http://www.brownformissouri.com/index.php/site/index/ en jason@brownformissouri.com Copyright 2008 2008-03-05T19:10:00-06:00 http://www.brownformissouri.com/site/property-tax-relief/ http://www.brownformissouri.com/site/property-tax-relief/#When:19:10:00Z I believe that everyone should pay their fair share of taxes.  No more.  No less.  In St. Louis County, we are quickly moving away from fair property taxation.  Recent increases in property assessments have made owning a home expensive.  This problem is especially pronounced for seniors living on fixed incomes. As I talk with people throughout this district, I hear many concerns about this issue.  For some people, the rising tax rates break their budgets.  For others, the higher rates are forcing them to choose between supporting public education or paying their taxes, like in the Maplewood-Richmond Heights School District.  Recently, that district has attempted to pass bond issues without success.  I have been told multiple times from people throughout the district that one of the main reasons people vote against proposed bond issues is that property taxes are already too high, and they just cannot afford another increase. Senior citizens on fixed incomes are particularly affected by the higher property taxes.  This is just plain wrong.  Senior citizens, who have been paying into the system for years, should not have to suffer from property assessment increases.  After decades of paying property taxes, senior citizens deserve relief.  In last year’s legislative session, Representative Mike Frame introduced a bill exempting residential property owned by individuals 62 years of age or older from increases in assessed valuation.  Similar legislation has recently passed in the State Senate.  These laws will alleviate some of the financial hardships our senior citizens face, as well as give school districts throughout Missouri, such as the Maplewood-Richmond Heights school district, an easier opportunity to secure more funding through local initiatives such as bond issues.  I fully support this bill and will work to see its passage as State Representative.  2008-03-05T19:10:00-06:00 http://www.brownformissouri.com/site/education/ http://www.brownformissouri.com/site/education/#When:19:55:00Z Education is, perhaps, the most important policy area given to state government.  Right now, we are in a unique period for education reform.  While the Republican Party talks the talk when it comes to providing a quality education for all students through No Child Left Behind (NCLB), it has certainly not walked the walk.  Local school districts are not receiving the funds and tools necessary to succeed.  I believe government must invest heavily in providing quality public education for all children.  As state representative, I will make education a top priority by proposing these policies: Missouri Healthy Schools Program: If we want healthy minds, we need to make sure that we have healthy bodies.  Currently, our schools are not providing students with food options that support a healthy lifestyle.  How can we expect students to make it through the day when chips and soda are consumed for breakfast and the cafeteria sells pizza and fried chicken nuggets for lunch?  On a side note, this will help our health care crisis as well.  (Please read my health care position paper for more information.) The Missouri Healthy Schools Program will serve as a grant program run by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).  DESE will work with participating school districts to develop its own wellness program.  In turn, grant money will be made available to those districts as long as they continue the program.  If elected, this will be the first bill I introduce on the house floor. Fighting the Privatization of our Schools: The Republican led state legislature is currently attacking our schools.  They are trying to divert state funds to private schools in the form of scholarship programs.  This is nothing more than an irresponsible plan to starve the public schools of much needed money.  As a state representative, I will vehemently oppose any program that takes funds away from our public schools in order to help the private sector. Expanding Access to Higher Education: In the 21st century economy, higher education is crucial.  However, with the rising cost of obtaining a college degree, this opportunity is difficult to obtain for many Missourians. In the state legislature, I will fight to ensure all Missourians have access to college.  Here are some key initiatives I plan to support: Expanding MOHELA’s Services: Matt Blunt’s policy of selling off MOHELA’s assets is criminal.  If MOHELA has more funds, it should give loans to more students and not fund private operations.  We must ensure that MOHELA always serves its stated purpose of providing low interest loans to students who need it. Ensure Teach for Missouri’s Success: I applaud my friend and supporter Senator Jeff Smith for creating Teach for Missouri.  This programs helps pay off outstanding college loans in return for teaching in low-income parts of the state, where our schools need teachers the most.  The state legislature must fully fund this program, as well as promote it around the state. Pass 21st Century Scholars: The 21st Century Scholars program guarantees low-income students money for college if they avoid drug and alcohol use in middle school and maintain at least a 2.0 G.P.A. in high school.  I applaud the Democratic leadership in the state House of Representatives who have tried to push this program through.  Unfortunately, Republicans in Jefferson City have blocked its passage so far.  As a state representative, I will work with the leadership and future Governor Nixon to ensure that this program passes. 2007-10-08T19:55:00-06:00 http://www.brownformissouri.com/site/healthcare/ http://www.brownformissouri.com/site/healthcare/#When:19:54:00Z In Missouri today, an estimated 700,000 people, or roughly twelve percent, live without health insurance. Even with advances in medical technology, standard healthcare costs for every American have skyrocketed exponentially, forcing many Americans to drop their health insurance coverage or scale-down to bare-bones plans. The same is true here in Missouri.  