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Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
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Retired educators to continue substitute teaching in Missouri without losing benefits
State Rep. Stephanie Boykin, D-Hazelwood, speaks on the Missouri House floor during the final week of the 2025 legislative session (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications). Missouri lawmakers have extended a rule allowing retired teachers to serve as substitutes without losing their retirement allowance. This measure is part of efforts to fill classrooms during a statewide teacher shortage. The state legislature first took notice of the issue in 2022, when the COVID-19 pandemic chiseled away at the teacher workforce. They passed a law that, among other provisions, encouraged retirees to become substitutes and set an expiration date of June 2025. In May, lawmakers voted to extend the sunset to 2030 as part of a bipartisan education package currently awaiting the governor's signature. State Rep. Ed Lewis, a Republican from Moberly and chair of the House Education Committee, was part of the effort to pass the legislation in 2022. 'It is definitely something that needed to happen,' he told The Independent. 'And really needed, this year, to be revisited.' Lewis credits state Rep. Stephanie Boykin, a Democrat from Hazelwood, for bringing the issue to his attention. Boykin was one of a handful of lawmakers who filed a bill to extend the law's sunset, and she got the legislation added onto a large Senate bill during committee work. 'It is a win for that retired teacher that doesn't have to be concerned about being penalized or having to come out of retirement,' she told The Independent. 'And, of course, it is a big win for our students to have a teacher with knowledge and with an educational background.' This provision is different from a statute allowing retirees to work full-time. Since 2003, retired teachers have been able to return full-time for two years, which lawmakers increased to four years in 2023. Missouri has been loosening requirements for substitute teachers while it struggles to find educators, reducing the amount of college credit required to be certified as a substitute and providing an alternative certification course online. Many of these efforts emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, but the shortage remains today. At the beginning of the 2024-25 school year, there were over 12,000 vacant teacher spots of which 9% went unfilled and 12% were filled by teachers without the proper certification, according to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. But veteran teachers are stepping up. In the 2023-24 school year, 4,500 retired educators served as substitutes, according to data from the Public School and Education Employee Retirement Systems of Missouri. The average monthly benefit for retirees in the Public School Retirement System is around $3,800 a month. With most substitute gigs paying $101-$125 a day, retirees would lose money to come out of retirement to substitute. Without the law securing retirement allowances, Lewis says there would be widespread vacancies. 'There would be open positions that would not get filled around the state,' he said. 'Many of them we would have completely unqualified people in those positions, when you have perfectly qualified people who might be a little bit older but have tons of experience.' Over two-thirds of Missouri substitute roles were filled by those ages 50 and older in 2024, according to a Department of Elementary and Secondary Education survey. 'It makes a difference when you have that experience there, versus someone that might like children but they are just looking for a job and they don't mind being there,' Boykin said. 'But nothing can take the place of an experienced teacher.' Boykin understood the benefits of having retirees back in the classroom, she said, as a former educator of nine years. 'We want to remove any barriers from experienced teachers filling that gap,' she said. 'And that is what this bill does.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Were Missouri Republican lawmakers guided by a national agenda?
