(Missourinet) – The state legislature is now in its second special session after Governor Eric Greitens criticized it for not getting more done during the regular session.

Lawmakers approved a total of 81 pieces of legislation, including the budget, compared to normal years when it passes 150 or more bills.

Among the relatively few measures the legislature found consensus on was a resolution reaffirming support for “sheltered workshops.” House Concurrent Resolution 28 cleared the Senate with one day left in the regular session. The vote was 32-0. The House had previously passed the resolution 151-1.

Roughly 6,300 people with developmental disabilities earn money at 90 sheltered workshops in Missouri.

The state’s system is known as the Extended Employment Sheltered Workshop Program.  It’s not connected to Medicaid and is funded by state, local and business activities.

But the program is still being threatened on the federal level. A wide ranging law known as the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act passed Congress with bipartisan support in 2014. But its effects, which some think were unintended, weren’t realized until 2015-16.

A portion of the law requires those with disabilities to choose either a sheltered workshop or competitive employment, when many of them split time between both work environments.

As a result, according to state Senator Dan Hegeman, R-Cosby, states throughout the country are phasing out their sheltered workshops in favor of moving individuals with disabilities into traditional workplaces.

He said there were more than 1,100 individuals with disabilities waiting for a job at one of Missouri’s sheltered workshops as of April.

Hegeman said he is critical of the federal workplace policy, which forces a choice between traditional and sheltered facilities.

“I don’t know that I would particularly agree with that,” Hegeman said. “I think there’s some folks that would excel better in the sheltered atmosphere.”

Still, sheltered workshops are poorly regarded by those who are critical of the low wages. According to the Missouri Association of Sheltered Workshop Managers, the Department of Labor allows the facilities to pay a special sub-minimum wage.

Workshop employees are paid based on their ability to perform. If an employee produces 50% of what a non-disabled person produces, they’re paid 50% of what that person makes.

Overall, sheltered workshop employees tend to make very low hourly wages. Figures from the Government Accountability Office show that more than half of all workers with disabilities earns $2.50 an hour or less. Eighty-six percent of them work part-time.

Hegeman contends the employees who now make the low wages would be severely impacted if their jobs at sheltered workshops were to go away.

“(It’s) the feeling of self-worth, the social interaction that many of them lose once they lose these workshop opportunities,” Hegeman said. “They end up not being able to be employed and then they find themselves isolated in their homes.”

The resolution to support the workshops was sponsored by Democratic House member Rory Rowland of Independence.  He said he thinks the federal requirements in their current form, will cost taxpayers a lot of money.

“The state of Missouri pays, basically, $19 a day for someone to be in a sheltered workshop,” Rowland said. “However, though, if we take them to a day rehabilitation center, the state pays $19.50 per 15 minutes, almost $80 an hour for them to be in that program compared to a sheltered workshop.”

The high cost of rehabilitation centers comes in spite of federal assistance through Medicaid. The federal law was designed to encourage higher paying opportunities in competitive employment, but Rowland said its failure to allow for work choice endangers sheltered workshops.

Funding for sheltered workshops has been preserved in a year when the state budget is razor tight. Toward the end of the session, lawmakers were haggling over items carrying a price tag of $20 million or less. State funding for sheltered workshops totals $26,041,961.

Senator Hegeman said he thinks the expense is worthwhile. He said the facilities provide personal fulfillment for the workers.

“If you’ve ever had a chance to visit a sheltered workshop, you can see the pride, and the social aspect gain that the clients get from the sheltered workshop,” Hegeman said. “It’s a joy to see the pleasure on their faces, and the meaningful work that they do.”

(Missourinet) – The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) ranks Missouri 42nd out of all 50 states on its annual summer meals report.

Of the 363,000 Missouri kids eligible, 33,000 received summer meals in 2016. That’s an increase of more than 7% from 2015, but the report also says ten of 11 Missouri students who have access to school meals did not get free summer meals.

At the national level, after four years of significant growth, FRAC’s report shows the number of kids fed in the summer of 2016 slipped by 4.8% from the record total fed in 2015. The report says 3 million kids, out of 20 million eligible children, were fed in July 2016.

Lack of transportation and promoting of such programs could contribute to low turnouts.

“Summer meals help children, their families and the community,” said Glenn Koenen, Hunger Task Force chair for social welfare group Empower Missouri. “As the weather heats up, food pantries across the state struggle to replace the free food kids get at school.”

