Tag Archives: Kip Kendrick

A resignation in the Missouri House

16 Monday Nov 2020

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Rep. Kip Kendrick (D) [2019 file photo].

Today:

RESIGNATION ANNOUNCEMENT

As I complete my six years in the Missouri legislature, I have made the difficult decision to forego my final term in the Missouri House of Representatives. Instead, I will join Senator-elect Greg Razer (D-Kansas City) as his Chief of Staff. While this was a difficult decision to make, I am confident it is the right decision and I am excited about this opportunity. Allow me to explain my decision.

I have served six years in a super-minority party to which I remain committed. With my focus on the state’s budget, my attention to crafting policies that push our state forward, and my desire to forge relationships built on trust, I feel strongly that I have been an effective representative for the 45th District. I am very proud of my work expanding access to telehealth services, which has proven critical during the pandemic. I am proud of my six years’ work on the Budget Committee, and for the 3.5 years serving as the Ranking Minority Member, delving into the state’s budget and finding ways to appropriate funding for our shared priorities.

Mostly, I am proud of my work helping constituents navigate state government. As important as it is to affect state policy, working with the people of the District has been the most rewarding part of the job. The relationships I have developed across the District, the city of Columbia, and Boone County have made me a better person and a better representative.

Serving in a super-minority has been very challenging, but it has not prevented me from finding ways to be effective. I have focused my time and energy on opening new pathways for communication, while building trust inside the Capitol and across the three branches of government in order to have a seat at the table and impact public policy. In the age of term limits, the seat that I have worked hard to attain and honor to the very best of my ability is two short years from being pulled out from under me.

Term limits, especially when reduced to eight years in Missouri’s House and Senate, work against good governance and do nothing to improve it. Speaking from direct experience, it has taken me six years to earn the respect needed to be an effective member of a super-minority and to feel confident in my ability to serve in this important role. The state budget alone requires years of experience in order to fully understand its complexity. The six years that I have taken to study and dissect the budget, to understand its implications and ramifications, will have been lost because of term limits, forcing yet another newly elected representative to repeat the process, without ever having gained an in-depth understanding or achieved the necessary expertise and continuity to craft sound budgetary policy. The lack of institutional knowledge by elected officials in the House is obvious. We train up members of the General Assembly only to indiscriminately kick them out the door as they hit their stride. This is not good for democracy and it is not ideal for effective governing.

In order to continue to build on the foundation I have built over the last six years and ensure my continued ability to impact policy in Missouri, I am humbled to accept the offer made by Senator-elect Razer to serve as his Chief of Staff. Senator-elect Razer and I have worked together for the past four years in the Missouri House. We have shared interests in policy and priorities. Senator-elect Razer is a True Son of the University of Missouri and he was literally Truman the Tiger. It is important to me that he will continue to be a champion for higher education, especially for Mizzou. Undoubtedly, we will have policy disagreements from time to time, but rest assured that I will do my best to advise him in continuing to make decisions that are in the best interest of Missouri.

It has been my absolute honor to serve my constituents as representative of the 45th District. I know my decision will upset some, and I understand. But I ask that you please know my decision is made in good faith as a way to continue the work that I started six years ago. I am no less committed today than at the beginning of my first term to serving the people of Missouri. I hope to return to elected office in the future, if the voters agree. Now, I am ready to become Chief of Staff for Senator-elect Razer and work hard for Missourians in a new way.

There’ll be a special election.

Less than two weeks ago:

State of Missouri – General Election, November 03, 2020
Unofficial Results
as of 11/16/2020 10:51:08 AM

State Representative – District 45 21 of 21 Precincts Reported
Kip Kendrick Democratic 11,613 100.000%
Total Votes: 11,613

County Kip Kendrick, DEM
Boone 11,613

No opposition back then.

So, why hasn’t Medicaid Expansion happened in Missouri?

31 Sunday Mar 2019

Posted by in Healthcare, Missouri General Assembly, social media

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Good question.

