Missouri Budget Project update
By Cara | October 26, 2009
via mobudget.org
In this issue:
1. Federal health care reform – the eye of the storm
2. October 20, 2009 National health action day. Missourians made some noise!
3. Weigh in on ways assure that children don’t go hungry
4. State Departments’ revenue requests for FY2011 are available on- line
5. New information from the Missouri Budget Project – check it out!
1. Federal health care reform – the eye of the storm
Furious negotiating on health care reform is taking place by key members of the House and Senate. While it may seem quiet to those of us who are “outsiders”, we are just in the eye of the storm.
In the Senate
Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, and Senators Baucus and Dodd are key in shaping the bill that will come to the Senate floor. It is expected that they will finish work either today or early next week, and the proposal will be “scored” by the Congressional Budget Office before floor debate begins. This is now likely to happen the first week of November. The Senate is scheduled to break on November 11-13 for Veterans Day, and again at the end of the month for Thanksgiving.
Key points of contention continue to be
• Whether a public insurance option will be part of the Exchange; or should there be a “trigger” to establish a public option if private insurance plans aren’t effective in providing affordable coverage?
• Affordability concerns
• What kind of employer mandates should be enacted
In the House
The House is also negotiating a bill to bring to the floor, probably the first week of November, as well. Key points being considered in the House include:
• A public option
• Expanding Medicaid to individuals up to 150% of FPL
• How to expand Medicaid without unduly burdening States (a small State match would be required for newly eligible individuals)
• Coverage for immigrants: particularly whether there should continue to be a 5 year waiting period for legal immigrants before they are eligible for Medicaid or subsidies in the exchange.
2. October 20, 2009 National Health Action day. Missourians made some noise!
Several hundred Missourians took to the street on October 20 urging drivers to Honk for Health Care! to raise visibility and increase public support for health care reform. Volunteers were at intersections in St. Louis, Kansas City, and even Ellington. Allies not on the street organized calls and phone banks that resulted in more than 300,000 nationwide pro-reform phone calls to Congress.
Kudos to Missouri allies who helped make the day a success: Missouri Health Care for All, Women’s Voices Raised for Social Justice, Central Reform Congregation, Paraquad, Disability Coalition for Health Care Reform, Missouri Budget Project, Provote, CWA Local 6355-Missouri State Workers Union, and the Greater Kansas City Labor Council. SEIU Local 1, GRO-Grass Roots Organizing and others.
3. Weigh in on ways assure that children don’t go hungry
The Secretary of the Department of Agriculture issued the following invitation for comments on how to decrease childhood hunger. If you able, please weigh in with your ideas. One simple, straightforward way would be to increase Temporary Assistance to Needy Family Benefits. Missouri’s benefits are in the bottom tier of other states, and provide only $292 per month for a typical family of 3.
President Obama pledged to end childhood hunger in the United States by 2015, and Secretary Vilsack has made this a top priority for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). I would like to invite you to join the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) in our efforts to make this bold pledge a reality by sharing your ideas on how we can end childhood hunger in the United States and by continuing your hard work to feed those in need.
FNS will be hosting four webinar listening sessions to gather input from a range of stakeholders including current, former, or prospective beneficiaries of the nutrition assistance programs, State Governments, local program offices, professional organizations, private industry, community and faith-based organizations, and other interested parties. During these sessions, FNS staff will listen and record your recommendations and comments.
The webinar listening sessions are scheduled as follows:
Tuesday, November 17, 2009: 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm EDT
Thursday, November 19, 2009: 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm EDT
Monday, November 23, 2009: 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm EDT
Thursday, December 3, 2009: 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm EDT
All comments and suggestions are welcome and will be considered as our Agency creates a plan to end childhood hunger in the United States by 2015. While not required, participants are encouraged to provide written or electronic copies of their comments.
In order to ensure adequate availability of time for each speaker, please register at the following website: http://vovici.com/wsb.dll/s/17fb9g40b44. If you are unable to attend, please submit written comments and recommendations via email to ECH2015@fns.usda.gov. Also, please feel free to share this invitation with other colleagues and organizations.
4. State Departments’ revenue requests for FY2011 are available on- line
The Missouri budget process requires the State departments to send their budget request to the Governor in October of each year. The budget requests are available on-line at http://oa.mo.gov/bp/budreqs2011all.htm.
5. New information from the Missouri Budget Project – check it out!
While the current recession has caused significant hardship for Missouri families, a review of the economic data from the last decade indicate that the decline for working families started a decade ago. Missouri families were worse off even prior to the recession than they were in 2000. Click Here to read more.
State revenue dropped drastically in the first quarter of the fiscal year. Without the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding Missouri would be facing a major budget crisis in the current year. Revenue drop calls for further Federal Stimulus funds for the State in order to avoid major budget problems in the next year. Click Here to read more.
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