Blunt Signs Champion's Meth-Tracking Bill

Gov. Matt Blunt signed legislation Tuesday that will create a new system to track potential meth manufacturers.

Springfield Senator Norma Champion's legislation is also being heralded as a way to alert law enforcement officers to potential abuses of raw materials used to make the deadly drug.

“I’m extremely pleased Gov. Blunt has signed off on this landmark anti-meth legislation,” Sen. Champion said. “By making it increasingly difficult for meth producers to make this destructive drug, we are one step closer to keeping it from hurting our communities — especially our children.”

Specifically, this bill creates an electronic tracking system of the purchase of pseudoephedrine in real-time to cut down on meth makers jumping from location to location to purchase large quantities of pseudoephedrine. The bill also requires that anyone licensed to sell these products submit information about the sale of pseudoephedrine to the Department of Health and Senior Services in accordance with the department’s guidelines while including provisions to protect the privacy and confidentiality of Missouri patients.

The new tracking system will be Internet-based. Pharmacies across the state will enter each purchaser’s information as part of the sales transaction, and the system will alert the seller if that purchaser is over the daily or monthly limit.

Champion's Anti-Meth Bill Clears Assembly

A bill that's intended to strengthen the monitoring procedures for over-the-counter drugs that make meth is on its way to the Governor.

Senate Bill 724, an omnibus prescription drug bill, has been passed by the both the House and the Senate.

"My legislation ensures that people purchasing pseudoephedrines to make meth cannot buy more than is allowed by law," said Springfield Sen. Norma Champion, the bill's sponsor.

Under current law, pharmacies are required to maintain a paper log and document any transactions where the customer purchases products that contain pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient used in the production of meth. Champion's legislation would require pharmacies to upgrade to an electronic, rather than a written log, which records when a pseudoephedrine product is purchased and who is the purchaser. The act also specifies that the photo ID provided by the buyer of pseudoephedrine products be issued by a state or the federal government and shown prior to the purchase.

Bond Pushes For Law Enforcement Funding

BYRNE GRANT MONEY AT STAKE

Senator Kit Bond is help leading a bipartisan group of 51 Senators in pushing for nearly $490 million dollars to restore funding for the Byrne grant, which aids law enforcement officers right here in the Ozarks.

Right now the proposed funding level represents a two-thirds cut from 2007 levels. Byrne grants are a major tool used to help fight drug crime, particularly the meth war.

Here's Bond's statement on the funding plan:

"Despite the critical role our drug task forces and law enforcement officials play keeping our families and neighborhoods safe, federal funding for local law enforcement has gone down, which is why I am fighting to restore funds to this critical program," said Senator Bond. "There must be a local, state and federal partnership to keep our communities safe and I will do everything I can to get local law enforcement the federal assistance they need to ensure our families are protected."

Emerson: Drug Grants Won't Be Zeroed Out

AT ISSUE: BYRNE GRANTS THAT BUSH WANTS TO CUT

U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson assured local law enforcement officials that funding for drug task forces will not be “zeroed out” of the federal budget, according to The Standard Democrat in Sikeston.

Ozarks law enforcement officials have also expressed concerned about cuts to federal grant money that's used to help combat drug crimes. For more, watch my KY3 News @ 10 story HERE.

At risk is money provided in the federal Byrne grant, which law enforcement uses to buy equipment and pay salaries. But the President is proposing close to a 70% cut and authorities warn that would mean more drugs on the street.

Regarding President Bush’s proposal to cut Byrne grants, which provide funding for drug task forces, Emerson said: “I can assure you that those will not be zeroed out in our budget. ... There isn’t any one of my colleagues who doesn’t believe that this is an excellent program that makes a huge difference in enabling you all to do your work.”

Emerson added, “We have put in individual congressionally sponsored requests ... for each of our drug task forces to get the monies that we have traditionally asked for you out of the Justice Department and (Department of Homeland Security).”

Local Authorities Fight to Keep Federal Drug Funds

Missouri will lose millions of dollars in federal grant money that's used to help combat drug crimes, unless Congress can change the President's budget.

You can watch my KY3 News @ 10 report HERE.

At risk is money provided in the federal Byrne grant, which law enforcement uses to buy equipment and pay salaries.

But the President is proposing close to a 70% cut and local authorities warn that would mean more drugs on the street.

Missouri Senator Kit Bond calls the Byrne grants "a vital program" and is fighting to reinstate the money. Missouri received $9 million in grants last year and used the Byrne grant money to help investigate and prosecute drug dealers.

PLUS: Is this one tax that most Ozark residents would support? Lawrence County moves to tax strip clubs out of its county.

McCaskill Responds to My Response to Sloca, Who Has Another Question for Claire

Sen. Claire McCaskill's office responded Thursday to recent Republican attacks over her opposing federal earmarks, including one that could aid anti-meth efforts in Missouri.

Read background on the tit for tat HERE.

"You should know that Claire has fought in the senate to fully fund the Community Oriented Policing program (COPS) and the Byrne Grant program, which both go to states like Missouri to fund drug task forces and meth," said spokeswoman Adrianne Marsh. "In fact, our study of the earmarking indicates that the rise in the number earmarks in the Byrne program actually takes funding away from the broader program and makes the overall objective harder to achieve," she added.

