Missouri Senate leader skeptical on right-to-work this yearFrom the Columbia Daily Tribune- Feb. 19, 2015
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey says he has doubts about whether right-to-work can become law this year.
Dempsey said Tuesday he hasn't decided whether he would vote for right-to-work. But he says he still will allow it to come to a vote in the Senate after the measure passed the House last week.
The Missouri House's passage came on a 91-64 vote, putting the measure short of the 109 votes needed to override an anticipated veto by Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon.
Dempsey says he has many relationships with union members and that there were good reasons for the formation of unions. But he says he does believe the state has lost out on some business opportunities because it's not a right-to-work state.
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Thursday, February 19, 2015
Passage of Right-To-Work Law in Missouri Uncertain
GOP Candidate Jay Ashcroft Announces Run for Missouri Sec. of State in 2016
Jay Ashcroft announces run for Missouri secretary of state
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Republican Jay Ashcroft announced his candidacy for secretary of state Thursday, setting up a GOP primary battle for the office that oversees Missouri's elections and business registrations.
Ashcroft declared his candidacy just hours after Democratic Secretary of State Jason Kander said he plans to run for U.S. Senate instead of another term as secretary in 2016. Republican state Sen. Will Kraus, who had announced his candidacy for secretary of state last year, reaffirmed Thursday that he is committed to the race.
"Missouri is desperately in need of leaders who will fight for our state's common sense conservative values," Ashcroft said in an emailed statement. "I will work to protect the integrity of our elections while ensuring the office's business functions are streamlined to allow Missouri employers to focus on what they do best: creating businesses and jobs."
The St. Louis attorney and engineer is the son of former governor, U.S. Senator and Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Jay Ashcroft has also tried, so far unsuccessfully, to break into politics.
Democratic state Sen. Jill Schupp of Creve Coeur, a former representative, narrowly defeated Ashcroft in November for the Senate seat, a large victory for Democrats during a year of GOP wins in Missouri.
Ashcroft's defeat was the only Senate seat previously held by a Republican that the GOP lost to Democrats last election, which otherwise brought a record number of Republicans to the House and a solid veto-proof majority to the Senate.
Ashcroft now faces fellow Republican Kraus of Lee's Summit, who announced his candidacy for secretary of state in July.
"Today's announcement by the secretary of state that he will not run for re-election will not change my priorities or my direction, nor will the emergence of any primary opponent," Kraus said in a written statement. "We need a new leader, accustomed to taking on the hard fights, in the office of secretary of state."
Kraus was the sponsor of an income tax cut measure that the Republican-led Legislature enacted last year by overriding a veto by Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon.
Kraus also has handled numerous election bills, including an unsuccessful photo ID measure and a failed proposal for a constitutional amendment allowing a limited early voting period.
The Senate on Thursday approved a bill sponsored by Kraus that would set an earlier deadline to finalize ballot measures, an attempt to cut down on reprinting costs counties faced last year after a late court ruling to change the wording on the early voting amendment Kraus handled.
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Missouri Sec. of State Jason Kander Announces Run for U.S. Senate in 2016
Democrat Kander to challenge GOP US Sen. Blunt in Missouri
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander launched a Democratic challenge Thursday to U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, criticizing the Republican's long political career and asserting that "it's time for a new generation of leaders" in Washington.
Kander, a former Army captain who served in Afghanistan, highlighted his military experience while announcing his candidacy in an online video and said in an interview with The Associated Press that Blunt is often "on the extreme edge of a lot of issues."
Kander, 33, is Blunt's first prominent opponent for the 2016 election. If Kander is elected, he would be one of the youngest U.S. senators - an attribute that he said should be a positive during a campaign.
"Missouri has a senator who's been in Washington for nearly 20 years and has been running for one political office or another for over 40 years. For too long, he's been a part of the problem," Kander said in his video announcement.
He added: "I believe it's time for a new generation of leaders, who have come of age at a time of unprecedented challenges and threats to our country, and who are committed to bringing people together and doing what's right, no matter what the personal cost."
Blunt won election to the Senate in 2010 after serving for 14 years in the U.S. House and is vice chairman of the Senate Republican caucus. He was Missouri's secretary of state from 1985-1993 and the Greene County clerk from 1973-1985.
