JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri lawmakers gave final approval Friday to a roughly $51 billion state budget that boosts funding for education and infrastructure projects around the state.

The spending plan for the fiscal year starting July 1 now goes to Republican Gov. Mike Parson, who had originally proposed spending more but can only cut — not add — to what the GOP-led Legislature gave him.

Lawmakers completed the budget just hours ahead of a 6 p.m. Friday deadline set by the state constitution, capping a sometimes tense and divisive debate among majority-party Republicans over how much to spend.

“The end product is a good, sound, fiscally responsible, conservative and prioritized budget,” Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Lincoln Hough said.

Democrats complained that the process was abnormally secretive and asserted that lawmakers should have spent more from the state’s budget surplus on public services and schools.

“We left out our vulnerable Missourians from our budget,” Democratic Rep. Deb Lavender said.

The budget plan includes $120 million more in baseline funding for public K-12 education, plus $33 million to help schools raise the minimum teacher salary to $40,000 a year.

Higher education institutions would get a 3% increase in core funding.

Building on a plan approved last year to widen Interstate 70 across Missouri, lawmakers this year agreed to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into expanding Interstate 44 to six lanes near Springfield, Joplin and Rolla.

In a departure from tradition, lawmakers also earmarked millions of dollars from general funds for particular local road projects, supplementing the funding decisions typically made by the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission.

“Our roads and bridges are going to be vastly improved across the state,” House Appropriations Committee Chairman Cody Smith said.

The budget was sprinkled with funds for numerous other local projects, including improvements to the Springfield Cardinals minor league baseball stadium and development near the newly built soccer stadium for the Kansas City Current.

Work on the budget had been delayed last week in the Senate amid a standoff between chamber leaders — who wanted to pass a $4.5 billion hospital tax program before tackling the rest of the budget — and the Freedom Caucus.

Members of the GOP faction spent the better part of two days last week filibustering in an attempt to pressure Parson to sign legislation defunding Planned Parenthood, which he had been expected to do and eventually did Thursday.

Meanwhile, House and Senate budget leaders had been negotiating behind closed doors to iron out a compromise rather than airing differences over spending priorities in committee hearings.

The biggest disagreement between the House and Senate was over the total cost of the budget, with the House pushing for roughly $50 billion compared to the Senate Appropriations Committee’s recommended $53 billion.

The final version was smaller than originally sought by Parson, who warned that underfunding could delay payments on inevitable bills.

“All you’re doing is just passing that on to the other legislators,” Parson told reporters Thursday.

The budget includes a 3.2% pay raise for state employees and also increases the state payment rate for some health care providers, including nursing homes and those serving people with developmental disabilities.

Senators in the Freedom Caucus on Thursday sought to amend the budget to ban government spending on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. But those amendments were voted down.

—

Originally Appeared Here

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City, Missouri, city council committee passed a resolution Wednesday for a new Request for Proposal (or RFP) for a low barrier homeless shelter.

The resolution will go to the full city council for a vote.

“Low barrier means low-barrier, meaning anyone can come in,” Mayor Quinton Lucas said at Wednesday’s meeting.

Resolution 240415 also cancels RFP EV3180, which utilizes HOME American Rescue Plan Program funds (HOME-ARP) from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to pay for local homeless reduction plans.

Passing Resolution 240415 means one of the other resolutions on Wednesday’s agenda, Resolution 240046, which would provide $7,137,610 worth of funding to Hope Faith’s Homeless Assistance Campus for a non-congregate, low-barrier shelter facility using previously-appropriated HOME ARP funds, is cancelled.

Representatives, employees and supporters of Hope Faith attended Wednesday’s committee meeting with hopes Resolution 240046 would pass.

“I’ve slept outside, I’ve lost wedding rings in my sleep,” said Gloria Moody, a homeless person who now works at Hope Faith. “People don’t choose to be homeless, and in a lot of places in Kansas City, they don’t have a lot of places for women to have a place to stay and sleep.”

Moody said she’s been homeless for three years.

Ned Namauu also attended Wednesday’s meeting.

Namauu says Hope Faith has helped him for the past eight years, aid he appreciates as someone with a felony on his criminal record.

