Bryan Pratt

This morning before the House Children and Families Committee, Rep. Bryan Pratt (R-Blue Springs) presented his new informed consent/coercion bill (HB2000) which would, among other things, require providers to notify prosecuting attorneys about any abortions provided to women under the age of 17.

Current law requires providers to notify authorities of any pregnancies/abortions for girls under the age of 14. 

That, however, did not stop Pratt from telling the committee that his law could have helped prevent some of the abuse allegedly committed by five men arrested in Lafayette County in November for sex crimes against children.  The alleged abuse by the men in the Mohler family is incredibly disturbing (you can read more here); among other things, a key witness in the case says she had an abortion at age 11 1/2. 

Pratt told the committee his bill could prevent similar abuse in the future. 

Rep. Gary Dusenberg (R-Blue Springs) breaks the news: "pay to play" exists in the state legislature.

“Whether we admit it or not, it exists,” said Rep. Gary Dusenberg, R-Blue Springs, in an appearance before the House Committee on Government Accountability and Ethics Reform. “When people with lots of money get to say what bills are heard or not, that is not fair. These incidents do not pass the smell test, folks. You can say that they do, but they don’t.” [..]

Dusenberg is unusual in the sense that few Republicans support the restoration of [campaign contribution] limits. He is also one of the few lawmakers speaking out about the “pay to play” accusations.

“It is what it is, and we have to correct it, and if you can’t take a stand on what you believe in, you should not be here in the first place,” Dusenberg said. “It reflects on the people down here in the General Assembly.”

KC Star editorial page columnist Barb Shelly:

[Rod] Jetton's thumbprints will never be removed from House business as long as his team remains in charge. Steve Tilley of Perryville, the majority floor leader; and Bryan Pratt, the speaker pro tem, were Jetton's lieutenants. Pratt is running for the Missouri Senate, but Tilley is in line to become House Speaker.

It's difficult to see how the House can repair the damage that Jetton inflicted on its image and good government unless the membership votes in new leadership.

Like Lt. Governor Peter Kinder, House Republican leaders are going out of their way to ignore the facts and overstate the projected costs of expanded Medicaid edibility as outlined in the House- and Senate-passed health care reform bills.  Today, eight GOP leaders, including Speaker Ron Richard, Floor Leader Steven Tilley and Speaker Pro Tem Bryan Pratt wrote Gov. Jay Nixon and Attorney General Chris Koster to express their disdain for the federal proposals. 

Republicans opposing health care reform en masse isn't news -- but the refusal by Missouri GOP leaders to talk about the proposed legislation should be.  From a story posted today on the Star's Prime Buzz blog:

Republicans contend that could cost the state an additional $450 million a year, based on estimates released by the state Department of Social Services several months ago. Figures reflecting new iterations of the bills haven't been released, they said.

This is false, and you don't have to take my word for it.  As printed in the News-Leader last week:

Kinder's claim that the Medicaid expansion could cost Missouri taxpayers "as high as $450 million per year" is much higher than what Nixon's Department of Social Services claims the House or Senate bills would cost Missouri.

DSS officials estimate the House version of Medicaid expansion would cost the state of Missouri $188 million more each year, while the Senate bill would cost state taxpayers an extra $91 million each year.

Sources close to Rep. Brian Yates (R-Lee's Summit) report that the four-term legislator is expected to resign his seat in the coming days.  Yates is term-limited, and was previously thought to be in the hunt for the 8th District Senate seat, now held by Sen. Matt Bartle (R-Blue Springs).

With Yates' apparent departure, it's unclear who -- if anyone -- will step up to challenge Rep. Bryan Pratt (R-Blue Springs) for the SD8 seat.   Rep. Gary Dusenberg (R-Blue Springs) and Blue Springs Mayor Carson Ross have been floated as possible primary contenders.  The latest news out of Jackson County is that three-term legislator Rep. Will Kraus (R-Lee's Summit) has begun exploring a bid for the 8th District Senate seat.  If Kraus decides to run, who will Yates and Bartle support?

GOP Speaker Pro Tem Bryan Pratt believes that the outrageous politicking we've been experiencing in the Sonia Sotomayor nomination process has really inspired Missourians to add unrestrained partisanship into our own judicial selection process. Pratt spoke on a panel yesterday at the Conservative Heartland Leadership Conference with State Sen. Jim Lembke and others about their legislative and ballot-initiative strategies for undermining Missouri's widely-praised process. On the panel, Pratt said the right-wing hysteria about Sotomayor has prompted "a greater grassroots movement'' to push for "dramatic changes" to the Missouri Plan.

And why wouldn't we want the same sort of junk here in Missouri?  I mean, who wouldn't love informed and well-reasoned questions about the influence of menstruation on judges' decisions, shameless hypocrisy from partisans on manufactured issues, or weeks of hand-wringing about how sorry politicians are for making outrageous claims about nominees.  Why wouldn't we want more of that? It sounds absolutely fabulous!

To right-wing ideologues, maybe.

I'll confess: I was completely wrong in my predictions of how the House would handle the health care proposal put forward by Gov. Jay Nixon and the Missouri Hospitals Association. It was my assumption that the health care debate would work a lot like the budget debate -- after a lot of hemming and hawing about how awful the plan would be, House GOP leaders would do the right thing and let the plan pass. After all, it would have provided health care to 35,000 working parents and wouldn't have cost the state a dime.  There was all sorts of political cover from business interests like the Associated Industries of Missouri, and strong support from Republicans and Democrats in the Senate.