Kander was elected as secretary of state in 2012 after serving four years in the Missouri House. He was in the Army for eight years and said he was spurred to join by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. While working as an Army intelligence officer, Kander said he volunteered to be deployed to Afghanistan in 2006. He filmed his candidacy announcement from a passenger waiting area at the Kansas City airport, where he said he departed for his service in Afghanistan.
A spokeswoman said Thursday that Blunt had no comment about Kander's announcement and referred questions to the Missouri Republican Party. GOP Chairman Ed Martin issued a written statement calling Kander a "dyed-in-the-wool liberal in lock-step with the failing Obama Agenda."
Kander sought to draw distinctions both with Blunt and President Barack Obama.
He told the AP he would have "demanded some changes" before voting on Obama's health care law, adding that it now "must be fixed and improved." Kander said consumers should be offered cheaper health insurance plans through a federal website and that employees should be allowed to work more hours before being counted as full-time for businesses trying to comply with the health care law's requirements.
Blunt has said the health law should be repealed and replaced, but Kander said "the Republican approach to tear down this law and leave no protections in place would be harmful to many Missourians."
Kander said Obama "made a mistake" by issuing an executive order seeking to shield more than 4 million immigrants living in the country illegally from deportation, without giving the Congress that took office in January a chance to overhaul the nation's immigration laws.
Blunt has co-sponsored legislation that would block funding for the Department of Homeland Security to implement Obama's immigration policy.
Last week, Blunt was one of just five senators who voted against Obama's nominee for defense secretary, Ash Carter, citing concerns that he would implement Obama's "flawed agenda."
Kander cited that vote as evidence that "Blunt is part of the problem" in Washington.
"I think that, certainly, he is on the extreme edge of a lot of issues," Kander said.
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Monday, February 16, 2015
Missouri Teacher Salary Comparisons Can Be Helpful
CMNEA president says teacher salary comparisons sometimes useful
Monday, February 16, 2015 at 2:00 pm Columbia Daily Tribune
Teachers’ salaries in Columbia Public Schools lag behind those in other Missouri school districts with similar enrollment sizes but are ahead of the state average, according to data from the Missouri State Teachers Association and the district.
A salary comparison among districts of similar size is part of the annual Missouri Salary Schedule and Benefits Report from the state association, and a comparison to the state average is included in the CPS annual audit.
“Across the board, minimum salaries for Missouri teachers with a bachelor’s degree increased by a disappointing 1.45 percent this year, down slightly from the equally paltry 1.46 percent last year,” MSTA Executive Director Bruce Moe said in a release accompanying the report.
MSTA is a not-for-profit professional association for Missouri teachers.
A yearly audit report from CPS shows the district’s minimum teacher salary is $34,353, unchanged since 2008. The maximum teacher salary is $66,848, the report notes. The average salary is $46,918, slightly above the state average of $46,754.
The MSTA report ranks teachers’ salaries based on enrollment, comparing districts with enrollments greater than 15,000. The estimated enrollment in Columbia Public Schools is 17,256. Among districts with more than 15,000 students, the average minimum salary is $37,855 and the average maximum salary is $68,086; both numbers are higher than their CPS counterparts.
The MSTA report also includes a compression ratio, which is computed by dividing a district’s salary schedule maximum by the minimum. The CPS compression ratio is 1.95.
The Warrensburg School District boasts a 2.15 compression ratio, the highest ratio in the state’s central region. The minimum salary for Warrensburg teachers is $33,500, and the maximum is $71,932. The lowest compression ratio in the central region the Prairie Home School District’s 1.4 ratio, with a minimum salary of $27,500 and a maximum of $38,500.
The report did not include a state average.
The Columbia Missouri National Education Association is seeking a 5 percent increase in the minimum salary, which would boost it to $36,071. The association is also seeking a base salary increase from $30,514 to $32,040. CPS teachers in their first four years receive the minimum salary, and in subsequent years a formula dependent on the base salary helps determine salaries.
Susan McClintic, CMNEA president, said the MSTA report and similar information from the Missouri National Education Association can be useful.
