(Missourinet) – Eligibility for unemployment benefits would be reduced by seven weeks – from 20 to 13- under a proposal now being considered by Missouri lawmakers.

The measure would also require more money to be in the state’s unemployment trust fund before employers get a discount on their contributions into it.

Tracy King with the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, which supports the proposal, says it’s meant to protect the trust fund from recession shortfalls.

“If we shore up the trust fund, we provide that safety net that’s there for the employees who are laid off through no fault of their own,” said King.  “The money will be there so that we don’t have to borrow that money back at the next recession.”

King says Missouri has had to borrow money from the federal government in each of the last five recession when the unemployment trust fund had more money going out than was being paid in through employer taxes. Employers then had to pay interest on the borrowed money.

Under the measure, the fund would have to reach a reserve level of about $120 million above the current benchmark before employers would receive the scheduled seven percent discount on their tax contributions.  A second threshold where the rate would be further reduced to 12 percent would also be raised by $120 million.

King maintains the proposal requires sacrifices from both employers and workers.  Other business groups, including the National Federation of Independent Business, support the plan.

Opponents say the reduced number of weeks for unemployment pay would leave workers vulnerable. Mike Louis with the AFL-CIO union argues older workers would be especially vulnerable under the plan.

“At a time when someone my age, speaking about a good number on your birthday, hits unemployment, there are not a lot of employers willing to hire someone,” said Louis.  “And you could go well beyond 10 weeks, 13 weeks, 15 weeks, 18 weeks.”

The proposal calls for a sliding scale of available weeks for unemployment benefits, triggered by the jobless rate. If the rate was nine percent or higher, workers would receive 20 weeks of benefits.  The eight graduated levels would bottom out at 13 weeks when the rate is under six percent. The state’s current rate is 4.7 percent.

King, with the Missouri Chamber, says very few workers would be affected by the reduction.

“In 2016, the average duration of weeks for unemployment was 12.4. So currently, as of last year, the average person was taking less than 13 weeks of unemployment because of our unemployment rate being so low.”

The measure was originally passed in 2015, but was vetoed by then Democratic Governor Jay Nixon. Both the House and Senate overrode the veto, although the Senate’s action occurred during a later meeting of the legislature known as the “veto session.”

In the spring of 2016, the state Supreme Court disallowed the Senate’s override, leading to the current effort led by Republican lawmakers to pass the plan into law. Two separate, but similar proposals, are under consideration in the House and the Senate.

It’s also one of a number of pro-business measures moving through the current session. It’s not expected to be opposed by newly elected GOP Governor Eric Greitens.

(Missourinet) – A Missouri House Committee will hear from supporters and opponents of right-to-work Monday in Jefferson City.

The Missouri House Economic Development Committee will hold a hearing Monday at noon at the Statehouse.

State Sen. Dan Brown (R-Rolla) will present his right-to-work bill at the meeting. His version contains the “grandfather clause” to protect existing union contracts that the Senate added last week.

Senator Brown says the “grandfather clause” should be part of the final bill sent to Governor Eric Greitens (R), who supports right-to-work.

The House Economic Development Committee Chairwoman, State Rep. Holly Rehder (R-Sikeston) sponsored the House right-to-work version, which does not have the “grandfather clause”.

Rehder tells Missourinet she has reserved two hours for testimony Monday, then expects her committee to vote on Brown’s bill.

Right-to-work says that a person cannot be required to join or refrain from joining a labor organization, as a condition of employment.

Senate Minority Leader Gina Walsh (D-Bellefontaine Neighbors) has led the fight against right-to-work. Walsh says right-to-work hurts middle-class families that drive the economy.

Walsh also says Missouri created more jobs last year than any of the neighboring states.

Rehder has predicted that union and non-union jobs will increase in Missouri, if right-to-work legislation passes.

Rehder says Indiana added more than 50,000 “good-paying union jobs” after that state passed right-to-work in 2012.

Missourians rejected a right-to-work ballot measure in 1978.

(Missourinet) – Republican lawmakers intensely focused on passing Right to Work legislation took a major step toward the finish line Thursday.

The state Senate gave final approval of a proposal the House passed a week earlier, after adding a grandfather clause to protect existing contracts. Republican Senator Dan Brown says the revision should be part of the final bill sent to the governor.

“I think that was a good move,” said Brown. “(We’ve got) some protection for contracts that are in place.  We’ve got some pretty strong wording in that grandfathering clause.”

Having sponsored the Senate version of the Right to Work legislation, Brown indicated during a Thursday press conference that the chamber might be resistant to a House move to strip the grandfather provision.

Republicans have been trying to make Missouri a Right to Work state for over a decade. After repeatedly being blocked by two term Democratic Governor Jay Nixon, the legislation is now being embraced by GOP Governor Eric Greitens.

