(AP) – Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones says he wants to reinstate a cap on some damages that plaintiffs can be awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits.

A 2005 state law capped noneconomic damages such as for pain and suffering at $350,000. The Missouri Supreme Court struck down the limit in July 2012.

Jones said Thursday that millions of dollars will be shifted from providing health care to legal defense costs without legislative action this year.

House members endorsed legislation last year that sought to reinstate the damages limit, but the Republican speaker said he has not settled on a particular approach for this year.

Opponents of caps on damages contend juries should be respected to make decisions in malpractice cases.

(AP) – Farmers are meeting this week in Kansas City to talk about everything from wine to energy production.

The Missouri Governor’s Conference on Agriculture is planned for Thursday through Saturday at the Westin Crown Center. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon and Agriculture Director Richard Fordyce will be among the speakers.

The Missouri Department of Agriculture says participants also will receive an update on agriculture legal issues, data management and research and technology.

A 58 year old Wiliamsburg, Kansas man was killed in a rollover crash on Wednesday in Anderson County.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol Gary Kettler was driving a 2002 Chevy Silverado southbound on 1600 road 3.2 miles southwest of Central.

Kettler lost control of the truck and it went left of center. He over-corrected and the truck went back on the roadway and then entered the ditch, rolled multiple times and came to rest on the driver’s side of the vehicle.

Kettler was not wearing a seat belt.

 

Days after an airplane landed at the wrong airport in southwest Missouri, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill led an oversight hearing to examine mismanagement and program failures in an $859 million contract to train air traffic controllers.

The hearing focused on the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) management of the Air Traffic Controller Optimum Training Solution (ATCOTS) program and contract, which McCaskill has been investigating since 2011. The ATCOTS program provides training for air traffic controllers across the country, and is critical to maintaining air traffic safety for fliers nationwide.

“Congress and the American public have entrusted the FAA with taxpayer dollars and trust them to maintain the safety of our airspace,” said McCaskill, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Financial & Contracting Oversight. “Just this weekend, in my state, a plane mistakenly landed at the wrong airport in Missouri, coming dangerously close to the end of a runway that was shorter than required for a 737. While there’s no evidence of a connection between what we’re exploring here today and what happened in Missouri, it is a timely reminder of the need to ensure that the resources we spend on air traffic safety are spent effectively.”

The hearing included testimony from Mary Kay Langan-Feirson, the Assistant Inspector General at the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General; Patricia McNall, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Finance and Management at the FAA; and Lynn A. Dugle, a President at Raytheon Company.

McCaskill asked the witnesses critical questions about the Inspector General’s findings of poor contract management, and raised concerns about whether the FAA even knows the costs required to effectively train air traffic controllers.

“Contracting is about knowing what you need, how much it’ll cost, and how much you’re willing and able to pay,” McCaskill said. “I hope you understand why up to this point I haven’t even been clear on whether you have an understanding of what this will cost the taxpayer.”

In September 2010, the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General published a report that found significant problems associated with the contract for the ATCOTS program, including significant cost overruns, poor procurement practices, and a lack of oversight. In 2011, McCaskill requested that the Inspector General conduct a follow-up review of the ATCOTS program to determine whether FAA had made any improvements in management of the contract. The latest Inspector General report found that little improvement has been made and that the FAA has failed to achieve critical goals.

The FAA is now considering plans to recompete the ATCOTS contract in the fall of 2014 without having adequately addressed the deficiencies in management and oversight which led directly to the problems with the original contract.

McCaskill told the FAA that if it moves forward with recompeting the contract, “I’m going to be on it like a rabid dog,” to ensure that it fixes the problems with management and oversight.

 (AP) – A federal judge has ruled that more than 250 Missouri municipalities and St. Louis County don’t have to pay anything to AT&T customers for improperly collected taxes on Internet access.

Judge Nanette Laughrey’s decision Monday follows years of legal disputes between the governments, AT&T and its customers. A class-action lawsuit filed against the local governments sought millions of dollars from the entities for AT&T surcharges plaintiffs claimed were used to pay an illegal tax.

Carriers did not collect business license taxes until 2008, but a settlement between local governments and wireless providers required the carriers to pay a lump sum for back taxes. Internet tax revenue was excluded from taxable services because of a federal law that bars taxes for online access.

(AP) – Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones plans to file legislation that would let health care workers refuse to participate in procedures that violate their ethical or religious beliefs.

The measure would apply to procedures such as those involving abortion-inducing drugs, artificial insemination and the withdrawal of nutrition and hydration. Religiously-affiliated hospitals would be shielded from liability for refusing medical procedures violating their religious beliefs.

Jones, a Republican from Eureka, sponsored a similar bill last year. The measure passed the House but not the Senate.

Critics in the House argued last year the legislation could inhibit access to health care for some Missourians. Jones has said the proposal protects workers’ rights.

BURLINGTON, Kan. (AP) — Officials of Kansas’ Wolf Creek nuclear plant will meet with federal regulators in Texas next week to discuss progress in making sure the plant’s workers aren’t afraid to report safety concerns.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a letter in August after determining a “chilled work environment” exists within the quality assurance group at the Wolf Creek Generating Station near Burlington, Kan.

That letter came after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that a Wolf Creek contractor had fired an employee for raising concerns about how work was being performed at the plant.

The NRC issued the letter because the firing might affect the willingness of other workers to speak up.

The meeting is scheduled the afternoon of Jan. 22 at the NRC’s regional office in Arlington, Texas.

(AP) – Missouri senators are taking their first look at the latest round of Republican tax-cut proposals.

A Senate committee scheduled a public hearing Thursday on three different tax-cutting bills.

One would cut taxes only for business income. Another would reduce Missouri’s individual income tax rate. A third bill would phase in tax cuts for both businesses and individuals.

Republican legislative leaders have made an income tax cut a priority for the 2014 session. This year marks their second attempt at a tax cut. Last year, majority party Republicans failed to override a veto of a tax-cut bill by Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon.