Our regular feature from Missouri House of Representatives own David Sater!

Happy holidays from the Capitol in Jefferson City. If this is any consolation, it is colder up here than in Barry County. The Governor has erected a large lighted Christmas tree on the front lawn of the Mansion and there are lighted wreaths on the Capitol Building. One of the things of interest to me are the ice junks moving down the Missouri River and I always wonder how far they have traveled. You just don’t see that along Flat Creek.

December for most of the elected representatives is a time of pre-filing legislation and getting the committees organized. For the last five years I was appointed Chairman of the Appropriations Committee for Mental Health, Health, and Social Services. It is this committee that starts the ball rolling for how much each program will receive in funding. Last year it totaled 9.5 billion for all three departments, and the total state budget was over 23 billion dollars. I enjoyed the challenge of this chairmanship, but have decided to step down and accept the Chairmanship of Healthcare Policy Committee. I will still serve on the Budget Committee, but will get to work on health issues instead of crunching budget numbers.

We have 57 new representatives coming in this year and there will be several on my new committee. So there will be a time of orientation for these new members as they get their feet wet. Also, the new chairman of my old appropriations committee is Tom Flanigan (Carthage) and I have a feeling I will be seeing a lot of him in the coming months. He has already been down to see me in Cassville. You get good results from government when elected officials work together for the common good and not their own good. I have seen it go both ways from Republicans and Democrats.

Half of the bills that I pre-filed for the 2011 session are the same as last year, but there are a few new ones:

1. Regarding Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, I have placed a cap that while receiving state assistance, if the family has more children, the state would not be responsible for financially including these new children for assistance:
2. County Disability Boards (SB40 Boards) would need to publicly have a reserve fund policy. There are some boards in the state that are hoarding taxpayer monies:
3. Keeps government from requiring pharmacies to stock certain medications, such as the morning after pill. Some states have tried to pass legislation and this bill would prohibit government intrusion into the free market area: and
4. Keeps non-prescription drugs while written as a prescription by a physician to remain tax free.

There are bills filed by other legislators to overturn Prop B, the puppy mill initiative. Although I was totally against the provisions in Prop B, this was an initiative passed by the citizens of Missouri. The money supporting the initiative mostly came from out of state and the advertising was misleading in favor of the proposition. I do have a problem with legislators trying to overturn a citizen’s initiative. I would be more in favor of another citizen’s initiative to overturn it, rather than it being done in the Legislature.

The proposed legislation by our Governor to place all Pseudoephedrine products as prescription only is something I will fight against. Presently we have a signature log book that a purchaser has to sign to obtain these products. This is not working very well because law enforcement does not have the staff available to check these in a timely manner. The state received a grant this year from the pharmaceutical industry to fund a “real time” electronic signature log to be placed in all pharmacies. These will be operational in all pharmacies by the first of the year. These devices would lock a person out from purchasing more than was allowed by dosage and would keep people from going to multiple pharmacies because all pharmacies would be on line together. By placing these products on a prescription only basis, it will become a financial hardship for our citizens who need these products. There will be a doctors office visit which cost money, the prescription will be more than the non-prescription product. I would just like to give the electronic signature log a chance to work as it has been successfully in other states in reducing Methamphetamine production.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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DAVID SATER – Serving the 68^th District

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It is Veto Session at the Capitol and we have been in the process of deciding whether to override the Governor’s veto of HB 1903. This bill was passed overwhelmingly this past session by both Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate. The state has been receiving monies from the Federal Government in the form of federal budget stabilization funds, stimulus funds, and what is called an enhanced FMAP monies. We will receive an extra 300 million dollars this year from the enhanced FMAP fund. HB 1903 creates an extension fund that accepts monies from the above. This way, since the House appropriates monies, it would also be in charge of appropriating these funds as we see fit. It would keep the monies received from being controlled by one person, the Governor. This is not a political issue in the House, but an issue between the House and the Governor’s office.  Unfortunately, we did not get enough votes to override this bill.

Recently I received some good news from the Missouri Department of Economic Development which has approved training assistance for Arning Canopy Systems, Inc. through the Missouri Customized Training Program. The amount of $12,500 has been approved to reimburse this Cassville company for retraining 25 workers. Jack Henry in Monett also received $30,000 for retraining 60 workers, Miracle Recreation Equipment Company received $15,000 for 14 workers and Window Technology, Inc. received $1,500 for 28 workers.

