(Missourinet) – An organization dedicated to helping individuals with developmental disabilities is trying to get legislation through the Missouri statehouse.

The group – MO Insurance Coverage for Developmental Delays – wants insurance companies to be required to cover the cost of therapy for those with conditions such as Down syndrome and cerebral palsy.

Spokesperson Robyn Schelp says there’s a gaping hole for individuals who have trouble learning basic skills like walking, talking and eating.

“If you read the language in your insurance, it will say we cover therapies related injury, stroke,” Shelp said. “Mine has cancer in there. But a lot of them will not, and some of them are starting to say autism, but even then they still don’t cover other developmental disabilities.”

Currently, therapy for developmental disabilities is at least $100 an hour, with many individuals requiring three-to-four different sessions a week. The treatment is needed for kids between the ages of 0-3, but should be sustained throughout life because the conditions are never cured.

Schelp says the lack of therapy in the early stages has a compounding effect.

“Kids aren’t getting the therapies they need,” Schelp said. “Then we have more kids going into special ed. when they hit the age of three at the schools because they didn’t get the early intervention that they needed.”

Shelp says the Affordable Care Act is starting to offer coverage for developmental disabilities, but she doubts the federal health law will last much longer.

The state has an existing program, which is mandated through the federal government, called “First Steps,” but requires children with disabilities to be behind the skill levels of normal kids by 50 percent.

Schelp says, as a result, many children get left behind.

“If you have a 40 percent delay, which is also very significant, you don’t get anything. So we have a lot of children who are 0-3 who no therapies when they desperately need these therapies to learn basic life skills.”

The group has met with two Missouri House members who plan to introduce proposals requiring insurance coverage for the disabilities.

It may also be trying to establish itself in the minds of lawmakers. According to its website, the organization has also met with Missouri’s new Republican State Treasurer, Eric Schmitt, who was a state Senator. Schmitt is the father of a child with Autism.

After legislation was passed in a previous session to deal with dyslexia, a legislative task force met in October to formulate a plan for schools to accommodate students with that learning disorder. It’ll take a year for the plan to be implemented.

Schelp, who has a nine year old diagnosed with three developmental disorders, is under no illusion lawmakers will quickly pass a measure dealing with her organizations cause. She says she’s been told it will be an uphill battle.

(Missourinet) – Governor Eric Greitens’ $146 million in budget restrictions announced Monday include $80 million in higher education.

The budget withholdings could affect tuition at Missouri’s colleges and universities. House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty (D-Kansas City) hopes the pain won’t reach that far.

“I haven’t had a chance to talk to anyone at the universities, but that’s very much possible, which is then putting yet another burden on our students that are already struggling to get through school,” says Beatty.

About $56 million in Greitens’ budget withholds are in core funding for Missouri’s two-year and four-year colleges and universities. Other funding cuts targeted included the A+ Schools Program and certain college programs.

In a statement from Greitens, he says Missouri’s budget is suffering from reduced revenue due to poor economic growth. He says that revenue is being drained by special interest tax credits and the faster-than-projected growth in healthcare expenditures, driven in part by the national impact of Obamacare.

Greitens says during the next 18 months, more than $700 million in budget cuts will be necessary just to make the budget balance and retain Missouri’s AAA credit rating.

“The fact is, that more hard choices lie ahead. But as Missourians, I believe we must come together, tighten our belts, be smart and wise with our tax dollars, and work our way out of this hole by bringing more jobs with higher pay to the people of Missouri,” says Greitens.

Additional details on the spending restrictions are linked here.

Governor Greitens will hold his first State of the State address Tuesday. The speech is traditionally when the Governor releases the state budget proposal, but Greitens plans to wait until February to unveil his budget requests.

(Missourinet) – Despite facing a large budget shortfall at the start of it, former Missouri Governor Christopher “Kit” Bond (R) says the best days he had in government were his second term from 1981 to January 1985 in Jefferson City.

Republican Bond beat incumbent Joe Teasdale (D) in November 1980. After the election, Bond says Teasdale Office of Administration Commissioner Steve Bradford informed him that the state budget was $900 million out of balance.

The state budget at that time was about $3 billion. Bond says he immediately went to work and met with Missouri House and Senate leaders, who were all Democrats.

“I said, look, we have got to get out of this (budget) hole, otherwise the state’s going to go bankrupt, and we’re all going to have egg on our face or worse,” says Bond.

Bond tells Missourinet his office came up with a list of $1.6 billion in possible cuts, and asked the Legislature to select the $900 million they found “least objectionable.”