Brown defended Right to Work laws as a benefit to both workers and unions, claiming unions have to pay more attention to employees under Right to Work conditions.

“The unions become much more amenable to (workers’) concerns, and they’re working harder for them, and people choose to be in that membership or brotherhood.”

Right to work laws allow employees to opt out of joining unions. Democratic Senate Floor Leader Gina Walsh, who also presides over one of the state’s biggest unions, says the laws lead to lower wages.

“The fact is out there, when my wage as a union worker goes down, so does your wage as a non-union worker,” said Walsh.  “I have worked side by side with non-union people. They loved being on the prevailing wage jobs I’ve been on. Their income went up.”

Walsh is president of the Missouri chapter of the AFL-CIO.

When a reporter noted that the three west coast states, which don’t have Right to Work, are exploding in population while Missouri is shrinking, Republican Senator Brown said there’s hope that Right to Work conditions will help stabilize and even expand the state’s population.

The House will now review changes the Senate made to the proposal. It’s expected to get attention in the lower chamber as early as next week.

Republicans also have their sights set on repealing the state’s prevailing wage law this session. Prevailing wage sets a minimum pay rate for workers on public works construction projects. The rate differs by county and types of work.

(Missourinet) – A Missouri House panel is looking at a proposal to restrict TV viewing in prisons to local over the air channels.

Currently, money from canteen sales within correction centers is used to pay for cable or satellite service. Inmates use their stipend pay, often for work they perform within the prison, to make purchases at the canteen.

House Republican J. Eggelston who sponsored the measure, notes the money for the stipends originates from taxpayers. He says it would be better used on other inmate programs.

“That money that was going there could be redirected to things that would benefit the prisoners in an educational capacity to help them be not be as apt to recitivize when they get released,” said Eggelston.

As an example of ways the money could be redirected, Eggelston points to education, and getting inmates the documents they would need to get a job upon being released, such as social security cards, birth certificates and driver’s licenses.

He thinks it would make sense to use the money on rehabilitation programs.

“Having money go to things like that rather than pay TV, while still giving them TV as an entertainment through free over the antenna, that’s the goal of the bill.”

Eggelston says the amount currently spent on cable TV or satellite throughout the Missouri Prison system totals nearly $1 million.

Democrat Bruce Franks Jr. thinks prisoners who work to pay for cable or satellite TV shouldn’t be penalized just because the money originates from taxpayers.

“They can’t come in and mandate how we spend our money that they give us, even inside of the capitol, that they pay us for the work that we do, and it’s the same way (for offenders),” said Franks.

House Republican Galen Higdon agrees that it’s not fair to take away a product inmates pay for through purchases at prison canteens.

“That’s inmates’ money,” said Higdon. “It’s a profit off their commissary. I don’t see that we can make a profit on those people that we have incarcerated.”

The Department of Corrections is concerned that taking away cable TV or satellite could result in inmates having more free time leading to prison unrest. The agency contends the change could lead to a significant increase in assaults and affect the safety of both inmates and staff.

The department says television lets inmates stay abreast of current events in preparation for reentry into society, and that removing satellite or cable will not result in any cost avoidance for taxpayers.  An analysis by a legislative research office shows the proposal would have no impact on state or local governments.

The House committee debated the proposal Thursday among themselves with no individuals or groups testifying for or against it.  It’s not known when the committee will vote on the measure, which is known as HB 163.

(Missourinet) – A final vote is expected today on a so-called Right-to-work bill that would bar mandatory union fees.

The Missouri Senate voted Wednesday 21-12, largely along party lines, in favor of the measure. Three Republicans sided with Democrats and voted against the measure – Senators Paul Wieland of Imperial, Gary Romine of Farmington and Ryan Silvey of Kansas City.

Sen. John Rizzo (D-Kansas City) says a Right-to-work law would benefit millionaires and billionaires.

“When you look at dollars and cents, I was told in politics years ago, when it’s not about the money, it’s about the money. I think we all know obviously what it’s about. It’s about lower wages,” says Rizzo.

Sen. Gina Walsh (D-Bellefontaine Neighbors) says the proposal would undermine the middle class.

“We need to protect the workers. We need to keep it at a living wage because when you have a union involved, even the non-union sector benefits from that,” says Walsh.

Supporters of the proposal say a Right-to-work law would improve Missouri’s economy and create more jobs. Governor Greitens supports the measure.

If approved by Senators, the legislation would go back to the House with changes. The Senate version includes a provision that would exempt current union contracts until they expire or are opened up.

(Missourinet) – A northwest Missouri lawmaker who has advocated for fewer regulations for farmers says Governor Eric Greitens (R) will protect agriculture.

During last week’s State of the State Address, Greitens mentioned farming only once, when referring to overregulation.

