Tag: Keri Ingle

Transitional ‘benefit cliff’ legislation would help more Missourians take raises, drop state assistance

      A plan that would allow Missourians who are on certain state financial assistance programs to gradually get off of them without falling off a so-called “benefits cliff” is one of the things awaiting action from Governor Mike Parson (R). 

Representative ALex

      That “cliff” is what policy makers call situations when a person accepts a salary increase that puts them over the income limits for programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and what that person then loses in benefits is more than the amount their pay would increase.  The result is that often, Missourians on benefits programs are forced to reject promotions and raises, for their own good and that of their families.

      The House passed last month a proposed transitional program that would let people get off of state programs incrementally as their income increases. 

      “Our social safety net system, our welfare system in the State of Missouri, isn’t working.  It’s designed in such a way that it really does trap people in poverty and discourages people from trying to get out,” said Springfield Republican Alex Riley, the House sponsor of that legislation.  “My goal with the benefits cliff bill was to create a pathway where our welfare system really does what its intended to do, and that’s to serve as a hand up to people to help pull them out of these tough situations that they’re in, and not to serve as an anchor that keeps them in poverty forever and then results in this generational cycle of poverty that unfortunately far too many in our state are in.”

      The legislation would apply to SNAP and TANF, and expand and make permanent existing transitional benefits for the child care subsidy program.  Benefits to a participant would be reduced relative to their increases in pay until they are making twice the federal poverty rate. 

      Representative Keri Ingle (D-Lee’s Summit), whose background is in social work, said most Missourians, even if they haven’t been on these programs, could understand having to make the decisions some have had to make, to turn down pay increases.

      “I don’t think it’s hard for most people to imagine, in this economy, but, you absolutely wouldn’t want to be in a situation where you had to cut your income,” said Ingle.  “One of the great things about this bill is that it allows people to slowly ween off the system.  It allows them to be in situations where it doesn’t adversely affect their income to accept a higher paying job, or to have a higher income, to accept a raise, and still have some of those benefits until they can kind of slowly ween off of them and be self-sufficient.  We’re really empowering working folks within our state with families to come off the system but to do it in a way that they’re still having all their needs met.”

Representative Keri Ingle (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      Riley said there’s nothing in Missouri’s various policies and statutes that does what this would do.

      “There are some minor benefits cliffs provisions in place for, I think, food stamps, but it hasn’t really worked, so this is a bigger bite at the apple that will, hopefully, do a better job of actually resolving that issue,” said Riley.  “Once this has been implemented and is in effect for a few years I expect we’re going to start to see large numbers of people coming off the rolls over time and then once we get a really good opportunity to see how this has played out over time, we’ll have an opportunity to make adjustments if we need to, but hopefully we won’t have to.”

      He said the legislation might have to be revisited over time for factors like inflation. 

      In the end, the legislation received broad bipartisan support.  It is a proposal that had been around for several years, sponsored by members of both parties.  Even so, Riley said such issues can present a narrow path to success.

      “It’s hard to do any sort of welfare reform in a bipartisan way but this was a way that we could do that.  You had Democrats that were okay with this type of reform, you had Republicans of all shapes and sizes, from your conservative wing, your Libertarian wing, your more moderate wing, that recognized that this is a structure that makes sense and will benefit the state as a whole for a long time to come.”

      He said giving people a way to get off of state benefits is good for them, good for state agencies, and good for the state’s budget.

      “It’s good for the individuals because they’re starting to work their way out of poverty, they’re becoming more self-sufficient, which is good for the state when you have more people working and getting off of benefits.  It’s going to ultimately result, over time, in the state having to spend fewer dollars on folks on benefits and it will result in fewer people, ultimately, on benefits, over time.”

      Ingle said most people who are getting state help don’t want to do so for any longer than is necessary, and they will appreciate this program.

      “I think it’s a common misconception that people want to stay on the system, or people don’t want to be self-sufficient … but people have to be able to pay their bills and to feed their children, and so at the end of the day it’s just a common sense solution to that problem.”