“None of them (possible cuts) were very pleasant, but the least objectionable,” Bond says. “And I’ll recommend them, you (the Legislature) pass them, I’ll sign them. You (lawmakers) can criticize me for it, but we’ll get out of this mess. They did, I signed them, got a lot of criticism, but we got through the mess.”

Bond says that 1981 agreement became the basis for a “great working relationship” he had with the Democratic-controlled Legislature during the entire second term.

He says Democrats had about 70 percent of legislative seats at that time. He remembers working closely with numerous Democrats, including House Speaker Bob Griffin (D-Cameron), State Sen. Norman Merrill (D-Monticello), State Sen. Jim Mathewson (D-Sedalia), State Sen. John Scott (D-St. Louis) and State Sen. Ed Dirck (D-St. Ann).

Bond says the 1981 program cuts upset some. He says some mental hospitals were phased out or closed and replaced with community-based services. He says there were some pickets against him.

Bond was elected governor in 1972 and served his first term from 1973 to January 1977. He pushed and established government reorganization, which he describes as a “real battle”.

Bond lost a re-election bid in 1976 to “Walking Joe” Teasdale, but beat Teasdale in 1980.

Bond says his greatest success as governor came in that second term, when Parents as Teachers passed. He credits former State Sen. Harry Wiggins (D-Kansas City), for getting it to the finish line.

“Harry was absolutely critical,” says Bond. “He got it through. We had some lawyers on my (the Republican) side who were filibustering it and we had to make a little legislative deal to get that one adopted.”

Parents as Teachers started in Missouri in 1984. It now serves more than 200,000 children in all 50 states and six other countries.

The Parents as Teachers website says the program “promotes the optimal early development, learning and health of young children by supporting and engaging their parents and caregivers.” The website says Parents as Teachers works to shape policy “around the importance of enhancing school readiness by reaching children during the critical, formative years of life.”

(Missourinet) – State Senators are considering a proposal to make Missouri a Right-to-Work state.

A committee is looking at a measure similar to a bill already passed by the House in the first week of the legislative session.

A right to work law would let workers who receive union representation opt out of paying union dues.

At last week’s Senate committee hearing, Greg Mourad with the National Right to Work Committee said unions have too much power in the state.

“Under current law in Missouri, employees who never requested union representation can be forced to accept a labor union as their exclusive monopoly bargaining agent,” said Mourad. “Then, rubbing salt in the wound, they can be forced to pay for representation they do not want, never asked for, and in fact believe they would be better off without.”

The committee heard from an evenly divided group of people representing both sides of the issue.  Committee Chairman Bob Onder (R-Lake St. Louis) rotated both sides evenly through the hearing, which lasted nearly two hours.

Sheryl Rodarmel with National Nurses United said nurses are boosted by union representation.

“She is the person who talks to the physicians,” said Rodarmel. “She’s the person who educates the family. Without these, I know the voice of nurses have been silenced for years until we have begun to become more of an advocate for ourselves through my union.”

Matt Patterson with the Americans for Tax Reform Center for Worker Freedom supports the measure. He accused unions of being too political.

“I like to tell my liberal friends ‘How would you feel if you were told by your boss, if you want to keep working here you have to join and pay dues to the National Rifle Association,’” said Patterson. “They would be outraged, and rightfully so. The NRA’s a political organization. They have a political agenda. Some people don’t support that agenda. No one should have to choose over whether to keep a job, support a family, or support an organization that’s overtly political.”

The Senate committee’s expected to vote on its right to work proposal Wednesday. The House version is set to go before its chamber the same day.

The Republican dominated legislature has passed right to work legislation numerous times in recent years, only to have it vetoed by Democratic Governor Jay Nixon. With new GOP Governor Eric Greitens now in office, the party is poised to rocket the legislation into law.

Shannon Cooper is a former Republican Missouri House member from Clinton who is now a lobbyist. He represents the Carpenter’s Council of St. Louis and Kansas City, which has 20,000 members in 34 Local Unions from Missouri, Kansas, and Southern Illinois.

Cooper said he strongly opposes right to work laws, but is resigned to the legislation passing in Missouri.

“I know where we’re going, and we all know where we’re going,” said Cooper. “There’s no need to sit here and beat each other up. On behalf of our 20,000 members, we’re going to celebrate the councils’ 135th birthday this year. We have survived uncertain political climates. We have survived recessions and depressions. And we’ll get through this. We’re not happy. They’ll never understand why you did this.”