“I tried to apply at a place for housing and I was turned down because of my background,” Namauu said. “You have to ask for help if you want to better your lifestyle.”

Hope Faith says their initial application for the low barrier shelter was in the summer of 2023.

They feel the delay in getting approval is intentional.

Mayor Lucas addressed those concerns at Wednesday’s meeting, saying he knows it feels long, but assured attendees that’s how the approval process works.

Hope Faith leaders aren’t happy.

“It’s certainly disappointing, because what I’m hearing is, we’re re-opening the same thing,” said Doug Langner, Executive Director of Hope Faith.

Langer and other Hope Faith supporters were among those who spoke during the public comment period.

Langner defined a low barrier shelter as a place where people can stay if they are not putting themselves or anyone else in danger.

He said a person would not have to ‘pray to stay or pay to stay’ and that any gender would be welcome.

No entry program or tests, like a breathalyzer, would be required.

Jim Ferraro, one of the the Columbus Park neighborhood residents who spoke at the meeting, agreed about the need for a low barrier shelter in Kansas City.

But Ferraro and other neighborhood residents want to see multiple shelters in various neighborhoods that could cater to diverse populations like elderly or LGBTQ communities.

“Providing multiple shelters serving a diverse population with varying needs is the best answer,” Ferraro said. “People don’t choose to be homeless, and in a lot of places in Kansas City, they don’t have a lot of places for women to have a place and stay sleep.”

The new resolution means any group, including Hope Faith, has 30 days to submit an RFP to be considered for the federal funding.

“I think it’s still a quick and accelerated time frame and I expect the city council to support an investment in low barrier shelter and housing in a short amount of time to make sure that throughout the summer months and certainly as we get to next winter, we have that type of wrap-around service for everybody experiencing homelessness,” Lucas said.

But Langner argues there’s no time to waste.

“We are the worst city in the country, several years going, the worst, around housing the chronically homeless,” Langner said. “And a big reason is we don’t have a low barrier shelter.”

The National Alliance to End Homelessness defines chronic homelessness as a state where “people who have experienced homelessness for at least a year — or repeatedly — while struggling with a disabling condition such as a serious mental illness, substance use disorder, or physical disability.”

“We do not have a homeless shelter today if a homeless person said, ‘I’m ready to get off the streets now,’ that they can walk into and get off the streets today,” Langner said.

Originally Appeared Here

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs and Royals released the terms for a community benefits agreement with Jackson County ahead of April 2, when county voters will decide whether to sign off on a sales-tax question to help fund the teams stadiums.

Terms from the Chiefs total $126 million, while the Royals’ total $140 million, according to a news release from YesOn1JacksonCounty, the committee formed by the teams to convince voters to sign off on the sales-tax.

A copy of the CBA wasn’t immediately included in the release.

The teams are asking voters to repeal a current 3/8-cent sales-tax that’s been in effect since 2006 and replace it with a new sales-tax of the same rate.

If approved, the tax would last for 40 years until 2064.

The Chiefs are hoping to use the sales-tax to renovate GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, while the Royals intend to use it fund a new ballpark in the Crossroads District in downtown KCMO.

Funding will be governed by boards appointed by the Jackson County Legislature and the teams under the proposed terms.

The boards would be in charge of overseeing distribution, governance, accountability and audit process.

Both teams say the CBA will cover a number of initiatives ranging from employment benefits, healthcare, children and families, education, workforce assistance, among others.

The Chiefs said they hope to have 43% of minority and women-owned business involved in construction phase for renovations at GEHA Field.

The Royals said they also will commit the same percentage for its new ballpark should the sales-tax pass.

“We entered this process with the goal of creating a better deal for all of Jackson County,” Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said in a press release. “These CBAs demonstrate exactly that. Passing Question 1 will result in real, measurable impact across our entire community. We are grateful for the tireless work of everyone who was involved to ensure these agreements will benefit our region to the greatest extent possible.”

Royals owner John Sherman also weighed in saying, “As I have said from the very beginning, we are committed to Jackson County, and these historic agreements represent how both teams will help lift up our fellow neighbors – from providing workforce benefits and assistance, diversity benefits, affordable housing, educational programs, and expanded mass transit.”

