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April 2003 Stories

• 4/30/2003: Newspaper Story - Several years after the legislature first took up nursing home reform, a bill that would increase fines on nursing homes with violations while relaxing inspections on those with good records is on its way to the governor's desk.
• 4/30/2003: Newspaper Story - The Senate rejected proposed increase's in Missouri's sales and corporate income tax laws, before agreeing on a plan to raise $122 million in new revenue
• 4/29/2003: Radio Story - Missouri's House has passed tougher fines and investigations for problem nursing homes--but without a provision that carried an $80 million fiscal note.
• 4/29/2003: Newspaper Story - In response to the shrinking space for new inmates, a measure that would decrease prison sentences for "non-violent" offenders came before a House committee Tuesday.
• 4/29/2003: Newspaper Story - The Senate passed a bill that would make Medicaid services available only if money is appropriated.
• 4/29/2003: Radio Story - If a bill in the House passes, the statewide law for Sunday liquor sales could be moved up to 9am, while Kansas City and St. Louis' start time could be 8am.
• 4/29/2003: Newspaper Story - House passes bill to extend alcohol sale times on sunday.
• 4/29/2003: Radio Story - Lawmakers seek another way to address state budget crisis.
• 4/28/2003: Radio Story - Six years ago, the nation's welfare system fundamentally changed. What are the effects in Missouri six years later?
• 4/28/2003: Newspaper Story - Only weeks after State Auditor Claire McCaskill released an audit giving Missouri's schools a grade of "F" in equity, superintendents from around the state echoed this sentiment, threatening to sue the state.
• 4/28/2003: Radio Story - The House gave overwhelming approval to a bill that would set aside a portion of the tobacco settlement for life sciences research.
• 4/28/2003: Radio Story - In exchange for the incentives, Ford would be required to invest $500 million in the state.
• 4/25/2003: News summary for the week of April 21, 2003
• 4/25/2003: Newspaper Story - The senate debated a bill thursday that would restrict workers' compensation. Some it would improve Missouri's business climate, while others say it would keep some injured workers from receiving benefits.
• 4/24/2003: Newspaper Story - University of Missouri officials say they will wait until next year before seeking legislative approval for a merger with Northwest Missouri State University. With only three weeks left in the legislative session, UM Spokesman Joe Moore said it became obvious that lawmakers would be consumed with solving the budget shortfall.
• 4/24/2003: Newspaper Story - Immigrants without a Social Security number cannot get drivers' licenses in Missouri. It became one of the central issues of the second annual Hispanic Day in Missouri's statehouse earlier this month.
• 4/23/2003: Radio Story - Senate Republicans defend the budget, saying it is the best they can do without going to the people with a tax increase.
• 4/23/2003: Newspaper Story - The University of Missouri System would lose $44 million under cuts to higher education approved by the Senate Tuesday. Democrats say the approved 6.7 percent or $50 miliion in cuts to the state's colleges and universities would cause steep hikes in tuition and many layoffs at a time when the state's higher education institutions are already in peril.
• 4/23/2003: Radio Story - The senate approved a higher education budget that is $84 million less than what lawmakers appropriated last year.
• 4/23/2003: Radio Story - During floor debate on the budget, Dougherty debated the merits of a program that helps the kids become self-sufficient.
• 4/23/2003: Newspaper Story - Senate approves cuts to colleges, prisons, mental health care, and social services, despite Holden veto threat
• 4/23/2003: Newspaper Story - A day after Gov. Bob Holden announced he would block any legislation that would interfere with a woman's right to get an abortion, the Missouri House gave initial approval to a bill that would stop state funding for programs that directly or indirectly subsidize abortion services.
• 4/22/2003: Radio Story - As the senate began its work on the budget, the debate quickly became partisan.
• 4/22/2003: Radio Story - Missouri's House Speaker Pro Tem promises to investigate an MU professor who offered course credit for protesting.
• 4/22/2003: Newspaper Story - More than 100 abortion-rights advocates from across Missouri gathered in the Pro-Choice Lobby Day in Missouri's statehouse today.
• 4/22/2003: Radio Story - Just one day after Governor Holden threatened to block anti-abortion legislation, the House gave its initial approval to a bill that would do just that.
• 4/22/2003: Newspaper Story - Senate approves education portion of budget
• 4/21/2003: Newspaper Story - Under the cloud of a budget-veto threat not heard in Missouri's capitol in decades, the Senate is scheduled to begin debate today on the state's operating budget.
• 4/21/2003: Radio Story - Eighteen-year-olds in Missouri can die while serving in Iraq but currently cannot serve on state juries.
