Mike Bernskoetter – Missouri House of Representatives Newsroom

With victim’s family present, House passes bill to require reporting of sexual assaults in nursing homes

Several years ago a woman living in a Missouri nursing home died after being sexually assaulted in that home, and the identity of her attacker will likely never be known. On Friday the Missouri House completed passage of a bill aimed at keeping that from happening to anyone else.

Maribeth and David Russell of Russellville, Missouri, listen as the House passes legislation Maribeth advocated for, for five years, after her mother-in-law was victimized at a nursing home and the crime was not reported to law enforcement. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications – click for larger version)

That woman was Maribeth Russell’s mother-in-law, and Russell spent the past five years pushing for a change in Missouri law. That culminated Friday with the passage of House Bill 1635, which requires that law enforcement be notified when it is suspected that a long-term care resident 60-years of age or older has been sexually assaulted.

Russell was in the House when it gave final passage to HB 1635, 139-0.

Russell said that law enforcement was not notified by the nursing home or the hospital of the crime against her mother-in-law. The family assumed such notification was made when the Department of Health and Senior Services was contacted. By the time the family learned that was not the case, it was too late.

“Sexual assault is timely. You have to quickly jump on it to try to collect evidence and that wasn’t done, so there was never an arrest made or a prosecution made at all, and I simply wanted to prevent this from happening to others down the road,” said Russell. “Let’s change this law, let’s fill this gap that’s in the statute and prevent this from happening again.”

HB 1635 would expand Missouri law that requires abuse or neglect to be reported to the Department of Health and Senior Services. Its reporting requirement applies to in-home care providers, adult day care workers, medical and mental health care providers, medical examiners, funeral directors, and those in numerous other professions.

Representative Mike Bernskoetter (R-Jefferson City) has worked for several years, with Russell, on the language that became HB 1635. He agreed with other lawmakers that the issue was, “unsettling.”

“Especially a situation like this where somebody went through this kind of heinous act and then there was basically nothing [that] could be done about it because there was a hole in our statutes,” said Bernskoetter. “Just thinking about what could have happened to [Maribeth Russell’s] mother-in-law, it could happen to your mom or your grandma or somebody that you knew.”

Russell said the passage of HB 1635 amounts to closure for her.

Representative Mike Bernskoetter (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications – click for larger version)

“Knowing that we’re helping others down the road – people who may never know we’ve helped – but we’re trying to prevent others from having to experience what we’ve experienced here,” said Russell.

She said the nursing home and hospital that treated her mother-in-law have made it their practice to report possible sexual assaults to law enforcement, and she’s thankful for that. She wants HB 1635 to ensure that all agencies in the state are doing the same.

Bernskoetter is hopeful that, while it is unlikely, the person who attacked Russell’s mother-in-law will one day be identified. In the meantime he hopes that 1635 will be signed into law by the governor, and will prevent the same thing from happening again.

Missouri House honors well-known Capitol employee who started local summer lunch program

The state House has honored a long-time fixture in the Capitol not only for her work under the dome, but her charitable efforts elsewhere in the capital city.

Malissa Smith (2nd from left) accepts a House resolution sponsored by Representative Mike Bernskoetter (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications – click for larger version)

Malissa Smith has worked in the Capitol’s cafeteria for twelve years. Visually impaired since the age of 31, she helped train workers in the cafeteria when it was operated by the Division of the Blind.

These days she is often seen in the hallways of the building, sometimes pushing a sandwich cart from office-to-office for those who don’t have time to dash out for lunch.

Representative Mike Bernskoetter (R-Jefferson City) said nearly everyone who works in the building knows Smith and she speaks with them as she makes her rounds.

“Not only is Malissa an example for people without sight, she shows everybody an example of what can be done if you set your mind to it,” said Bernskoetter. “I think she’s an example for us all. She has a fantastic attitude. If you go down and talk to Joan at [the current cafeteria, operated by] Chez Monet, she will tell you how great a worker she is and she will do anything for anybody at any time.”

Bernskoetter said Smith has also launched, with her own money, a free summer lunch program for children and teenagers up to the age of 17. All summer long she and the volunteers who joined her feed more than 100 children in Jefferson City who otherwise would likely go without lunch during the months they aren’t in school.

“What happened was my chair of the board of the church said I want to appoint you chairman of outreach, and I said, ‘Oh, Lord, what am I going to do?’” Smith said.

She had learned a lot of children in the church’s neighborhood were not eating, so she decided on the lunch program as part of her outreach effort.

“It’s a blessing just to see the smiles on their face. Now that the majority of them have come back year after year, they kind of talk to us now – make conversation – and they think we’re part of their family now,” said Smith. “If they have a need also, like if they tell me they don’t have a pair of shoes or something, we have another outreach that works with me – community outreach – that we can look for things like that for them.”

Smith moved to Jefferson City from her hometown of Moberly in 2004 to pursue a job that would allow her to keep working in spite of her impairment.

“I’m trying to be an example to the blind. Just because you have a disability doesn’t mean you can’t try something,” said Smith.

She hopes to keep working in the Capitol for years to come.

“I love the people around here. That’s my biggest thing,” said Smith. “I’ve made a lot of rapport and friends, and it’s just fun being up here.”