      Riley said, “My excitement and focus with being able to get this done this year was really to create a pathway for people who are on state benefits but don’t want to be on those, who want to be self-sufficient, who want to work and start to get out of these tough economic situations, a way to do so, and I think we accomplished that with this bill.”

      The language passed as part of Senate Bill 106 and Senate Bills 45 & 90, broad bills dealing with various public health issues.  Governor Parson could sign either or both of those bills into law, veto them, or allow them to become law without his action. If this proposal becomes law it would become effective on August 28.

Expansion of adoption tax credit sent to governor

      Missouri legislators hope one of the bills they’ve sent to the governor will lead to more children being adopted into loving homes. 

Representative Hannah Kelly (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      One of the provisions in Senate Bill 24 would expand Missouri’s adoption tax credit, which offers a nonrefundable tax credit for one-time adoption-related expenses such as attorney fees, up to $10,000 per child.  That credit is capped at $6-million a year.  SB 24 would remove that cap, makes the tax credit refundable, and would have the per-child limit adjust with inflation.

      Those proposed changes are now awaiting action by Governor Mike Parson (R), and their House sponsor, Hannah Kelly (R-Mountain Grove), couldn’t be happier. 

      “I just think we did something really good today.  I honestly had given up on it and then it passed.  I couldn’t hardly believe it.  Now it’s on the governor’s desk.  I’m very thankful,” said Kelly.  “We’re just saying, ‘Hey, we’re here to make sure that we invest in these kids and these families, help them get across the line, get them out of the system, get them building their futures together as a family.’”

      More than 2,200 Missouri children are awaiting adoption.  Representative Keri Ingle (D-Lee’s Summit) once worked as an adoption specialist with the state Children’s Division, and said most of the families who would adopt those children see the system as complicated and laced with prohibitive expenses.

      “They know it costs a lot of money, they know it’s hard, they know that they have to jump through a lot of bureaucratic hurdles, but they don’t know that there’s support on the other end of it.  They don’t know that they’ll be eligible, perhaps, for a subsidy and tax credits and things like that, that will help them complete their family and get kids out of foster care and make it affordable and not cost prohibitive.”

      Ingle said this bill could make a huge difference.

“We have kids that linger in care indefinitely and unnecessarily, because there are so many families out there that want to adopt kids, that want to create forever homes for these kids, but they just feel like it’s beyond their fiscal ability to do so.  Anything we can do to help them through that process and create that forever family and get these kids out of [state] care … there are way too many people that would love to expand their families and adopt.”

      The bill is especially personal for Kelly, who talks often to her colleagues and in public settings about her own experience adopting her then-teenage daughter. 

      “My daughter is building her own life and celebrating her impending wedding coming soon and going to college and doing all the things that you hope to see your children do, not because of me but because she simply had the opportunity to know she had a forever home base to come back to.  To be a part of that is a privilege and to get to be a part of helping Missouri families provide that for children who otherwise would not have that, is a privilege.”

Representative Keri Ingle (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      Ingle said even as other issues have caused tension between her party and Republicans there has been a lot of cooperation on issues like this one, and she’s been glad to be a part of it.

      “We’ve been really, really lucky to have a specific group of people in my tenure that have really placed children and child welfare at the forefront of what we work on and placed partisan ship at the very, very back when it comes to those things.  Politics has nothing to do with child welfare and it shouldn’t have anything to do with that.  We should all come together and do what’s right for the kids of this state, and so I’m always really proud to see the work that my colleagues do, on both sides of the aisle, when it pertains to that.”

      Kelly added, “If any Missouri family wants to give a child who does not have a forever home a home we need to back up and support them, and that is what this credit is about.”

      The House’s final vote on SB 24 was 139-5.  It now awaits the governor’s decision to either sign it into law, veto it, or allow it to become law without his action.

