Claim Number Two

I will now respond to each of Representative Grisamore’s allegations.


While Sherri claimed she was simply forwarding an article, she prefaced the posting with her words: "Outraged, that’s how I am feeling right now! After conspiring with our ex-Governor to strip so many kids of health coverage in 2005 the Republicans in our Missouri legislature has struck again. They have voted, as a block, to reject legislation that would have secured 5.5 million dollars of Federal money to provide health care for 10’s of thousands of Missouri children. Their story: They are rejecting Welfare!"


Her comments misunderstand and misrepresent the truth and what happened and when. The comments after the above in her posting attributed to Representative John Burnett appear to describe a debate and vote in March of 2009, not this year. Sherri has a posting today on her blog that also describes that debate and vote in March of 2009, but her post gives the impression it is covering a current debate and vote today.


The January 20th posting quotes Rep. Burnett as writing, "When the final vote came it split on exact party lines. Every single Republican voted against the children of the State and every single Democrat voted for them." That is a reference to the 2009 vote, not the vote referenced in January, which--as Rep. Ervin wrote--was 111 to 46 with more than 20 Democrats voting with Republicans.


The 2009 vote to which quotes from Rep. Burnett are attributed in the January 20th posting and Sherri's posting today refers did not propose--in truth--to add 20,000 children to the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). It actually would not have added one child. It would have actually eliminated minimum premiums that were already being paid by parent(s) whose children were already on SCHIP.


That plan would not have cost just $1.9 million in state general revenue as the blog alleged, but tens of millions. I, like many Republicans, favor adding children who are SCHIP eligible but not enrolled to the program--and tens of thousands have been added in the last year through increased awareness and enrollment efforts.


The welfare expansion of Medicaid covered health care that was proposed last year would have cost upwards of a quarter-billion-dollars for children and adults, which we could not have begun to afford. Our current state general revenue is down 12.7 for the first 8 months of the current fiscal year compared to last year. January revenue was down 22.4% compared to last January. Today, we learned February revenue was down 14.6% compared to last February. The Governor has had to cut nearly $800 million from the current budget for this fiscal year.

I did not write those comments. They were on the blog that I copied and pasted from. I wrote no comments. He is once again twisted my words and trying to make me look like a crazy woman. I did forward the article. He is accusing me of something that I didn’t so to make you think that I am less than honest.