WASHINGTON, D.C. – As President Barack Obama renews his commitment “to moving forward with controversial Clean Air Act regulations to cut carbon dioxide emissions for all new coal and gas-fired power plants,” U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) introduced an amendment today to protect American families from skyrocketing energy costs that would result from a carbon tax.

Blunt’s amendment – which was filed to the “Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act,” which was introduced by U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.) and Rob Portman (Ohio.) – would create a Point of Order against any bill that contains a tax or fee on carbon emissions from sources that are direct or indirect sources of emissions. Blunt introduced similar amendments to prevent a carbon tax in April 2014 to the unemployment insurance bill, and in March 2013 to the FY14 budget.

The amendment is co-sponsored by U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (Pa.). To read the text, please click here.

“Middle and low-income families are the hardest hit by costly and burdensome energy policies like a carbon tax – especially in states like Missouri that depend heavily on coal for affordable and reliable power,” Blunt said. “A carbon tax would lead to significant job losses and force American households to pay more at the pump, more to heat and cool their homes, and more for almost every American-made product they buy.”

Missouri relies on coal for more than 80 percent the state’s electricity needs, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). States like Missouri would see their utility bills increase by 19 percent if a carbon tax was imposed, according to a 2013 study by NERA Economic Consulting the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).

A 2012 Consumer Expenditure Survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) found that more than 40 million American households earning less than $30,000 per year spend an average of 20 percent or more of their family budget on utility bills. A 2013 study by NAM found the overall impact of a carbon tax on American jobs would be staggering, with a loss of worker income equivalent to between 1.3 million and 1.5 million jobs in 2013 and between 3.8 million and 21 million by 2053.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City woman who won a $2.5 million Missouri Lotto prize says she plans to retire early.

The Missouri Lottery announced Tuesday that 64-year-old Patricia Roscher won the April 12 drawing after buying a ticket at a QuikTrip in Pleasant Valley.

Lottery officials say Roscher is the 225th player to win a Lotto jackpot and the 401st person to win at least $1 million in a Missouri Lottery game.

The QuikTrip will get $5,000 for selling a winning ticket.

BARNETT (AP) – The Humane Society of Missouri says it will be several weeks before more than 150 animals removed from a south-central Missouri property can recover.

The Humane Society and other authorities on Tuesday were removing cats, dogs, horses and goats from the property about 40 miles southwest of Jefferson City in Morgan County. Authorities say that many of the animals are underweight and sick after living in filthy conditions. A dead foal was found in a barrel on the land.

The property owner and tenant voluntarily gave up the animals. The Sheriff’s Department is pursuing animal abuse charges.

The Humane Society says as many of the animals as possible will be put up for adoption once they are well enough.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City man was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the rapes of two young women in 1992.

Forty-nine-year-old Keith Harris was sentenced Monday for raping the 18- and 19-year-old women. Harris was arrested in December 2012 in Platte County, after his DNA profile matched evidence from the 1992 case.

The Kansas City Star reports the two victims told police they met Harris at a bar in Kansas City, Kan., and agreed to ride with him in his semi-trailer truck. They said he stopped in Kansas City and raped them while threatening them with a knife.

Harris was sentenced to seven years each on two counts of rape. The sentence will run consecutively.

JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) — A judge has lowered the bond requirements for a suspect in the shooting death of a Missouri Southern State University assistant football coach.

Jasper County Circuit Judge Gayle Crane on Monday allowed 40-year-old Jeffrey Bruner to post 10 percent of the $1 million bail and be released with the backing of a bail bondsman.

Previously Moore was jailed on a $1 million cash-only bond and required to post the entire amount himself.

Bruner is charged with first-degree murder in shooting of Moore as he left a Joplin theater with Bruner’s estranged wife.

The Joplin Globe reports Bruner will be required to live with his parents and wear an electronic monitoring bracelet. He’s also ordered not to contact his wife or Moore’s family and stay off the Missouri Southern campus.

SEDALIA–A Missouri woman was injured in a Monday night motorcycle crash in Pettis County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2005 Harley Davidson Motorcycle ridden by Suzanne B. Arias, 58, Sedalia was traveling on Route HH just north of US 65. The motorcycle stuck a cardboard box in the roadway causing it to overturn and slide off the road. The rider was ejected.

Arias was transported to Bothwell Regional Health Center.
The MSHP report does not indicate whether she was wearing a helmet.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The state Senate’s budget chief says there are no plans to revise Missouri’s financial projections despite a recent decline in tax revenues.

House and Senate negotiators were to begin work Tuesday on a final version of Missouri’s more than $26 billion budget for the fiscal year starting July 1. They expect to get it done before Friday’s constitutional deadline for passing a budget.

But Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Kurt Schaefer says lawmakers aren’t adjusting next year’s revenue projections.

Legislators had projected revenues to rise by 2 percent this year and an additional 4.2 percent next year.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri transportation officials are asking drivers to watch out for crews mowing roadsides during the next few months.

The Transportation Department will soon begin mowing more than 385,000 acres of state-maintained roadsides. Most routes will be mowed three times through the end of October.

Road crews will also use herbicides throughout the summer to stunt grass growth and stop the spread of noxious weeds.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri lawmakers have given final approval to a bill that would require a notice be provided to women following mammograms.

The notice would state that dense breast tissue can hide abnormalities and that women with other risk factors for breast cancer could benefit from supplemental screening tests suggested by their doctors.

House members approved the bill 143-5 on Monday. It passed the Senate 32-0 earlier and goes now goes to Gov. Jay Nixon.