Help for low-income and disabled Missourians a focus in final days of session

      In the House, proposals that would help Missourians with disabilities, those with low incomes, and new mothers on state assistance, are being given every chance to become law before the end of the session next week.  The chamber has voted to add those pieces of legislation to several bills that are still in play in these final days.

Representative Melanie Stinnett (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      Among those is a transitional program meant to help people get off of state assistance gradually as their income increases.  House members say the state’s assistance programs for low-income Missourians trap people in poverty because if they accept a raise that puts them above a program’s limits, they could lose more in state benefits than they gain from a raise. 

      The measure, sponsored by Representative Alex Riley (R-Springfield), would let people incrementally transition off of state assistance, “Trying to create this transitional system that encouraged people to work, that encouraged people to take those raises and to start to work their way up the income ladder and to hopefully, once this goes into effect, actually reduce the number of people receiving benefits in the state.”

      That provision is the product of years of work by members of both parties.  Lee’s Summit Democrat Keri Ingle called it a, “great bill … it’s been a bipartisan effort to essentially wean folks off of assistance, whether it’s TANF or SNAP, and make it easier for Missourians to get what they need to be successful working citizens while at the same time making sure that all of their needs are being met.”

Representative Bridget Walsh Moore (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      The House has voted this week to add that language to two bills.  It did the same for language sponsored by Representative Melanie Stinnett (R-Springfield) that could allow individuals with disabilities to finally be able to advance in their careers without worry of losing state assistance. 

      The changes to the state’s Ticket to Work health insurance program within MO HealthNet would increase the limit to how much a person can earn before they lose benefits, and would not count up to $50,000 of a spouse’s income toward that limit.  It would also direct state agencies to have policies to recruit and keep employees with disabilities and create competitive ways to integrate them into workforces.

      “These are people who are actually begging us to work, who want to work, who want to get promotions, who want to seek new jobs.  What [this] bill does is address the fiscal cliff, making sure that you don’t have to do quite as much of a tap dance that too many people in our state are doing, where you’re allowed to make so much money but only to a certain point,” said St. Louis Democrat Bridget Walsh Moore.

      Walsh Moore, who lives and works with a disability, said the benefits that individuals stand to lose often enable them to have a job in the first place.  Things like, “a personal care attendant, your health insurance your additional services and equipment that you receive through the state that allow you to work.  This would address and allow you to make more money, put that money back into the economy because if you make more money you’re going to spend more money.”

Representative Alex Riley (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      Also supported in the House this week has been a bipartisan plan to extend post-partum coverage under MO HealthNet or Show-Me Healthy Babies from 60 days to a year.

      Stinnett, one of several sponsors of this proposal, said, “In 2019, 75-percent of pregnancy-related deaths in Missouri were determined to be preventable; those deaths that were attributed to things like embolism, hemorrhage, infections, concerns with cardiovascular health, chronic health conditions, and there’s one common denominator that can save these women’s lives, and that’s healthcare access.”

      Several Republicans have cited this as an important pro-life provision.  Representative Darin Chappell (R-Rogersville) said, “We who talk about being pro-life, I don’t know how we do that and then cut off the most vulnerable of our society after 60 days … I believe if we’re ever going to spend money [on benefits programs] it ought to be for those most vulnerable among us.  Those very ones that we fought for them to be able to be born.  We have to take care of them.”

      Representative Tony Lovasco (R-O’Fallon) said even very conservative Republicans like himself could get behind all of these proposals, which don’t expand the state’s assistance programs.

Representative Keri Ingle (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications

 “The reality is we are in a situation where we all, in all of our districts, have employers that are begging for workers.  The number of unfilled positions right now is just astronomical and the idea that we as a state might incentivize people to stay home and not work and not take a promotion, not take a job opportunity because they might just make a slim little bit more money that puts them in a hole when it comes to feeding their family, well that’s just insane.”      

Sponsors are hopeful at least one of the bills containing these provisions will reach the governor’s desk before the session closes at 6pm on May 12.