From Representative Kip Kendrick (D):

Kip Kendrick @Kip_Kendrick
Missourians represent at least a quarter million of these individuals.

Kaiser Family Foundation @KaiserFamFound
Nationally, 2.5 million poor uninsured adults fall into the “coverage gap” that results from state decisions not to expand Medicaid.
They earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to…

3:09 PM – 30 Mar 2019

Rep. Kip Kendrick (D) [2019 file photo].

The human toll, from the Kaiser Family Foundation:

Table 1: Uninsured Adults in Non-Expansion States Who Would Be Eligible for Medicaid if Their States Expanded by Current Eligibility for Coverage, 2017

State Total Currently Eligible for Medicaid Currently in the Coverage Gap (<100% FPL) Currently May Be Eligible for Marketplace Coverage (100%-138% FPL**)

Missouri 232,000 13,000 124,000 95,000

[emphasis added]

And:

[….]

The ACA Medicaid expansion was designed to address the high uninsured rates among low-income adults, providing a coverage option for people with limited access to employer coverage and limited income to purchase coverage on their own. In states that expanded Medicaid, millions of people gained coverage, and the uninsured rate dropped significantly as a result of the expansion. However, with many states opting not to implement the Medicaid expansion, millions of uninsured adults remain outside the reach of the ACA and continue to have limited options for affordable health coverage. From 2016 to 2017, non-expansion states saw a significant increase in their uninsured rate, while expansion states saw a decrease.

By definition, people in the coverage gap have limited family income and live below the poverty level. They are likely in families employed in very low wage jobs, employed part-time, or with a fragile or unpredictable connection to the workforce. Given limited offer rates of employer-based coverage for employees with these work characteristics, it is likely that they will continue to fall between the cracks in the employer-based system.

It is unlikely that people who fall into the coverage gap will be able to afford ACA coverage, as they are not eligible for premium subsidies: in 2019, the national average unsubsidized premium for a 40-year-old non-smoking individual purchasing coverage through the Marketplace was $478 per month for the lowest-cost silver plan and $340 per month for a bronze plan, which equates to nearly eighty percent of income for those at the lower income range of people in the gap and more than a third of income for those at the higher income range of people in the gap.

If they remain uninsured, adults in the coverage gap are likely to face barriers to needed health services or, if they do require medical care, potentially serious financial consequences. Many are in fair or poor health or are in the age range when health problems start to arise but lack of coverage may lead them to postpone needed care due to the cost. While the safety net of clinics and hospitals that has traditionally served the uninsured population will continue to be an important source of care for the remaining uninsured under the ACA, this system has been stretched in recent years due to increasing demand and limited resources.

Most people in the coverage gap live in the South, leading state decisions about Medicaid expansion to exacerbate geographic disparities in health coverage. In addition, because several states that have not expanded Medicaid have large populations of people of color, state decisions not to expand their programs disproportionately affect people of color, particularly Black Americans. As a result, state decisions about whether to expand Medicaid have implications for efforts to address disparities in health coverage, access, and outcomes among people of color.

[….]

From former State Representative Chris Kelly (D):

Chris Kelly @repckelly
And virtually all of them are working.
Props to @Kip_Kendrick for articulating this serious problem.
7:31 AM – 31 Mar 2019

But, the right wingnut republican majority in the Missouri General Assembly can’t believe this problem has adverse affects on rural Missourians? Right.

Rep. Kip Kendrick (D): about that state budget

26 Saturday Jan 2019

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Revenue isn’t trickling down.

Rep. Kip Kendrick (D) [2019 file photo].

The Missouri Budget: Concern or Crisis?

It’s complicated, but every Missourian should know and care about our state budget. It impacts our daily lives and it determines our economic future. Simply put, the budget is a reflection of our shared priorities. Right now, however, our budget is also a reflection of confusion and uncertainty, as we are experiencing an alarming decrease in revenue collections. Here is what we know about our current dilemma and, more importantly, what we do not.

