House Minority Leader Crystal Quade (D-Springfield) is seeking Missouri’s Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 2024. Republicans currently have a GOP supermajority in the House of 111-51. Leader Quade joined us live on 939 the Eagle’s “Wake Up Mid-Missouri.” She predicts House Democrats will pick up five additional seats in the next election cycle. She’s also confident that bipartisan child care legislation from State Rep. Brenda Shields (R-St. Joseph) will pass the House again this year, and predicts GOP Governor Mike Parson’s proposed budget in January will fund Medicaid expansion. Leader Quade tells listeners that a number of rural Missouri hospitals have closed since she took office after the 2016 election. She says Medicaid expansion is helping rural hospitals:
(LISTEN): Boone Hospital Center’s new chief executive officer is praised by board
Boone County’s sixth-largest employer has a new chief executive officer.
Brady Debois started this week. Boone Hospital Center’s board of trustees chair Dr. Jerry Kennett describes their new CEO as extremely intelligent and detail-oriented.
“The main thing is about Brady is he’s had experience at both not-for-profit and for-profit hospitals. He actually worked at Mosaic in St. Joe (northwest Missouri’s St. Joseph) for several years, was president of the hospital there,” Dr. Kennett says.
St. Joseph-based Mosaic Life Care is a physician-led health system that serves 35 counties in northwest Missouri, northeast Kansas, southeast Nebraska and southwest Iowa. Columbia Regional Economic Development Incorporated (REDI)’s 2023 statistics show Boone Hospital Center has approximately 1,581 employees.
Meantime, St. Louis-based BJC HealthCare and Kansas City-based St. Luke’s will be merging in January. 939 the Eagle’s Fred Parry reports their merger will form a $10-billion system with 28 hospitals. Fred’s guest tomorrow (Saturday) morning on 939 the Eagle’s “CEO Roundtable” will be Dr. Kennett. He’ll be discussing numerous topics on the program, including the merger.
“St. Luke’s is being pressured tremendously by KU Medical Center, they’ve hurt them. So I think they’ve probably lost some market share over to KU, in fact I’m sure they have. So that was their incentive. BJC’s incentive is to get larger and be able to do managed care contracts across the state. Now what would it do to central Missouri? It would certainly affect Boone (Hospital) if MU Health Care became part of that,” says Dr. Kennett.
Kansas City television station KMBC reports St. Luke’s is the second-largest health care provider in Kansas City, while BJC is the St. Louis area’s largest health system. Dr. Kennett will join Fred Parry in-studio from 7-8 tomorrow morning on 939 the Eagle’s “CEO Roundtable.”
(LISTEN): Top business leaders says child care is needed statewide to allow the workforce to return to work
The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry president says the Show-Me State is missing out on more than $1-billion annually due to child care issues, including a $280-million annual loss in tax revenue.
Chamber president Dan Mehan tells 939 the Eagle that bipartisan child care tax credit legislation is a 2024 priority of the business community across Missouri.
“The governor has been a great leader on this. People like (State Rep.) Brenda Shields, (State Sen.) Lauren Arthur have really led on this thing and made it a major issue for the next session,” Mr. Mehan says.
Representative Shields is a St. Joseph Republican, while Senator Arthur is a Kansas City Democrat.
The Missouri Chamber says a recent report shows 28 percent of respondents say they or someone in their household left a job or didn’t take a job due to problems with child care. A bill died on the final day of session in May due to a Missouri Senate filibuster on unrelated issues. The bipartisan bill would have increased the capacity of child care providers and would have helped businesses offer child care benefits to support the retention and recruitment of employees.
“Because it contributes to the success or failure in our workforce development in our ability to get people back in their jobs. And you need child care throughout the state to allow the workforce to return to work,” says Mehan.
GOP Governor Mike Parson has made this issue a priority as well, saying 89 of Missouri’s 115 counties are considered a child care desert.