Missouri House condemns attack on Ukraine in unanimous vote

      The Missouri House voted unanimously today to condemn the Russian attack on Ukraine and to urge the federal government to respond prudently. 

Representative Mike Haffner (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      It approved House Resolution 3658 which says the members of the House, “Stand alongside Ukraine, its people, and its leaders during this horrific and unnecessary war and vow to support Ukraine and hold Russia fully accountable for its catastrophic decision to invade.”

      It was carried by Representative Mike Haffner (R-Pleasant Hill), a decorated combat veteran who retired from the U.S. Navy as a Commander. 

“This invasion is not about land.  It’s not about oil.  It’s not about natural resources.  It’s about freedom.  Ukraine has embraced the definition of American freedom as it is defined very clearly in the Declaration of Independence because that freedom results in unprecedented opportunity for all people,” Haffner said.

      Representative Michael O’Donnell (R-St. Louis) is a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve.  He said he’s been watching the coverage of Russian forces entering Ukraine equipped not to destroy military targets or equipment, but to kill people.  He’s marveled at the response of the Ukrainian people.

      “We have to look at the bravery of these people.  Would we have behaved any differently?  Would any of us have acted any differently?  Most of us aren’t capable of serving in the military anymore but we would’ve done something.  We would’ve done anything to protect our friends and our families,” said O’Donnell.

      Lee’s Summit representative Keri Ingle (D) said the people of Ukraine are much like the people of Missouri in what they want for themselves and their loved ones.

      “We must support democracy across the world or it will be lost here as well,” said Ingle.

(Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      Some representatives said the House’s action today isn’t just about what’s happened in the last week, but what will come if Russia doesn’t stop or isn’t stopped.  Representative David Tyson Smith (D-Columbia) said, “We need to take a stand against oppression and tyranny and we all know that if Russia takes Ukraine it’s not going to stop with Ukraine.” 

      St. Charles Republican and member of the National Guard Adam Schnelting added, “It’s very important that we stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine not just for Ukraine but also so that Europe does not digress into centuries of darkness.”

      The House voted 143-0 to support the resolution which states, as Rep. Haffner read, “we proudly stand alongside Ukraine, its people, and its leaders during this horrific and unnecessary war and vow to support Ukraine and hold Russia fully accountable for its catastrophic decision to invade this sovereign nation.

      “We condemn Vladimir Putin’s violent attack on the people of Ukraine and we have introduced this legislation to implore the President of the United States and the United States Congress to reaffirm our country’s unwavering support for Ukraine’s freedom and sovereignty.” 

House members frustrated by Department after report on missing foster children

      Missouri House members aren’t pleased with a lack of answers from the Department of Social Services in the wake of a federal report slamming its lack of response when children in foster care go missing.

Representative Mary Elizabeth Coleman (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      The U.S. Department of Health and Senior Services’ Office of the Inspector General report is based on 2019 data and was released last week.  It said the state does not properly report when children are missing and doesn’t do enough to keep them from going missing again, if they are found.

      “I was shocked by the scope of the report but I was not surprised by the content,” said Representative Mary Elizabeth Coleman (R-Arnold), Chairman of the House Committee on Children and Families, which met Tuesday in response to that report.

      That study found that 978 children went missing from state care at some point during 2019.  In looking closely at the handling of 59 cases of children missing from foster care, it found that in nearly half there was no evidence that the state had reported those children missing as required by law.

Department of Social Services Acting Director Jennifer Tidball and Children’s Division Interim Director Joanie Rogers testify to the House Committee on Children and Families (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      The Committee heard testimony from Department of Social Services Acting Director Jennifer Tidball, who said many of the policy issues cited in the report stemmed from a previous administration.  She produced a 2016 memo from then-director Tim Decker that allowed caseworkers to quit some practices and documentation, some of which she says has been resumed since 2019.