The Senate committee hearing the right to work proposal is also looking at a measure which would require public employee unions to get written consent before withholding union dues from paychecks. Both pieces of legislation dealing with labor laws are sponsored by Senator Dan Brown (R-Rolla).

(Missourinet) – State legislators prepare to hear Governor Greitens’ State of the State address – without his budget requests.

The speech has traditionally included the governor’s proposed budget, but Greitens plans to wait until February to release those details.

He announced Wednesday the hiring of Missouri’s first chief operating officer. Drew Erdmann, with a management consulting firm for governments and non-governmental organizations, assumes the position.

Missouri House Minority Floor Leader Gail McCann Beatty (D-Kansas City) says not hearing Greitens’ budget suggestions on Tuesday will delay the legislature’s budget work.

“I wish we were going to hear something on our budget. That’s always been, in the last few years, one of their priorities is getting the budget started early. We already know we’re not going to hear that and that’s a problem,” says McCann Beatty.

House Speaker Todd Richardson (R-Poplar Bluff) is not worried about the hold up.

“We will be more than prepared to deliver a balanced budget within the constitutional timeline,” says Richardson.

House budget committee chair Scott Fitzpatrick (R-Shell Knob) says he won’t speculate where FY18 reductions will occur, until he hears Greitens’ proposed budget.

“We will pass a balanced budget. We’ll get it done, just like we always do. It’s just going to be tougher,” says Fitzpatrick.

The current fiscal year has been challenging for legislative budget leaders and additional restrictions are looming. Then-Governor Jay Nixon (D) withheld about $200 million in the budget. Fitzpatrick tells Missourinet that the state is facing about a $200 million gap that Greitens is projected to close to balance the FY2017 budget.

Richardson says Greitens’ speech will instead focus on policy. Republicans hope to hear about changes to laws on labor, ethics, education and the civil justice system involving tort cases or damages.

Listen to live coverage of the State of the State address on Tuesday on Missourinet.com and ABC 17. Joey Parker of ABC 17 and Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth begin their preview at 6:45 p.m.

Continue to follow our coverage on Wednesday, as we bring you the response of legislators from around the state.

(Missourinet) – The state legislature will be asked to allow terminally-ill Missourians to have access to medical marijuana.

Rep. Jim Neely (R-Cameron), who is a licensed physician, says the drug would’ve helped his daughter, who died of cancer in 2015.

“Maybe medical marijuana, we ought to be giving that to at least the terminal people or end of life, and see if we can gain some knowledge in regards to how we care for people,” says Neely.

He tells Missourinet he’s optimistic that the bill will make it to the House floor.

“I think the timing is good. I think we have a culture that (says) let’s try to open our eyes and let’s see what’s out there. Anybody that’s seen people suffer, there ought to be a way to maybe makes things a little bit better,” says Neely. “I think sometimes we get limited. We have too many other people trying to tell us how to do and what to do and from a physician side of things, I think this might be a reasonable approach.”

Neely, of northwest Missouri, says the measure could also be expanded to include access to cannabis oil.

A similar medical marijuana measure didn’t make it on November’s general election ballot. Medical marijuana supporters want to ask Missouri voters to approve another proposal next year.

Opponents are concerned that medical marijuana would lead to legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes.

(Missourinet) – Missouri’s newly-inaugurated Attorney General is looking forward to working with the incoming Trump administration.

Josh Hawley (R), a constitutional lawyer, says the Trump administration will be responsive to the needs of Missourians.

“We look forward to working with them, rather than working against them, and having an administration that’s going to protect the Constitution and the rights and liberties of our people,” says Hawley.

Hawley says he’s implemented the toughest ethics policy of any Attorney General’s office in the nation. Hawley tells Missourinet his office is not a political one.

“Missourians can count on me to defend them, to defend their livelihoods and their families, and that’s regardless of party by the way,” Hawley says. “This is not political office, I’m not going to run on a political basis. We’re going to defend all Missourians.”

Hawley was inaugurated on Monday. His new ethics policy says that neither the Attorney General nor any Attorney General office employees can accept gifts from lobbyists. The new policy also says that the Attorney General will not accept any campaign contributions from any person currently under investigation by the Attorney General’s office.

Hawley is also focused on consumer protection.

About 105,000 Missourians filed complaints in 2015 with the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division. The numbers are still being totaled for 2016.

Hawley says consumer protection complaints will be a top priority.

“So important, you know, protecting people from scam artists, particularly seniors, veterans, young people, college students,” says Hawley. “That is a major function of our office. It’s something we’re going to take very seriously.”

