Capitol Calling

McCaskill pulls no punches

Here's the understatement of the day: Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, had some negative things to say about executives receiving bonuses with federal bailout money.

How negative?

"We have a bunch of idiots on Wall Street that are kicking sand in the face of the American taxpayer," McCaskill said.

Here's a video link of McCaskill's remarks.

Long shot?

Gov. Jay Nixon spent a good deal of his campaign for governor proposing a reversal to the 2005 Medicaid cuts. So it's not terribly surprising that he devoted a chunk of his State of the State Speech to the issue.

Nixon said this week he wants to add 62,000 Missourians to the health care program for low-income Missourians. That effort would be paid for with some state general revenue dollars and federal matching funds.

"We must continue to work together to further expand coverage and further drive down costs for Missouri families," Nixon said in his speech. "I look forward to working with the legislature to find common ground on this critical issue for our state. And make no mistake, we must take action to address the health care crisis in Missouri this year."

Nixon's push to expand Medicaid has always faced looming opposition from Republicans in the legislature. After all, the GOP-backed General Assembly were the force behind the eligibility cuts in 2005. And few observers believe that Republicans are eager to reverse course.

Senate Appropriations Chairman Gary Nodler is a good example. I asked the Joplin Republican point blank whether Republicans who cut Medicaid eligibility in 2005 would be supportive of Nixon's plan.

"No, I think not," Nodler said. "Now, that isn't to say that all of the governor's funding requests are sort of dismissed out of hand. That's one particular area that I think is a long shot."

Missouri Democrats have argued that it was unwise for the state to turn away hundreds of millions of dollars in federal matching funds associated with the Medicaid program. They also have said the move drove low-income individuals to emergency rooms.

Nixon's speech pitched expanding health care "access" as an economic development tool.

"New companies aren’t coming to Missouri and employers are not adding workers because the cost of health care is just too high," Nixon said. "We cannot get this economy moving until we get the cost of health insurance under control. And we cannot get the cost of health insurance under control until we reduce the number of Missourians who don’t have it."

Grab a bottle of Yuengling!

It's hard to root against the underdog in the Super Bowl.

Everyone loved it when the upstart New York Giants kicked those arrogant New England Patriots in the teeth. And people fondly recall the New York Jets' storied victory over the Baltimore Colts.

But it's not going to happen this year. The Pittsburgh Steelers will win their sixth championship.

It's not an easy call. Kurt Warner - who I wisely selected in the 13th round - made my fantasy football team a contender. And the combination of Fitzgerald and Boldin is downright scary. But if the Steelers defense can shut down them down, it's over.

Of course, I've been incorrect in my last two Super Bowl predictions. Will three times be a charm? Probably not.

Newly formed group aims to alter CWIP

A new organization launched today to help push for alterations to the state's construction work in progress law.

One of the bigger questions facing this year's session of the Missouri General Assembly is how to streamline construction of the Callaway II nuclear power plant. Ameren has said they won't start construction on the facility until a 1970s-era regulation called construction work in progress - or CWIP - is changed. That measure prohibits utility organizations from charging customers for plants that haven't been built.

The AP reported last week that Sen. Delbert Scott, R-Lowry City, filed legislation that would allow utility companies to charge customers for expenses incurred in financing for  nuclear power plants, coal power plants or plants that use other renewable energy. And today, a new group called Missourians for a Balanced Energy Future launched to push the measure along.

"We support Senator Delbert Scott's SB228, which would update state law to allow CWIP and other financing mechanisms," said Scott Charton, the group's spokesman, in an e-mail. "We are now studying other pending energy legislation, but we are supportive of SB228."

MBEF's press release also says that the group is advocating for the "best long-range tools" to impliment a voter-approved measure approved last year regarding renewable energy.

Gov. Jay Nixon did not utilize any of his State of the State Address to discuss the CWIP issue. He opined on the matter last year after a gubernatorial debate in Columbia.

My final post ever about Rod Blagojevich

(AP Photo)

There isn't much of a reason to post about the former governor my native state now that he's been booted out of office forever.

But before I put the kibosh on Blagojevichmania, I would like to pose a question that I've asked many people over the past couple of years:

 

poll by twiigs.com

Schaefer, Kelly share perspectives on MOHELA plan stall

The Associated Press reported today that Gov. Jay Nixon spent most of his appearance at Mizzou defending his decision to suspend several capital improvement projects funded by the partial asset sale of the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority.

