Reauthorizing the Wartime Veteran’s Survivor Program
This week at the Capitol the Senate recommenced after a short legislative Spring Break. I would like to use this week’s column to update you on one particularly positive piece of legislation from Senator David Pearce, R-Warrensburg, which has been perfected and passed in the Senate and is now working its way through the House. I would also like to update you on the work I’ve been doing to balance the state’s budget, and pay respect to two great Missouri statesmen who recently passed away.
Senator Pearce’s Senate Bill 855, which was perfected and passed this past week, would reauthorize a program that I worked incredibly hard to get started during my time as a state representative. The Senate bill would re-establish the Wartime Veteran’s Survivor Grant program, which is something I eventually got signed into law after years of work. The original bill contained a 2014 sunset date.
The program provides higher education financial aid to the spouses and children of wartime veterans, which is a group of war victims that often need assistance, yet get overlooked in terms of aid. Senate Bill 855 would establish a new sunset for the program in 2020, and the legislation could be reauthorized by the General Assembly in the future for an even longer amount of time. I am thrilled by the passage of this helpful and positive piece of legislation, and I’m very hopeful that it will pass through the House and on to the governor to be signed into law.
Looking ahead until Session adjournment in mid-May, a large amount of my legislative work will be focused on my Appropriations Committee responsibilities, which deal with balancing the state budget. Over the next month-and-a-half, my fellow Appropriations Committee members and I will be heavily engaged in deciding how best to allocate the state’s $27.3 billion budget across a wide variety of programs, services and departments.
This is no easy task, especially considering the shortage of resources our state has available, largely due to an unaffordable amount of funding being used for the Department of Social Services (DSS). Between 2016-2017, DSS funding alone is expected to increase by $395 million, the majority of which will go toward MO HealthNet services (98 percent to state Medicaid). In order for the Legislature to fund this requested amount, $28 million in General Revenue has to be taken from other state programs and services just to pay for a DSS increase. This is not acceptable or affordable, and the Appropriations Committee has already spent many hours to try and balance our available resources in an equitable manner.
One of the reasons this task is so difficult lies with the fact that prescription drug costs have doubled over the past five years. When the cost of maintaining social services programs rises exponentially faster than the state budget – like it is doing now – other state-funded programs, departments and services pay the price. Access to quality health care is a serious concern for the General Assembly, and we’ve been working very hard in Appropriations to ensure that this is a right all Missourians can enjoy. However, the expensive costs of maintaining that system is what makes the job so difficult.
On a more somber note, I would like to pay my respects to the passing of former Representative Leroy Blunt and former State Senator John T. Russell. Blunt, the father of U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt and the grandfather of former governor Matt Blunt, will be sorely missed here at the Capitol, where he served four consecutive terms (1979-1986) in the Missouri House. Senator Russell, the former minority floor leader for the House and the former state senator for the 33rd District, was a champion for our state’s agricultural workers, small businesses and education system. His work toward improving the lives of residents in the 33rd District and all Missouri will act as a lasting legacy to his name, and one that I will work to honor through my service in the Senate.
As always, I appreciate it when groups from around Missouri and from our community back home come to visit me at the Capitol. If you would like to arrange a time to come and visit me in Jefferson City, or if you ever have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact my Capitol office at (573) 751-1882.