Here are some interesting facts from the Department of Conservation. There is a total of 506,170 acres in Barry County. The department owns 4,151 acres in the county, and they paid property tax of $2,427.77 in 2009.  In the past, the  department has actively sought land acquisition since they have the 1/8 of 1 cent sales tax proceeds coming in each year. But since sales tax proceeds are down everywhere, they are just trying to keep their operations solvent. One of the things the department does that I appreciate is their association with volunteer fire departments. Our area departments are eligible for matching grants from the Department of Conservation and provide technical assistance.

The Missouri Retired Teachers Association had a reception for legislators here in Jefferson City last Tuesday evening. I attended and saw Ruby Vincent and got to visit with her. She is a strong advocate for the association and always keeps me informed of issues affecting retired teachers. I appreciate her volunteerism and dedication.

It seems I go for a few weeks and do not receive many E-mails or phone calls from constituents. But the last two weeks, I have received an above average amount of calls. I will always do what I can to help and am always glad to serve your needs.

xxx

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Received from David Sater of the 68th District of Missouri

As full disclosure I must note that I support David Sater. I have found him to be honest, straight forward, and one of the few politicians in the region who has been willing to open communication with bloggers such as myself.

DAVID SATER – Serving the 68th District

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As you may of read in the newspapers, the Governor called a Special Session several weeks ago. Unless you were on a committee that heard these bills, you did not have to be there until the bill was on the floor for a vote. The rules are that only the bills the Governor has requested can be discussed and voted on during a Special Session. No other subject matter can be open.

Bill number one pertained to the state employee pensions and I had no problem voting yes for this bill. All that was in it was that people hired after January 1st, 2011 can participate in the retirement program by contributing 4% of their salary into the pension program. Almost every business entity that I know has similar provisions of employee participation. This will save the state around 10-12 million dollars per year in the future.

The other legislation was on tax incentives for the Ford plant in Claycomo, Missouri and was not favorable to me. The state was going to use the money saved in the pension bill to pay for the tax incentives per year to keep the Ford plant in Missouri. The legislation called for 10 years of these incentives at 15 million per year. Number one, the figures did not add up and I am afraid we will have to take a few million dollars from other programs already financially drained. Second, we have healthcare programs that we are not fully funded and people are going without medical treatment. I am talking about the Medicaid population, especially the elderly and disabled. If we were going to do anything with the money from the pension program, let’s spend it to keep people out of nursing homes and emergency rooms. These are life and death programs. Budgeting is a matter of priority of importance. Thirdly, there are many businesses in Missouri that could use tax incentives to stay open. Picking and choosing one concern over another is never fair. I would be more in favor of using this money for all businesses in our state and use it in an even and fair manner. So, I voted against this bill but it passed anyway. I am only one vote in 163. I thought about speaking against it on the floor, but most people had already made up their minds and it was going to pass anyway.

In the Senate, a Senator has a right to filibuster, which is a stalling tactic to take up time, so that a vote on a bill does not happen. Senator Chuck Purgason spoke for over 10 hours hoping to defeat this bill. Senator Jack Goodman helped with this, but in the end the Senate voted to pass the bill and send it to the House, where it was passed.

Our next session will be in September which is the Veto Session. We will probably just meet and come home, which will be a waste of time and money.

The State of Missouri’s fiscal year ended on June 30th by setting a record. However, it is a record that we would not strive to every meet or exceed again. State net general revenue ended at a minus 9.1% ($6,774,323,630), the largest decline that anyone can remember in state history. What makes matters worse, the previous record was minus 6.9% set last year. The challenges for next year’s budget are substantial. This year’s budget contains 860 million dollars of one time Federal Budget Stabilization Funds (Federal Stimulus Money) which will not be available next year. That amount will have to be cut from the core budget next year of find a replacement source of income. I do not know of one.

I hope everyone is having a good summer. It looks like the heat of this summer is making up for the cool last summer. Stay safe and look out for your elderly neighbors who may not have a cooling system.

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