Missouri’s fiscal year begins on July 1 and ends on June 30. As of January 17––halfway through FY19––revenue collection for the state is down 8.76% compared to this time last year. As one of many measures of our state’s fiscal health, such a significant decrease in revenue indicates something is not right. A closer look at the data shows that the biggest contributor to this problem is a 26% decrease in the amount of personal income taxes being paid to date, as compared to last year.

[….]

Directly stated, the growing body of evidence suggests Missouri cannot afford any more tax cuts—and that we likely cannot afford those already in effect. Unequivocally, it was fiscally irresponsible to layer multiple tax cuts without ever truly and fully realizing the impact of any one of the bills alone. Still, it is amazing how many legislators continue to talk about the need for additional tax cuts. I will continue to demand that my colleagues pump the brakes on any additional cuts, but sadly, brakes may not be enough if policies already set in motion have us heading straight for a fiscal cliff.

Go. Read the whole thing.

Previously:

SB 509: the moment when all hope for the future of Missouri died (May 6, 2014)

The opening of the legislative session – in the House – January 9, 2019

09 Wednesday Jan 2019

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Today at noon at the capitol in Jefferson City the Missouri General Assembly started the 2019 legislative session – the 100th in the history of the state.

Before the House was gaveled into session boutonnieres were placed on members’ desks on the House floor.

New members on the House floor greeted friends and family in the side and public galleries:

Representative Keri Ingle (D).

And greeted their colleagues on the House floor:

Representative Kip Kendrick (D).

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (r) brought the House to order and led the chamber in the Pledge of Allegiance:

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (r).

319 U.S. 624 West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (No. 591) [1943]

….Symbols of State often convey political ideas, just as religious symbols come to convey theological ones. Associated with many of these symbols are appropriate gestures of acceptance or respect: a salute, a bowed or bared head, a bended knee. A person gets from a symbol the meaning he puts into it, and what is one man’s comfort and inspiration is another’s jest and scorn….

A bowed head:

Representative Bruce Franks, Jr. (D).

Listening to Secretary of State Ashcroft’s (r) remarks – the republican side of the House chamber:

Members were then sworn into the House:

Representative Brandon Ellington (D) – House Minority Whip.

The Democratic minority in both chambers of the General Assembly are “super minorities” – that is, they have little ability to stop or even slow down actions of the majority.

The House Democratic Minority Leader spoke after nominations for Speaker of the House were closed:

Representative Crystal Quade (D) – House Minority Leader.

Representative Elijah Haahr (r) was elected as Speaker of the House:

The newly elected Speaker, escorted to the dais.

After speeches by the Speaker and the Speaker Pro Tem and a series of formalities and resolutions the House adjourned.

Previously:

Rep. Bruce Franks, Jr. (D): comforting the afflicted, afflicting the comfortable (January 4, 2018)

House Democratic Caucus press conference – January 4, 2017

07 Saturday Jan 2017

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The Democratic minority in the Missouri House made clear their opposition to “right to work” legislation and any efforts toward dismantling the Missouri Court Plan from the republican majority. Representative Kip Kendrick (D) called on the majority to support ethics reform legislation modelled on the campaign rhetoric of Governor-elect Eric Greitens (r).

House Minority Floor Leader Gail McCann Beatty (D) - Jefferson City - January 4, 2017.

House Minority Floor Leader Gail McCann Beatty (D) – Jefferson City – January 4, 2017.

At the minority caucus press conference in the House Lounge after the opening day’s adjournment:

House Minority Whip Kip Kendrick (D) - Jefferson City - January 4, 2017.

House Minority Whip Kip Kendrick (D) – Jefferson City – January 4, 2017.

Previously:

Secretary of State Jason Kander (D): at the opening of the legislative session (January 4, 2017)

Minority Floor Leader Gail McCann Beatty (D): at the opening of the legislative session (January 5, 2017)

House Republican Caucus press conference – January 4, 2017 (January 7, 2017)