Latest news with #Schroer
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Missouri special session begins with lawmakers split on stadium funding plan
GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs (Anna Spoerre/The Missouri Independent). The opening of the legislative special session Monday put partisan and intraparty fights in the Missouri Senate on display as Democrats called for expanded storm relief and Freedom Caucus members called for tax cuts as the price for supporting stadium subsidies. Gov. Mike Kehoe called lawmakers together just two weeks after they finished work in the regular session to consider a package of tax incentives intended to convince the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals to stay in Missouri. Kehoe is also asking lawmakers for a $235 million spending bill with $25 million for disaster relief as well as a special tax deduction for the cost of meeting insurance deductibles after a disaster. The brief opening session didn't feature any sharp exchanges, but the bills filed — and the statements made about them — show where the battle lines are being drawn. Senate Minority Leader Doug Beck, a Democrat from Affton, told reporters that members of his caucus aren't willing to talk about stadium funding until an appropriations bill and other disaster relief measures are on Kehoe's desk. 'When that happens and it's through the House and on the governor's desk, then we can talk about it,' Beck said. Members of the Freedom Caucus said they are holding out for a tax cut that benefits all Missourians before considering a stadium plan, said state Sen. Nick Schroer, a Republican from Defiance. Schroer filed a bill to cut the top income tax rate to 4% — it is currently 4.7% — and make the tax flat across all incomes. 'The members of the Freedom Caucus, plus the other conservative members that are not necessarily in the caucus, they've all expressed that whether it's income tax, personal property tax or real property tax, for us to sit at the table, and allow tax credits for billionaires to move forward, the little guy needs to get something in return,' Schroer said. The regular session ended in acrimony when Republicans twice invoked a rarely used procedural move to shut off debate. Democrats had blocked a proposed ballot measure to restore Missouri's ban on most abortions and a bill repealing the paid sick leave law passed by voters in November. Democrats vowed that the move ended their cooperation with Republicans and gave a taste of what that meant last week when they stalled the final paperwork of the regular session. Under the Missouri Constitution, lawmakers have 60 days to complete work on items in a special session and Kehoe has said he won't try to impose an artificial deadline. Because of the uncertainty of action in the Senate, the Missouri House won't convene until next week and will only remain in session if the Senate has passed a bill for it to consider. But the Chiefs and Royals have only until the end of the month to answer an offer from Kansas to fund new stadiums. Kehoe hopes to have his plan for tax incentives worth about 50% of the cost of new or renovated stadiums to be passed by then. The plan for the Chiefs and Royals would take tax money already generated from activities at the stadiums — $28.8 million annually as estimated by the Chiefs and $15 million annually by an estimate from the Royals — and commit it to bond payments for 30 years for the new or upgraded facilities. The economic activity associated with the Chiefs supports 4,500 jobs, Kehoe contends, and a new stadium for the Royals would generate about 8,400 jobs. The spending bill Kehoe wants passed would use $25 million of general revenue to support a new research reactor on the University of Missouri's Columbia campus, plus funding for a new livestock display barn at the State Fairgrounds in Sedalia and about $50 million to help with construction of a new mental hospital in Kansas City. The funding for the reactor is $25 million less than Kehoe proposed. State Sen. Stephen Webber, a Columbia Democrat, introduced an appropriations bill with $75 million for the reactor, plus all the other general revenue projects that died when Missouri House Republicans refused to bring the construction spending bill up for a vote. 'If there is going to be a $25 million variance on agreements made in this chamber, we ought to go $25 million in the other direction,' Webber said. Webber also introduced a bill imposing a 1% income tax surcharge on incomes greater than $1 million, which he said would bring in about $400 million over three years to support disaster relief. 'There is obviously a belief, among some, that billionaires should be given a sweetheart deal. I would disagree with that,' Webber said. 'There is also some concern about whether we can fund disaster relief for some communities in our state that were desperately hit. So what I've tried to do is build a bridge between those two issues.' State Sen. Rick Brattin, a Harrisonville Republican who chairs the Freedom Caucus, introduced a bill to finance the stadiums entirely from donations. He called it the 'No Taxation, All Donation Act' and included incentives for giving. 'So if somebody gives over $10,000 to this stadium, then they are able to obtain free parking to be able to get into that stadium,' Brattin said. The next step will be to send the bills to committees for hearings. That will happen tomorrow and the first hearings will occur soon afterward. Senate Majority Leader Tony Luetkemeyer, a Republican from Parkville, seemed happy to have gotten past the first day without a filibuster. 'Today went smoothly,' Luetkemeyer said. 'And then we'll just take it day by day and see where we go from here.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill overturning protections for Section 8 renters sent to Missouri 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 state Rep. Chris Brown, a Kansas City Republican, speaks in the House in February (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications). Local laws prohibiting landlords from discriminating against tenants who receive public assistance would be unenforceable under legislation sent to the governor's desk Wednesday. The bill passed by a final vote of 23 to 10 on Wednesday in the Senate, over the opposition of Democrats. It previously passed the House 103 to 37. The legislation takes aim at ordinances passed in several Missouri cities to protect tenants from discrimination based on the source of their income — especially tenants who use federal housing choice vouchers, known as Section 8 vouchers, to pay rent. The bill was co-sponsored by state Reps. Chris Brown, a Republican from Kansas City, and Ben Keathley, a Republican from Chesterfield. In the Senate, it was carried by state Sen. Nick Schroer, a Republican from Defiance. 