CMNEA- Attend the Screenings!

CMNEA's Columbia Public School Candidate Screenings!

CMNEA educators and staff in the Columbia Public School district are invited to attend the school board screenings. Here is what you will need to know:

• When-  February 10th- our last screening

• Where- Mary Paxton Keeley Elementary School Media Center (201 Park DeVille Dr.)

• Time- 6:00 -8:00 p.m.

• What can I do as an audience participant- You may come to watch/listen to the questions asked of the candidates. A basket with cards/pencils will be placed out and available for you to write a question of the candidates. If time allows, the CMNEA screening team will ask your question. Our questions are based on our survey that was sent to the candidates earlier, and we will follow up on questions for clarity and better understanding. Our forum will focus on details of the goals that the candidates have as continuing or future board members.

• Is this the public forum? NO! This is a screening of the candidates, for CMNEA members to get to know the candidates a bit better. The PUBLIC FORUM will take place on February 18th and ALL are invited to attend.

Hope you can join us!

New Candidate for 46th MO District Seat

Boone County official enters 46th District House race

By MATTHEW SANDERS

Saturday, January 9, 2016 at 12:00 am

A Boone County elected official said Friday she will challenge a fellow Democrat to represent her party in the November election for the 46th District seat in the Missouri House.

Public Administrator Cathy Richards, who was first elected in 2008 and re-elected in 2012, said she is running as a Democrat who can work with the Republicans who hold solid majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly. She will face social worker Martha Stevens in the August primary. Stevens is backed by the current 46th District representative, Stephen Webber, who is seeking a state Senate seat.

Richards said Paul Quinn, a former Democratic state representative from Boone County, is chairman of her campaign committee, which also includes Republicans.

“I’m going as a moderate Democrat, not a liberal Democrat,” Richards said. “I believe that, through communication and cooperation and consensus, we can get something done.”

Richards said political parties, including her own, have put party advancement over the best interests of their constituents, as illustrated by the tenor of today’s political battles.

“Number one, I want to go for the people, not the party,” Richards said. “Number two, I really want to be a representative. ... I want to represent the district,” instead of fighting purely ideological battles.

Richards said voters need a choice in candidates other than those picked by a select few who hold political power. She said those comments were not aimed at Stevens, but more a general observation of how political parties operate.

Richards said she was inspired to run in part by archaic state laws governing how public administrators care for their wards. The public administrator serves as the court-appointed guardian or conservator for incapacitated or disabled persons and minors. The administrator also is the personal representative in the estates of deceased clients. She said she has experience working in the state Capitol as president of the Missouri Association of Public Administrators. She is also on the board of the Missouri Association of Counties.

She said she supports Medicaid expansion, one of Stevens’ main campaign planks, but also thinks the system should be scrutinized to root out waste. The state, Richards said, is falling short in its obligations to the poor.

Her campaign’s late start compared to Stevens, whose campaign started in March, is not a concern, Richards said, citing her experience running in two primaries and two general elections. “I’ve always had somebody running against me,” she said. “I’m not saying that it didn’t bother me, because it was a lot of work for me. … But that’s democracy working.”

Stevens’ campaign said Thursday it raised $35,870.98 in 2015. Reports for the fourth quarter of 2015 are due Friday.

Stevens said she had heard Richards was interested in running but did not know Friday evening that Richards had entered the race. She said having an opponent will not alter her approach to the campaign.

“I welcome Cathy to the table and hope that we have a positive and spirited campaign,” Stevens said.

Don Waterman, a U.S. Navy veteran currently employed by Bass Pro Shops, is the only Republican so far to enter the 46th District race. Filing for the August primary begins Feb. 23.

Union and State Addresses

When to Watch State of the Union and State of the State Addresses

State of the Union- President Barack Obama on January 12, 2016 will deliver his final State of the Union address. The address will be shown on all major networks beginning at 9:00 est, 8:00 p.m, cst.

As is tradition, House Speaker Paul Ryan announced the date in a formal letter to the President, saying, "As we look ahead to the new year, we have both an opportunity and an obligation to find common ground to advance the nation's interests at home and abroad."

The annual prime time speech is typically scheduled for a Tuesday in late January or early February, and gives the president the chance to lay out his agenda for the year.

The U.S. Constitution requires that that the President must report to Congress "from time to time" on "the state of the union."

The early January date was selected by the White House, according to a senior House GOP leadership source.

State of the State- Governor Jay Nixon’s final State of the State address will be given on Wednesday, January 20th. State representatives have been told Nixon will deliver his speech to the state House and Senate in the House Chamber at 7 p.m., Wednesday January 20.

The State of the State is when the governor lays out his legislative and economic priorities for the legislative session that will have started January 6, and will present his recommended budget for Fiscal Year 2017 which begins July 1.

Nixon said budget priorities for him will be supporting K-12- and higher education, in part to protect his agreement with the state’s two- and four-year colleges and universities to freeze tuition; and to continue to help those with mental health needs.

Other priorities he has stressed and is likely to talk about in the address are ethics reform and transportation funding.

The State of the State Address will be streamed live at Missourinet.com.