• 4/18/2003: News summary for the week of April 14, 2003
• 4/17/2003: Newspaper Story - Profile of Gov. Holden's top aides -- all women
• 4/17/2003: Radio Story - Bill sponsor says investor confidence is low, and needs to be regained
• 4/17/2003: Radio Story - If bill is approved by Governor, Missouri would lead nation in this kind of legislation
• 4/17/2003: Radio Story - Fraudulent dealers could be fined up to one million dollars
• 4/17/2003: Newspaper Story - While some telecommunications companies await action by the Federal Communication Commission, the House passed a meaure Thursday deregulating high-speed Internet access provided by Southwestern Bell Telephone Company (SBC).
• 4/17/2003: Newspaper Story - The Missouri legislature's Republican leadership delivered a personal message to Gov. Bob Holden that lawmakers would not accept his tax-increase package.
• 4/17/2003: Radio Story - The Senate unanimously passed a bill that gives the Hazelwood Ford plant tax breaks. The bill was passed in hopes that the plant will now be able to remain open.
• 4/17/2003: Newspaper Story - Education takes the brunt of budget cuts as passed Thursday by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The committee recommended slicing a combined $361 million from education to help solve the state's 2004 budget woes.
• 4/17/2003: Newspaper Story - House passes Speaker Hanaway's foster care bill
• 4/16/2003: Radio Story - The Senate Appropriations Committee heard a proposal to close the Boonville and Chillicothe prisons.
• 4/16/2003: Newspaper Story - Eighteen-year-olds can die in Iraq for their country, but they can't serve on juries in Missouri. Several Missouri legislators hope to change that.
• 4/16/2003: Radio Story - Senate budget writers consider the impact of closing two state prison.
• 4/16/2003: Newspaper Story - The Legislature is considering bills that would require health insurers to cover everything from chiropractic care to weight reduction services to clinical trials for cancer patients to mental health care.
• 4/16/2003: Radio Story - A new audit shows the way the state distributes money to public school districts is inequitable.
• 4/16/2003: Radio Story - St. Louis City Representative Russ Carnahan is quitting his post as House Democratic Caucus Chair to focus on a Congressional run.
• 4/16/2003: Radio Story - A new audit shows the state is not equitably distributing money to school districts.
• 4/15/2003: Newspaper Story - Steve Roling, the new director of the Department of Social Services, brings a diversified background to the job as Missouri's top welfare official.
• 4/15/2003: Newspaper Story - Legislators ate MRE's for lunch, so they could experience a small part of what it is to be a servicemember.
• 4/15/2003: Radio Story - Some members of the Senate Appropriations Committee held a private meeting to find ways to increase revenue to balance next year's budget.
• 4/15/2003: Newspaper Story - Missouri lost more jobs last year than any other state, a statistic that the Missouri Chamber of Commerce said is cause for a state of emergency. But some say other economic indicators show Missouri's economy is not a cause for concern.
• 4/15/2003: Radio Story - Last year, Missouri lost more jobs than other state in the country.
• 4/15/2003: Newspaper Story - Two Hispanic students were denied enrollment at technical schools in St. Louis County this semester.
• 4/15/2003: The state's schools would take a third of a billion dollar cut in state aid and its colleges and universities would see their budgets trimmed by 11 percent.
• 4/15/2003: Radio Story - Chambers of Commerce representatives say Missouri lost almost 78,000 jobs last year
• 4/15/2003: Radio Story - State official says the state lost 78,000 jobs
• 4/15/2003: Radio Story - Missouri lost more jobs than any other state in the nation, according to Chambers of Commerce
• 4/14/2003: Newspaper Story - Solutions weren't part of the equation Monday at the first meeting of the governor's Commission on the Future of Higher Education. Instead, commissioners spent the day getting a handle on the current state of Missouri's higher education system.
• 4/14/2003: Radio Story - Holden's plan included both program cuts and tax increases to address the budget shortfall.
• 4/11/2003: News summary for the week of April 7, 2003
• 4/10/2003: Radio Story - Nursing home employees who are abusive could be fined up to ten thousand dollars
• 4/10/2003: Radio Story - The bill aims to protect the elderly and punish those abusive towards them
• 4/10/2003: Radio Story - Nursing home employees caught abusing elderly could be fined and penalized.
• 4/10/2003: Newspaper Story - A state senator has shelved a bill opposed by the University of Missouri that would have put the university's health care plan under a new state agency. Bill sponsor Sen. Jim Mathewson, D-Sedalia, a longtime supporter of the university, admitted defeat Thursday.
