Lawmakers Consider Using 'Rainy Day Fund' for Disaster Recovery
Lawmakers are grappling with whether to tap into a state reserve fund to help pay for recovery efforts for areas of Missouri hard hit by natural disasters.
Since the beginning of the year, Missouri has been struck by a number of costly natural disasters. In spring, a tornado ripped through northern St. Louis County and heavily damaged Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. The detonation of a southeast Missouri levee destroyed thousands of acres of farmland. And a massive tornado destroyed much of Joplin.
In addition to a tornado that hit Sedalia earlier this year, there are also concerns about flooding in northwest Missouri.
These disasters have prompted some lawmakers to discuss tapping into the “Rainy Day Fund.” That pot of money is a reserve that can only be used if two-thirds of state lawmakers vote to tap it. And any money must be paid back within three years.
House Speaker Steve Tilley, R-Perryville, told the Joplin Globe earlier this month that tapping into the fund should be on the table. He told the newspaper “if this doesn’t qualify, I don’t know what does.”
At a press conference in St. Louis on Tuesday, Gov. Jay Nixon said the state is still going through what the costs are for numerous natural disasters in Joplin, Sedalia, St. Louis County, southeast Missouri and northwest Missouri.
“I think we need to go a little bit longer in the coming weeks before we get to various hard numbers,” Nixon said. “Especially the Joplin piece. 6,953 house gone. Schools gone. Businesses gone. Thousands of cars gone. We’ve got a number of issues that we’ve still got to work out. We’ll look at the most effective way to expend taxpayer resources to do this, whichever method of funding it is.”
“It’s been our year,” Nixon said, referring to the multitude of disasters that have struck the state. “We will look at all of these … we’ll visit with legislative leaders. If we think the best thing financially to do is to take that avenue, we’ll certainly look at it. But at this particular point, we’re still in the process of adding up what the ultimate costs will be.”
Rep. Marsha Haefner, R-Oakville, said a conclusion hasn’t been reached about where money will come from for recovery efforts in Joplin.
“There have been some suggestions about the Rainy Day Fund, others have suggested that we need to look at other sources and still keep that in reserve,” Haefner said. “Because we don’t know what next year is going to bring.
Used Cars Missouri - News
Jay Nixon stands beside Humane Society of Missouri President Kathy Warnick at a press conference in St. Louis City. Nixon said there needs to be more study before determining whether the Rainy Day Fund should be utilized. Lawmakers are grappling with
Drew Howell, of Glenwood, Iowa, stacks sandbags that will be used on levees holding back rising flood waters from the nearby Missouri River, Wednesday, June 15, 2011, in Hamburg, Iowa. Overnight storms flooded some southeast Iowa roads, stranding cars
He drove nice cars and was living significantly better than prior to his involvement in Petro. He bought World Series tickets, for example, and rented cars for $423 per week. He frequently used Petro money to pay for meals at expensive restaurants for
Presentations be at 12:15 pm and 1:15 pm This free Father's Day show features vehicles 25 years and older from brass cars to more modern muscle cars and it is being sponsored by the Horseless Carriage Club of Missouri. They also will provide historical
Q: Is it true that a monkey used to ride with one of the NASCAR drivers as a stunt back in the Fifties? Albert M., Missouri. A: It's true, Albert. The driver who took a monkey with him in the races was the legendary Tim Flock, and I receive letters
Looking for a used car? Not so fast. : News : ConnectMidMissouri.com
JEFFERSON CITY, MO. -- Are you in the market for a used car?
If so, you might be hard pressed in finding the one you're looking for.
Used car dealerships are having a tough time finding inventory.
KRCG'S Meghan Lane spoke with one dealer who has an explanation as to why there aren't many options in the used car world.
At Town and Country Auto Sales in Jefferson City, salesman Jim Carmichael said business is stop and go.
"It's kind of been up and down month to month, you'll have a decent month then it will get a little slower," Carmichael said.
Lately you may have seen commercials from used car dealerships saying they want your used car, you might think that's just a gimmick to get you to come on the lot and shop around, but Jim Carmichael said they really are in need of used cars.
"If you go around town, you'll find a lot of lots are short of cars and no, when you see these ads that we want them, yeah, we want them and we'll pay a good price for them," Carmichael said.
One of the reasons dealerships like Town and Country Auto Sales has seen fewer used cars is because of Cash for Clunkers.
Carmichael said the government program drove many used cars straight into landfills.
"Everything was destroyed so it was cars that we would normally go buy and they would be in our price range that we normally had on our used car lot and it just kept us from getting any inventory," Carmichael said.
Along with the shortage in used cars, the price of them has risen.
"Prices have gone up basically because of the shortage and since recently because of the gas increases so people are looking at gas mileage type vehicles and those prices have gone up considerably," Carmichael said.