Greitens told lawmakers that Missouri has issued more than 40,000 pages of new regulations (not just agriculture), during the past 17 years.

State Rep. Joe Don McGaugh (R-Carrollton) agrees with Greitens’ call to end “frivolous regulations.”

“If anything I took away from what he (Governor Greitens) talked about, whether it’s the local grain elevator who has to apply for a clean air permit every year, or whether it’s your local family farm who has to go through the permitting process,” says McGaugh. “Governor Greitens didn’t say agriculture specifically, but I could read between the lines and say when he’s talking about that, he means this.”

Greitens says if you laid those 40,000 pieces of paper end-to-end, it would be more than five miles of new regulations.

McGaugh, who represents a largely rural district in northwest and north-central Missouri, says Greitens will protect Missouri farmers.

“Whether it be me in Carrollton, Missouri, or whether it be (Oakville State Representative) Marsha Haefner in St. Louis, we both knew what he (Greitens) was talking about,” McGaugh says. “Because in the end, agriculture is a small business. It’s the biggest small business in Missouri and I know he (Greitens) will protect us and help the industry.”

The Missouri Department of Agriculture says ag is the state’s top industry, with an $88 billion economic impact.

Greitens complains there are too many regulations, saying that farmers “want to farm- not be lawyers and accountants.”

The governor has ordered a complete review of every regulation in Missouri, which pleases State Rep. Chuck Basye (R-Rocheport).

“I think that he kind of hit on it about the regulations and some of the things that the farmers are faced with, so I kind of have a unique district. I’ve got a big chunk of Columbia, but I have an awful big rural component too,” Basye tells Missourinet.

Basye represents four mid-Missouri counties in the House: Boone, Cooper, Howard and Randolph.

During his State of the State address, Greitens told lawmakers that he wants to reduce “unnecessary and outdated” regulations, so Missouri can focus on creating quality, high-paying jobs.

(Missourinet) – Missouri women make 78 cents for every dollar earned by men, according to a 2016 report conducted by the Women’s Foundation and the University of Missouri.

That compares to the Foundation’s 2014 report saying Missouri women made 77 cents for every dollar that men made. The 2016 pay difference of 22% between men and women equates to more than $10,000 annually.

Emily Johnson with the University of Missouri’s Institute of Public Policy says little progress has been made in closing the state’s gender pay gap.

“Many factors, including pay equity, education, health care, and child care significantly impact women’s lives and their ability to achieve economic equity,” says Johnson. “This earning gap has decreased over time, but has reached a plateau and remained at or around this percentage for years. At the national level, women earn about 80 cents for every dollar a man earns.”

Women in southeast Missouri’s Reynolds County earn an average 57 cents for every dollar that men earn, while women in central Missouri’s Miller County earn an average 96 cents for every dollar earned by men.

In 2013, the average pay for Missouri men was $43,000 a year compared to $34,000 for women.

Johnson says the latest report also shows that two-thirds of all Missourians older than 65 living in poverty are women.

“In Missouri, 10.3% of women over 65 were in poverty in 2015,” says Johnson. “The poverty rate of women 75 and older is almost two times higher than the poverty rate of men 75 and older in both Missouri and the U.S.”

Johnson says women also lead in the number of uninsured Missourians.

“About 60% of those uninsured in Missouri are women. There are 33 counties where more than one-fifth of the population is uninsured,” says Johnson.

The study says 9.8% of Missourians lacked health care coverage in 2015, compared to 13% in 2013. Nationally, 9.4% are uninsured.

Some Republicans in Washington vow to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a replacement. The number of uninsured Americans will likely increase if the law is repealed.

The report also shows a decline in the number of women in state leadership roles. About 22% of Missouri’s 2017 legislative seats are held by women, down from 25% in 2015. About 24% of state courts judges are women, 19% of state prosecutors are women, and there are two female sheriffs in Missouri.

View the full report by clicking here.

(Missourinet) – Missouri lawmakers will consider a proposal to hike the state’s motor fuel tax and transfer control and maintenance of lettered highways to counties.

The measure would provide the jurisdictions with funding equal to the amount the state has spent over a three-year period to maintain the roads.

The Missouri Transportation Department estimates it will cost about $500 million a year to keep the state’s 34,000 miles of roadway in good condition.

Republican state Senator Rob Schaaf of St. Joseph says his proposal would help lower the state’s burden of maintaining the massive system.

“We would reduce the size of the state’s highway mileage portfolio,” Schaaf said. “We would cut way back on it, and that would do something structural to fix the problem.”

The measure would also raise the state motor fuel tax by one-and-a-half cents for gasoline and three-and-a-half cents for diesel. Missouri’s current 17.3 cent fuel tax is among the lowest in the country.

The proposal would have to pass the legislature and then go to an election before being implemented. It would amend the state’s constitution which, by law, requires a public vote.

