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May 14,
2009 Volume
5, Number 19 | ||
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In This Issue
Chair
Chair
Official Homepage for Missouri State
Government
Official Government Homepage for your
Missouri Senator and Representative
Look up Missouri House Bills – View
Entire Text, Summary, and Last Action
Look up Missouri Senate
Bills
Consumer Complaints & Fraudulent
Activity, No-Call List
Federal
Links
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Last
Week of the Session
AmerenUE and
the New Nuclear
Plant
 I really like candles. My secret sister gave
me a candle as a Mother's Day gift, and it gave me so much joy.
However, I 'm also thankful we now have electricity in our homes and
businesses.
At the Capitol yesterday, we lost electric power
for about an hour. The Senate adjourned, but the House continued
with our floor debate. With no lights, no microphones and no
electronic roll call board, we had an experience reminiscent of the olden
days. When I was recognized to speak, I used my outdoor voice,
and it made for an impassioned speech. It was a tremendous
opportunity to see how it must have felt to be a statesman during the
early years of our country.
However, our society is using more electricity
than ever before. The new flat screen TVs, additional computers, and
bigger houses all equate to more consumption per person than any other
time in history.
Missouri state law prohibits a
utility from charging its customers for construction costs before a plant
is built. A bill introduced this session allowed electrical
corporations to recoup the interest on the construction loan through their
current customer electric rates, making it possible for AmerenUE to build
a new nuclear power plant in Calloway County (SB 228 and HB 554).
Opposition to the bill was generated by TV commercials that threatened a
40 percent increase in electric rates from having to pay borrowing costs
during construction. AmerenUE was predicting a 1-3 percent increase
per year over a six-year period.
In its studies, AmerenUE had concluded that future
increases in energy usage and declines in electric production necessitated
the construction of a new source of electric power, and a nuclear-fired
plant was the least expensive way to meet future demand.
Energy efficiency, while it sounds good, would not be enough
to prevent us from having brownouts in the future.
AmerenUE said that it could not build a $6-9
billion plant without this legislative provision. Additionally, if
the interest on a loan could be recouped during construction, customers
could save about $3 billion in additional interest costs, making the plant
more financially viable.
However, with all the negative publicity, AmerenUE
suspended its efforts to build a nuclear power plant in Missouri.
The power company noted that, "The current version of the bill being
debated in the Senate strips the legislation of the very provisions we
needed most to move forward."
The good news: Missouri's electric rates are
currently the fifth lowest in the nation.
The bad news: We currently get 85 percent of
our electric power from coal fired plants.
What does this change in construction plans mean
for our future?
With the threat of Washington D.C. regulations on
carbon emissions looming on the horizon, Missouri can only expect higher
rates for any electricity generated with coal. Nuclear plants do not
produce carbon emissions; coal plants do. Therefore, any costs of
this national mandate will be borne by the coal plants and passed on to
their consumers - which some predict could double electric rates. In
addition, since the most cost efficient source of new generation,
nuclear, has been defeated, plants with more expensive generating sources
will need to be built, again increasing future power costs.
 According to the Association of Rural Electric
Cooperatives, "Worse, when limits are placed on carbon emissions, we could
see a redistribution of money from rural, Midwest states to urban coastal
states. States like Missouri that are heavily dependent on coal to
generate electricity stand to pay the most for emissions credits under any
cap and trade plan". The Wall Street
Journal, in an opinion piece, put it this
way:
"Cap and trade, in other words, is a scheme to
redistribute income and wealth - but in a very curious way. It takes from
the working class and gives to the affluent; takes from Miami, Ohio, and
gives to Miami, Fla; and takes from an industrial America that is already
struggling and gives to rich Silicon Valley and Wall Street 'green tech'
investors who know how to leverage the political
class."
So,
as we’re planning our energy future, what we"ve chosen by default may end
up being more expensive than what we rejected.
Vehicle
Inspections
 Legislation advancing through the General Assembly
will change the requirements for vehicle inspections. This bill says if
you buy a brand new car, you don"t have to get it inspected for the first
five years from the model year date. Thereafter, it will be every
two years. Currently, the time requirement is for two years from the
model year for a new car, and then every two years thereafter. A safety
inspection can still be required if the owner sells the car or is involved
in an accident. The new requirements are attached to HB
683.
Your
thoughts are important to me, so please let me know what you think about
these two proposals. You can send me your opinion by clicking
here:
Cynthia Davis
Cynthia
in the News:
Two
newspaper articles, containing my viewpoints and quotes, that appeared
recently.
Life-related bills linger in stateJennifer
Brinker
April
30, 2009
With two weeks left in the
Missouri legislative session, several life-related bills are still up for
debate.
The Missouri Catholic
Conference, the public policy arm of the state's bishops, has been
watching several bills, including HCS/HB 46 and 434, which would make it a
crime to coerce a woman into having an abortion. The MCC supports the
legislation.
The bill was introduced by
Reps. Cynthia Davis, R-O'Fallon and Bryan Pratt, R-Lee's Summit, and has
passed the House and currently awaits debate by the full
Senate.
It would enhance penalties for
many already existing crimes, including kidnapping, assault and
harassment, if the object is to coerce a woman into having an abortion. It
also would change the laws on consent requirements for obtaining an
abortion.
A second bill, SB264,
sponsored by Sen. Rob Mayer, R-Dexter, was introduced in March but has
since been set aside by the Senate.