The St. Louis area Operation Food Search is using special vans to deliver free meals to children in neighborhoods that do not have permanent meal sites. Food is provided at local summer sites like schools, recreation centers, libraries, churches, clubs and parks for children ages 18 and under. Some of the places also include activities that prepare kids for the classroom in the fall.

The cost of the meals is paid by the U.S. Department of Agriculture through two state departments: the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Department of Health and Senior Services.

FRAC wants Missouri to reach for a goal of 40 children receiving summer meals in July 2017 for every 100 receiving free or reduced-price lunch during the 2015-16 school year. According to Empower Missouri, that would lead to an additional 144,511 children being fed each day and an additional $8 million in federal dollars that Missouri could collect from child nutrition funding in July (assuming the programs operate for 20 days).

(Missourinet) – Republican Governor Eric Greitens has signed into law a bill that gives electric rate discounts to industrial companies using large amounts of energy.

The governor called the state legislature in for a special session last month to lower electric rates for a steel mill and aluminum plant that want to open in southeast Missouri. The legislation passed and signed into law expands to also give future Missouri high-intensity industrial companies discounted energy rates.

Greitens announced the signing of the bill Thursday via a Facebook video:

“Now, we’re going to be able to bring a steel mill and hundreds of quality jobs to the state of Missouri. So proud of the work that so many of you did all over the state of Missouri to make this happen,” Greitens said.

Supporters of the measure say it could bring about 600 high-paying jobs to Missouri’s impoverished bootheel region. According to Rep. Don Rone, R-Portageville, the average salary for aluminum plant workers would reportedly be about $95,000. Managers would earn about $125,000. Salaries for the steel mill are unknown.

Opponents of the proposal say giving lower electric rates to the few will hurt many of Missouri’s electric ratepayers. They also contend that it’s bad public policy to include lower electric rates as part of an economic development package and there’s no guarantee that the businesses will open in Missouri.

Meanwhile, Greitens met with President Donald Trump and other governors in the White House Thursday to discuss workforce development and job creation.

(Missourinet) – The Missouri Senate passed an abortion bill late Wednesday night in a special legislative session called by Governor Eric Greitens.

The measure beefed up regulations from the proposal that emerged from a committee hearing the day before, but was less stringent than what was introduced earlier this week.

The bill was largely a response to a court decision tossing out previous requirements for abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at local hospitals, and for clinics to meet hospital-type standards for outpatient care.

The measure approved by the Senate dismantles a St. Louis City ordinance that barred discrimination based on pregnancy decisions. It also provides for more scrutiny of fetal tissue and gives more protection for whistleblowers who report violations of abortion laws.

The measure further gives the attorney general more power to prosecute violators and calls for unannounced annual inspection of abortion clinics.

The biggest change from the bill which emerged out of committee Tuesday was a provision providing the definition of an abortion clinic.  This addition is meant to provide standards for the centers after the court stripped out the requirement to meet outpatient hospital standards.

The Senate, after passing the bill early Thursday morning, will reconvene next Thursday, presumably to reconcile the legislation with any changes the House might make.  The House is scheduled to return to session next Tuesday.

(Missourinet) – Missouri Parole Board member Donald Ruzicka submitted his resignation Monday after a scandal developed over his alleged behavior during hearings of prisoners.

Board of Probation and Parole Chairman Kenny Jones announced the resignation  in a statement.

“The parole board plays an important role in the public safety of Missouri communities by having the authority to grant parole or conditional release to offenders incarcerated in Missouri prisons,” Jones said. “Members of the board must be held to a higher standard in order to do the work that is requested of them to ensure that all parties involved are equally heard during the hearing process before a final decision is made.”

Earlier Monday, state Representative Gail McCann-Beatty sent a letter to Greitens, calling for Ruzicka and an unnamed “parole analyst” to be terminated.

Late Friday, state Senator Jamilah Nasheed released a letter to Governor Eric Greitens calling for the removal of Ruzicka.

She referenced a report of Ruzicka, who along with the unnamed employee, allegedly engaged in a game where they tried to get inmates to say certain words or song titles, and would keep score of results.

Monday, Nasheed said she still didn’t know who the unnamed employee is, but had been in contact with the governor.

“I still don’t know who that is, but I know I spoke with the governor’s office this morning,” Nasheed said. “The governor said that they were investigating it, and that they would get back me and let me know their further actions.”