Schaaf claims the measure would strengthen local control of roads and reduce the state’s burden of maintaining the seventh largest highway system in the country.

“It kind of would give local control back to the counties, reduce the size of the state’s highway system and make it much more affordable for the state.”

He says handing the money the state currently spends on the roadways over to the counties would save the local jurisdictions from experiencing a huge surge in expenses.

“It wouldn’t be an unfunded mandate. It would be ‘Here are the roads. Here’s the money that we’re spending. Feel free to spend it how you see fit.’  That way, the state of Missouri would be able to get out from under this giant road system that’s killing us.”

The state Transportation Department claims it has more miles of highways it’s responsible for than Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas combined.

The agency says Missouri ranks 47th in revenue per mile because it has the nation’s seventh largest road system that’s funded with one of the lowest fuel taxes in the country.

Schaaf says the portion of his proposal which increases the motor fuel tax would start the process of obtaining proper funding to address the needs of highways which would still be maintained by the state if the measure passes.

He introduced a similar proposal last year which met with heavy resistance from senators who felt their counties don’t want responsibility for the lettered roads. If approved by voters, the provisions of the current proposed constitutional amendment would take effect on January 1, 2019.

(Missouri News Service) – JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Good news for Missourians who love fresh fish.

Two U.S. agencies have released new advice on how much and which types of fish are safe to eat – especially for women who are pregnant or may become pregnant.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency said more than 90 percent of fish are safe to eat.

The agencies have categorized more than 60 types of fish and shellfish as best, good, or choices to avoid.

Elizabeth Southerland, director of science and technology at the EPA’s Office of Water, said fish that are safe to eat contain essential nutrients and fatty acids that are beneficial for pregnant women.

“They’re a high quality source of protein, which is especially important for fetal development and for young children,” she said. “Again, the only concern we have about eating a lot of fish is if you’re eating a lot of fish that’s high in mercury.”

The agencies recommend two to three servings a week from the “best choices” category and only one serving from the list of “good choices.”

The recommended serving size is 4 ounces – or about the size your palm – for adults, and 2 ounces for children ages 4 to 7 years old.

The new guidelines are a shift from earlier messaging, when federal agencies advised the public about the dangers of eating too much fish.

Now, Southerland said federal agencies want to highlight a more positive message – even suggesting pregnant women or women who may become pregnant eat a minimum of 8 ounces of fish a week.

“FDA did an analysis of fish consumption back in 2005, and pregnant women ate fewer than 2 ounces a week,” she said. “And that’s a shame because again, it is a high nutrition source, with nutrients and high quality protein.”

Southerland said as a general rule, fish that live longer tend to accumulate more mercury in their tissue and should be avoided.

Some of those on the list to avoid include shark, swordfish and bigeye tuna.

Many states also publish guidelines about where it’s safe, or not, to catch and consume fish from local waters.

(Missourinet) – Some 30,000 people mobbed Downtown and the St. Louis Arch over the weekend for the Women’s march on St. Louis.  About 10 thousand people turned out in Kansas City, while two-to-three thousand gathered in Columbia.

In St. Louis, Democratic State Senator Maria Chappelle Nadal marched with her constituents.

“There are a lot of peoples’ lives who, they don’t know what’s going to happen,” Chappelle Nadal said. “They don’t know if they’re going to have their health care next week. They don’t know if they’re going to keep their jobs.”

She said the peaceful resistance to the Donald Trump presidency was positive action that many have been waiting for.

“We are in a place where we’re trying to figure things out and people are just scared, frankly. I’m scared,” Chappelle Nadal said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but we have to speak up and fight back.”

Lori Colvin, who lives north of Kansas City decided to go to the march in Columbia instead.

“My daughter lives in Columbia. She’s having a baby this coming week I believe,” Colvin said. “I thought it would be awesome to share this experience with my daughter and my soon to be granddaughter.”

The catalyst was the march in Washington of about half a million, to bring attention to concerns about how women were spoken about during the 2016 campaign and now about anti-Trump sentiments.

Between two and three thousand participated in the march for solidarity in downtown Columbia. High school students Melissa and Leela said their message was about the new president.

“Just against hearing what Trump is saying, and being together. And understanding that just because he’s our president doesn’t mean that we have to listen to what he says (about) things against women’s rights, and racial issues and things like that.”

A participant in the march in Columbia, Leona Greer is Muslim, and was impressed with the tone of the turnout.

“I fit in so many categories. I would say from healthcare, as a woman, as a Muslim, just equality. My family is Palestinian, my husband and children. Many rights, just human rights, I guess, would be respectful (to) humans dignities and human rights.”

At least 3.7 million people marched across at least 500 different cities on Saturday. The gathering in St. Louis, which culminated in a peaceful rally at the Arch.