Deacon Larry Weber, executive
director of the MCC, urged Catholics to contact their senators and ask
them to pass the legislation.
A bill in the Missouri House,
HB810, sponsored by Rep. Robert Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, would limit the
number of embryos a physician can implant during an in vitro fertilization
procedure. Limits would be based on the current number recommended by the
American Society for Reproductive Medicine, which ranges from one to five,
depending on a woman's age.
As of Review press time, the
House Healthcare Transformation committee had passed the bill, but it had
not moved to the House floor.
Deacon Weber said the MCC
opposes the bill, noting that if it is made into law, legislators are
"giving the blessing of the state for doing this unethical procedure." If
passed, it would be the first law in the state that addresses the in vitro
procedure, he added.
Several other Catholic leaders
in the archdiocese said that the bill should serve as an opportunity for
the Church to reiterate her teachings on creating human life by artificial
means.
Even if the number of
implanted embryos is reduced according to American Society for
Reproductive Medicine guidelines, in vitro fertilization and embryo
transfer still constitutes "taking the creation of new life out context,
which is supposed to be within the loving relationship of a husband and
wife," said Father Donald Henke, assistant professor of moral theology at
Kenrick-Glennon Seminary.
K. Diane Daly, director of the
archdiocesan Office of Natural Family Planning, added: "This is an
opportunity for Catholic individuals and couples to see the real meaning
of the marital embrace. The real meaning of that is love-giving and
life-giving, and neither of those aspects, which are inherent to the act,
can be separated."
The Catechism of the Catholic
Church states that techniques such as in vitro fertilization "remain
morally unacceptable. They dissociate the sexual act from the procreative
act. The act which brings the child into existence is no longer an act by
which two persons give themselves to one another"
(2377).
In other legislative news, the
MCC is supporting HB355, which would allow an adult born as a result of an
egg or sperm donation to obtain identifying information on the donor
parent. Rep. Cynthia Davis, R-O'Fallon, is sponsor of the bill. It has
been heard by the House Health Care Policy committee but has not yet
reached the House floor.
Deacon Weber noted that the
MCC does not support the use of egg and sperm donation to create new life,
but rather places the focus on recognizing the human nature of an
individual who already is living.
Daly agreed: "Although we
don't condone egg or sperm donation, I do think children have a right to
know their biological identity, in particular, for health
reasons."
Bill to give
kids information on HPV vaccine approved
 Roseann
MoringSt.
Louis
Post-Dispatch
May
12, 2009
JEFFERSON CITY — Conservative and liberal groups have teamed up to support a bill that would give parents of public school girls information about a controversial vaccine that could help prevent cervical cancer. The bill, which passed the Senate last week by a 28-5 vote, would give information about the HPV vaccine to parents of sixth-grade girls enrolled in public school. It would also pay for the $120 vaccine in some cases. It does not mandate that parents vaccinate their daughters with Gardasil, which is intended to prevent the human papillomavirus, HPV, a sexually transmitted virus that has been linked to cervical cancer. The House of Representatives has until Friday, the last day of the session, to vote on the bill. Sponsor Jolie
Justus, D-Kansas City, said the bill could dramatically reduce
HPV.
"If parents decide to utilize this vaccine, there's a good chance we could eliminate the virus that causes cervical cancer in a generation," Justus said. Missouri Catholic Conference Director Larry Weber said the organization worked with Justus to ensure a bill that makes both parties happy. "People ought to get an impartial source of information so they can make up their minds about how to vaccinate their kids," he said. And Kerry Messer of another conservative group, Missouri Family Network, said because the bill doesn't mandate the vaccine, it's the most family-friendly policy in the state. "There are tons of parents of these young girls who have no idea how to interpret these Gardasil commercials," he said. Messer said the state provides similar information about the flu virus. The HPV vaccine prevents the strains of the virus that cause 70 percent of cervical cancer, according to the maker. The American Cancer Society recommends that girls 11 to 12 get the vaccine. But some say the vaccine is too new to be proven. And Rep. Cynthia Davis, R-O'Fallon, asked why the state should advertise for one drug company. "What's preventing our public from having the information already?" she asked in a committee hearing. Concerned Women for America was the only group to testify against the bill in committee. State director Bev Ehlen said the bill creates a family-friendly policy, but she opposes it on the principle that it encourages promiscuity. "Science isn't keeping up with the consequences of sexual immorality," she said. A Little
Bit of Humor
 It's
Time to go to School
One early morning, a lady went in to wake up her son. "Wake up, son. It's time to go to school!" Son: "But why Mom? I don't want to go." Mom: "Give me two reasons why you don't want to go." Son: "Well, the kids hate me for one, and the teachers hate me, too!" Mom: "Oh, that's no reason to not to go to school. Come on now and get ready." Son: "Give me two reasons why I should go to school." Mom: "Well, for one, you're 52 years old. And for another, you're the Principal!"  This Capitol Report is a weekly
column by Representative Cynthia Davis, from the
19th District, covering events in the Missouri Legislature and
district-wide issues.
J If you know of anyone else who
would like to receive my Capitol Report, please send an e-mail to Cynthia.Davis@house.mo.gov with the
person’s name and e-mail address. We’ll add them to the
list.
L If you would like to stop receiving
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with “unsubscribe” in the subject
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