'Various municipalities are trying to force landlords to put their homes into Section 8 programs,' Brown said during House debate Monday. 'We feel like that is overstepping their authority.' Schroer on Wednesday called it a 'common sense bill that was just limiting what political subdivisions can do when it comes to property rights.' Kansas City passed a source of income discrimination ban last year, though it was in large part paused by the courts in February. Columbia, St. Louis, Webster Groves and Clayton have similar protections on the books. The laws make it illegal for landlords to discriminate based solely on the fact of renters' lawful sources of income, including Section 8, veterans' benefits and Social Security. An amendment previously added by Democrat state Sen. Patty Lewis of Kansas City, would have carved out most of Kansas City from the legislation. But that language was removed in the final bill. 'The amendment that we stripped out would have excluded Kansas City from the bill,' Brown said. 'Kansas City was a big reason we originated this bill.' Schroer said there were also constitutional concerns that carving out Kansas City could get 'litigated and thrown out' in court. 'This was the only path forward to make it through both chambers,' Schroer said. Lewis said she was frustrated not to be consulted during the final negotiations. 'Affordable housing is extremely important to me, and that's the basis of what they were trying to do with the ordinance,' Lewis said. 'And I'm just trying to protect the local control.' An amendment added by Democratic state Sen. Stephen Webber of Columbia was kept in the bill to clarify protections for renters receiving veterans' benefits. The legislation had the support of landlords groups, apartment associations, the realtors' association and the conservative think tank Show Me Institute. Proponents characterized localities' source-of-income protections as an overreach into property owners' rights. Opponents said the bill infringed on local control and would hurt affordable housing availability, exacerbating homelessness. The city of Kansas City has been opposed along with the anti-poverty nonprofit Empower Missouri and an association of public housing authorities in Missouri. The legislation will go into effect Aug. 28 if signed into law by the governor. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Yahoo
DCF gives limited response to questions about Rose Hill child's death
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – It has been two weeks since police arrested the adoptive parents of a Rose Hill girl found buried in their backyard. On Tuesday, the Department for Children and Families responded to KSN's repeated requests for information on the case. It involves Kennedy Jean Schroer, whose remains were found in September. Authorities believe she died in November 2020 when she was 6 years old. The adoptive parents, Crystina and Joseph Schroer, are charged in the case. Crystina, 50, is charged with first-degree murder, child abuse and desecration of a corpse, among other charges. Joseph, 53, is charged with endangering a child and interference with law enforcement. They are both charged with Medicaid fraud and making false information. Some Kansas communities ask residents to conserve natural gas The law allows DCF to provide certain details and documents when there is a death investigation. KSN asked for all documents, emails, pictures and videos relating to the child's adoptive name, Kennedy Schroer, and her birth name, Natalia Garcia. We also asked for information on her biological parents and on the Schroers, who were Kennedy's foster parents before adopting her. On Tuesday, DCF gave some new but minimal details. DCF said that on four dates from January through June 2018, there were allegations of sexual, physical or emotional abuse against a biological parent. DCF said all the allegations were determined to be unsubstantiated. The DCF Prevention and Protective Services Policy and Procedure manual says that unsubstantiated means 'The facts or circumstances do not provide clear and convincing evidence to meet the KSA definition of abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation.' DCF said it recommended services in 2016 for 'domestic violence between biological parents,' but the biological parents refused services. DCF also says the biological father reported the family needed housing assistance in 2017, but the family then refused services. DCF said it considers KSN's request closed. KSN disagrees and has sent a new request, reiterating our request for documents in the case or a legal explanation as to why that portion of our request was denied. Christa Helm, Kennedy's biological mother, told KSN that her children were taken from her in 2017 and that she relinquished custody of three of her daughters in late 2018. She said the three were adopted into the Rose Hill family's home in 2019. The DCF response did not mention any of that or anything about the children being placed in foster care. A court document released to KSN on Friday gave disturbing details about what allegedly happened to Kennedy in the Schroer home. It also mentions at least one incident where DCF was asked to investigate the Schroer home, yet DCF's response to KSN does not mention that incident. The court document claims that a report was made to DCF on Aug. 30, 2024, for a welfare check on the Schroer home, as it was reported one sister killed the other sister by putting her in a box. The document goes on to say that a DCF social worker reported she contacted Crystina on Sept. 3, 2024, who said both girls had been out of the house, and the child 'is very much alive and, in the home, and that the girls like to tell stories.' According to the affidavit, Crystina told the social worker she did not think the social worker needed to see the kids for a welfare check. The report submitted by the social worker says she 'believed Crystina's version of events as she had set this matter to be 'screened out' or closed out due to insufficient evidence.' KSN has filed several Kansas Open Records Act (KORA) requests in the case and is again requesting more answers. KSN has continually offered a DCF representative the opportunity to answer our specific questions on camera or via email. Those requests have either gone unanswered or been declined. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