Uninsured and underinsured Missourian are excluded from certain medical services, charged more for emergency healthcare services, and die because the medical care they are able to receive is often too little too late. However, it is not only uninsured and underinsured citizens that experience hardships.  The costs of unpaid medical care are passed on to those with health insurance.  Staggering medical bills often leave patients with the difficult choice of forgoing needed care or facing the prospect of bankruptcy. Moreover, businesses large and small are also experiencing hardships as insurance premiums have dramatically increased over the last seven years. Today, many business owners cannot afford to pay health insurance premiums, forcing them to move their businesses abroad, resulting in job-losses in the United States. Overall the healthcare insurance system in Missouri is corroding, and healthcare costs are rising too fast for the average consumer.  As a result more and more citizens are unable to access affordable and adequate healthcare coverage. We sometimes like to think that we in the United States have the greatest healthcare in the world.  This may be true for the tiny percentage of Americans that can afford all the most cutting edge and expensive treatments.  But for most Americans, our current system is failing.  While the United States spends more than twice as much per capita than any other industrialized democratic nation on healthcare we rank 28th in life expectancy and 37th in infant mortality. And while other industrialized democratic countries provide healthcare to all of their citizens, over 48 million Americans go without healthcare due to lack of insurance.  Surveys show that the majority of Americans and Missourians realize that the current healthcare system is broken, but many in power are afraid to make significant change.  Fortunately, positive change is coming at the state level.  States like Massachusetts, Vermont, and California are in the process of revolutionizing their health insurance markets and expanding affordable coverage to all of their citizens.  I want Missouri to learn from these models.  By taking some ideas from here, some from there, and formulating a model that will work well in our state, we can fight to ensure that as many Missourians as possible are covered by a rational healthcare system.  The road to universal coverage will be long and arduous.  The history of healthcare reform in this state (and nationwide) has seen many setbacks.  But the people are coming around to change.  As your State Representative I will be committed to leading that change - negotiating when it is the wisest course, but fighting tenaciously whenever significant gains can be made.  This will be a long-term project.  As some first steps along that road, I will be promoting the following policies: Universal Healthcare for Children Restoration of Medicaid Cuts Primary Healthcare Education Reducing Insurance Industry Bureaucracy 2007-10-08T19:54:00-06:00 http://www.brownformissouri.com/site/eminent-domain/ http://www.brownformissouri.com/site/eminent-domain/#When:19:52:00Z Eminent Domain is a useful and necessary tool for ensuring that the citizens of Missouri enjoy a highly functional and efficient quality of life.  It allows government to eliminate hotbeds of crime, unsanitary conditions, and slums by condemning land and putting those lands to safer, more productive uses.  Under the Missouri Constitution, in order for government to take private land there are two main requirements; 1) the land be deemed blighted, and 2) that the land owner receive Just Compensation. There are two types of condemnations of land:  Either for a purely public purpose or a private-to-private transfer.  As a state legislator, I will treat each situation differently. Purely Public Uses When used properly and in the best interests of society, eminent domain allows government to construct highways, sewers, and other infrastructure including police and fire protection that are necessary for Missourians to lead a high quality of life.  For these instances, I do not believe that many restrictions should be placed on eminent domain.  These communal necessities should take precedence.  However, I do believe that “Just Compensation” for the land should be either calculated by a jury or by a set percentage over the market value of the land to ensure that landowners are not placed under a financial hardship for their troubles. Private-to-Private Transfers In contrast, when the power of eminent domain is exercised by a state or local government where land is being taken from one private party and given to another private party, Missourians deserve a higher level of scrutiny on these transactions for several reasons.  Government should never take sides between two private interests.  The Supreme Court of Missouri has recently spoken directly on this issue and determined that in such a transfer, the government must prove that there are other health, safety, and public welfare concerns that justify classifying the land as “blighted.” This is important because it prohibits cities from “blighting” parcels of land solely for the possibility of increased tax revenue where the land at issue poses no threat to the public. In the typical scenario, a developer indicates to a municipality that they cannot assemble necessary parcels of land for a major development.  The City then uses their power of eminent domain to force the holding-out landowners to sell and then transfers the seized land to the private developer.  Because of the combination locally elected officials and wealthy developers with big dollars at stake, there is a very real possibility of corruption.  That is why I believe that in any private-to-private transfer, there should be a requirement that the government state clearly and document the reasons for determining the ‘blight.’ Additionally, the opposing landowners should have the right to an expedited judicial review by a State of Missouri Judge for determination that both the land has been properly determined as ‘blighted’ and that there is no arbitrary, capricious, or improper influence by the developer or government.  