Meantime, the Columbia and Jefferson City Area Chambers of Commerce are teaming up with the state Chamber to push bipartisan child care tax credit legislation as a top priority for Missouri’s 2024 legislative session. The three organizations and the University of Missouri hosted a forum on the issue this week, where a Mizzou official recalled having lunch with Tiger basketball coach Dennis Gates. The official says Coach Gates told him that day that child care is a major issue for his assistant coaches. Columbia Chamber president Matt McCormick tells 939 the Eagle he’s not surprised.
“But you can take it to trying to recruit insurance agents, trying to recruit communications people, trying to recruit people to work in your warehouse. It doesn’t matter where it’s at, it’s if they need child care services, we’re struggling,” says McCormick.
Missouri’s 2024 legislative session begins on Wednesday January 3 in Jefferson City.
(LISTEN): Missouri lawmakers, business leaders optimistic about bipartisan child care legislation
A veteran Missouri lawmaker who sponsored bipartisan child care tax credit legislation this year will pre-file the bill again on December 1.
State Rep. Brenda Shields’ (R-St. Joseph) bill died on the 2023 session’s final day in May due to a Senate filibuster on unrelated issues. Representative Shields tells 939 the Eagle that while the filibuster hurt, she had to wait three weeks to file the bill until the governor proposed the package in mid-January. Her 2024 bill will ready on January 3, which is when state lawmakers return to Jefferson City.
“I’ll talk with the (Missouri House) Speaker (Dean Plocher of Des Peres) to make sure that he assigns it to committee early. If we can get a head start on this and get this bill over to the Senate before spring break, I think we have really great hope to get it passed,” Representative Shields says.
Shields spoke Wednesday at a panel in Columbia co-hosted by the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the University of Missouri and the Columbia and Jefferson City Area Chambers of Commerce.
The Missouri Chamber says the Show-Me State has a child care crisis that is costing Missouri more than $1-billion annually. Republicans and Democrats in Jefferson City say child care is one of the most important issues facing residents statewide, and they’re optimistic they can push bipartisan legislation across the finish line in 2024. The bipartisan bill from Shields this spring was also sponsored by State Sen. Lauren Arthur (D-Kansas City). Representative Shields, who serves on the House Budget Committee, tells 939 the Eagle that she and Senator Arthur are passionate about child care.
“We know that that early development and the care of children is how we get people to work. People are afraid to leave their children if they don’t know that it’s quality, if it’s not reliable and if it’s not affordable,” says Shields.
There were also a number of other state lawmakers at the forum, including State Reps. Cheri Toalson Reisch (R-Hallsville), Willard Haley (R-Eldon) and Kurtis Gregory (R-Marshall).
Missouri has a child care crisis, top business group warns
The state’s most powerful business organization says the Show-Me State has a child care crisis that is costing Missouri more than $1-billion annually.
Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Dan Mehan says improving access to child care will be one of the organization’s top priorities in 2024. The Chamber is co-hosting a forum on the issue this morning at Columbia’s Center for Family Policy and Research on Rock Quarry road. The event, which begins at 10:30 am, is being co-hosted by the University of Missouri and the Columbia and Jefferson City Area Chambers of Commerce.
The Chamber is frustrated that bipartisan child care tax credit legislation proposed by Governor Mike Parson (R) died during the 2023 session’s final day, due to a Senate filibuster on unrelated issues. The House sponsor of that bill, State Rep. Brenda Shields (R-St. Joseph) will be one of the panelists this morning. She serves on the Missouri House Budget Committee. State Sen,. Lauren Arthur (D-Kansas City) was the Senate sponsor, and intends to file the bill again.
The Chamber isn’t mincing words about the issue, saying there’s a child care crisis in Missouri. Missouri Chamber president Mehan says some residents are having to make the choice between taking care of their kids and returning to work. The Chamber says a recent report shows 28 percent of respondents say they or someone in their household left a job or didn’t take a job due to problems with child care.