The crowd outside the Missouri Capitol for the inauguration of Gov. Mike Kehoe in January (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications). The Republican-dominated Missouri Legislature abruptly ended its 2025 session early last week to guarantee passage of two bills to undo what a majority of Missourians had voted for. Were they working for what was in Missouri's best interest, or falling in line with the national Republican agenda? The day before the legislature ended its session Missouri lost a giant, Christopher 'Kit' Bond, who as an elected official aways chose what was best for Missouri over being a Republican who blindly pushed a partisan agenda at the exclusion of input from his Democratic colleagues, or the concerns of his constituents. The legislature's preoccupation to pass those two bills provides damning evidence of how partisan politics have come to rule the day. Legislators used a procedure to prevent Democrats from raising any objections or providing input and successfully secured their passage. Also, the majority of Missourians be damned. One bill puts a new abortion ban amendment before voters in 2026, unless the governor doesn't decide to do it sooner. The second takes away paid sick leave from Missouri workers that voters passed overwhelmingly and had just taken effect May 1. Those benefits will now be snatched back from workers on Aug. 28. Both issues, through the petition initiative process, were decisively decided by voters last November. A majority of Missourians voted against an abortion ban. A majority of Missourians voted for paid sick leave. Pause for a moment and think about what is being pushed about those same two issues on the national level by Republicans, irrespective of what the majority of Americans has indicated they prefer. When it comes to abortion, the budget bill moving through Congress diverts and defunds agencies like Planned Parenthood, targeting 'Big Abortion' as it is being called. When it comes to paid leave, the United States is one of the few countries in the world that doesn't have a national paid family leave policy. A bipartisan bill to establish such a policy was recently introduced, which will require state participation. But its fate remains to be seen. Bills to increase the federal minimum wage have repeatedly failed to be passed by Congress. The current proposed bill is unlikely to pass. Missouri voters have raised the minimum wage three times, including in November to $15 an hour. What other measures were left on the table that could have benefited many Missourians because of tacit or implicit support of the national Republican agenda? A major bill, House bill 19 that addressed many needs in communities across Missouri, expected to be considered was suddenly refused to be presented for a vote in the House. Needed areas left unfunded included: rural hospitals, community health centers, Boys and Girls clubs, capital improvement projects, higher education, research programs, workforce development, construction of a 200-bed mental hospital and other infrastructure projects. Meanwhile, billions of dollars remain in a surplus fund. There was one other area that Missouri Republican lawmakers focused on that aligns, reinforces and support the national Republican agenda. Tax cuts. Tax breaks. Republican lawmakers managed to pass their biggest tax-cut priority bill and forwarded it to the governor for signing. The bill allows capital gains exemptions for individuals and corporations. The bill also provides some limited tax breaks for low income, seniors and the disabled. Passing a major tax cut is also a high priority for Congress. The current bill contains a permanent tax-cut for the richest 1% as well as targeted breaks for millions of Americans, although they are temporary for some, like the elimination of taxes on tips and overtime pay which will expire in 2028. While seniors may be eligible for a new deduction, there will be no tax break or tax cut on social security income. Moving forward, however, the challenge remains: How do we get our elected public officials to rise above entrenched partisan politics and selfish interests and focus instead on those areas that will improve the lives of most Missourians. Elected officials' only job is to work for those who elected them. Republicans at the state and national level seem hell bent on pushing a blindly partisan agenda at the expense of what is best for their state or the country, and the will of the people. They would do well to reflect on the life of Kit Bond, a stellar public servant and lifelong Republican. Hopefully, it will be a reminder for some and a lesson for others. As governor and U.S. senator, Bond was an elected official who worked to address the needs of all Missourians. The issues and legislation he championed were not marred by intractable and extreme partisan politics. He worked with Republicans and Democrats. During his long career — in life and the tributes pouring in since his death, from fellow Republicans and Democrats alike — his integrity and commitment to be collaborative to address the challenges that Missouri faced, to arrive at workable solutions, to get the resources needed can be seen in communities across the state. His impact will be seen and benefit generations of Missourians for years to come. In this time of hyper partisan politics, and when state needs and interests are co-opted and loss in a national agenda, it would serve current lawmakers well, to look to how Kit Bond functioned. He epitomized what it means to put the interests of Missouri and Missourians first. He was committed to get what was needed done. Always. Unabashedly. Collaboratively.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Missouri lawmakers pass ban on cell phones in public school classrooms
