Representative Neely's Capitol Report
Greetings Friends of the 8th!
Make Your Voice Heard at the Ballot Box on Nov. 8
The voter registration deadline has passed and the people of Missouri are set to help determine the future of the state and the nation on November 8. It’s now up to all the registered voters to make their voices heard at the ballot box. They will need to turn out not only to decide who will lead the country and the state, but also to determine races for statewide offices, state representative, and for a range of ballot issues that can make significant changes to the way the state operates. Without question, this is an extremely important election, and if Missourians are going to make this country’s representative democracy work as the founding fathers intended, it’s imperative that everyone take advantage of the fundamental right that is voting.
The good news is that voter participation rates are typically high during presidential elections. As an example, the 2012 general election saw approximately 2.8 million of the 4.2 million registered voters cast a ballot for a participation rate of almost 66 percent. The number was even higher for the 2008 general, which saw a participation rate of more than 69 percent. When both numbers are compared to the 35 percent participation rate for the 2014 general election, it is clear that voters are motivated to turn out during presidential elections.
Now it is imperative that voters take the time to learn the candidates and the issues so they can make informed votes. As Thomas Jefferson once said, “Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.” November 8 is an opportunity for Missourians to cast their votes to help determine the direction the state and the nation will take over the next four years.
Dyslexia Task Force Holds First Hearing
The legislature’s Task Force on Dyslexia recently held its first hearing in the State Capitol. The group, which is made up of lawmakers, medical and education officials, and private individuals with expertise or experience with dyslexia, was created with the passage of HB 2379 during the 2016 regular session.
The group is working to make recommendations to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in three key areas: how and when students should be screened for dyslexia; how students with reading issues can be helped in classrooms; and what professional development should be implemented to train faculty in screenings. The department will then take the task force’s recommendations and use them to develop their guidelines, which have to be completed by December 31, 2017.
One of the members of the task force talked about the experiences her niece went through as a student with dyslexia. The state representative noted that her niece was frustrated as she felt like she was doing something wrong even though she was working hard. The task force member hopes that with early screening, students like her niece could be identified and helped to obtain the support they need to achieve their academic potential.
The task force is required to report to the governor and the legislature’s Joint Committee on Education by October 18, 2017. The chair of the task force said the group could make recommendations ahead of the deadline so that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education would have more time to consider them.
Once screenings in schools begin, the parents of students who are found to have indicators of dyslexia will be notified, so that they can choose whether to follow-up with more testing by medical professionals.
The task force plans to hold its next hearing at the end of November.
Improving Missouri’s System of Foster Care (HB 1877)
A piece of legislation that went into effect as law in August now gives courts more to think about before putting a youth back into the state’s foster care system, and gives foster parents more say in their foster children’s extracurricular activities.
The legislature approved House Bill 1877 during the 2016 regular session and the governor signed the bill into law. One of its provisions specifies what a court must weigh when considering a petition for a youth to reenter the foster care system. The goal is for a court to look at whether the individual had been behaving properly in the system before leaving it. The sponsor of the legislation said the bill is meant to address an issue where juvenile offenders are sometimes put back into the foster care system even if it’s not the proper place for them.
The new law also requires a court and other parties in a child’s case to defer to the foster parent in decisions regarding participation in extracurricular and other activities, such as school field trips. The bill is meant to give some clarity to the confusion that sometimes exists in regard to who has the right to give permission to the young person.
HB 1877 also included provisions dealing with when people should be placed on the state’s child abuse and neglect registry; identifying and responding to abuse and neglect of children three years old and younger; and the creation of a task force on the prevention of infant abuse and neglect.
Governor Nixon Releases More Budget Dollars
Just a few weeks ago Governor Nixon released approximately $12 million of the more than $174 million in funds he had restricted. This week he released another $8.7 million in funds in reaction to a settlement with Volkswagen. The dollars obtained through the multi-state consumer protection settlement allowed the governor to release additional funds for school transportation, disaster response, and agricultural producers. Specifically, the governor’s decision provides $4.5 million for school transportation. It also releases $3 million for a previously deferred biodiesel subsidies transfer. Additionally, $1.2 million in funding will go to the State Emergency Management Agency for Missouri Task Force 1 to support disaster response. Even with the latest release of dollars, the governor continues to withhold more than $150 million from the current state operating budget.
