State of Missouri Archives: on Families & Children
Scott Sifton:
Parents' bankruptcy led to working to protect families
Scott Sifton dedicated his life to public service after his family lost everything when he was 15 and growing up in Kansas City.
His father lost his job, his family lost the home he grew up in and his parents went bankrupt. Scott decided then to spend his life working to help protect families from hardship.
Source: 2021 Missouri Senate campaign website ScottSifton.com
Jun 29, 2021
Eric Greitens:
Greitens was never "exonerated" of sexual misconduct
When Eric Greitens resigned from the Missouri governorship in 2018 amid allegations that he had sexually assaulted and blackmailed his former hairdresser, the embattled Republican maintained his innocence. [Announcing his 2022 candidacy], Greitens
blamed his woes on the media and a "George Soros-funded prosecutor." Then Greitens delivered the crucial lie: "We've been exonerated," he said.To recap: Greitens is accused of sexual assault and blackmail, and a recording of his victim speaking about
the abuse is the basis for a local news investigation. A jury finds the evidence solid enough to indict him. An investigator flubs a deposition, and the prosecutor is forced to pull back. The criminal cases against Greitens may have gone away, but he
was hardly "exonerated." Around the same time, the Missouri legislature launched dual investigations of Greitens--one based on [the sexual allegations] and the other for unrelated claims of campaign finance violations. Greitens stepped down.
Source: Mother Jones newsmagazine on 2022 Missouri Senate race
Apr 2, 2021
Jim Neely:
Require insurance companies to cover fertility preservation
Bill sponsorships by Jim Neely: - Requires insurance companies to cover fertility preservation procedures for insureds who are less than eighteen years of age and are diagnosed with cancer but have not started cancer treatment
- 3/5/2020:
Referred: House Committee on Health and Mental Health Policy)
- An insurance policy issued, renewed, amended, or continued in this state shall provide coverage for embryo, oocyte, and sperm cryopreservation procedures, for an insured who is at least
eighteen years of age and has been diagnosed with cancer but has not started cancer treatment, including chemotherapy, biotherapy, or radiation therapy treatment.
- The coverage required under this section shall include expenses for evaluations,
laboratory assessments, medications, and treatments associated with the embryo, oocyte, and sperm cryopreservation procedures but shall not include costs for initial or annual storage of embryos, oocytes, or sperm.
Source: Ballotpedia.org on Missouri legislative voting record
Mar 5, 2020
Nicole Galloway:
Urges executive order for 12 weeks paid parental leave
Galloway issued a letter urging Governor Mike Parson to sign an executive order updating the state's parental leave policies. Galloway is recommending that Missouri allows state workers to take up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave after the birth or
adoption of a child. Galloway's proposed policy would mirror those recently signed into law by President Trump for federal employees, according to a news release.
Source: KRCG-TV 13-CBS on 2020 Missouri Gubernatorial race
Jan 7, 2020
Claire McCaskill:
Supports gay marriage
Q: Support gay marriage?Josh Hawley (R): No. Supports "the biblical truth about husband and wife, man and woman."
Claire McCaskill (D): Yes.
Source: 2018 CampusElect.org Issue Guide on Missouri Senate race
Oct 9, 2018
Josh Hawley:
Supports biblical truth about husband & wife, man & woman
Q: Support gay marriage?Josh Hawley (R): No. Supports "the biblical truth about husband and wife, man and woman."
Claire McCaskill (D): Yes.
Source: 2018 CampusElect.org Issue Guide on Missouri Senate race
Oct 9, 2018
Jim Neely:
Introduced comprehensive foster care bill
Other work is still being done in the Statehouse, including Neely's comprehensive bill on improving foster care. "The reason I came down here, as a physician, I didn't come down here because of healthcare issues. I came down here because of children,
and the things that I've seen over my years." The legislation would allow abuse investigations outside the state, update background checks on foster families, expand treatment for children in foster care, and much more.
Source: KY3-Springfield on Missouri voting record HCB 11
May 6, 2018
Jim Neely:
Outlaw "revenge porn," but don't blame broadband providers
The bill, introduced by Republican Jim Neely, would outlaw "nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images." An amendment added by Neely also would ban people from threatening to distribute those images.
Several lawmakers spoke in favor of the bill while no one appeared to speak or vote against it. The bill says communications networks, such as broadband providers, are not automatically liable if they unwittingly distribute those images.
Source: Columbia Daily Tribune on Missouri legislative voting record
Feb 20, 2018
Josh Hawley:
1960s sexual revolution destroys our families
Excerpts from an audio tape have leaked of Hawley speaking to a conclave of Christian-right activists in December that's more than a little out there, blaming the scourge of human trafficking on the sexual revolution of the 1960s and '70s.
Sexual freedom leads to sexual slavery, he explained."It ends in the slavery and exploitation of young women. It will destroy our families," he said. "You know what I'm talking about, the 1960s, 1970s, it became commonplace in our culture among
our cultural elites, Hollywood, and the media, to talk about, to denigrate the biblical truth about husband and wife, man and woman."
But there will always be a political market for the proposition that if we had just kept the womenfolk under control
and both genders under bonds of premarital celibacy, we wouldn't be dealing with problems like human trafficking. It's very much the point of view of the dominant class of men in the dystopian feminist classic The Handmaid's Tale.