Perhaps the most notable allocation suspended was a $31.2 allotment to build the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center on MU’s campus. While over $240 million has been sent out, the agency is having a tough time making quarterly payments.

From the AP:

The college building program - started by former Republican Gov. Matt Blunt - depends on the receipt of $350 million over several years from the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority. The loan agency has paid $242 million to the state since fall 2007, but has delayed several quarterly payments because of financial troubles caused by the credit market crunch and changes in federal student loan laws.

Nixon expressed doubt that the loan authority could pay the rest of the money due the state.

"That's $100 million that's not in the bank," Nixon told an audience of students, faculty, administrators and Columbia campus Chancellor Brady Deaton at a Sinclair School of Nursing news conference. "MOHELA did not make its payments anywhere near the numbers they said they would.

"I'm not going to stand in front of the people of Missouri and promise something from a bank account that doesn't have something in it. That money doesn't exist," the Democratic governor said.

Two lawmakers representing portions of Boone County possess different perspectives on the development.

“Ultimately, [Nixon] might have to find that money somewhere else,” said Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia. “The other thing too is had there not been the filibuster… that money would have been committed by now. Frankly, that project would have been farther along… Because of the filibuster, that project was pulled, put back on the next year and put on the bottom level of projects – which arguably made it easier for the governor to cut it.”

Schaefer was referring to a filibuster by then-Sen. Chuck Graham, D-Columbia, of legislation authorizing the MOHELA plan.

State Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, called the decision the “death knell of the whole MOHELA scam.”

“It was so ill-advised both legally and governmentally from the very beginning, and now it’s collapsed under its own weight,” Kelly said.

I asked Kelly if there is any other way to fund the Ellis Fischel project. He said that he didn’t know the answer.

“But that assumes that it was ever going to happen under MOHELA thing in the first place,” Kelly said. “And the expectations were built simply for political millage. And the whole fight, the whole thing was ridiculous from the get-go.”

You can read the AP story here.

Bray explains vote on pay plan

Only one Missouri senator - Sen. Joan Bray, D-St. Louis - voted against a resolution rejecting a plan devised by the Missouri Citizens' Commission on compensation.

After the resolution passed 32-1, she explained the rationale behind her vote:

 

Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, did not vote on the resolution.

Blago's Last Stand

Apparently, they are already preparing an swearing-in ceremony for Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn.

UPDATE: 59-0.

Preparing to Care = Dead on Arrival?

House Republicans held a press conference this morning to react to Gov. Jay Nixon's budget. The pay raise debate in the Missouri Senate made me a bit late, but I did manage to get a question in about Nixon's support of a revamped Preparing to Care Initiative.

In essence, the proposal provides college and universities with additional funds to train health care professionals. It was the brainchild of Gordon Lamb, who served as the interim president of the University of Missouri system.

While the plan had support among lawmakers of both parties in Boone County, funding for the program wasn't included in last year's budget. Budget chairmen from both General Assembly chambers - Allen Icet and Gary Nodler - and then-Speaker of the House Rod Jetton came out against the proposal.

I asked Icet today about the proposal's prospects this year. Here's what he said:

Nixon was in Columbia today promoting the initiative, which has been re-dubbed the "Caring for Missourians." Nixon set aside about $40 million in his budget for the proposal.

“At a time when 219,000 Missourians are unemployed, we are experiencing a shortage of health care professionals,” Nixon said in a press relese. “The most severe impact of this shortage falls on low-income Missourians, both in urban and rural areas. We need to coordinate the efforts of our four-year and two-year colleges and universities to address this shortage by producing more graduates who can move into these jobs. Caring for Missourians invests our resources in a way that will put Missourians to work in jobs helping their fellow Missourians.”

This is A Call

“It won't be too long until I'll be back to terrorize the blogosphere once again.”

-          Jason Rosenbaum, November 26, 2008

Eat your heart out, Nostradamus.

I consider Capitol Calling my baby step back into the Missouri political blogosphere. While I am planning to use this site primarily as a launching pad for Web videos, I hope to add in bits of analysis, random pop culture observations and off-kilter references to musical groups. Additionally, this site will serve as a clearinghouse of sorts for some of my freelance work.

Some people have already found this site, thanks in part to the fine investigative work of Springfield News-Leader reporter Chad Livengood. To get back into the blogging mentality, I've already written well over 30 posts regarding a variety of topics. Feel free to take a look around.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I would like to thank everybody – friends, family, sources and colleagues – who offered well wishes and encouragement over the last few months. Hopefully, this site will be a fun information source for Missouri politicos.