It’s not known if Greitens forced Ruzicka out. Nasheed said she found Ruzicka and the unnamed employee’s behavior deplorable.

“To go to the parole board to have to be insulted and humiliated like that is something that is unacceptable and it’s very unprofessional,” Nasheed said. “And that’s why I am calling on the governor to call for Ruzicka’s resignation. This is something that we should not tolerate within the Department of Corrections.”

In her letter to Greitens, Nasheed described how Ruzicka and the unnamed employee played a game during the board hearing where prisoners testified in favor of their release.

She said the two, “tried to work in to their interviews predetermined words and song titles — a few of their selections: ‘Hound Dog,’ ‘hootenanny’ and ‘armadillo.’ A point was awarded each time one of them used the word. If they somehow got the offender to repeat the word, two points. These men repeatedly engaged in contests to see who could get the most points.”

The Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center, a St. Louis human rights law firm, obtained the report and released it last Thursday at a news conference. The report by a Department of Corrections inspector general was completed in November of 2016.

Most Probation and Parole Board records are closed under Missouri state law. It’s possible the report was leaked to the law firm.

Ruzicka, a former Republican State Representative from Mt. Vernon, was appointed to the board in 2012 by former Democratic Governor Jay Nixon. He made $85,000 in his position.  Board members serve six-year terms.

(Missourinet) – Organized labor is using a provision in Missouri law that’ll do nothing short of delay Right-to-Work legislation from being implemented for at least a year.

The group has a document that’s been approved for circulation to acquire the necessary signatures for the issue to be placed before voters.  The Right-to-Work measure will weaken the power of organized labor because it prohibits employees from being required to join a union as a condition of employment.

Republicans have long sought to incorporate the legislation into law but have been thwarted by Democratic opposition. Former Governor Jay Nixon vetoed such a measure in 2015.

But once GOP member Eric Greitens was elected governor last November, the Republican super-majority legislature wasted no time in passing a Right-to-Work bill this year. It was the first piece of legislation not related to lawmakers’ pay that Greitens signed into law in early February.

The document approved by the Missouri Secretary of State’s office to be circulated is called a referendum petition. It’s the actual bill the legislature passed attached to a page on which signatures are collected.

Labor organizations such as the AFL-CIO and the Teamsters have coordinated with a host of interest groups including the Faith-Labor Alliance, Jobs With Justice, Working America and the Alliance of Retired Americans to craft the petition. Every local union in the state is involved in the process of collecting signatures.

They’ll have until August 28th, the day the law is scheduled to go into effect, to submit the required number of signatures. That figure is roughly 100,000, and by law would have to amount to 5% of votes cast in the last governor’s election in two-thirds of the state’s congressional districts.

United Food and Commercial Workforce (UFCW) Local 655 hosted one of more than 50 drive-thru signups to be held around the state Saturday. The union’s Collin Reischman said he is confident the necessary signatures will be quickly gathered.

“We’re going to turn in probably a lot more than the law requires,” Reischman said. “We’re currently shooting to turn in two-to-three times as many as the law requires.”

Once the signatures are collected, they are examined by the Secretary of State’s office to determine their validity. Reischman said the unions have their own attorneys who are assessing the signatures, and is very confident few will be tossed out.

Referendum petitions allow for measures passed by lawmakers and signed by the governor to go to a public vote before they go into effect.  A yes vote reaffirms the law, while a no vote is a rejection of it.

The petitions have only been successfully used 26 times in the past. In all but two instances, voters discarded laws passed by the legislature.  Reischman said he has no doubt the Right-to-Work law will be soundly rejected by voters.

“I am actually supremely confident that if this is on the ballot, it will lose,” Reischman said. “I have no doubt of that. I have seen polling. I’ve seen other information that suggests that even non-union workers understand that this drives down their quality of life as well.”

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce has been a fierce supporter of the Right-to-Work legislation. Dan Mehan, the organization President and CEO, said there’ll be a concerted effort from its side to reach out to the public if there’s a vote on the legislation.

“There would be a very highly spirited campaign from our side, making sure voters knew exactly what they were voting on,” Mehan said.  “And we don’t need to go back to the days of big union bosses trying to tell people what to do.”

Mehan also notes the legislation took many years of hard work on the part of its backers to not receive a robust representation before any public vote.

“This has been a long time coming, and we’re not going to just let it be frittered away.”