KC Buzz Blog

Stem cell opponents plan March 7 rally at Missouri Capitol

    Opponents of research on early stem cells plan to hold a rally at the Missouri Capitol on March 7 in support of a proposal to repeal Amendment 2.

   The St. Louis Review, the Catholic Archdiocese's weekly newspaper, reports that biologist David Prentice will be the rally's keynote speaker.

   Prentice, a former life sciences professor at Indiana State University, is now a senior fellow at the Family Research Council, a leading lobbying group of the Christian right based in Washington. Prentice is best known in Missouri for his testimony during Senate hearings two years ago on a proposed ban on cloning human cells.

  Prentice also was featured last year in a television ad attacking Amendment 2, the ballot initiative that protected all stem cell research permitted by federal law.

  The St. Louis Review described Prentice as "a former stem cell researcher." However, Prentice told The Kansas City Star in 2005 that he had never published a scientific paper regarding stem cells.

   Amendment 2, which was approved by 51 percent of voters last November, already prohibits attempts to clone a human baby by making it a felony to try to implant cloned cells into a woman's uterus. But opponents also seek to ban scientists from cloning a patient's cells in search of a cure for an illness or injury.

   Opponents will wear read and plan to lobby legislators from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Missouri Right to Life, an anti-abortion group, has organized several buses to take participants from the St. Louis area to the rally.

Posted by Kit Wagar 

Missouri rep launches blistering attack on MoHELA sale

   A withering analysis of Gov. Matt Blunt's plan to sell off assets of Missouri's student loan agency went out late Wednesday afternoon from Rep. Clint Zweifel to his House colleagues.

   Zweifel, a St. Louis County Democrat, wrote that using assets designated for student loans to fund a building binge on college campuses ignores the true cost of the plan and fails to answer the key questions: How will this asset sale affect future student borrowers? What is the cost in the long-run?  Zweifel scoffs at the idea that any independent analysis of the plan was every performed. To read the letter, click here.

Posted by Kit Wagar 

Koster goes after Big Power aka Ameren Corp.

   Sen. Chris Koster, who has previously roiled Republican Party loyalists by supporting research on early stem cells and by going after physicians who steal from the Medicaid program, is doing it again.

   This time, he's going after Big Power. In Missouri, that's Ameren Corp. and its Missouri operating company known as AmerenUE.

   Koster, a Harrisonville Republican, has introduced a bill that would penalize electric utilities for power outages. It's a populist move that is likely to resonate with St. Louis voters who have suffered through three widespread power outages since last July and five major outages in less than three years.

   Two storms last year and the resulting outages left 21 people dead in Missouri — 10 during a July heat wave and at least 11 during December's cold snap. The December storms left 520,000 Ameren customers in Missouri and Illinois without heat amid single-digit temperatures.

   Ameren officials have said they reacted to the storms as quickly as possible, but the severity of the storms made widespread outages inevitable.

   The bill, Koster's office said in a news release, "gave voice today to the anger of hundreds of thousands of Missouri utility customers fed up with living in the dark."

   The Electrical Utility Responsibility Act would require utilities to rebate to customers the monthly service connection charge -- about $10 -- any month in which a customer loses power for more than 4 hours. The bill would create a minimum standard for service reliability that utility companies would have to meet or face significant financial penalties that would be refunded to customers.

   The bill also would hold rogue utilities up to public scrutiny by requiring the Public Service Commission to rank the Missouri's utility companies for reliability and customer service. That way, consumers see how companies compare. It also would require companies with mediocre electric service to be publicly branded as substandard and to maintain that designation until service improves enough to comply with industry standards.

    In a news release announcing the bill, Koster sounded more like the trust-busting Teddy Roosevelt wing of the Republican Party than any current incarnation of the GOP when he delivered this tongue-lashing to Ameren:

   “One Missouri utility company has recently seen an 11% growth in stock price and enjoyed record-breaking profits, even as the company repeatedly left hundreds of thousands of customers in the dark for days and days on end,” Koster said.  “Only a monopoly can get away with such behavior without fearing the consequences of its customers' discontent.  This legislation will add modest, healthy, and necessary market forces to Missouri's multi-billion dollar retail energy equation....How is it possible that companies that can’t keep the lights on make record profits and pay unprecedented dividends? 

   "Why in the world should Missourians sit in the dark while shareholders divert money that should clearly be invested in infrastructure?” Koster asked.