The Attorney General’s office also mediates complaints between businesses and consumers. The Consumer Protection Hotline number is 1-800-392-8222.

(Missourinet) – One of the Missouri Legislature’s top Democrats wants a committee to be granted subpoena power to compel witness testimony in cases involving the Missouri Department of Corrections.

A scathing November investigative report in the Kansas City “Pitch” says Missouri paid about $7 million during the past four years, to settle lawsuits brought by Missouri Corrections employees who claim they were victims of harassment and retaliation.

House Speaker Todd Richardson (R-Poplar Bluff) has called for an investigation into the Department. House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty (D-Kansas City) supports Richardson’s call, and says a legislative committee should use subpoenas.

“I think it is imperative that we truly investigate this and see how far it goes,” says Beatty. “I also went so far as to talk to the (State) Auditor (Nicole Galloway) and ask her to do an audit of that fund.”

Beatty is referring to the state’s Legal Expense Fund, which is an account used to make payments that stem from lawsuits against the state.

House Budget Committee Chairman Scott Fitzpatrick (R-Shell Knob) tells Missourinet that he will call DOC officials to testify about the “Pitch” report. A date has not been scheduled yet.

While Republicans have large majorities in the Missouri Legislature, Beatty is optimistic about working with the GOP in several key areas.

“I think there’s still some education issues that we need to work on. We talk about infrastructure and transportation, our highways, we still need to deal with that,” Beatty says. “And the budget in general, that has always typically been a very bipartisan process.”

Beatty tells Missourinet she worries about possible education cuts. She is pushing for additional funding for early childhood education.

House Budget Committee Chair Fitzpatrick predicts Governor Eric Greitens (R) will have to make $150 to $200 million in additional restrictions.

Beatty, who spoke on ABC 17 News and Missourinet during Monday’s live inauguration coverage, also addressed right-to-work. She says Republicans are taking their cue on right-to-work from retired St. Louis investor Rex Sinquefield and Joplin businessman David Humphreys.

“I do not see a big clamor from the public one way or the other for right-to-work, quite frankly. And if you simply follow the money trail, look at the dollars that were spent by those two (Sinquefield and Humphreys) in the campaigns and who they supported and the number of pro-labor, particularly Republicans, who lost as a result of those dollars being put against them.”

A Missouri House committee held public hearings Tuesday in Jefferson City on five right-to-work bills.

The Senate General Laws Committee will hold a noon hearing Wednesday on State Sen. Dan Brown’s (R-Rolla) right-to-work 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.

(Missourinet) – The Missouri Department of Corrections (DOC) has been mired in allegations of harassment and retaliation against corrections employees that have cost the state millions of dollars in settlements. But the agency says one of its inmate initiatives resulted in almost 140 tons of produce being donated to non-profits last year.

Its Restorative Justice Garden Program engages inmates in the process of cultivating fruits and vegetables on prison grounds. Outgoing DOC Director George Lombardi said he thinks the program can be instrumental in rehabilitating offenders.

“It really teaches offenders compassion and altruism in particular,” said Lombardi. “And these are qualities that a lot of those inmates never had in their life, or it was suppressed because of childhood trauma.”

Lombardi said prisons often get a bad rap for not taking steps to rehabilitate those incarcerated.

“That is a myth. I don’t care what system you’re in in this country. We’re all engaged with education for offenders,” Lombardi said. “We’re engaged in substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment, all kinds of opportunities for offenders who want to help themselves.”

The program operates at all of the state’s 21 adult prisons without the use of taxpayer money. All of the seeds and plants for the gardens are donated to the institutions.

The top producing prisons are the Booneville, Farmington and Northeast Correctional Centers.

The fresh produce generated by the inmates is donated to local food pantries, shelters, churches and nursing homes. Lombardi said the staggering quantity of produce has an impact on the outlets that receive it.

“I mean, I don’t know. 137 tons is a lot of produce obviously. When you’re able to fulfill many of the needs of 80 pantries, as an example, I think that gets the picture pretty well.”

Lombardi’s last day as DOC Director is Tuesday, the day after Republican Governor-elect Eric Greitens is sworn into office.

Greitens decided to replace him last month after a newspaper reported the state paid more than $7.5 million in settlement payments and judgments resulting from harassment and retaliation allegations from DOC employees.

Lombardi has worked at the agency for 41 years. He told Missourinet that he’s not sure what he’s going to do next, but will give himself time to “decompress.”  He said it’s been a privilege and an honor to work at the department.