Source: New York Magazine on 2018 Missouri Senate race
Feb 1, 2018
Claire McCaskill:
Women were exploited in 2000 BC, not just from 1960s
Josh Hawley claimed, "The sexual revolution has led to exploitation of women on a scale that we would never have imagined." McCaskill responded to the controversy over Hawley's comments on Twitter, and also took a jab at Hawley's background as a
graduate from Stanford University and Yale Law School: "I didn't go to one of those fancy private schools, but the history I learned in public schools & Mizzou taught me that the evidence of trafficking of women for sex goes back to before 2000 BC. It
didn't begin with women's rights and the birth control pill," McCaskill tweeted.
Hawley fired back at McCaskill on Twitter and reiterated his view that cultural forces are to blame for trafficking. "Get real. I'm for contraception & women working.
I'm against exploitation of women promoted for decades by Hollywood & culture. Have to change that to stop trafficking. Fly commercial home from your next Hollywood fundraiser & ask people what Hollywood is doing to our culture," he said to McCaskill.
Source: Kansas City Star on 2018 Missouri Senate race
Jan 31, 2018
Angelica Earl:
Guaranteed family leave
Having a baby is a traumatic experience to a woman's body. For that reason and because a mother and father deserve time to be parents, I will push for parental leave protections for new parents.
It's essential that both the mother and father get time with their new born knowing that their position at work is being held. I will push for child care assistance for every American family.
Source: 2018 Missouri Senatorial website AngelicaForMissouri.com
Sep 15, 2017
Eric Greitens:
Let parents decide how to spend special needs funding
We need to make sure that every child in Missouri, especially those kids with special needs, get a fair shot at the American Dream. I will work with you to implement Education Savings Accounts for children with special needs. Education Savings Accounts
are simple. Kids with special needs have IEPs, individualized education plans. With education savings accounts, parents are able to use their fair share of state education money in a way that fits with what their kids need.
Arizona was the first state in the country to try these accounts, and the program has been a success. Parents are much happier with their children's educations, and children are able to get the kind of education that meets their needs.
Special needs families know their children best. And it is time we gave control back to those parents, to select the best possible education for their children.
Source: 2017 State of the State address to Missouri Legislature
Jan 17, 2017
Lester Turilli:
Encourage fathers to lead their families by example
Q: Your comments on the statement, "Comfortable with same-sex marriage"? A: Encourage fathers to lead their families by example and in love promotes a stronger society.ÿI have been married to my wife of 22 years and have 3 children.
The self-worth and identity that shape children come from the family unit.
Statistics show marriages which stay intact have fewer problems financially, physically, emotionally, and spiritually for both children and their parents.
I understand the difficulties and challenges families face as we raise our own children in the present culture. ÿ"Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4).
Source: Email interview on 2016 Missouri candidacy by OnTheIssues
Apr 25, 2016
Jay Nixon:
We need childcare and parental leave
Another way we can continue to strengthen our economy is by strengthening Missouri families. Finding good, affordable childcare is a challenge for every working family in America--and especially those with low incomes.
That's why my budget makes child care more affordable for 20,000 low-income working families, reducing their out-of-pocket costs. And this year, we are going to expand family-friendly policies like parental leave for state employees.
Source: 2016 State of the State speech to Missouri legislature
Jan 20, 2016
Jay Nixon:
Made insurance cover therapy for autism
When I took office, insurance companies didn't cover therapy for thousands of Missouri kids with autism. Today, thousands of children are receiving life-changing
therapy because we worked together and passed landmark autism legislation. And with increased funding in my budget, we will build a new autism.
Source: 2016 State of the State speech to Missouri legislature
Jan 20, 2016
Catherine Hanaway:
Children before marriage has impoverished women & children
Hanaway points to out-of-wedlock births as proof that "sexual permissiveness" is harming women. Having children before marriage "has impoverished women," Hanaway continues. "It has reduced their access to educational opportunities. It has impoverished
and endangered their children. It has forced those children to grow up in households where their mothers have to work to make it economically viable for them to exist, and with no fathers. How is that culture good for women and children?"Hanaway
continues by saying that the cultural acceptance of unmarried mothers is a slippery slope that leads to the toleration of child pornographers: "If you pursue this course that sexual permissiveness is to be valued, which is the liberal framework, and that
you should protect sexual permissiveness through abortions & other things, you lead to a conclusion where every sexual preference is acceptable. An overwhelming majority of Americans believe that those who have a sexual preference for children are evil."
Source: St. Louis Riverfront Times: 2016 Missouri gubernatorial race
Feb 4, 2015
Bob Holden:
$3M for more local domestic violence shelters
A safety issue that demands our attention is the silent sickness of our society known as domestic violence. For too long, much of this abuse has been kept hushed up behind locked doors because women are afraid to report it. Some feel some misguided sense
of shame as if they have asked to be battered. Or they simply don’t know where to turn. And the effect of this abuse is even more devastating on the children in these families.Only 46 of our state’s 114 counties have domestic violence centers and
support for battered women and their children. What is truly shocking about the situation is the number of women and children turned away. I strongly recommend an additional $3 million for local domestic violence shelters next fiscal year.
[I also propose] a task force to develop a strategic action plan for how we can coordinate and integrate our approach to domestic violence, based on needs and priorities.
Source: 2001 State of the State speech in Missouri House Chambers
Jan 30, 2001
Page last updated: Oct 13, 2021