Politics & Government

South County State Reps Review Legislative Session

Missouri Representatives Marsha Haefner and Cloria Brown gave a rundown of the latest Missouri Congress session to South County residents.

State Representatives Marsha Haefner (R-100) and Cloria Brown (R-85) held a town hall meeting with residents of South County on June 29 to give a rundown of their accomplishments during the last Missouri legislative session. The meeting took place at the .
 
Brown, who is serving her first term, said the Missouri General Assembly was able to send 114 bills to the governor for his approval or veto.

Among the bills Rep. Brown helped sponsored is a bill that would continue to support the seven state-funded veterans home in Missouri.

“Without this bill, we would not have had funding for our veterans homes and they would have had to close down by 2013,” said Brown regarding bill 1731.   

Brown, who also serves in the Children and Families committee, also talked about House Bill 1323, known as Sam Pratt's Law, which modifies the law regarding child abuse and neglect investigations and unlicensed childcare providers.

Among other provisions, the bill would ensure that an unlicensed childcare facility would not be allowed to continue to operate if under investigation for neglect.

Click here for a list of bills sponsored by Brown at the latest session.

Rep. Haefner also spoke about her accomplishments during the latest session.

Haefner, who is also serving her first term, serves in several committees that relate to Missouri’s economy, including Interim Committee on Budget Transparency, Economic Development and the committee for Downsizing State Government.

“One of the reasons I got elected was to be an advocate for accountability and efficiency within the state government,” Haefner said.

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Among her accomplishments, Haefner said, the legislature passed a 2 percent increase for the salary of state employees, who had not had a raise since 2009.

“Not a lot, but they haven’t had a raise for a while,” Haefner said.

Haefner also noted that the Missouri was still one of seven states in the country with a triple A rating, which allowed it to refinance its bonds and generate more revenue.

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Haefner said Missouri’s revenues were up, but not enough. She said that some of the challenges ahead for Missouri’s budget will include paying for the Joplin tornado relief and the uncertainty of the Affordable Health Care Act, which she said could place a heavy burden in the state’s budget.

“Our challenge will be, from this day forward, how will we deliver our services that Missourians expect from us and be able to afford them,” Haefner said.

Click here for a list of bills sponsored by Haefner


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