• 4/ 9/2003: Radio Story - Dougherty is behind a bill that would require license-exempt religious organizations to comply with state safety standards
• 4/ 9/2003: Newspaper Story - Mandatory prison sentences would be reduced as part of a comprehensive sentencing reform bill approved by the Missouri Senate
• 4/ 9/2003: Newspaper Story - As students around the country observed a Day of Silence Wednesday in support of making schools safer for gay students, the attention at the state Capitol turned to legislation that opponents say would move in the opposite direction. The House Education Committee has passed a measure that would prohibit school districts from having stricter non-discrimination clauses than those mandated by state and federal government.
• 4/ 9/2003: Radio Story - The bill deals with the state's abuse hotline, criminal background checks, and case worker liability.
• 4/ 9/2003: Newspaper Story - A bill that would make it easier to fire Division of Family Services workers who don't follow department policy was given preliminary approval by the House.
• 4/ 8/2003: Radio Story - A Senate committee was urged to let Missourians carry concealed weapons without voter approval.
• 4/ 8/2003: Newspaper Story - With many areas of Missouri in need of new roads and bridges and the Missouri Department of Transportation without any new revenue options, quiet talk of toll roads has been floating around the legislature.
• 4/ 8/2003: Radio Story - Some department directors say the lump sum appropriation isn't all bad.
• 4/ 8/2003: Newspaper Story - Senate committee hearing on conceal and carry legislation
• 4/ 7/2003: Newspaper Story - You can play a role in preventing the spread of West Nile Virus, according to the Missour Health Department. Last year, an unexpected number of Missourians were infected with the virus -- 168 people in 30 Missouri counties -- and the state needs to be better prepared for an outbreak this year, according to the Missouri Health Department.
• 4/ 7/2003: Newspaper Story - Lawmakers from both parties offered tentative support Monday for incorporating Northwest Missouri State University (NMSU) into the University of Missouri system.
• 4/ 7/2003: Newspaper Story - A bill in the House Crime Committee would make selling a child illegal for all reasons.
• 4/ 7/2003: Radio Story - Kennel owners and livestock producers say the bill is about privacy, trespassing and protecting animals from disease.
• 4/ 4/2003: News summary for the week of March 31, 2003
• 4/ 4/2003: Radio Story - The House passed a bill on to the Senate that would give tax breaks on generic drugs and property assessment increases to senior citizens.
• 4/ 4/2003: Radio Story - The House passed a bill to give tax breaks to senior citizens on property and home assessments.
• 4/ 3/2003: Radio Story - Big Bluestem is suggested as state grass by elementary school students
• 4/ 3/2003: Newspaper Story - After a filibuster in which the University of Missouri system was repeatedly attacked as uncooperative and secretive, the Missouri Senate put on hold debate of a bill that would consolidate health care of all state employees.
• 4/ 3/2003: Newspaper Story - During hb631 hearing, MSHSAA was criticized specially due to its eligibility criteria.
• 4/ 3/2003: Newspaper Story - Funerals and retirement parties are just a few of the places state officials have flown on the taxpayers' dime, according to State Auditor Clare McCaskill. In a report released Thursday, McCaskill details her department's year-long audit of state passenger plane use from 1999-2001.
• 4/ 2/2003: Newspaper Story - Attorney General's office refuses to rule out helping tobacco industry in Illinois case
• 4/ 2/2003: Radio Story - Nearly ten years after the great floods of '93, the House Conservation Committee is considering a bill that would protect flood plain land from future growth.
• 4/ 2/2003: Radio Story - Utility companies around the state say they oppose a proposed House bill that would protect farm land from being taken for public use.
• 4/ 1/2003: Radio Story - Bars and truck stops machines would generate revenue for higher ed
• 4/ 1/2003: Radio Story - If the bill passes the full senate, video gambling machines will be placed in Missouri businesses as a method of generating revenue.
• 4/ 1/2003: Newspaper Story - Senate Ways and Means Committee defeats Sen. Jacob's proposal for the state to keep Hancock refunds
• 4/ 1/2003: Newspaper Story - The senate Ways and Means Committee passed a bill that would allow video gambling machines to operate in secured establishments such as bars and truck stops. Revenue from the machines would be placed into a trust fund for higher education.
• 4/ 1/2003: Radio Story - Sen. Dolan's transportation oversight bill didn't end up with many of his major initiatives--but Dolan says it's still a step in the right direction.
• 4/ 1/2003: Newspaper Story - Sen. Jon Dolan used to be CIA. Now he is the most outspoken legislator in General Assembly.