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MNEA
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE RETURNS
Welcome to the first installment of the weekly Missouri NEA
Legislative Update for the 2007 session.
POSITIVE
AGENDA
Missouri NEA believes that great public schools are a basic
right for every child. The Association will continue to promote
a positive agenda that strengthens public education and public
educators for the benefit of children. Key issues for the
upcoming session will include:
- Establishing
and protecting adequate funding for public K-12 and higher
education;
- Protecting
fair and adequate staff salary schedules and retirement
benefits;
- Ensuring
all children have healthcare and come to school ready to
learn; and
- Supporting
and empowering employees with collective bargaining and
due process.
SESSION
BEGINS WITH CELEBRATION OF LAGGING PUBLIC INVESTMENT
On Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2007 the new legislative session began.
House Speaker Rod Jetton gave his opening address to the House.
The full text is online at:
http://www.house.mo.gov/default.aspx?info=/bills061/speakersspeech.htm
The speech
praises “fixing the budget” without “raising
taxes,” but understandably fails to mention the serious
consequences that “fix” has had for Missourians:
- The
old school formula, which still distributes most school
aid, is now permanently underfunded by $800 million per
year but has been relabeled as “full funded”;
- Funding
for state colleges has declined while scholarship funding
has stagnated;
- Missouri
parents and students face huge college tuition increases;
- The
rights of injured workers have been seriously curtailed;
- Thousands
of poor, working adults have lost their health insurance;
- The
entire Medicaid program is set to expire in one year; and
- Our
state employees are still the lowest paid in the nation.
The Association
believes the General Assembly should address this critical
deficit of public investment and ensure adequate funding for
public K-12 and higher education and other vital public services,
TAX
CUTS
Despite all of the consequences of failing to maintain adequate
public investment, House Speaker Rod Jetton and others believe
the state now has a “surplus” and are calling
for another round of tax cuts. Meanwhile, Senate Appropriations
chair Chuck Gross notes there really is no surplus, as mandatory
increases will use up nearly all anticipated revenues. It
is timely to recall that the permanent tax cuts enacted in
the late 1990s were the primary cause of the structural budget
deficit that forced declining public investment over the last
six years.
TAX
CREDIT VOUCHERS AND URBAN SCHOOLS
House Speaker Rod Jetton also urges an unspecified legislative
solution to the St. Louis public schools “crisis”—apparently,
a prelude to another all-out push to pass a tuition-tax credit
voucher that will do nothing to improve urban schools. Tax-credit
voucher proponents are expected to re-file a bill similar
to last year’s House Bill 1783 (Carl Bearden) but, perhaps,
with a lower percentage of tax credit—say, 50 percent
rather than 100 percent. While H.B. 1783 did not pass last
year, the latest round of news about concerns in St. Louis
City schools will no doubt be exploited by the bill’s
proponents, and the outcome is far from certain this early
in the session. The Association will have to work diligently,
with strong member involvement and support from other groups
to defeat this deceptive effort to divert public funds to
private, religious and home schools and, instead, support
a proactive package that offers real help for the challenges
faced by students and educators in hard-to-serve schools.
HIGHER
EDUCATION
Many legislators seem to agree on the need to invest more
in higher education. However, all aspects of higher education
spending have suffered over the last six years, and legislative
leaders will not likely have the political will or the resources
to restore institutional aid to adequate levels while adequately
investing in student scholarship programs.
Gov. Matt
Blunt still wants to sell off long-term loan assets from the
Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA) to free
up a quick $350 million for campus construction projects.
Blunt may call a special session on the MOHELA issue in January
in an effort to start campus building projects this spring.
The Association continues to have concerns that selling off
these long-term assets will ultimately diminish MOHELA’s
capacity to fulfill it’s primary purpose: to promote
affordable access to higher education in Missouri.
SCHOOL
FUNDING TRIAL BEGINS
While not mentioned by either House or Senate leaders, the
trial of the Committee for Educational Equality school funding
lawsuit began on Wednesday, Jan. 3, in Cole County Circuit
Court. Judge Richard Callahan is handling the case. The CEE
alleges the state school funding formula is unconstitutional
because it is both inadequate and inequitable for students
across the state. The trial is expected to last into early
February, and a trial court ruling may be handed down before
the legislative session concludes in May. The Association
supports the CEE lawsuit as a necessary way to work to achieve
adequate and equitable funding that provides the tools and
resources needed to maintain great public schools for all
students across the state.
MISSOURI
NEA’S COMPREHENSIVE GOVERNMENT RELATIONS PROGRAM
Missouri NEA cannot achieve long-term success by direct lobbying
action alone and will depend on a grassroots-education campaign
led by MNEA and carried out by our Government Relation Teams
and our membership. Teachers and other staff must take the
initiative to contact legislators about key issues affecting
public education.
Here's
what you can do to support MNEA's legislative agenda:
- Be
a part of your local Government Relations Team.
- Take
the initiative to contact local legislators now to discuss
our key issues.
- Attend
the legislative brunch in your area.
- Attend
the Missouri NEA Capitol Action Days for your Governance
District. Capitol Action Days begin in early February and
include most Tuesdays and Wednesdays until the first week
of May.
- Receive
and read the MNEA Legislative Update 2007 via e-mail while
the legislature is in session from January to May.
- Visit
the Missouri Legislative Action Center: http://capwiz.com/nea/mo/state/main/?state=MO
The Missouri
Legislative Action Center (MLAC) is a convenient, Web-based
way to lobby state legislators (and other elected officials)
on key education issues. MLAC uses a program called CapWiz
to make sending an e-mail on a priority issue quick and easy.
As priority issues move forward this session, the MNEA Legislative
Update will provide links to Action Alerts on the MLAC Web
site.
PLAN
TO ATTEND YOUR MNEA LEGISLATIVE BRUNCH
Legislative involvement is close to home at your MNEA Legislative
Brunch. The brunch is a great opportunity to visit with local
area legislators and hear a legislative briefing. A new brunch
is scheduled this year in Moberly on Jan. 11, 2007.
Area legislative
brunch schedule:
Moberly
– Jan. 11, 2007
Kansas City – Jan. 27, 2007
St. Louis – Feb. 10, 2007
Jefferson County (Festus) – Feb. 24, 2007
St. Charles – Mar. 3, 2007
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