But I was wrong. House Republicans voted the plan (in HB11) down in a party-line vote.  And when given the chance to do the right thing on the last day of session, Speaker Ron Richard and Floor Leader Steve Tilley wouldn't even let the proposal come up for a vote. They callously left the proposal on the table, putting their extreme ideology before working families that desperately need a hand.

As the session was wrapping up, I spoke with a number of House members about their experiences in the session, and especially about the health care and budget debates. Here are a few of the comments that stand out:

Imagine: it's the end of session, and you're a House Republican trying to finalize your budget. You've done all the ground work. First, you talked a good game on rejecting federal dollars and not using money for ongoing expenses. When that turned out to be a fraud, you decided to spend like crazy. Then you introduced all sorts of impractical, contradictory, half-baked plans for overhauling the state's tax system that were completely divorced from reality.

The good news is that no one takes your promises and commitments seriously anymore, so you can just go ahead and approve a budget that does exactly what you said you would never, ever, ever do.  Of course, you have to show some sort of fiscal conservatism, so you might as well stick it to poor people who don't have health care (even though providing health care for said poor folks wouldn't cost the state a dime). 

Here it is, the big finish!

Page Three from Speaker Richard's Playbook.

To budget like a Republican, you've got to know how to play like a Republican. And that means pivots, rebounds, misdirections and flagrant fouls -- and doing it without shame. Here are the key plays so far:

• Play 1: Promise you're going to have a tough, conservative budget that doesn't use federal dollars for ongoing expenses (or use them at all).
   
• Play 2: Spend like crazy.
   
• Play 3: Distract and confuse your own players (and the public) with all sorts of tax policies!

In April we saw tax policies from House Republicans that were all of over the map -- sales tax increases, sales tax holidays, temporary income tax cuts, permanent income tax cuts, permanent income tax eliminations. There were revolts, refusals, belly-flops and back-flips. And all in the course of a few weeks.

Page Two from Speaker Richard's Playbook.

To budget like a Republican, you've got to know how to play like a Republican. And that means pivots, rebounds, misdirections and flagrant fouls -- and doing it without shame. This is Part Two in our series of How to Budget Like a Republican. Part One is here, and the full timeline is here.

• Step 1: Promise you're going to have a tough, conservative budget that doesn't use federal dollars for ongoing expenses (or use them at all).
   
• Step 2: Spend like crazy.

Once you feel like you've developed sufficient credibility as a budget hawk, you should feel entitled to go back on all of those promises and spend on all of the programs you see fit.  Of course, you're going to have to keep talking a good game (No money for the lazy poor!  No money for slavery!)  Because the goal isn't to be intellectually consistent -- it's just to give you cover to do all the things you said you wouldn't.

A Page Out of Speaker Richard's Playbook.

To budget like a Republican, you've got to know how to play like a Republican. And that means pivots, rebounds, misdirections and flagrant fouls -- and doing it without shame.

Keeping track of the always-changing fiscal philosophies of House Republicans has been a challenge this year, even for the most seasoned of Capitol observers. For your handy reference, we've been compiling a timeline of leaders' many budget plays -- it's a sight to behold. Where appropriate, we've included details from key Senate leaders and the Lieutenant Governor. 

No matter how you come down on how the state should be crafting budgets, or what should be done to kick-start the economy, chances are, you agreed with House leaders at some point in the past couple of months.

Yes:

The arrangement would have provided health insurance to about 35,000 low-income working parents. People would see doctors sooner and show up less frequently for expensive acute or emergency hospital care. Hospitals would have less cause to pass on the costs of uninsured care. All this could happen at no cost to the state’s general fund.

The Republican-controlled Senate agreed to the deal. The House, occupied by Republicans of a more ideological streak, would not...

Remember those good ol' days?  You know, back in January when everyone was interested in "bipartisanship" and responding the public's overwhelming and unmistakable demand for change?

General Assembly session opens in Jefferson City
Kansas City Star, January 8, 2009

The 95th Missouri General Assembly opened for business Wednesday with promises of cooperation and swift action to stimulate the ailing economy...

"There is an urgency, and it's founded on the urgency of families, who are losing jobs and health care," said Rep. Ron Richard, a Joplin Republican and the new speaker of the House.

The House adjourned early today without even considering the health care legislation sent to them by the Senate. Their refusal to act will impact the lives of real people, struggling to make ends meet, struggling to keep their families healthy.

It's a sad day.

Barbara Shelly is right on:

Say you’re a single mom who’s having a hard time. Maybe you lost a decent job and you’re waiting tables or working at a convenience store. Maybe you have headaches, or something worse. You think you should see a doctor, but you can’t pay.

Guess what? Republicans in the Missouri House this week killed a plan that would have provided health insurance for 35,000 people like you — parents who make up to 50 percent of the poverty level. We’re talking about an annual income of $11,025 for a family of four.

Guess what else? According to one of these Republicans, Tim Jones of Eureka, Mo., you are “plundering” the taxpayers.

According to Bryan Pratt of Lee’s Summit, you’re looking for “welfare,” not health care.

Confused? Perfectly understandable. The House vote defied logic.

Read the whole thing here.