The teams touted the proposed CBA as the largest of any in Kansas City’s history.

But Jackson County Executive Frank White, who has opposed the sales-tax, expressed his doubts on the validity of the terms.

“These letters, while mentioning possible community benefits, do not represent a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) in any formal capacity,” White said. “The decision by the teams to exclude Jackson County from participating in or contributing to the drafting of these documents is a significant concern, amplified by their timing — released less than two weeks before a pivotal election. Such timing raises legitimate questions about the motivation behind and the potential effectiveness of the benefits proposed.”

White also said there’s no way of holding the teams accountable in following through with the promises made in the terms.

“These documents offer no mechanism for enforcement by either Jackson County or our residents,” White said in part. “Consequently, the “commitments” made in these letters are yet another instance where the teams ask voters for their trust without providing a concrete basis for it. Basically, these letters represent non-binding expressions of intent, not the genuine, enforceable Community Benefits Agreements they intend to be.”

—

Originally Appeared Here

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Wyandotte County Appraiser’s Office mailed out appraisal valuations on March 1.

On its website, the office admitted that “most property owners should expect to see an increase in their valuation.

The appraiser’s office said they attribute increases to a shortage of housing supply, increased housing demand and revitalization in various areas of the county.

“The main driving factor behind it is there’s a housing shortage,” said Matthew Willard, the Wyandotte County Appraiser. “There’s not enough houses for folks to buy.”

In the historic Parkwood Colony neighborhood, a lot of homeowners aren’t interesting in selling.

“These are people that are retired, that have been on a fixed income for ages,” said John Grahovac, the president of the neighborhood association. “Their taxes can’t afford to go up.”

Willard wants to clarify the appraiser’s office does not drive taxes.

Instead, those are based on budgets determined by jurisdictions like cities, counties and school districts, including Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools.

One Parkwood resident is not happy about about a school bond vote.

“The $420 million school bond, we need to vote No on that,” said Lisa Walker Yeager, Parkwood Colony vice president.

She works with the Wyco Commonwealth Advocacy Coalition, a group of county residents who have been working to inform residents about measures they believe affect their communities.

The coalition held multiple sessions in February about the $420 million bond issue KCKPS is proposing for capital improvements.

“Some of our kids can’t really read and write,” Walker Yeager said. “Let’s address some of these major issues and see where we stand with that.”

She says proposed tax increases worry her because her neighborhood is dealing with challenges.

“There’s no grocery stores in the neighborhood, as you see, we don’t have curbs,” Yeager said. “How can you raise an appraisal where there’s no curb appeal?”

She says when she looks around, the so-called value isn’t apparent in her neighborhood.

“We have no sidewalks in some of the areas,” Yeager said. “It’s not a thriving economy as what Quindaro has always been. Financially, it’s not livable.”

She would know.

Walker Yeager was born and raised in Parkwood and moved back after living in Kansas City, Missouri.

She says she’s vocal now because she wants to advocate for the elderly and single-parent residents in her neighborhood.

It’s something the county appraiser’s office has thought about as well. In addition to recommending state services like Homestead for low-income seniors, Willard says there are ways in place to make the appeals process accessible.

“Phone hearings, and we’ve always done them, are a good opportunity for folks to have that appeal hearing without even having to get out,” he said.

Willard wants people to know his office encourages people to appeal if they feel the appraised value is more than they feel they could reasonably get if the property was sold or if they feel the classification is incorrect.

“I think there’s the idea that if you come in, it’s going to be, I don’t know what exactly, but not friendly, and that couldn’t be further from the truth,” he said. “The way that we’ve got this set up, it really is just a conversation.”

Kansas statute says the county must inspect houses in person at least once every six years. Willard says staffing issues and safety are primary reasons why the inspections aren’t more frequent.

He said he also understands residents are likely to have a better understanding of these in-person conditions and it’s why he welcomes appeals.

“The appeal process is an opportunity to get a good, detailed look at the property with the owner,” Willard said. “If there are adjustments to be made, we’re going to make them every time.”