"Essentially earmarks are hurting the law enforcement and anti meth programs in this country," Marsh said.

But now G.O.P. spokesman Paul Sloca asks in an e-mail: "Simple question for the Claire McCaskill….Explain your caucus’ budget work."

Then, he provides this link: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Budget/wm1702.cfm

McCaskill's response to the response to the response . . . pending . . .

Sen. Champion Introduces Tougher Meth Law

Missouri lawmakers will once again consider a bill that could help keep people from jumping from pharmacy to pharmacy to buy legal drugs used to make illegal meth.

Sen. Norma Champion, R-Springfield, said at a news conference on Wednesday that she plans to introduce that bill.

People wanting to buy medicine that contains pseudoephedrine must show a photo identification and sign a paper log. State law also restricts how much of that medicine that one person can buy.

It's difficult, however, to keep people from stopping at several pharmacies. Law enforcement have access to the store’s log but must go from store to store to check them to see if one person is buying more than he should.

Champion says her bill would require all pharmacies in the state to be connected via the Internet so pharmacists at each store would know if the person has purchased drugs somewhere else within a given time period. Law enforcement officers say the bill would help cut down on time spent tracking meth cooks.

A bill similar to this has failed in the past. But according to our report, Sen. Champion couldn't put a price tag on the bill and couldn't explain how it would be paid for. Huh?

You can watch KY3's Sara Sheffield's report HERE.

Blunt Blasts Washington for Anti-Meth Cuts

Gov. Matt Blunt started his workday in his hometown on Monday with a news conference to announce a plan that he says will save a vital program in the fight against illegal methamphetamine.

Congress eliminated funding for anti-meth task forces, so Blunt says his plan will save the Missouri Sheriff Methamphetamine Relief Taskforce, or MoSMART.

The governor said he will ask the Legislature for $1.8 million in supplemental funding for the program.

"Washington is clearly out of touch with Missouri families. We have seen examples of this in their failure to fight illegal immigration and now their failure to fund drug task forces that protect our families from the scourge of methamphetamine,” Gov. Blunt said. “Despite strong objections from leaders like Senator Bond, the Washington Congressional leadership and their followers cavalierly eliminated this critical funding for Missouri law enforcement. Where Washington has failed to act Missouri will ensure these teams have the needed resources to continue their fight against meth.”

Friday Night Lights

With the Ozarks entranced with the case of a 9-year-old girl found dead and two people under arrest, here's your Friday night political bullet points:

• A Smart Decision? Democratic Attorney General candidate Margaret Donnelly is calling on Governor Matt Blunt to restore state funding for MoSMART, a grant program for law enforcement to fight meth. "The state was shortsighted in cutting funding for MoSMART," Donnelly said. "Investing in local law enforcement is the most important action the state can take to fight meth," Donnelly said. Donnelly also announced she will file legislation next session to implement an electronic log book system to track illegal purchases of pseudoephedrine purchases.
• Cillizza Says . . . Gov. Matt Blunt is the most vulnerable Governor up for re-election in 2008. Now this whole Scott Eckersley mess is sneaking into the national print press. And the AP reports that a memo shows Eckersley did challenge the Governor's e-mail policy before he was fired. Icky.
• Waffling on Contributions? Attorney General Jay Nixon's campaign first told us they had "expected" to return contributions received over the limits. Is this kind of like Sen. Larry Craig "intending" to resign? It hasn't happened, and they are now taking the hit for it. The Missouri Republican Party sent out a release chiding a "Befuddled Nixon Seeking Governor's Leadership on Contributions." “Returning over-limit contributions is not a hardship, and our campaign is ready to start putting checks in the mail tomorrow if Matt Blunt agrees to do the same," said Nixon spokesman Oren Shur. “Jay Nixon’s inability to make decisions on his own is just another example of why his candidacy scares so many Missourians," replied G.O.P. spokesman Paul Sloca.
• Harris Hits Koster Again . . . Chris Koster is getting double-teamed by his two primary opponents in the race for Attorney General. Both Margaret Donnelly and Jeff Harris have been taking turns at knocking the former Republican who's now running as a Democrat. Today, Harris hit Koster for failing to return his contributions over-the-limit campaign contributions and taking nearly $100,000 connected to Rex Sinquefield. Is the fact that Koster is taking all this fire this early mean his opponents are considerably worried about him? And how soon will it be before Donnelly and Harris engage each other?
• Social Services Question Dem Medicaid Numbers . . . The Communications Director of the Department of Social Services told me she has concerns with numbers used in a recent release by Democrats citing the 2005 Medicaid cuts. "According to the Department of Social Services, restoring coverage to 2005 levels would have cost the state $155.8 million in general revenue for the current fiscal year," read the release. Ana Margarita Compain-Romero (our favorite spokesperson name by far;) replied, "The numbers this group provided don't match what they're saying or what we have. In order to cover 118,000 adults, parents, elders and people with disabilities, who live at or below 100% of the federal poverty limit, would cost $218 million," said Compain-Romero.