools and get job training," Fitzwater said. "But you have to show that it is successful, so that's what we're trying to do here."

[[In-content Ad]]

Comments

No comments on this story |
Please log in to add your comment
Editors' Pick
Business Spotlight: The Right Focus

Helping people is the foremost purpose in business for Angela Stephens. The idea for Re-Focus the Creative Office was born to help her son, Drake Stephens, who had started struggling in school in fifth grade.

Most Read
Update cookies preferences