Posted by Kit Wagar

No, Republicans say, it's Dems whose work has been "Low yield"

   Democrat Rep. Beth Low called House Republicans lazy last week. But Republican Rep. Brian Nieves says it's Low who has been the legislative couch potato.
   Low complained last week that House Republicans had not adopted rules allowing the House to proceed with legislation despite being in session for nearly two weeks. The House finally passed its rules on Jan. 18.
   Low said Missouri taxpayers were getting ripped off in having to pay per diem to lawmakers who weren't considering legislation. “It is outrageous that the House hasn’t done an iota of meaningful work," she said.
   Nieves, of Krakow, said he was surprised by Low's comments and pointed out that the House in three of the last four sessions had not adopted rules until Jan. 18. One of those sessions was in Low's first term, Nieves said.
   And House members have been doing work, he said.
   "Many of us have been doing research, holding discussions with constituents and filing bills to address problems in our districts," Nieves said, noting that Low had not filed any bills as of Jan. 22. (She introduced four bills on the 23rd.)
    "I understand a reasonable learning curve may be required in becoming a state representative, but it is hard to couple someone’s own lack of action with a short memory, especially when criticizing others," he said.

Posted by Tim Hoover

Missouri House rejects pay raise

   From the AP: The Missouri House today rejected a proposal to increase the pay of judges and other elected officials.
   House members voted 118-37 in favor of a measure that would veto a raise of $1,200 plus 4 percent for judges and elected officials. The raise was recommended by a state salary commission and takes effect automatically if two-thirds of the House and Senate don’t reject it by Feb. 1.
    Senate Majority Leader Charlie Shields of St. Joseph said it was unlikely the Senate will reject the pay raise. A Senate committee already considered such a measure and did not vote on it.
    In the House, both Republicans and Democrats said they opposed the salary commission’s recommendation because it included lawmakers, not because they don’t want to give judges more money.

Posted by Keith Chrostowski

AARP blasts proposal to end taxes on Social Security benefits

   House Speaker Rod Jetton’s plan to eliminate state income taxes on Social Security benefits has received a sharp rebuke from the leading senior advocacy group in the state.
   Norma Collins, associate state director of AARP, the group formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons, wrote a blistering critique of the proposal in a Jan. 18 letter to Jetton.
   The letter, obtained by KC Buzz Blog Tuesday night, says the plan is bad on multiple levels, from providing tax breaks to the rich to unfairness to the young to undermining Missouri’s tax base as the population ages and more people become eligible for favored tax status.
   “It is AARP’s position that receipt of Social Security benefits does not convey low-income status and it is low-income status that should drive the availability of tax breaks, regardless of age,” Collins wrote.
   The letter directly contradicts Jetton’s assertions that the plan was desperately needed by low-income senior citizens.
   “Seniors are hurting in our state and are hurting when it comes to the necessities of life,” Jetton said earlier this month when unveiling his plan.
   Other groups have pointed out that low-income seniors already pay no income tax on Social Security benefits. Missouri taxes Social Security benefits only on the amount that an individual recipient’s income exceeds $25,000 a year. Critics said 46 percent of all Social Security recipients would receive no benefit, but those seniors earning in the top 11 percent of the population would receive up to $1,200 a year. 
   Collins wrote that as recently as the 1970s, most elderly people were poor. But times have changed. The incomes of seniors are higher on average than for younger segments of the population, she wrote.
   “Offering tax breaks to seniors who do not ‘need’ them is unfair in an intergenerational sense,” the letter said. “In times of tight budgets, (such tax breaks) can result in greater tax burdens being placed on people of lesser means who do not receive special tax treatment. Since Social Security is essentially a universal program, tax breaks on Social Security would also be universal, even though the total incomes of many who receive it may be quite high – think Bill Gates Sr., Warren Buffett or George Soros.”
   AARP prefers to exempt more low-income taxpayers from state income tax. The state’s income tax system, which imposes the maximum rate of six percent on all income over $9,000, could be improved by taxing low incomes at lower rates, the letter said.
   “This would target tax relief to where it is really needed, would be fair to both younger and older citizens and would not subject future state budgets to diminished revenues as larger number of people age into tax-favored status,” the letter said.
   AARP won’t actively oppose the plan, but will express its opposition if requested by any lawmaker, Collins wrote.
   No word on whether the letter has cooled lawmakers’ ardor for the $116 million tax break aimed mostly at senior citizens.

Posted by Kit Wagar

Bartle's stem-cell bill hits snag

   Missouri state Sen. Matt Bartle's bid to reverse the impact of Amendment 2 has hit a snag.

   His measure aimed at wiping out the impact of November's public vote to protect stem-cell research has been assigned to an unfriendly committee -- Bartle's own Judiciary Committee.

   Because of a change in the committee's makeup this year, the measure appears headed to a 4-4 vote. A tie vote would defeat the measure.

   Bartle, a Lee's Summit Republican, called this "a complicating factor, not a terminal factor."

   Still, groups opposing broad stem-cell research aren't happy.

   More in tomorrow's Star.

Posted by Steve Kraske

Why your favorite politicos were yawning today

  Apparently quite a few folks were up into the wee hours of the morning listening to that riveting filibuster in the Missouri Senate as Sen. Matt Bartle objected to the nomination of Warren Erdman to the MU Board of Curators. Among them were former U.S. Attorney Todd Graves, who listened until 2:30 a.m.