It’s a promise Willard says he’s devoted to keeping if that means values at a fair market rates, which state statute also requires.

He saw what Jackson County went through during its property assessment saga, and said he believes the system his office has in place should help avoid confusion.

“We keep it all in house where I’m responsible for it at the end of the day,” Willard said. “I’m signing and certifying, it’s all my folks. Then just making sure that we follow the statutory guidelines and the rules and regulations put out by the Department of Revenue.”

Walker Yeager says appealing sounds good in theory, but that awareness is also key.

“If you’re not knowledgeable on appeals, I don’t think people are going to appeal,” she said.

Willard admits awareness has been a problem in the past, which is why he said his office is working to combat that this time around. The Wyandotte County appraiser’s office is hosting five more appraised values information sessions before the March 30 deadline to appeal.

The dates are as follows:

• Wednesday, March 6 at 6PM at the George Meyn Center, 126 State Avenue, Bonner Springs, KS
• Monday, March 11 at 6PM at the Joe Amayo Community Center Gym, 2810 Metropolitan Avenue, Kansas City, KS
• Wednesday, March 13 at 6PM at the Turner Recreation Center, 831 S 55th Street, Kansas City, KS
• Wednesday, March 20 at 6PM at the Piper USD 203 High School Auditorium, 4400 N 107 St, Kansas City, KS
• Monday, March 25 at 5PM at the Municipal Building Lobby, 701 N 7th Street Tfwy, Kansas City, KS

Walker Yeager’s done her fair share of meetings, but the upcoming sessions could be an option.
Willard says he’s completely open to meeting with neighborhood associations and Walker Yeager says she’ll do whatever it takes to keep her resident’s homes.

“We would like to keep our homeowners in our homes,” she said.

Originally Appeared Here

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Imagine a Kansas City united by infrastructure rather than divided — Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas said Wednesday such long-deferred dreams will soon be put into action.

In a press conference, the mayor announced the kickoff of the city’s request for proposals (RFP) for Reconnecting Kansas City, which will assist in the rehabilitation of U.S. Highway 71 from 85th Street north to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, specifically regarding “transformational safety and connectivity improvements,” per the city.

“While it is very hard to give people houses back, people like those in my family who lost them ages ago, while it is hard to rebuild neighborhoods and communities that were strong, that were vibrant and that have been vital to our community, we see this as a next important step,” Lucas said.

Rather than delivering the “economic development activity that was promised generations ago,” the construction of Highway 71 has led to traffic accidents, injuries and deaths. Pollution from idling and no resolution to the harm created have also negatively affected “Black families in southeast Kansas City and in east Kansas City,” according to Lucas.

With the $5 million Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) federal grant KC was awarded last August, Lucas said the city can now “make up for some mistakes of the past.”

Following Lucas’ opening remarks, there were four additional speakers — Mayor Pro Tem Ryana Parks-Shaw, 5th District At-Large Councilmember Darrell Curls, 3rd District At-Large Councilmember Melissa Patterson Hazley and KCMO Transportation Director Jason Waldron.

Parks-Shaw spoke to the strife her district, the 5th District, has endured from noise pollution to food deserts and closed businesses.

But “with strong neighborhoods, Kansas City will thrive,” Parks-Shaw shared confidently.

Councilmember Curls said he believes Reconnecting Kansas City is “going to connect more neighborhoods — this is going to reinvigorate businesses up and down the Prospect Corridor.”

He also said he believes this initiative will allow neighborhoods to finally be heard after years of neglect.

Another issue created by Highway 71 was an unsafe environment.

Without the foresight “infrastructure decisions have long-standing consequences,” Councilmember Patterson Haley said Kansas City created its own health crisis.

“Kansas City has the highest rate of adolescent asthma in the country, among the highest rate in an urban core, due to how we’ve built our infrastructure,” she said. “Children are inhaling these fumes, they are not very protected by the green infrastructure around it and it’s left our families very vulnerable.”

With an opportunity to correct the past and re-imagine the future, Waldron shared excitement about the project and appreciation for the financial aid KC received from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

“Like they (colleagues) said, this is going to be community-driven conversation, and we’re going to use transportation just to be the start of a more holistic conversation about economic development, about affordable housing and transit — you name it,” Waldron said.