“It’s very helpful to us because it lets us know what’s going on in the rest of the state,” McClintic said. Because there is such a wide range of salaries and ways to compute salaries, she said the report can also be confusing.
“Every school district and every state does it differently,” she said of teachers’ salaries.
The report says districts with fewer than 700 students — usually in rural areas — have a more difficult time funding adequate teacher salaries.
McClintic said corrections to the state’s funding formula would benefit both teachers and students.
“The Missouri legislature doesn’t fund the foundation formula at 100 percent,” she said of the formula that determines state funding of school districts based on enrollment and other factors.
Yes, Rep. Moon Did Say That!
With 'manly firmness': Lawmaker calls on members of Congress to repeal ACA, oppose replacement
JEFFERSON CITY — State Rep. Mike Moon wants the Affordable Care Act repealed and according to a House resolution he’s sponsoring, it will take the proper application of “Y” chromosomes to get the job done.
Moon’s resolution details all the problems he sees with the law, from passage to implementation. The resolution asks members of the Missouri House to “insist that each member of the Missouri Congressional delegation endeavor with ‘manly firmness’ and resolve to totally and completely repeal the Affordable Care Act, settling for no less than a full repeal.”
Missouri’s congressional delegation includes six men and two women in the U.S. House and one man, Roy Blunt, a Republican and one woman, Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, in the U.S. Senate. Both women in the U.S. House are Republicans — Vicky Hartzler of Harrisonville represents the Fourth District and Ann Wagner of St. Louis County represents the Second District.
Moon, R-Ash Grove, said he wasn’t intending to demean or insult the three women. The phrase is taken from the grievances against King George III in the Declaration of Independence, Moon said, and isn't meant to disparage women.
“It is just like going to war," Moon said. "You want a soldier to fight like a man. If a woman is in the trenches, you want them to fight like a man, too.”
Hartzler and Wagner have voted repeatedly in the House to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
“Obamacare hurts families, costs jobs, and gives federal bureaucrats control over Americans’ personal health care decisions by forcing them to purchase coverage they do not want and cannot afford,” Hartzler said in a news release after the most recent repeal vote last week. “Our experience with this terrible and expensive law demands that it be repealed and replaced.”
That last word, calling for replacement, shows a lack of the necessary firmness and the need for the resolution, according to Moon. “It was not meant to downplay their womanhood at all. We just want them to know, every man and lady who is representing us, that we are demanding, as citizens of Missouri, that Obamacare be repealed and make it clear we don’t want a replacement.”
Moon said he does not believe that being a male makes him a better lawmaker than his female colleagues. “I know there are some women who are much smarter than I am and I tip my hat to them.”
Moon’s resolution is set for a hearing at 5 p.m. Tuesday before the House Health and Mental Health Policy Committee. It has 26 co-sponsors, 24 men and two women.
Rep. Sonya Anderson, R-Springfield, said she signed on as a co-sponsor because she opposes the law she calls Obamacare and supports sending a message to Congress.
“The voters of my district spoke pretty loudly about that so I just feel that is the way they want to go,” she said.
The “manly firmness” language does not bother her, she said. “That’s just a term that they used. I am not going to read anything into that.”
Rep. Wanda Brown, R-Lincoln, said she opposes Obamacare because “it is truly just an expansion of Medicaid. Medicaid is a terrible system. It is a broken system and we need to look at fixing problems, not increasing problems.”
She could not be more firm in her opposition to the law, Brown said. When shown the “manly firmness” provision, she shook her head and walked away, declining to comment.
State Rep. Stephen Webber, D-Columbia, said the language is unnecessary and insulting to Hartzler, Wagner and McCaskill. “It is a throwback to this idea of gender roles and I can’t believe anyone in 2015 talks like that. We have numerous female members of the congressional delegation, whether I agree with them or not they are capable of being strong people no matter what their gender is.”
You may follow "Manly Firmness" on Twitter! 
@ManFirmness You knew someone had to start this!
