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Rowland Report 1.28.2016

Greetings from your State Capitol.

I have been advised of a support group meeting that I wanted to pass on. DID YOU KNOW that 125,635 children under the age of 18 live in homes where the householders are grandparents or other relatives? If you are in that category and would like to join others who are doing the same thing as you are doing, you are invited to THE RIVER, 10374 E. Hwy 76, Forsyth.  These group meetings are held the 3rd  Saturday of the month at 10 a.m.  For more information call 417-546-3245.

The Governor gave his last State of the State address Jan. 20 .  Governor Nixon outlined some of his budget ideas for the various programs in his speech.  In talking with our budget members I find it very difficult, with projected revenues, to fund the programs he discussed at his level and maintain a balanced budget for the State.

He mentioned Medicaid expansion but didn’t give any solutions as to how to fund it. He mentioned a possible tax increase to help fund transportation but didn’t take into account the recently failed issue that voters rejected in 2014. He wants to expand the State’s park system and purchase additional property when we can’t fund existing programs fully.  I feel we need to fully fund our existing programs before expanding.

Here are the bills and resolutions passed out of the House this week:

HB 1631 – Requires a person to submit a specified form of photo identification in order to vote in a public election with specified exemptions.

HJR 53 – Proposes a constitutional amendment specifying that a person seeking to vote in a public election may be required by general law to provide a valid government-issued photo identification.

HCR 58 – Disapproves the State Tax Commission’s proposed regulation to establish agricultural and horticultural land values for 2017 and 2018.

All bill information can be found on the House website under bill tracking at www.house.mo.gov