Springfield City Council approved a resolution last night listing its 2016 legislative priorities after an amendment, debate and a public hearing drew nine speakers who asked city leaders to back efforts to expand Medicaid and fight poverty.
Those
priorities include ethics reform, a statewide tobacco tax increase, a cap on interest rates for payday loan companies, Medicaid expansion in Missouri and an Internet sales tax. One priority – increasing the state’s minimum wage to $10 an hour – was removed from the list with a 7-2 vote after council members debated its merits.
“I’m a businessperson and the way this impacts my business is my prices would go up,” said Councilman Craig Fishel, who voted to remove it from the list.
Councilman Craig Hosmer said Medicaid expansion was discussed during a council luncheon and was important to the community.
“We always talk about economic development for the city of Springfield, but the two largest employers – Cox and Mercy systems – hire more employees than anybody else in the city of Springfield and this impacts them greatly,” Hosmer said. “If we really wanted to be good stewards of our economy, the single biggest thing we could do is Medicaid expansion.”
Hosmer also supports a tobacco tax increase despite it being an unpopular initiative for state lawmakers.
“Our job is not to pass those in Jefferson City; we can’t. Our job is to instruct our representatives to do what we think is right,” Hosmer said.
Councilman Justin Burnett shared his concerns about promoting tax increases as a legislative priority.
“The tax system is broken at both the state and federal level, but the way this is packaged would simply increase the size and scope of government, which I am adamantly opposed to,” Burnett said.
A handful of the nine public speakers who addressed council about legislative priorities were members of Faith Voices of Southwest Missouri – a group working to improve the quality of life for local residents.
Mark Struckhoff, executive director of the Council of Churches of the Ozarks, was among speakers who cited Medicaid expansion and capping payday loan interest rates as important in the local fight against poverty.
“Missouri makes it harder than almost any other state to qualify for Medicaid. A mother with two children who earns more than $3,504 annually is not eligible for assistance and there is no coverage for childless adults,” Struckhoff said. “The failure to expand Medicaid in Missouri has already forced many in Springfield into debt and bankruptcy.”
Burnett and Councilwoman Kristi Fulnecky – who wanted separate bills for the various priorities – cast the two votes against the policy package.