State Rep. Kathy Steinhoff, a Democrat from Columbia, speaks March 5 in the Missouri House (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications). A bill passed by the state legislature Tuesday and on its way to the governor will require school districts to create a policy banning cell phone usage throughout the school day, including during breaks between classes and at lunch. A majority of U.S. adults support cell phone bans during class time, or 68% as recorded in a Pew Research Center poll. But restricting mobile phone use for the entire school day is less popular, with 36% in support. State Rep. Kathy Steinhoff, a Democrat from Columbia, filed the cell-phone-ban legislation with restrictions only during instructional time. She wanted to give school boards and charter schools the ability to decide whether or not to place further limitations on cell phones, she told The Independent. Lawmakers decided to pursue the more restrictive policy, and Steinhoff believes students will see benefits academically and socially. 'The statistics really do hold that if we do the (full day), bell to bell, that's going to have the biggest turnaround,' she said. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, roughly 53% of school leaders believe that cell-phone usage has hurt students' learning abilities. And 72% say it has negatively impacted mental health. Many school districts have chosen to enact bans, and states around the country have been increasingly writing bans into law with restrictions passed in at least nine states and 10 states testing the policy in a pilot program since 2023. Missouri's full-day ban would be one of the more restrictive laws, but there are exceptions. Students who need a mobile device to accommodate a disability are exempted, and cell phones would be allowed if there is a safety emergency at school. The legislation also gives school districts and charter schools the ability to decide if teachers may allow students to use cell phones during class. The bill does not require phones to be locked up. School boards will have to decide whether devices will be stowed in designated areas or allowed in students' backpacks. Districts will have to enact a policy during the 2025-2026 school year. The legislation is part of a sweeping education package negotiated in the final weeks of the legislative session. It began as a three-page bill prescribing reporting requirements for school safety incidents. Now, at 138 pages, it contains bipartisan legislation, with multiple provisions aimed at school safety.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill funding newborn rescue boxes heads to Missouri governor
Rep. Jim Murphy, R-St. Louis (Photo courtesy of Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications) A bill that would help fund the installation of rescue boxes for parents in crisis to anonymously relinquish newborns to the state is headed to Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe. State Rep. Jim Murphy, a St. Louis Republican and the sponsor of the 'Safe Place for Newborns Fund,' called his legislation 'a pro-life bill that everybody agrees with.' That was nearly true. The bill faced no opposition until it reached the Senate, where state Sen. Mike Moon, a Republican from Ash Grove, voted against it Wednesday when it passed 31 to 1. When the bill returned to the House for final approval on Thursday evening, it passed 136 to 1, with state Rep. Bryan Wolfin, a Republican from Ste. Genevieve, as the lone dissenting vote. The legislation was amended in the Senate where lawmakers tacked on an increased tax credit allowance for maternity homes from 70% to 100% and raised the ceiling from $50,000 to $100,000 per taxpayer per year. The Senate also extended the expiration date on the diaper bank tax credit to 2031. The amended bill also establishes the 'Zero-Cost Adoption Fund,' which would go toward helping Missourians pay for adoption costs, giving priority to those adopting children in foster care. The fund would be administered by the Missouri Department of Social Services and also provide financial support for community-based interventions to help prevent children from entering foster care. 'Any time we can make not only the adoption process smoother and more cost-efficient and also put supports in place to ensure that the adoption is successful, that's an easy yes for me,' state Rep. Melissa Schmidt, a Republican from Eldridge, said Thursday. But the 'newborn safety incubators' remained the focus of the bill. These boxes are increasingly popular around the country, allowing parents to anonymously relinquish their infant to the state without criminal consequence for abandoning the child. Under state law, parents who relinquish their infants still have an opportunity to ask the state for custody of their child again in the future. 