Poplar Bluff, Missouri - Missouri elected and appointed officials discussed the inner-workings of the legislative branch both via FaceTime and in person during Mitch Davis’ American government class on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at Poplar Bluff High School.
Dignitaries included former Senate Chief of Staff Kit Crancer; state Sen. Doug Libla; chief of staff to president pro tem Sen. Tom Dempsey, Todd Scott; Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder; director of legislation for the Missouri Department of Health and former Senate legislative director, Ellie Glenn; and former president pro tem and current lobbyist for Stinson Leonard Street, Mike Gibbons.
In the photos above: Sen. Doug Libla, R-Poplar Bluff, informs students that Missouri lawmakers concluded a record veto override session last month.
Sen. Doug Libla Comments on Latest Development Regarding Noranda
“I am extremely disappointed in the latest decision just handed down by the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC),” Sen. Libla said. “The PSC missed yet another opportunity to do something crucial for our rural economy, especially for Southeast Missouri. This lack of leadership for Missouri ratepayers by the PSC and Governor Nixon is frustrating. We need urgent action now by the Governor to protect these jobs, families, and communities. This lackluster effort and reasoning is both puzzling and very disappointing.”
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This week, the United States House of Representatives passed the “Jobs for America Act” to grow our economy and put Americans back to work. This package of bills included proposals to provide our farmers and small business owners with needed tax relief, and reduce unnecessary regulations.
For the 2014 tax year, unless the “Jobs for America Act” or something like it passes, the amount of equipment that farmers and small businesses can expense like tractors, heavy machinery, or computer software, will be reduced by ninety-five percent.
Section 179 of the tax code – the section that provides for the equipment deduction – expired on January first of this year. Unless it is renewed for 2014, folks will only be able to expense five percent as much of the equipment on their farm, or in their business, that they were able to expense in 2013. Small businesses and farmers will make up for this difference by buying less equipment, and hiring less help.
To fix this problem, and to prevent folks from having to make difficult decisions about how they are going to pay higher tax bills, I have co-sponsored legislation, and the House has now passed it twice, to make the full expensing allowance permanent. Providing small businesses and farmers with this kind of tax relief will help them to grow our economy and create jobs.
In addition to our tax burden, I often hear that rules and regulations are the biggest obstacle to growing our economy. The “Jobs for America Act” includes several pieces of legislation that I have co-sponsored and worked on in committee to prevent new harmful regulations. The act would prevent expensive rules and regulations from being created without a vote of Congress. It would also help small businesses and farmers grow and expand by preventing agencies from developing new rules and regulations in closed-door court settlements.
The House continues to work on legislation like the “Jobs for America Act” to grow our economy while the Senate sits on its hands. There are now over 40 jobs bills that have been passed by the House that the Senate refuses to even take up. Americans want to work, why doesn’t the Senate?
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This week and next, I am traveling our district and listening to the challenges farm families are facing on my two week Farm Tour. Although each farm is unique and each crop or animal raised is different, the message from each visit is the same: Washington regulations are hurting Missouri farm families. I have always been a believer that the best ideas do not come from bureaucrats. The best ideas come from people who actually roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty. The information I am learning on the Farm Tour will help me fight oppressive regulations in Washington and advocate for common sense farm policy.
At visits across our district this week I was able to hear directly from producers. In Gordonville, I visited a walnut tree farm that not only produces high quality walnuts, but also grows seeds for future tree plants. At a cotton gin in New Madrid, I heard about how federal policies are impacting our regions cotton farmers. In Oregon County I visited a family-run Berkshire pig farm that is dedicated to producing great pork products for chefs across the country. Benton is home to one of the largest dairy farms in Missouri that uses the latest technology to improve efficiency. In Bloomsdale I toured a goat farm that makes award winning cheeses that are sold nationally. At a corn farm in Dexter, I listened to the concerns and future prospects for Stoddard County farm families.
Agriculture is truly the lifeblood of our district. As your representative in the halls of Congress I have been an advocate for responsible farms policies to ensure Missouri farm families have the certainty and security they need to stay in business. While the Eighth District is home to some of the most diverse agricultural production in the world, every single producer's message to me has been the same: we need less Washington and more common sense. In the House of Representatives I will continue working to end the burdensome regulations that hurt farm families in Missouri and fight for common sense ideas as policy is being created.
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Missouri - On a recent visit to St. Joseph, I had the opportunity to witness first-hand the positive impact that our bipartisan efforts on mental health are making on communities in Missouri, as well as the clear path ahead toward making even greater strides in this area.
Twenty months ago, after a deeply disturbed young man shocked the nation by taking the lives of 20 innocent children at a school in Newtown Connecticut, my administration set out to identify fiscally responsible measures we could take to improve the way we care for Missourians whose mental illness is so severe that it makes them a threat to themselves or others.
We saw that Missourians struggling with mental illnesses like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and severe depression were often ending up in squad cars, jails and emergency rooms. It was a vicious cycle that put a significant strain on law enforcement officers, courts and hospitals and left families feeling like they had nowhere to turn.
I knew we could do better with effective interventions that would help break this dangerous cycle. That’s why in my State of the State Address in 2013 I called for a series of targeted investments to improve public safety and strengthen the mental health system in our state. The legislature agreed, and over the past year and a half we have strategically invested more than $10 million in a targeted effort to identify and care for Missourians with severe mental illnesses before they reach a crisis point, and help communities respond to those who do.
We made a historic investment in Mental Health First Aid Training, and taught more than a thousand educators, professors, law enforcement officers, clergy and coworkers how to identify and respond to the signs of mental illness. Missouri is now a national leader in implementing these proven, life-saving techniques.
We launched seven emergency room rapid-response teams, from Springfield to Hannibal, to ease the burden on our doctors and nurses and avoid unnecessary and costly hospitalizations. And finally, we have recruited 30 new Community Mental Health Liaisons who now work daily with law enforcement, courts, and families to connect Missourians with mental illness with the care they need.
Last week in St. Joseph, I received an update on how that community’s new liaison is working in northwest Missouri, and it was truly remarkable to see the difference this program has already made. Jen Gentry, the community mental health liaison for the region, has created a hub for unprecedented collaboration between health providers, law enforcement officers and courts in the region. St. Joseph Police Chief Chris Connally told me the effort had helped the department re-energize its Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) program, so that officers are better-prepared to respond to individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. For the Atchison County Sheriff, having a single point-of-contact for mental health issues has brought long-overdue certainty to a confusing process that had drained time and resources from other public safety priorities.
But what I also heard from folks in St. Joseph is that our work is far from done. Despite the great strides we have made, mental health services in many communities are limited and expensive. For too many Missourians, especially those without insurance coverage, the mental health treatments and medications they need remain out of reach. Fortunately, we have an opportunity to build on the progress we have made, and give even more Missourians access to quality mental health care, by strengthening and reforming Medicaid this coming year.
Bringing Missourians’ tax dollars home to expand and improve Medicaid would provide quality, affordable health care to 300,000 uninsured Missourians, including 50,000 who are – right now– in need of mental health services. Working in a bipartisan way, we’ve accomplished a great deal to make our communities safer and healthier. Now let’s keep going.
