Capitol Calling

Richard issues statement on Nixon tuition proposal

House Speaker Ron Richard, R-Joplin, issued the following statement concerning Gov. Jay Nixon's announcement regarding higher education funding:

“In the House of Representatives, we work each year to provide Missouri students with the tools necessary to compete in our highly competitive global economy.  There is no question that House Republicans want to keep higher education tuition as low as possible, even in a time of economic devastation. 

We appreciate the Governor’s tuition proposal and will put it through the normal process, along with any other budget recommendations from the Governor. 

In these difficult times, we realize the importance of easing the financial burden on Missouri students and their families in every way possible and will consider this when crafting next year’s budget.”

Nixon announced today that he would cut funding for higher education institutions by roughly 5.2 percent in exchange for a tuition freeze.

Icet: No money for Metro in latest stimulus plan

The Speaker of the Missouri House and the chairman of the House Budget Committee announced that they will seek to use $1 billion worth of federal stimulus money to lower the state's income tax.

The move came after House Speaker Ron Richard, R-Joplin, said his caucus became fed up with the way the House had split up hundreds of millions of dollars worth of stimulus cash to spend on pet projects. So instead, Richard and House Budget Chairman Allen Icet, R-Wildwood, announced a $1 billion income tax cut:

The startling announcement comes after the House Budget Committee divvied up hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds toward a multitude of projects. Included were bids to hire more public defenders, attract more medical professionals into the workplace from colleges and refurbish the state Supreme Court Building.

Richard and Icet said today all of those aforementioned projects were still on the table. But one thing not in the latest iteration of the House plan is a $20 million allotment for the St. Louis Metro system. Icet announced the stimulus money allotment earlier this month as a way to tide the mass transit system over in the wake of steep budget cuts.

Here's a clip:

Icet and Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder announced the money for Metro ten days ago. You can watch a full video of Icet and Richard talking about what's in and out of the latest House plan by clicking here.

Flying At Tree Level

Before I peace out for the weekend, here's a couple of video clips from House Speaker Ron Richard's Thursday media availability.

Here's Richard, R-Joplin, talking about the budget, economic development issues and the KC Star's recent story concerning his legislative director's consulting company:

Richard told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he was planning on holding up budget negotiations until the Senate makes headway on the economic development package.

Speaking of which, here is Rep. Tim Flook, R-Clay County, talking about that aforementioned package. In particular, he talked about alterations to the Historic Preservation Tax Credit program:

All I've Got Is Precious Time

There's been a lot of talk lately about a new version of a proposed constitutional amendment mandating voters to show government-issued photo identification at the polls. But even some of measure's supporters concede time is running out to take action this session.

Among other things, Rep. Stanley Cox's resolution would place into the Missouri Constitution a requirement for voters to show photo identification. That's a change from his last version which would have only authorized a statutory change to take place. The alteration was almost certainly sparked by the prospect of Gov. Jay Nixon's veto.

But since the resolution passed out of committee with only five weeks to go in the session, I asked House Speaker Ron Richard, R-Joplin, and House Majority Leader Steve Tilley, R-Perryville, about the resolution's prospects:

Cox's resolution could also get tangled up in the Missouri Senate, where every controversial item seems to get filibustered these days.

Big Things Poppin'

As I mentioned yesterday, the passage of Rep. Stanley Cox's resolution was notable because a similar measure failed to pass last year.

So naturally, Cox and other supporters of the measure weren't exactly thrilled when a computer error occurred after the measure passed the 82-vote threshold for passage. Lawmakers voted again on the resolution.

Richard opined on the computer error after session ended for the week:

Multiplicity

House Speaker Ron Richard, R-Joplin, said today he was serious about getting an economic development bill to Gov. Jay Nixon.

How serious? The bill's stall in the Senate prompted Richard to tell reporters that he'll flood the Senate with copies of the original economic package until it’s passed.

“We’re going to send an economic development bill over every week… then we’re going to send that same bill attached to every bill,” Richard said. “We’ll send over 100 of them, 300 of them, 500 of them until we get that broke loose.”

Getting an economic development package through might be easier said than done. A new version of the measure features a number of significant alterations, including a cap on the historic tax credit program. It also places sunsets on Missouri's tax credit programs. The historic tax credit issue alone might prompt filibusters from both parties, depending on the final composition of the legislation.

Richard said “he’d be happy to work with the Senate” regarding the historic tax credit issue.

“If it is workable, I would support a conversation about it,” Richard said when asked if he supported capping the historic tax credit program. “But I’m not going to cave in to a month and a half of debate over nothing so I can get a 400-page bill that obliterates everything we’ve done to put people back to work.”

House Republicans opine on CWIP

Arguably the biggest event at the Missouri Capitol this week was the hearing on Sen. Delbert Scott's bill to repeal a portion of CWIP.

The legislation, if passed, could pave the way for Ameren to build a new nuclear power plant in Callaway County. But the initial bill is likely to go through significant changes over the next few months.

House Speaker Ron Richard, R-Joplin, suggested the process might extend beyond this legislative session. Here's a video of Richard and others talking about the measure:

Richard responds to Oxford's allegations

The Kansas City Star's Jason Noble wrote earlier this month about Rep. Jeanette Mott Oxford's exclusion from the House Special Committee on Children and Families.

Oxford, who is gay, suggested that her sexual orientation might have played a role in her exclusion. House Speaker Ron Richard, R-Joplin, denied that was the case.

Richard briefly talked about the flap at his press availability today:

Strange Bedfellows

House Speaker Ron Richard, R-Joplin, brought along two unusual guests to his weekly media availability session - House Minority Leader Paul LeVota, D-Independence, and Rep. Sam Komo, D-Jefferson County.

The inclusion of two Democrats in the gaggle was perhaps a symbolic showcase of how an economic development package went through the chamber. Only 19 lawmakers voted against the measure, which now must go to the Missouri Senate.

Here's Richard, LeVota and Rep. Tim Flook, R-Liberty, talking about the bill:

It's worth noting that the Columbia delegation split in a rather unusual way on the bill. Reps. Steve Hobbs, R-Mexico, Mary Still, D-Columbia, and Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, voted for the measure. Reps. Paul Quinn, D-Monroe City, and Stephen Webber, D-Columbia, voted against it.

The multi-faceted bill includes an expansion of the Quality Jobs tax credit, a measure which provides incentives to companies that pay certain wages and benefits. AP reporter Chris Blank noted that some lawmakers raised objections over a tax credit that they feared could fund embryonic stem cell research.

And here's a part of the question and answer session:

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.”