'Really horrifying': Missouri draws scorn over treatment of teen mom in foster care Six of these safe boxes have been installed around Missouri with four more on the way, all thanks to private donors, Murphy said. One child has been safely relinquished through this method, he said. The first box was installed in August 2023 at the Mehlville Fire Protection District in south Saint Louis County. Exactly six months later, the box's silent alarm went off. Inside the box, first responders found an hours-old newborn. In early February, while testifying in support of the bill, Hendricks said he planned to attend the little girl's 1st birthday later that month with her adoptive family. 'There is no reason in the world we live in that babies end up in dumpsters,' Hendricks told state representatives in February. 'We can do better. But the funding is an issue.' The fire chief said he receives at least three calls a month from other fire departments and law enforcement agencies interested in installing their own boxes. But in most cases, funding is a major barrier. The cost of installing each box is roughly $20,000, Murphy said. This includes equipping the box with temperature controls, alarms to notify first responders the box has been activated and a feature that dials 911. Some are also outfitted with video cameras that show a live feed of the baby. The current budget earmarks $250,000 for the program, which would put up to $10,000 toward each box, thus contributing to the installation of 25 more boxes in the next fiscal year. Murphy told his colleagues that the interest in the boxes spans the state. In Kansas City, for example, one councilman is looking to install six boxes, he said. During the House hearing on the bill, state Rep. Raychel Proudie, a Democrat from Ferguson, told Hendricks that she was texting the fire chiefs in Berkeley and Ferguson in north Saint Louis County about the technology. 'I want that box,' said Proudie, who suggested extending the relinquishment period to six or 12 months. In 2002, Missouri passed a safe haven law that allowed mothers to surrender babies within the first weeks of their lives to staff at hospitals, fire departments, ambulance services, law enforcement agencies, maternity homes or pregnancy resource centers. Since then, Murphy said, 'many, many babies were still found in dumpsters and alleys and places like that,' adding: 'The safe haven bill didn't work as planned.' The National Safe Haven Alliance, a nonprofit that advocates for 'infant abandonment protection,' reports that in 2021, 73 infants were relinquished through Safe Haven laws around the country. That same year, the nonprofit reports, 31 babies were found abandoned in dangerous locations like dumpsters around the country. Of those 31 infants, 22 were found dead. During Senate debate Wednesday, state Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern, a Kansas City Democrat, expressed her support for the bill as she addressed Republican state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman of Arnold, who handled the legislation in the Senate, acknowledging both their roles as adoptive mothers. 'My son was placed in my arms at 13 days. I can't imagine what his birth mom was going through during those days, but I am so grateful that after 13 days, she was able to place him in my arms,' Nurrenbern said. 'That's what we want for all birth parents in that situation, to recognize that there is a safe place for their baby.' On Thursday, state Rep. Bridget Walsh Moore, a St. Louis Democrat, accused Senate Republicans of hypocrisy for passing the baby box legislation then leading a filibuster the evening prior to kill legislation that would have created a child care tax credit. 'These baby boxes are all well and good,' Walsh Moore said. 'But if we invested in our families and our working families making sure that mothers are healthy and cared for and that children are safe in child care, then maybe people wouldn't have to hand their children over to the government.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Missouri bill exempting capital gains from income tax sent to governor
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways Missouri House Speaker Pro Tem Chad Perkins of Bowing Green speaks at a news conference Feb. 13 with state Rep. Melissa Schmidt, a Republican from Eldridge (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications). Missouri House Republicans muscled their biggest tax-cut priority of the year across the finish line on Wednesday, sending a bill exempting capital gains from income tax to Gov. Mike Kehoe. No Democrats supported the bill, although 10 did vote 'present' to show they supported provisions of the legislation other than the exemption on profits from the sale of property or investments held more than a year. The bill applies to income received this calendar year, so it has a bigger bite into state revenue for the current fiscal year than it does for future years. The fiscal note for the bill estimates the change could reduce state revenue in the first year just under $430 million. In future years, the bill is estimated to reduce revenues by approximately $340 million annually. House Speaker Pro Tem Chad Perkins, a Bowling Green Republican, sponsored the bill. In an interview after the vote, he said he was surprised that no Democrats joined Republicans on the 102-41 vote. 