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Senate Appropriations Committee Completes Work on Budget
The Senate Appropriations committee this week completed its work on the state budget, voting the budget bills out of committee, after re-instating several of the Governor’s budget recommendations cut by the House. More details on changes made can be found here. The Senate will debate the bills next week. Once passed, conference committees made up of both House and Senate members will work to reconcile the differences so that final budget bills can be passed again by the respective chambers. The budget bills must be passed by close of business on May 10th. The Senate still has not taken up and passed the Federal Reimbursement Allowance (FRA) bill which provides billions in funding for Missouri’s hospitals and healthcare system. That bill will have to be addressed before the budget process can be completed.
House Sends Bill Defunding Planned Parenthood to Governor
The House this week truly agreed and finally passed HB 2634, sponsored by Rep. Cody Smith (R-Cathage), which would prohibit state funds going to abortion providers or affiliates of abortion providers, effectively defunding Planned Parenthood. Passage of the bill is seen as necessary for the Senate to take up the state budget and to pass the FRA bill.
U.S. Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument Addressing Oregon Homeless Ordinance
Some years ago, the U.S. Supreme court ruled that it is cruel and unusual punishment to criminalize someone based solely upon their status as a drug addict. This week, the court heard oral argument in a case from Oregon about whether a municipality can issue a citation to a person just because they have no home. The city of Grants Pass, OR passed an ordinance which permits police to issue citations to persons who camp in public spaces as a means of preventing encampments. During the arguments, homeless advocates asked the court to rule that making homelessness a crime is inhumane when there are no shelter beds available and people have nowhere else to sleep. Advocates for Grants Pass argued, on the other hand, that without some form of enforcement authority, municipalities are forced to surrender their public spaces. CCUSA and the USCCB submitted amicus briefs with other advocates in support of homeless individuals challenging the ordinance, supporting the idea that simply being homeless should not be a crime. The case is expected to impact how local and state governments address the unhoused. The court is expected to rule on the case by the end of June.
We continue looking for bills that could serve as vehicles to revise the NAP and YOP tax credit programs that help Catholic Charities raise funds for our various ministries. Our hope is to attach that language to a bill that is moving through the process. With few bills moving, it is more difficult for us to get that done, but we are trying.
Deacon Tyler
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