MOScout Daily Update: Kids Kicked Off Medicaid - Kerrigan to Faleti - O'Laughlin on Education - Rex $$$ for Stenger and more...

Wood Questions Med Enrollment Drop

Springfield News-Leader reports that a “Missouri lawmaker who oversees the state’s Medicaid budget says thousands of children recently removed from the rolls were likely still eligible for coverage. In recent public comments, Rep. David Wood, R-Versailles, blamed much of the contradiction on children’s parents failing to refile paperwork to get their kids back on the rolls, something he said couldn’t be put on any single government official or action.

But in an interview this week, Wood also said doing that paperwork is ‘horrendous’ and that the state could do a better job helping people navigate the application process. He also outlined how the state enrolled the children in such a way that set the stage for later problems.

Wood’s comments challenge previous explanations of why more than 100,000 people have been removed from Missouri’s Medicaid rolls in the past two years in a decline that ranks among the sharpest drops in the country…”

What It Means

·         It now appears that there are probably thousands of kids who qualify for healthcare but aren’t enrolled because their parents didn’t file or incorrectly filed paperwork.

·         There will be folks who blame the parents, folks who blame the Republicans, folks who blame the system.  But the best course is to skip the blame and work the problem to help the kids.

O’Laughlin Muses Education on FB

The Senate’s new Education Chair, Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin, is kicking around a lot of education thoughts on Facebook over the past week.  Here’s a sampling…

·         I have opinions like everyone else but one thing I know for certain. Every time I enter a school building I learn something I didn't know before I went in. This is why I visit schools and it is why education is such a complicated topic. One size does not fit all in this area. I think there's some commonality in issues across the board but there's also unique solutions in communities. One solution might not fit every community...

·         Should administrative costs be capped in education? Just as a point of reference I notice the more money an education system has the more administrators they have. This takes money away from teachers and classrooms. What do you think?

·         Does a Master's degree produce better results in the classroom? Many pursue a Master's in order to get an increase in pay. I sort of believe that a Master's degree gives the person getting it advanced knowledge but not necessarily better teaching skills. What do you think?

·         I know electronic devices are a part of our world but I wonder if kids using tablets all day long every day is going to get us where we need to go. Is it possible that kids become used to entering a query in Google and the answer pops up so they become conditioned to things being "instant?" In the world of work nothing is instant and success is generally achieved only after several attempts and learning from failure. This is the exact opposite of the instant world of computers…

Kerrigan to Faleti

Press release: On February 10, the Faleti for Missouri Campaign announced they have hired Conner Kerrigan as their Communications and Operations Manager. He most recently served as Communications Director for Empower Missouri, a statewide advocacy non-profit… “I am beyond excited to join this campaign and tell Yinka’s story to the people of Missouri,” said Kerrigan in a statement. “Yinka Faleti is the right leader to be in the Secretary of State’s office, and we’ll be reaching every county in Missouri to tell his story and inspire Missourians to perform the most important duty of American citizenship - cast their ballot.”

Kerrigan will officially join the campaign on February 24, 2020.

Rex $$$ for Stenger

Post-Dispatch reports on Rex Sinquefield’s money making its way to the Steve Stenger campaign.  See it here.

·         “They’ve given me a lot of money,” Stenger was recorded telling his executive staff in a Nov. 7, 2018, private conversation federal prosecutors included in his sentencing memorandum. “They’re almost up to like 700 Grand.”

·         How that money made its way to Stenger has been a mystery until the most recent fire district disclosure. Sinquefield’s organizations never donated directly to Stenger’s campaign fund.

·         Great St. Louis’ $450,000 contributed to the fire district committee, plus the $150,000 to the carpenters union and $100,000 to the county Prop P fund put the sum at $700,000, the amount Stenger said Sinquefield donated to his efforts… [Travis] Brown said using the various committees was not an attempt to conceal Great St. Louis’ support for Stenger.

What It Means

If I had a gazillion dollars, I wouldn’t be playing these funny committee games.  You’re just tempting some politically ambitious prosecutor to go try to make a case that you were concealing a donation.

More on Hog Epidemic

Rep. Sonya Anderson on Facebook writes: I expressed my concern with MDC over 4 years ago when they first proposed a ban on hunting feral hogs on state-owned property… However, I told MDC that I could be wrong but was afraid the problem would only get worse if the ban was put in place.

On Sept 30, 2016, MDC proceeded to ban feral hog hunting on state land while continuing to point the blame for the problem on people releasing hogs for sport hunting yet couldn't back their claim with evidence. In Dec 2016, I even filed legislation to create stiffer penalties for those who released hogs on private or public land but seriously doubted that was the problem.

Fast forward to February 2020, almost 4 years after the first initial hunting ban, the Missouri feral hog infestation is at an all-time high. Because they think the state ban was not sufficient, MDC has now successfully encouraged and secured another hog hunting ban, this time on federal land - because expanding the hogs "safe space" by another million acres for them to breed and hide seems like the logical solution. (sarc) Also worth noting, there has still not been a single case that has been prosecuted in the last 10 years against someone releasing hogs in Missouri…

There is no doubt that the feral hog problem is worse than ever and we must do all we can to keep them from migrating further across our state. I still believe an all methods approach (hunting, trapping, etc.) is the best way to address the problem…

Local Govs Push Forward Economic Agenda

There’s been a tension in recent years between the state government and the local governments.  Local jurisdictions press forward with their own agenda while state legislators are sometimes pre-empting and overruling them with economic policies they deem to be more enlightened. 

·         Mayor Lyda Krewson signed new legislation, sponsored by 11th Ward Alderwoman Sarah Martin, that will require skilled workers be paid a prevailing wage on construction projects in the City receiving public development incentives and valued at $1 million or more. We estimate this will positively impact thousands of local individuals, including minority and women contractors…

·         And from the desk of St. Louis County Executive Sam Page: Right now, hundreds of full-time County employees work for wage rates of less than $15/hour; many have wage rates of less than $12/hour. We value their work, their dedication, and their service. That’s why I am proud to announce that we are increasing the minimum wage for our non-seasonal full-time County employees to $13/hour. Over the next few years we intend to increase that wage rate by $1/year, until we reach a wage rate of $15/hour by 2022…

Bits

·         Press release: Missouri Nurses Association endorses Medicaid expansion ballot initiative… The state’s largest association of registered nurses is throwing its weight behind the growing campaign to give Missouri voters the choice to approve Medicaid expansion.

·         Post-Dispatch business columnist David Nicklaus floats the idea of Ameren buying Evergy to keep it out of the hands of a hedge-funder.  See it here. St. Louis-based Ameren reportedly was interested in buying one of Evergy’s predecessor companies back in 2016, and analysts are mentioning it as a possible acquirer now. Ameren itself hasn’t said anything about possible acquisitions, and hasn’t made a major deal in 15 years, but nearby opportunities don’t come up very often. Evergy’s wind and solar assets in Kansas would be attractive to any utility trying to diversify away from coal-fired power plants.

Lobbyist Registrations

Lana Baker added Royal Oaks Hospital.

Scott Harper added Missouri State Treasurer's Office.

Roxsen Koch added Axis KC, LLC.

Megan McBride added The Kelley Group Inc.

Scott Swain added American Wind Energy Association, and American Board of Medical Specialties.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Reps. Tom Hurst and LaDonna Appelbaum, and Brian Grace.