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Welcome to the Mental
Health Association's On-line Advocacy Legislative News.
These periodic alerts are designed to keep you up to date on important
legislative issues and to suggest steps to action. We welcome your
input and responses to these alerts, which are compiled and written by
members of our staff and other mental health organizations. Please call us with
your feedback at 314-773-1399, or send e-mail to
info@mhagstl.org.
Dear Leaders, Members,
Friends
A campaign to restore Ticket to Work/ MAWD-lite (HB 1742) was
launched last night by a group of 35 disability advocacy groups. We need
YOUR help the week of June 4 - 9.
Background: We grieved when HB 1742, known as Ticket to Work or
MAWD-lite, was killed on the last day of session. A freshman Senator (Kent
Kostner) attached a Medicaid fraud bill to it. The house refused to take
up the bill and it died.
This bill is VERY important to people with mental illness who have
recovered enough to work, even a few hours a week. It protects them from
losing their Medicaid health insurance and lets them keep some of their
earnings instead of turning over most of their paychecks to the state in the
form of Medicaid "spend down".
Money to support this program was approved in the budget, but the
bill to use that money to help our people died.
Good news!!!!!
Governor Blunt has the power to right this wrong by allowing a
brief special session in September when all the legislators return to
Jefferson City for the annual veto session.
How do we make this happen?
1. Write a letter to the Governor to encourage him to do the right
thing, call a special session and let people with disabilities who are able
to work do so.
2. Mail your letter to : The Honorable Matt Blunt, Governor of
Missouri
Room 216, MO State Capitol
Jefferson City, MO 65101
3. Keep a copy of your letter to hand deliver to Representative
Chuck Portwood,
(he sponsored the bill) at a public press conference/media event
Friday, June
9 in St. Louis (probably at Kiener Plaza. The stack of letters
will be taken
shown to reporters and TV cameras. They will then be taken by
courier to
the Governor's Office in Jefferson City.
If you cannot join us in St. Louis, please mail, fax or email a
copy of your
letter to me, Cindi Keele at NAMI MO, 1001 Southwest
Blvd., Jefferson City,
MO 65109 -- FAX 573- 761-5636.
Why this week?
The Governor must sign the state budgets soon. Since HB 1742 was
killed, the money set aside to help people with disabilities work could be
vetoed (taken out) by the Governor. If that happens, we have no chance of
righting this wrong until next year.
As Representative Judy Baker said in her recent letter in the
St. Louis Post Dispatch, "This bill's failure went largely unreported in the
flurry of news from the session. For these people, it meant the world."
We CAN Make this happen. Please join us!!
Watch for future information on next steps and updates all next week.
Until there is a cure,
Cindi Keele
NAMI MO
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