Historical October 1993 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
I hope that regular Times readers will forgive my absence from these pages this past year.
I had hoped to submit a column regularly, but I found that goal completely out of reach while the legislature was in session January – May. Especially for newly elected legislators like me, the pace during session was hectic at best.
There were over 1,400 bills introduced in the first session of the 87th General Assembly. Many. if not most, of those bills had been introduced at least once before, but for me they were nearly all new.
It was a lot to digest in five months. Many of these same bills will be introduced again in upcoming sessions.
I understand now why my veteran colleagues advised me that no session will ever rival the experience of the first. Anyway, now that the Times and I have enjoyed a summer reprieve. I’m delighted to be back in full swing and to submit this report to my neighbors.
First, I love my job. Serving the 64th District in the Missouri House of Representatives is exciting, challenging and rewarding.
There have also been frustrations and disappointments during my first 10 months in office, but I continue to learn from the experiences — the good as well as the not-so-good. Second, I hope that all of you received my “End-of-Session Report” that was mailed early in the summer.
The Report summarizes a number of the 197 bills passed by the General Assembly in the first session I supported all of the legislation described in the report.
I think the greatest achievement of the legislature last session was the “Outstanding Schools Act”.
This bill created a new foundation formula, increased funding for public schools and included a number of reforms and accountability procedures. Education was an issue that came up repeatedly during my campaign last year and I believe this bill goes a long way toward addressing the concerns that I heard.
The Report also contains summaries of bills related to health care, children, gaming and worker’s comp among others.
If you did not receive a copy, please call me and I will drop one in the mail to you. Third, there’s a lot of work to get done!
A priority for me is finding short and long term funding for mass transit.
In the short term, BiState facts a budget shortfall of $10 million this fiscal year. Without this funding, the entire public transportation system in our region could shut down as early as March, 1994.
In the long term, a plan for addressing mass transit needs and funding statewide must be developed. At this point, I firmly believe that the short and long term needs must be addressed together if we are to be successful and avert the crisis for BiState.
To that end, my colleague Rep. Joan Bray and I have been meeting with St. Louis area legislators, State Department heads, the Governor, representatives of Civic Progress. RCGA, East-West Gateway Coordinating Council and, of course, Bi-State. Everyone agrees on the goals but there is not yet consensus on the solutions.
We must first unite behind one proposal before we can begin to build the support we will need in the legislature next session.
This is a formidable task.
To give you an idea of the numbers, there are 163 members in the House only 13 of whom represent districts in the City of St. Louis: it takes 82 votes to pass a bill.
In addition, special appropriations, such as the one we are likely to need for Bi-State. must be requested by the Governor.
If you want to help, please drop me a note indicating your support for mass transit in Missouri.
I will keep you informed of our progress.
In addition to funding for mass transit, I am looking at the issues of crime and penalties for juvenile offenders.
I know this is of utmost importance to my constituents and to the city and region.
I believe that the problem lies in the lack of resources invested in the system to deal with juvenile offenders.
For example, “Boot Camp” type detention centers were authorized by the legislature several years ago; we have yet to open one in Missouri. Several of my urban colleagues and I are committed to introducing legislation related to juvenile offenders in the upcoming session.
I will report on the status of this legislation in the December or January issue of the Times. Other issues/projects that I’m working on this fall include: a Forest Park Summit (more information about this public forum sponsored by the Mayor will be included in the November Times), an interim committee studying the St. Louis Police Dept., the Police Pension system and the Public Defender’s Office, the continued development of the area between the Washington University medical center complex and the St. Louis University medical center as a Bio-Medical Technopolis and looking at alternative methods to our current property tax schedule. Major issues that the legislature is likely to address next session that are of great concern to me and this district are reforms to the campaign finance laws and our state’s welfare system.
Please share your thoughts and opinions on these or any issues of concern to you. Write to me at: 6026 Waterman, St. Louis, 63112, or, House Post Office, State Capitol, Jefferson City, 65101-6806.
My phone number in St. Louis is 721-3083 and in Jefferson City it is 751-1400.
I appreciate hearing from you.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, October 1993.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1993_10.pdf, printed page(s) 7; PDF page(s) 7.
