Democrat club plans Truman Day dinner

The Moniteau County Democrat club met at Nic Nac Thursday evening. The business meeting centered around planning the Truman Day dinner. May 9, was selected as the date for the event. There were also discussions regarding an early voting petition calling for a law that would allow individuals to vote six weeks before the election at a polling place set aside for this purpose. It is hoped to have this on the ballot in the fall. Some members of the club volunteered to help with the petition drive.

Mark Buchheit, Regional Project Coordinator for Protect Missouri families was the speaker for the evening. He brought the group up to date on how the right to work legislation is moving through the General Assembly. There seems to be a good chance that it could pass, but there is also an effort to call for a ballot initiative to be voted on in August. The bill on right to work if passed would allow a person not to join the union or pay any fees, but still get the benefits that union membership negotiated. Currently if you work in a union shop and do not wish to join the union you are not required to pay the full union dues, but are required to pay a lesser fee for services. There are those that claim to pass the bill will bring more jobs to Missouri however studies do not bear this out. There is also no evidence that jobs are leaving Missouri because of not having a right to work law. The speaker suggested a better name for the legislation would not be right to work , but "right to work for less" as the median household income in states with right to work laws is $6,437 a year less than in states without the law.

The next meeting of the club will be Feb. 27 with a presentation by Mike Trupiano of the Medicaid Coalition who will speak on the Medicaid expansion.