With much work ahead, Lucas cited current work on theI-670 South Loop project and the intention to re-evaluate I-35 and I-70. While the Crossroads Arts District has seen “hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in recent years,” Lucas said the same cannot be said for the west side.

“Although we cannot right all past wrongs, we know that we can do better,” he said.

Continued preservation and protective work for communities along I-35 and I-70 will be supported by the Missouri Department of Transportation as the organization continues to expand and straighten the interstates, per Lucas.

Ultimately, the mayor’s vision for KC and the city’s urban core is to “no longer just be a place that people cut through, not just a place to bypass, but a place that we’re invested in, a place we want to be and a place where we are truly supporting development.”

The Highway 71 project RFP will close at 2 p.m. Oct. 27.

With the proposals in motion, Lucas said more conversation in council meetings, as well as discussions with community members, are ahead.

—

Originally Appeared Here

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The first round of UAW strikes are happening in Michigan, Toledo, Ohio and Wentzville, Missouri.

Workers at the Ford Plant in Claycomo, Missouri, and the General Motors Fairfax Assembly plant in Kansas City, Kansas, are not apart of the first round of strikes, however that could change.

Local workers are working under an expired contract, so while a majority of the contract stays in effect, members cannot be disciplined or fired without justification, workers are also encouraged to attend local union meetings, refuse voluntary overtime and to not refuse to do any of their job duties.

Greg Kindle is the president of the Wyandotte Economic Development Council. He says the impact of any strike, especially General Motors in Wyandotte County, is going to have a ripple effect.

“As a region, we’re the second largest automotive hub in the United States behind Detroit,” Kindle said. “So between GM, Ford and the many suppliers that serve them, automotive is a very big piece of the Kansas City metro economy.”

Kindle says it not only impacts the urban core, but rural communities as well.

“The ripple effect of how we transport vehicles and the people employed with that. The Union Pacific and BNSF, there’s very few communities frankly in the metropolitan area, the region, that don’t probably have some supplier or somebody who’s working with them,” Kindle said. “It’s an extensive network of large and small suppliers that feeds General Motors.”

For the Wyandotte County economy, strikes would quickly impact its electrical provider, Board of Public Utilities, or BPU.

“General Motors is the largest electrical user. Those electrical users also provide tax dollars, sales taxes on electrical use to franchise fees,” Kindle said. “If they’re not using power, they’re not paying franchise fees. That becomes an impact not only to how BPU operates in terms of the amount of power that it’s generating and how it’s resources are utilized, but that’s a trickle effect as well to the Unified Government.”

“The Unified Government also receives tax dollars through the franchise fees, but if you’re not using electricity, you’re not paying franchise fees,” Kindle continued. “If you’ve been following the Unified Government’s budget discussion, you’d know that every dollar makes an impact.”

Kindle highlighted the financial hardships that may come for union members, depending on how long the strike would last.

“When we think about the direct impact to the employees that are at General Motors…so staying on this thing of electricity, if you’re used to getting a good paycheck, and if you drop down to $500 a week, you’re going to be having to make hard choices and that might mean that you can’t pay your electrical bill,” Kindle said. “The Kansas City market is very diversified both in terms of its tax base, its employment sector and its people, but if there’s one sector out of all of them that can truly impact all of them, it’s the automotive sector because there’s so many interconnected components to it.”

Back in 2019 UAW members with GM went on strike. Kindle believes this one could have a bigger impact.

“The cost of everything between 2019 and even today has been significant, and that’s part of the issue that the unions and the automakers are having,” Kindle said. “What amount of money is appropriate in the light of inflation that we have seen since the last contract, to share back with the employees versus what stays with the company to reinvest? And we know there are two sides to every story.”

Kindle says there’s no easy answer as to what the future looks like.

“I think they’re going to get to that point but this middle point is going to be painful if it lasts very long at all,” Kindle said. “We’re very hopeful that the two sides can come together and find a way to create balance where our employees are living in our communities, are paid well and continue to buy new houses, buy new cars and do all the things that they do in our community.”

