Missouri Catholic Conference Responds to Governor Matt Blunt’s State of the State Address

January 25, 2007, JEFFERSON CITY, MO – On Wednesday, January 24, Governor Matt Blunt outlined his goals for Missouri in the State of the State Address. Of particular interest to Missouri Catholics Governor Blunt called for a $200,000 increase in state funding of the Alternatives to Abortion program, the sale of the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA) assets to fund construction projects on state college campuses, creating a new health care system to replace Medicaid, and a mandatory death penalty sentence for anyone who murders a law enforcement officer.

Governor Blunt proposes to increase the total budgeting for alternatives to abortion by $200,000 to approximately $1.7 million dollars. The Alternatives to Abortion program assists women to maintain their pregnancy by providing them with support services, including counseling, and assistance with health, housing and transportation difficulties. The program assists women who make an annual income of less than $9,000 who are at risk of obtaining an abortion without support for their pregnancy.

The Department of Health and Senior Services contracts with a coalition of faith-based providers, The Pregnancy Maintenance Network consists of Catholic Charities of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Catholic Services for Children and Youth of St. Louis, Lutheran Family and Children Services, and the Missouri Baptist Children’s Home to provide these services.

Mike Halterman, Chief Executive Officer of Catholic Charities of Kansas City-St. Joseph, said, “We are pleased that Governor Blunt recognizes the importance of the Alternatives to Abortion program, so much so that he has called that it become a statute and for the program to be permanently funded.”

The Pregnancy Maintenance Network served over 3000 women in 77 Missouri counties. An additional 7500 family members were assisted through the program’s services which include safe and stable housing, education and job training, parenting skills training, and support and guidance.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has released reports showing that the program had a 93.5% success rate serving the 390 women who participated in the program during fiscal year 2005 even though the Alternatives to Abortion program only received $570,000 in state funds.

Sam Lee, Director of Campaign Life Missouri, said “We are very pleased that the governor is not only going to increase funding but supporting our efforts to make the Alternatives to Abortion program permanent. This program has been going on in Missouri for 10 years with great success in helping pregnant women and children. We expect a lot of support from lawmakers to get this passed this year .”

The governor’s proposed sale of MOHELA’s assets to provide funding for life science building projects on state college campuses has met with stiff opposition from pro-life groups that are gravely concerned that this funding will go towards human cloning experiments because of the passage of Amendment 2 to Missouri’s constitution.

MOHELA’s mission is to provide affordable low-interest loans to college students. In order to allow the sale of MOHELA’s assets for uses other than that they were intended the legislature will have to approve a statute that allows these funds to be sold and directed toward construction projects on state college and university campuses while continuing to guarantee the loan agency’s tax-exempt bonding allocations to underwrite additional loans.

The MOHELA sale has been controversial since first proposed by Governor Matt Blunt in 2005. Recently Attorney General Jay Nixon settled a lawsuit against MOHELA’s Board of Directors for 23 Sunshine Law violations for giving improper notice of meetings, posting “inadequate and misleading” meeting agendas, wrongly closing meetings and holding a series of “clandestine communications” among board members that allowed them to secretly reach decisions before their public meetings. Six of MOHELA's seven board members charged by Nixon have since left the agency, most as a result of the controversy surrounding Blunt's plan and Nixon's legal objections.

MOHELA’s assets come from college students paying off loans for attendance at both public andprivate universities like St. Louis University and Rockhurst University in Kansas City. A disproportionate amount of the loans extended by MOHELA are to students at Missouri’s Catholic colleges and universities.

However, the sale proceeds will be used only to assist state universities. The private universities that helped to build the wealth of MOHELA will receive no benefits from the MOHELA sale, and, in fact, will be harmed because their students will have fewer options to obtain financial assistance.

Deacon Larry Weber, Executive Director of the Missouri Catholic Conference said, “Some suggest that life science research must go forward for the economic progress of our state. But no economic “progress” can justify the taking of any human life. If the research is valid and ethical, it will win the public’s approval in the market and move forward. Why should this particular business – biotech – be singled out for special treatment and taxpayer money? Missouri should not establish a government subsidized life science industry.“

The governor also proposes replacing the Medicaid system with a new program called Missouri HealthNet. One of the goals of the new program will be to ensure that Missourians have a healthcare home where they can receive a health risk assessment and develop a plan for improved health care.

According to Mike Hoey, Assistant Director of the Missouri Catholic Conference, there is no guarantee that the proposed Missouri HealthNet program will restore health coverage to the 100,000 people who lost healthcare coverage due to the 2005 legislative cuts. Many working parents lost health coverage in 2005 when the legislature reduced Medicaid eligibility to 22% of the federal poverty level. This means that a family of three can earn no more than $3,622 per year to receive health coverage.

In order to encourage employers to provide health insurance for their employees the governor is recommending a cut in the corporate franchise tax. The governor indicates his proposal would eliminate the tax for 87% of employers and virtually all small businesses. These businesses would only qualify if they provide health benefits to their workers.

Instead of using some of the current state revenue surplus of $516 million dollars to restore Medicaid coverage and other services to poor and vulnerable citizens, Governor Blunt’s legislative package recommends various tax cuts such as one to eliminate a tax on Social Security benefits for wealthier citizens. The state does not tax Social Security benefits of lower income seniors and 46% of those who currently receive Social Security benefits would not be affected.

The governor also recommended legislation that makes the death penalty mandatory in cases involving the murder of a law enforcement officer. The Missouri Catholic Conference opposes all executions

because they disregard the dignity of life and promote violence as a solution. Missouri law currently lists sixteen aggravating circumstances which can be used as a basis for a jury to recommend a death sentence. These circumstances include numerous law enforcement officials and for a murder that was committed while a person was trying to escape from custody or lawful confinement.

Statistics show that the number of death sentences handed out in the United States dropped in 2006 to the lowest level since capital punishment was reinstated three decades ago. Some experts believe these numbers reflect a growing fear that the criminal justice system will make an irreversible mistake and execute an innocent person. In Missouri three individuals have been determined by the court to be wrongfully convicted and subsequently released from death row.