@ManFirmness You knew someone had to start this!Sunday, February 15, 2015
Reps. Kendrick and Webber Say "NO" to Right-To-Work Bill
Missouri House gives final approval to ‘right-to-work’ bill
JEFFERSON CITY (AP) — A statewide right-to-work measure passed in the Missouri House Thursday, potentially setting the stage for an intense fight in the Senate, where one Democrat who’s a retired union member said she would “fall on her sword” to block it.
The measure, approved 91-64 with two members present but not voting, would bar unions statewide from collecting fees from non-members. Final passage, after an initial vote in support on Wednesday, marks a political victory for GOP supporters who had failed to gain the needed constitutional majority last session for approval.
House Speaker John Diehl said it was a historic vote and that even if Missouri didn’t become a right-to-work state this year, it was “inevitable” and the issue would keep coming up until it does pass.
But getting it to the desk of Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat who has said he opposes right-to-work, might be a challenge.
Sen. Gina Walsh, D-Bellefontaine Neighbors, would not say whether she would filibuster but noted that, as a retired union member, she strongly opposes the measure.
“I would absolutely fight that bill. It’s one of my core values and beliefs,” Walsh said. “To me, that’s a bill that I’m willing to fall on my sword for.”
But Republican Senate leaders have not made right-to-work a priority in the past. Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey said last year that sending right-to-work to the ballot and bypassing Nixon was the only way for it to become law. Earlier this session, Dempsey said his position hasn't changed but that the Senate will consider any measure passed by the House.
In Columbia’s House delegation, Republicans Caleb Jones and Caleb Rowden voted for the measure while Democrats Kip Kendrick and Stephen Webber voted “no.”
The measure is short of the 109 votes needed in the House to override an anticipated Nixon veto, although one business lobbyist said Wednesday it might be possible to gather enough support.
“There’s a long time between now and a veto override vote,” said Jay Atkins, a Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry lobbyist.
The arguments over right-to-work legislation center on economic impact and fairness. Supporters say it will make the state more competitive in attracting businesses, and opponents say it will lower wages and weaken the middle class.
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Columbia MNEA Begins Negotiation With CPS
Teachers' union seeks restoration of frozen salaries, 5 percent base raise
The Columbia Missouri National Education Association’s negotiating team on Tuesday proposed a 5 percent increase to base and minimum salaries and compensation for teachers whose salaries were frozen during the recession.
The teachers’ union also asked for protection from interference during teacher planning time and clear and consistent expectations for workday length.
The CMNEA representatives presented their proposals to a team of Columbia Public Schools administrators; no proposals were rejected, but the parties did not reach an agreement. The groups will meet again Feb. 18 to continue negotiations.
The Columbia Board of Education froze teachers’ salaries during the recession in 2008-09 and in 2009-10. One year of that salary freeze was restored last year during collective bargaining.
The base salary on the teacher salary schedule is $30,514, while the minimum salary is $34,353. Adding 5 percent to the base salary would bring it to $32,040; adding 5 percent to the minimum salary would result in $36,071. Linda Quinley, CPS chief financial officer, said teachers in their first four years receive the minimum salary, but the district uses a formula dependent on the base salary to compute teacher salaries afterward.
Tuesday’s meeting included discussion of demands on teachers’ time. Dean Klempke, a teacher at Gentry Middle School and a CMNEA negotiating team member, said some building principals force teachers to stay at school for events that are sometimes unnecessary and uncompensated.
“That’s very strong language,” said Dana Clippard, CPS deputy superintendent.
“People shouldn't have to guess, based on who their principal is, what their professional expectations are,” Klempke said.
“It’s about where I, as a person living my life, can draw a line,” said Mary Grupe, CMNEA negotiating team member and teacher at Rock Bridge High School.
Susan McClintic, CMNEA president and a teacher at Alpha Hart Lewis Elementary School, said half of teachers have a second job to make ends meet.
The CMNEA is also seeking 250 minutes per week of planning time.
“The biggest issue for teachers is we don’t have time,” Klempke said.
Time demands include responding to parent emails, grading papers, conferences with parents and meetings, Klempke said. “It’s one of the biggest sources of teacher burnout.”
“We're just asking that you protect the time, which costs you nothing,” said CMNEA team member Kathy Steinhoff, a teacher at Hickman High School.
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