He highlighted the council is already having discussions with partners on what happens if local strikes happen, and the ripple effect that could take place.

“The automotive sector is critically important to the Kansas City market and the spider effects on the economy is unbelievable,” Kindle said. “Whether you’re a small business owner, a childcare provider or in the school district, in the faith community, in the social services community, the impact in the automotive sector in the Kansas City market for both to go on strike at the same time is going to have a huge ripple effect on all of us,” Kindle said. “I think that we haven’t seen anything quite like this, where both Ford and GM could be on strike at the same time for an unknown amount of time.”

Kindle says that’s the other piece, is just the uncertainty of how long this will last.

“If you knew it was just a couple of days or you knew it was just a week, you could probably make that work, but the unknown part is where I think it has a lot of us concerned,” he said.

Originally Appeared Here

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The Missouri ACLU on Monday sued to block new state restrictions on both adults and children seeking gender-affirming health care, which are set to kick in Thursday.

ACLU, Lambda Legal and Bryan Cave Leighton LLP attorneys representing transgender Missourians and health care providers asked a St. Louis County judge to stop the first-of-its-kind rule from taking effect.

They argue that Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey has no authority to use a state consumer-protection law to regulate gender-affirming care through emergency rule-making.

The rule is “a baseless and discriminatory attempt to limit the healthcare options for transgender individuals, who already face several barriers accessing necessary and life-saving medical care,” said Dr. Samuel Tochtrop of plaintiff Southampton Community Healthcare, in a statement.

Before gender-affirming medical treatments can be provided by physicians, the regulation requires people to have experienced an “intense pattern” of documented gender dysphoria for three years and to have received at least 15 hourly sessions with a therapist over at least 18 months. Patients also would first have to be screened for autism and “social media addiction,” and any psychiatric symptoms from mental health issues would have to be treated and resolved.

Some individuals will be allowed to maintain their prescriptions while they promptly receive the required assessments.

“Our regulation enacts basic safeguards for interventions that an international medical consensus has determined to be experimental,” Bailey said in a Monday statement. “Rather than ensure that patients are protected by common sense safeguards, these organizations are racing to court in an effort to continue their ideologically-based procedures masquerading as medicine.”

Bailey marketed the restrictions as a way to protect minors from what he describes as experimental treatments when he announced plans to create the rule in March. He applied limits to adults as well in the final rule.

“We have serious concerns about how children are being treated throughout the state. But we believe everyone is entitled to evidence-based medicine and adequate mental health care,” Bailey spokeswoman Madeline Sieren said after the rule was filed April 13.

The rule is an unusual step by Missouri’s attorney general, who has limited jurisdiction under state law. The office is responsible for defending state laws, handling felony criminal appeals, and prosecuting financial crimes and consumer fraud.

The lawsuit alleges the rule “is an improper, extra-legislative overreach by an un-elected political appointee” seeking to use the state’s consumer-protection law, which plaintiffs describe as “an act purposed on making sure that cars are sold with titles and that hardware stores abide by a warranty on a vacuum.”

If the rule takes effect, doctors who provide gender-affirming health care must first provide a lengthy list of potential negative side effects and information warning against those treatments.

Health care providers will need to ensure “any psychiatric symptoms from existing mental health comorbidities of the patient have been treated and resolved” before providing gender-affirming treatments under the new rule. Physicians also must screen patients for social media addiction, autism and signs of “social contagion with respect to the patient’s gender identity.”

The FDA approved puberty blockers 30 years ago to treat children with precocious puberty — a condition that causes sexual development to begin much earlier than usual. Sex hormones — synthetic forms of estrogen and testosterone — were approved decades ago to treat hormone disorders or as birth control pills.

The FDA has not approved the medications specifically to treat gender-questioning youth. But they have been used for many years for that purpose “off label,” a common and accepted practice for many medical conditions. Doctors who treat transgender patients say those decades of use are proof the treatments are not experimental.

Critics have raised concerns about children changing their minds. Yet the evidence suggests detransitioning is not as common as opponents of transgender medical treatment for youth contend, though few studies exist and they have their weaknesses.

—

Originally Appeared Here