'There were a lot of Senate Democrats who voted for it,' Perkins said. The tax cut vote came as the Friday deadline for passing the state budget approaches. During debate, Democrats said they are concerned that state revenues are stagnant and federal funding for many programs is in jeopardy. 'There are good pieces in this bill, but I fear it might be a pig that we put some lipstick on,' said state Rep. Stephanie Hein, a Springfield Democrat. Citing estimates from a left-leaning think tank published in The Independent, Democrats also questioned whether the fiscal note truly reflects how much revenue would decline under the bill. Federal tax data from returns filed for 2022 shows individual income tax filers from Missouri reported $13.3 billion in capital gains income. Allowing a deduction of that amount would reduce state revenue by more than $600 million if it is all taxed at the top rate of 4.7% 'I'm not sure that our budget can afford that, especially at a time when we've chosen not to fully fund our schools,' said state Rep. Kemp Strickler, a Democrat from Lee's Summit. Perkins said he also thinks the fiscal note is inaccurate, but for a different reason. The estimate does not account for increased economic activity from new investments made by people who retain the money, he said. But he also acknowledged that the revenue reduction estimate could be inaccurate. 'The possibility exists that you are right as well,' Perkins said to Strickler. Under the bill, individuals would receive the capital gains exemption immediately. Corporations would be exempt in the year after the top individual income tax rate declines to 4.5% under a state law lowering the rate when revenue growth hits a trigger amount. Revenues are unlikely to trigger a one-tenth percentage point cut in the tax rate until 2028, the fiscal note states, making the corporate capital gains exemption unlikely until at least Jan. 1, 2030. The capital gains exemption for individuals is estimated to reduce revenue by about $110 million annually. Corporations are expected to see their taxes reduced by about $180 million annually when the exemption is triggered. The bill won votes from five of the 10 Democrats in the state Senate after the delay in the corporate exemption was added along with other tax cut provisions for lower-income Missourians. They are: Increased credit amounts and income limits for the refundable property tax credit known as the 'circuit breaker' available to people over 65 and people with disabilities. The changes included in the bill would reduce state revenue by about $84 million. A sales tax exemption for diapers and feminine hygiene products that would eliminate the 4.225% state portion of the tax. Local sales taxes would remain in place. The exemption would reduce state revenue by about $37 million annually. The circuit breaker tax credit was established in 1973. People over age 65 and those who have a qualifying disability and rent their homes can claim a tax credit to offset property taxes of up to $750 if their income is less than $27,500. The credit for homeowners is up to $1,100 if they own their home if their income is less than $30,000. The bill would increase the maximum credit for renters to $1,055. For homeowners, the maximum credit would be increased to $1,550. It would also increase the income limits for claiming the credit, to $38,200 for renters and $41,000 for homeowners, with slightly higher amounts allowed for married couples claiming the credit. For the first time, the credit amount and the income limits would be indexed for inflation. Most of the benefits from a cut in the capital gains rate for individuals would go to a small slice of taxpayers. The 23,800 federal returns filed for 2022 with incomes greater than $500,000 a year represent 0.8% of all returns but included 65% of the capital gains income. State revenues are already trending lower for the current fiscal year, down more than 2% through Tuesday. If continued to the end of the fiscal year, revenues would fall about $300 million below estimates made in January. Republicans who argued for the tax cut said they see no problem if revenues decline. The answer, they said, is to cut spending. 'I'm going to tell you,' said state Rep. Jim Murphy, a St. Louis Republican, 'if you keep spending, and you keep spending, and you keep spending, we're not going to be able to do the things we really need to do in this chamber, and that's to help the people who deserve it.' Democrats, however, said increases for the circuit breaker and the sales tax exemptions are attempts to mask a giveaway to the rich. 'No one's sitting at any marble tables around the 73rd talking about capital gains tax,' said state Rep. Raychel Proudie, a Democrat from Ferguson. 'They are talking about these eggs. They are talking about how they have to use the emergency room for their primary care physician. They do talk about that.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