Furthermore, I believe that a landowner should have the opportunity to have the land appraised by a jury or by a predetermined percentage above market value.  Efforts by Developers to avoid paying higher prices for land by using Eminent Domain goes against the intent of this power.  Market forces should be a consideration in determining the viability of a proposed development, not the government. 2007-10-08T19:52:00-06:00 http://www.brownformissouri.com/site/pro-choice/ http://www.brownformissouri.com/site/pro-choice/#When:19:51:01Z Like my late aunt, Sue Shear, I will fight for a woman’s right to choose in Jefferson City.  The right to privacy found by the Supreme Court over 30 years ago must not be held hostage by the extreme right-wing of this country.  Because the religious right has not been able to fully overturn Roe v. Wade, it has attacked reproductive freedoms from other angles in an attempt to chip away at the Court’s 1973 decision.  Missouri must create a reproductive health policy that gives women the tools necessary to take responsibility for themselves.  I will fight for such a policy through the following initiatives: Promoting Comprehensive Sex Education No matter where one stands in the choice debate, everyone can agree that we need to reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies.  Survey after survey shows that a strong “abstinence plus” sexual education curriculum results in positive results, including a reduction in teens’ sexual activity, a decline in teen pregnancy, and an increase in contraception use.  With teen pregnancy and STD rates unacceptably high, all Missourians must fight for sexual education programs in our schools that advocates abstinence, while simultaneously teaching adolescents how to be safe should they choose to become sexually active. Unfortunately, the Republican controlled legislature continues to turn their back on proven statistics when it comes to this issue.  HB 1055 calls for public schools to comply with federal abstinence laws.  It also outlaws women’s health clinics that perform abortions from offering, sponsoring, or providing materials related to sexual activity or sexually transmitted diseases.  This is clearly unacceptable.  In the Missouri Legislature, I will fight for a full, “abstinence plus” education for our students.  Easing the Undue Burdens Recently Placed on Women’s Health Clinics HB 1055, passed by the General Assembly during the 2007 session targets women’s health clinics with unnecessary regulations that will cost these centers too much money to continue operating.  Ultimately, clinics providing abortion services may be forced to shut down.  This makes having a safe, professionally performed abortion more challenging to obtain due to lack of availability.  The result will force some women to seek dangerous “back-alley” abortions that endanger women’s lives and their future ability to conceive children.  I will fight to reverse HB1055 and ensure that women’s rights to choose are not restricted by law or by undue regulations affecting the ability of clinics to operate. Ensuring the Availability of Contraception Coupled with education, contraception is a powerful tool to prevent unwanted pregnancies.  Unfortunately, the teen pregnancy rate is alarmingly high.  This is a health concern on many fronts.  First, women having an unplanned pregnancy are much more likely to ignore the beginning stages of that pregnancy and, therefore, are unlikely to receive the necessary medical care, resulting in problems at birth such as infant mortality.  Second, because of the economic and emotional hardships, unplanned children are more likely to become abused and neglected.  Contraceptives, along with education on how to use these family planning tools, must be available to women and men in order to combat the social problems of unplanned pregnancies. 2007-10-08T19:51:01-06:00 http://www.brownformissouri.com/site/environment/ http://www.brownformissouri.com/site/environment/#When:19:51:00Z I have always liked the phrase, “Think globally.  Act locally.” Well, the growing climate crisis presents one of the biggest challenges to our world today.  Despite President Bush and the Republicans’ determination to allow big business to pollute our environment, there are policies Missouri can implement to support a sustainable economy.  Here are the initiatives I will support as state representative: Continue Fighting CAFOs: Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) presents many environmental and social problems for Missouri.  CAFOs are agricultural facilities that house and feed a large number of animals in a confined area for 45 days or more during any 12-month period.  The problems associated with these facilities include antibiotics, pathogens such as bacteria and viruses, and solids such as feed and feathers which can contaminate our water.  Currently, local governments can decide to ban CAFOs.  However, the Farm Bureau and agri-businesses are fighting to expand their harmful operations in Missouri.  I support legislators such as Sen. Bray and Sen. Shoemeyer who fought corporate interests and kept our citizens safe.  I will join the fight as state representative. Creating a Sustainable Economy: The current climate crisis is not only a moral issue, but also an economic concern.  As a state, Missouri must move towards having an economically, environmentally, and socially sound economy.  A sustainable economy will achieve two things.  One, it will save our people and businesses money over the long run by saving on energy costs.  Two, it will keep money here in the United States, instead of sending it overseas to hostile governments for energy.  A great place to start this process is through the support of “green” buildings.  As state representative, I will work closely with Senator Jeff Smith on a bill he introduced during the 2007 legislative session, SB 649.  This bill creates tax incentives for environmentally sustainable building design and construction.  It also calls for newly constructed or substantially renovated state building to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. 2007-10-08T19:51:00-06:00