Smith was honored with a resolution from the House recognizing her 12 years of work in the Capitol, and the lunch program that she expects will grow this year to feeding nearly 200 children.

The summer lunch program she launched resumes May 21 at the annex of the Second Christian Church in Jefferson City, where she is an elder.

Missouri House asked to reject pay hike for legislators, statewide office holders

Missouri House members are being asked to reject a pay increase for themselves, the governor, and other statewide officials.

Representative Mike Bernskoetter (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

The Missouri Citizens’ Commission on Compensation for Elected Officials recommended in its December 1 report an increase in pay over the next two years of five-percent for Representatives and Senators, and of eight-percent for the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Treasurer, Secretary of State, and Auditor.

House Concurrent Resolution 4, filed by Representative Mike Bernskoetter (R-Jefferson City), would reject the Commission’s recommendation and thereby block those pay raises. To pass, it must be approved by two-thirds votes in each chamber and would go then to Governor Eric Greitens (R). If no action is taken before February 1, the Commission’s recommendations would be enacted.

Bernskoetter, who recently spoke with House Communications about the chances the state will be able to increase the pay of its workers in the Fiscal Year 2018 budget, said this is not the time for legislators and other elected officials to get a raise.

“According to the budget chair it’s possible we’re going to have to cut $500-million out of the budget and I don’t know where we’re going to get the money from to do that and then give us a raise,” said Bernskoetter. “Doesn’t really seem to compute.”

House Democrat Leader Gail McCann Beatty (D-Kansas City) agrees that the proposed increases should be rejected.

“We already see that we are having some budget challenges,” said McCann Beatty. “I don’t believe that increases to the legislature or to the executive branch should be our priorities right now, and we also have to consider that our state employees are some of the lowest-paid state employees and if we’ve got dollars to increase salaries that is probably where that priority should be.”

Bernskoetter’s resolution is scheduled to be considered by the House General Laws Committee Tuesday at 2:30. The Committee will likely vote on it during a hearing on the following day.

The Citizens’ Commission was created so that the power to control how much elected officials are paid lies with citizens. It generally makes salary recommendations for elected officials and judges every two years.

Legislator exploring ways to improve state employee benefits even if pay hike not possible for FY ’18

The Missouri legislature could have a difficult time building a pay increase for state employees into the Fiscal Year 2018 budget, but there are other things it could consider to improve those employees’ benefits.

Representative Mike Bernskoetter chairs the Joint Interim Committee on State Employee Wages (photo; Tim Bommel)

The Joint Interim Committee on State Employee Wages has heard a follow-up report from St. Louis-based CBIZ Human capital Services. CBIZ studied nearly 38,000 of Missouri’s 50,000 employees. It’s already reported to the legislature that those employees are the least paid in the nation, with compensation more than 10-percent below what is recommended to compete in the job market.

The study said it would cost the state $13.69-million to bring more than 5,000 of those state workers’ pay up to the minimum CBIZ recommended to be competitive in the market. That would be a one-percent increase in the state’s payroll.

Committee Chairman Mike Bernskoetter (R-Jefferson City) said building that into the budget that legislators will propose over the next couple of months could be difficult based on what he’s heard from the House’s Budget Committee Chairman, Scott Fitzpatrick (R-Shell Knob).

“I’ve heard reports where he thinks we’ll have to cut $500-million out of the budget,” said Bernskoetter. “Hopefully it won’t be that bad but I guess we’ll see as they go through the process.”

Bernskoetter said he does believe that if there is enough money to increase state employee pay, it is among Fitzpatrick’s priorities.

“If the budget is the way he thinks it is it’s going to be tough this year, but he’s led me to believe he’s interested in improving state employee pay,” said Bernskoetter.

He said even if the state can’t begin increasing state employees’ pay this year, the study makes clear a path toward improving that pay.

“We have a blueprint for the future, so there is something in that,” said Bernskoetter. “We have a plan that hopefully we can implement in the future. If not this year, next year.”

Some of CBIZ’s other recommendations could be worked on this year, however. One is that Missouri replace its step-based system for awarding salary increases. A CBIZ representative called it “archaic,” and expensive to administer. Bernskoetter said he is reviewing proposed legislation to make that change.

Another recommendation is that Missouri return to requiring that an employee work five years to be vested rather than ten years. Bernskoetter liked that idea as well.

“Say we have Governor Greitens and he wants to bring in the best and the brightest … even if he was here for two terms – eight years – they would not get anything out of it other than their salary. They wouldn’t be vested,” said Bernskoetter. “That’s one way of compensating the best and the brightest. If we can’t at least give them a great salary, we’ve got a good benefit package.”

Bernskoetter would also like to see state employees given more flexibility, where possible.

“Obviously you have some places – the Department of Corrections – where you have to be staffed 24-hours a day and you can’t really be flexible. But if we can be flexible in certain departments – if people want to work 6 to 2, or if they can work from home, I think I need to sit down and talk to different departments and be more flexible with employees,” said Bernskoetter. “If we can’t give them a pay raise, then be more flexible with their schedule.”

CBIZ won a bid of up to $300,000 to conduct the pay study.

Our earlier stories:

House Members optimistic about taking first step in improving state employee pay

Legislators to learn more about state employee pay study at meeting next week