      Coleman and other lawmakers were frustrated by what they saw as a “passing of the buck,” trying to blame that earlier administration, and a failure to follow the law and to implement programs the legislature has authorized to help the Division keep foster kids safe.

      “If the tools that have been given by the legislature have not been utilized and if the state and federal laws are not being followed because it’s the policy of the department, what enforcement mechanism could the legislature use to induce you to follow state and federal statute?”

      The top Democrat on the committee, Keri Ingle (D-Lee’s Summit), said Tuesday’s hearing was beyond frustrating.

      “What do we do if our own departments are telling us that they’re not following state and federal law and they’re not following their own policies and they’re not taking us up on additional resources when we’re offering additional resources?”

Representative Keri Ingle (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      Coleman said she was troubled that the Department did not today provide much information outside of what was in the federal report and even challenged its findings.  She said the next step will be to hold a hearing focused on possible solutions.

      “We’re going to continue to work and see what pressure we can put on the Department to continue to follow state and federal law.  The committee will continue to hold hearings.  We’ll probably have one more and then we’ll have a report with recommendations and I would think that you’ll see legislation that comes out of this process,” said Coleman.

      After Tidball’s testimony the Committee heard from several child welfare advocates, offering their response to the report and possible responses, however Tidball and her staff left the hearing shortly after she spoke.

House votes to allow state inspections of religious-based youth homes

      House lawmakers voted this week toward ending abuse of children in residential care facilities managed by religious organizations – abuse that lawmakers called “horrific,” and amounting to “torture.”

Representative Rudy Veit (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      House Bills 557 & 560 would eliminate the exemption from state supervision for such homes. 

      “There’s no background checks, there’s no right to go in and check on the children, there’s no requirement they keep medical records, there was no right to go in and have eyes on the children, and there was absolutely no control over these homes,” said bill sponsor Rudy Veit (R-Wardsville).  “These homes, all you had to say was it was a religious organization … and you couldn’t even check into whether it was a recognized religious organization.”

      Lee’s Summit representative Keri Ingle (D), who filed an identical bill, said Missouri is one of the only states that doesn’t oversee religious-based youth homes.  Because of that, bad actors have been coming here and then seeking out children with behavioral issues, mental issues, or whose needs weren’t being met.

      She said parents would send their children to these homes, “I think, most of the time, with the full intent of getting a child out of a really desperate situation and getting them the help that they needed.  Unfortunately, that trust was completely violated and these children were tortured.  There’s really no other way to describe it.”

      She and other lawmakers heard in committee hearings from children who had been abused in these homes.

Representative Keri Ingle (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      “The things that have been told to me by survivors across the country … described rape, described forcing children to have abortions, described stripping children of their dignity and their self-respect, their belief in God, their belief in love, forced children to fight other children, locked children in closets, forced children to stand in manure and forced children to do hard labor,” said Ingle. 

      “It almost looks like you’re reading something from a script of a horror movie, but it’s not,” said Representative Dave Griffith (R-Jefferson City).

      The legislation would require those homes to provide background checks for all employees; notify the state of their location; and allow Social Services to see children when abuse is suspected. 

It would not allow the state to change a home’s religious teachings or foundation.  Viet said he believes that religious-based youth homes, when run properly and honestly, can benefit children.

“I actually know some children who have been in some of these homes and I’ve talked to judges, and they do a great service, but if we don’t take care of and prevent the bad apples they’re going to ruin it for everyone,” said Veit.

The bill would go into effect immediately upon being signed by the governor. 

      The house voted 148-0 to send it to the Senate. 

Capitol Security an Early Session Priority for House

      An ongoing discussion about security in the Missouri State Capitol continues next week when House committees will hold hearings on two bills.

      One would move control of the Capitol Police from the Department of Public Safety to a new Capitol Police Board, made up of members appointed by the House Speaker, the Senate President Pro Tem, the Governor, the Chief Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court, and the chair of the State Capitol Commission.  Another would allow the House Speaker and the Senate President to appoint marshals to provide security and other duties.

