Volume 11, Edition 2 • January 12, 2007
Republicans Support Heating Assistance
Gov. Matt Blunt and leading Republican lawmakers announced their support for a program designed to ensure that low-income Missourians will have heat in their homes this winter. The Governor said this week that the state will provide $6.3 million to fully fund Utilicare, the state’s program to assist vulnerable Missourians with their winter utility expenses. Supporting the Governor’s initiative were Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, Senate President Pro Tem Michael Gibbons, House Speaker Rod Jetton, State Sen. Chuck Gross and State Rep. Allen Icet. The Governor noted that last year was the first year the program had ever received full funding, with $6.1 million appropriated. He says 12,000 households are benefiting from the program. Meanwhile, the Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities, estimates the average five-month winter cost for Missourians to heat their homes with natural gas will exceed $800 before taxes and transportation charges.
Blunt Pledges More for Parents as Teachers Program
As part of his commitment to Missouri’s children and their education, Gov. Matt Blunt announced this week that he will recommend an additional $2 million for Missouri’s Parents as Teachers program, raising the program’s total budget to $34.3 million. About 137,000 children in Missouri participate in the program in which about 2,300 "parent educators" statewide visit homes to give information and support to parents of children from birth to age 5. Parents as Teachers began in 1981 in Missouri as a pilot project for first-time parents. The program got state funding in 1985 and was implemented in all Missouri school districts. It has since expanded to every state and to other countries. "Melanie and I have had occasion to see firsthand how powerful Parents as Teachers is," the Governor said. "Parents As Teachers fills a tremendous gap in helping parents know their role in a child’s development right from birth."
Governor Seeks Storm Assistance for Farm Families
Keenly aware of the importance of Missouri’s farm families, Gov. Matt Blunt has sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns requesting that 14 Missouri counties be declared natural disaster areas for agricultural loss due to severe winter storms. “The winter weather that battered our state last month caused significant losses for Missouri farm families,” Blunt said. “I ask Secretary Johanns to approve this disaster declaration in order to provide assistance to Missouri farmers as they work to recover from these devastating winter storms.” Based on damage assessment reports submitted by the Missouri Farm Service Agency, the governor requested a natural disaster area be declared in Audrain, Callaway, Camden, Dade, Dallas, Laclede, Lawrence, Maries, Miller, Moniteau, Morgan, Osage, Polk and Pulaski Counties. A federal disaster declaration will ensure the farm families impacted by the winter storms are eligible for federal assistance to help with income loss associated with the severe weather.
Governor Promises More Money to Protect Children
Governor Blunt ’s commitment to protecting Missouri’s children against sexual predators was on display again this week with a pledge to increase by $500,000 funding to law enforcement engaged in tracking sexual predators online. The Governor’s plan would provide $250,000 to double grant funding for detectives' salaries, training and computer forensic personnel who focus on preventing and controlling Internet cyber crime. The remaining $250,000 would provide computer equipment to help task forces track down Internet predators. "We owe it to our children to do everything within our power to protect them from sexual predators who use the Internet to exploit innocent children," Blunt said in a written statement. Meanwhile, the Governor also is calling for an increase in funding for residential care for Missouri children who have suffered abuse or neglect. The rate increase would cost about $1.2 million and would come from general revenue. In addition, $1.6 million in federal funding would help cover the cost of the increase.
McCaskill Loan Scheme Under Attack
It has not been a good couple of weeks for Claire McCaskill. While the media was unwilling to report on the many questionable ethics surrounding the Democrat during the recent election campaign, things appear to have changed. The Springfield News-Leader issues McCaskill “A Thorn” for seeking a federal exemption to campaign contribution limits to pay off her $1.6 million debt from her failed 2004 campaign for governor. “But she's a senator now, and this debt is from her failed gubernatorial run two years ago. It sure looks like she's seeking favors from the lobbyists she decried during the election,” the newspaper wrote. 
Meanwhile, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which broke the initial story about the loan, offered up this editorial cartoon about the issue: http://www.stltoday.com/rjmatson. Speaking of lobbyists, McCaskill’s decision to hire one as her chief of staff was the focus of a hard-hitting story in the Kansas City Star. The newspaper properly noted that former lobbyist Sean Kennedy was hired by McCaskill, who campaigned on a pledge to break the links between Congress and lobbyists. Massie Ritsch, spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics, told the newspaper, “The challenge for Sen. McCaskill’s office is going to be not giving undue access to a former employer. It’s hard to say ‘no’ to people you used to work with and give other people the same access and treatment.” To read the entire story, visit: http://www.kansascity.com.
Finally, One Member of Media Gets Medicaid
For almost two years now, many members of the liberal media in Missouri have been ignoring the success of the Governor’s Medicaid reforms that helped pull the state budget out of a $1 billion hole. There often seemed to be a direct correlation between the spin being put out by Democrats who caused the problems in the first place and the editorials and stories being written in the major media outlets. That is why it came as such a surprise when the Columbia Daily Tribune’s Hank Waters penned an editorial that dismisses the Democrats and admits the necessity of reforming the Medicaid system in our state. “Democrats still complain about the roundhouse reductions in eligibility made by Republicans two years ago, and how traumatic it was for a number of recipients, but given the severe budget problems the program was causing, the broadax approach had a certain rough merit. It was really the only way to go,” Waters writes. To read the enlightened editorial, visit: http://www.columbiatribune.com/2007/Jan/20070107Comm001.asp