   "It was fascinating to listen to it take place," he said.

   Graves said the personality of Bartle, his law partner, really came through. The two first met when they were undergraduate students at Mizzou two decades ago.

   "He is a loyal and kind and good person," Graves said. "I've heard filibusters before but I've never heard someone's personality come through so strongly."

   He said it was a complete "Matt Bartleism" that Bartle listed every single state representative and senator and said something complimentary about each of them. (colleague Kit Wagar said Bartle also lauded members of their staffs). Graves joked when is the last time anyone had something good to say about every single member of the Missouri General Assembly.

   (One could also argue that the personality of fellow filibusterer Sen. Victor Callahan also came through this morning, from the rough-and-tumble side in remarks about former JaCo exec and now mayoral contender Katheryn Shields to the softer teddy bear side with the heartfelt comments about his father.)

   About 1 a.m., Graves said he talked to big brother, Sam. The congressman noted that during a filibuster he conducted when he was a state senator -- in 1998 against the KC school deseg settlement -- no one came to his aid by speaking to him.

Posted by DeAnn Smith 

Bartle finally poops out, Erdman confirmed

   Kansas City executive Warren Erdman’s appointment to the University of Missouri governing board was confirmed before dawn today after Sen. Matt Bartle reluctantly conceded defeat.
   In a remarkable exhibition of endurance and creativity, Bartle held the Senate floor for 17 hours in a nearly solitary act of defiance to try to block Erdman’s confirmation. He spoke about his children, his fitness regimen, his time in two marathons, the fashions of fellow senators and even the “$19.95 Calvin Klein jeans at Costco – they fit like a dream.”
   He spoke about anything and everything – even reading blog items about his own filibuster – to keep speaking and delay a vote on Erdman’s appointment. Bartle took the floor at 10:28 a.m. Thursday and held the floor almost continuously well into Friday morning.
   About 3:25 a.m., an exhausted Bartle finally gave up the floor. Other senators quickly called for a vote and the confirmation of Erdman and 22 other appointees was completed.
   In the end, the procedural motion to approve all the appointments was approved 27-2, with only Sen. Harry Kennedy of St. Louis County joining Bartle in opposing Erdman’s nomination. Senators gave final confirmation on a voice vote. 
  Gov. Matt Blunt issued a statement shortly after 7 a.m. today praising the Senate action.
   “Warren Erdman is an honorable public servant who will make a great addition to the Board of Curators as they work to build a stronger University of Missouri system and prepare our students for tomorrow’s challenges,” Blunt said.  “I am pleased Warren agreed to serve on the board and I congratulate him on his confirmation. I also wish to commend and thank the Missouri Senate and its leaders.”
    The Board of Curators is the governing body of the University of Missouri system, which consists of campuses in Columbia, Kansas City, Rolla and St. Louis.
   Bartle said he opposed the nomination primarily because of Erdman’s support for research on early stem cells and for Amendment 2, last year’s initiative that protects all stem cell research allowed by federal law. Bartle said Erdman’s zealousness would lead him to try to steer public funding of the university into such research, which Bartle contends destroys a form of nascent human life.
   But it became plain early in the filibuster that part of Bartle’s opposition was more personal. Bartle contended that Erdman supported Bartle’s opponent in last summer’s Republican 8th District primary in eastern Jackson County. He said Erdman supported Republican Bob Johnson because of Bartle’s opposition to stem cell research that involves cloning human cells.
   “His passion on this subject is sufficiently pronounced that he tries to take out a sitting Republican senator because of one issue – the only issue I know of that we disagree on,” Bartle said.
   In testimony earlier in the week, Erdman told a Senate panel that he was not actively involved in Bartle’s race. But he conceded he shared his views on the race freely with other people.
   Several senators said privately that they respected Bartle's position, but considered his filibuster foolhardy. Erdman has sterling Republican credentials, having been chief of staff for Republican U.S. Sen. Kit Bond and worked in the governor’s office for both Bond and Republican John Ashcroft.

Posted by Kit Wagar

It was 1:30 and he was still going....

Erosion, farming, plows, corn prices, cost of a bale of hay, the merits of fishing with a cane pole, yup, that's the riveting talk filling the Senate chamber tonight via their streaming audio connection as Missouri Sen. Matt Bartle continues his fillibuster.

   And hat tip to a KC Buzz Blog commentator for directing us to this hysterical Alice-in-Wonderland-Looking-Glass link. Yes, that is the Columbia Dispatch informing its readers on its political blog that Bartle was reading Kit Wagar's post on the KC Buzz Blog about the filibuster and then intoning about the not-so-flattering reaction from posters.

   Ok, it's 10:30 and they are giggling about someone having a cup on the Senate floor that doesn't conform with the rules???

  "I just love this place," Bartle quipped.

   Sometime before midnight, Sen. Victor Callahan joined the discussion. Bartle apparently broke the record for length after midnight.

Posted by DeAnn Smith