Representative Ron Hicks (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications, 05-14-2020)

      House Bill 785, which would create the Capitol Police Board, is sponsored by St. Charles Republican Ron Hicks.  He says legislators and other public officials in the Capitol have no control over the security.

      “Over the years Capitol Police just seems like it’s been kind of a neglected police department.  They’ve been the most underpaid department in, just about in the state,” said Hicks.  “One of the problems we have with it is security.  We’re in the House and the Senate and we do not have control of the security that happens in our building.”

      Former Joplin Police Chief and Director of the Department of Public Safety Lane Roberts (R-Joplin) sponsors House Bill 784, which would create marshals for the House and Senate.  He shares Hicks’ concern that the legislature has no control over Capitol security, and says the agencies responsible for that security are “fragmented.”

      “We have several different law enforcement agencies directed by a number of different entities,” said Roberts.  “Right now the assembly would have to make a request of somebody else and hope that request would be [granted].  This would give the Assembly the ability to determine for itself the level of security that it gets.”

      Lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle have been concerned about Capitol security for many years.  Lee’s Summit Democrat Keri Ingle is beginning her third year in the House after working in many public buildings in her career dealing with child welfare and adoption.  She said compared to other public facilities, Capitol security is lacking.

      “Right now I would say it’s one of our greatest priorities,” said Ingle.  “As someone who’s worked in crisis situations and someone who’s studied this particular problem, I would say that emergency preparedness is something that we should do outside of a crisis situation … we can’t wait until something happens to start developing a plan for when it happens again.”

      The hearing will come just shy of three weeks after people protesting against the confirmation of the Electoral College Vote that saw Joe Biden become President stormed the U.S. Capitol.  Rumors and threats in recent weeks that some state capitols, including Missouri’s, would be targeted on the day of Biden’s inauguration, led to heightened security.  No such additional attacks occurred.

      All three legislators agree those events highlight the importance of making changes.  Representative Roberts said recent events were something of a “reality check … for people who would like to believe that everybody in the world is actually civilized.  In truth there’s some fairly uncivilized people out there,” said Roberts.  “The reality of where we are was brought home to us in a pretty ugly fashion.”

Representative Lane Roberts (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications, 02-26-2020)

      Hicks said the increased security during the inauguration of Governor Mike Parson (R) and again this week during President Biden’s inauguration highlights one of his main concerns.

      “The point has been proven … [Wednesday there were] probably 50 or so Highway Patrol officers in [the Capitol].  That means there are 50 or so Highway Patrol officers that are not doing what they normally do for us.  That means we’re borrowing.  I’ve noticed, too, the park rangers have been walking around in our building … they don’t even know where they are in that building,” said Hicks.  “There’s a lot of ins and outs in that building that there’s a lot of people don’t understand or even know how it operates or works.  And we don’t want to be borrowing.  What about when the time comes where all this settles back down and we’re all back in the legislature, does [security] all go away again?  It does.”

      Ingle said she has supported Hicks’ legislation in past years, but she and others in her caucus believe a new Capitol Police Board should include two additional members chosen by the minority leaders in each chamber. 

      “It’s really important that all of the members of the House feel that this board is looking out for the best interests of everyone and that we have a say in that as well,” said Ingle.

      Ingle said a “glaring” concern to her and other Democrats is that people can carry firearms into the Capitol. 

Representative Keri Ingle (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications, 04-29-2020)

      “There’s nothing to stop them from entering someone’s office or entering the [chamber] floor.  Obviously we have doormen, but as we were told during a security briefing there’s not really anything to stop someone who’s armed from entering our balconies.  Even though they are not supposed to, they are not checked in any way after they go through that initial security screening when they enter the building,” said Ingle. 

      HB 785 will go before the House Special Committee on Homeland Security, Monday at noon.  A live stream of that hearing will be available here.

      The House Committee on Crime Prevention will hold a hearing on HB 784 at the same time.  That live stream will be available here.