Representative Luke Scavuzzo Press Releases
2010 Press Releases
July 20, 2010Special Session
A special session that was thought to last only a few days instead took a number of unexpected turns and lasted three weeks. The General Assembly brought the special session to a close on July 14th with the final passage of separate bills that will provide tax incentives for automotive manufacturing plants and make changes to the state employee pension system....
(Read the full press release...)
May 18, 2010Legislative Session Ends
The Second Regular Session of the 95th General Assembly came to a close on Friday, May 14th at 6:00 p.m. This session resulted in the fewest bills passed since 2000. With 74 House Bills and 32 Senate Bills passed, this session will go down as one that was dominated by the state budget... (Read the full press release...)
May 4, 2010Budget Cuts for Missouri
With a week to spare, the General Assembly passed a $23.2 billion state budget and sent it to the governor to be signed into law. Even with the $582.8 billion in cuts to the budget that the governor proposed back in January, it is still very likely that Governor Nixon will make additional cuts through the line-item veto or through spending restrictions. Nobody was left untouched by the cuts... (Read the full press release...)
April 27, 2010More Budget Difficulties for Missouri
Last week Governor Nixon made another $45 million mid-year cut. As revenue continues to decline, Governor Nixon had to make these cuts to keep the current state budget in balance as required by the Missouri Constitution. The governor has cut more than $900 million to date from Fiscal Year 2010 fiscal year budget, which ends June 30th. As of April 20, net revenue collections for April have fallen 19%. Several factors have contributed to the decline... (Read the full press release...)
April 20, 2010State Budget
With only three weeks remaining, the House still has a lot of work to finish. As of April 19th, only 5 House Bills have been Truly Agreed to and Finally Passed. Budget Bills still have to be approved and we have yet to see an ethics reform bill. The Senate did pass their version of the $23 billion budget on April 14th. The Senate cut $453 million from the proposed spending budget that Governor Nixon recommended back in January. This is nearly double the $224 million in cuts the House approved last month. Now House and Senate members must work out the final version of the budget. Both chambers have to approve the Fiscal Year 2011 budget by May 7th...
(Read the full press release...)
April 13, 2010Education Funding
On April 8 the House passed House Bill 2014 by a vote of 96 to 51 to send the bill to the governor to be signed. House Bill 2014 is a supplemental appropriation bill that appropriates money to several departments and offices of state government. The passage of House Bill 2014 was not an easy task. The House first approved the bill, then rejected the bill and then a day after rejecting House Bill 2014, the House passed the spending bill. The flipping on the bill was due to a provision in the bill that would spare 152 school districts from mid-year spending cuts, but it would impose bigger funding reductions on the state’s other 371 districts...
(Read the full press release...)
March 23, 2010State Budget
The House of Representatives started debating the 2011 Budget this past week as the state faces some of the toughest times, fiscally, in our history. Revenues continue to fall, forcing Governor Nixon to relook at the proposed 2011 budget and do another withhold from the current budget year. Revenue is down 12.7% from last fiscal year and the revised estimates for the current fiscal year, is that general revenue will fall to $6.73 billion. That is a $700 million decrease from fiscal year 2009 and the largest decline in our state’s history.
(Read the full press release...)
February 23, 2010Legislative Update
Last week was a busy week here at the capitol. Several pieces of important legislation were passed out of the House by wide margins and six house appropriation committees started the hard task of making cuts to Governor Nixon’s proposed operating budget.
(Read the full press release...)
2009 Press Releases
January 21, 2009Rep. Scavuzzo secures key committee assignments
State Rep. Luke Scavuzzo, D-Harrisonville, has been appointed to several key House committees: Elementary and Secondary Education; Rural Community Development; Homeland Security; and Small Business. (Read the full press release...)
2008 Press Releases
August 19, 2008NFIB Endorses Luke Scavuzzo for State House District 124
The National Federation of Independent Business, Missouri's leading small business association, announced its endorsement of Luke Scavuzzo in his bid for re-election to the Missouri House. Rep Scavuzzo secured the group's nod because of his strong record on small business issues critical to Main Street. (Read the full press release...)
July 31, 2008Rep. Scavuzzo named 2008 Legislator of the Year
State Rep. Luke Scavuzzo, a first-term Democratic lawmaker from Harrisonville, has been named a 2008 Legislator of the Year by House Minority Leader Paul LeVota. LeVota picked Scavuzzo, D-Harrisonville, for the honor in part for Scavuzzo’s efforts in fighting legislation sought by Aquila Inc. to provide retroactive approval of a Cass County power plant that Missouri courts had repeatedly ruled was illegally built. (Read the full press release...)
July 31, 2008Scavuzzo appointed to special agriculture committee
State Rep. Luke Scavuzzo, D-Harrisonville, has been appointed to the House Interim Committee on Emerging Issues in Agriculture. The 12-member committee, which will meet during the coming months while the Missouri General Assembly is not in session, will study the recent impact of existing state agriculture policies and recommended changes in state law to strengthen Missouri’s farming economy.(Read the full press release...)
May 7 , 2008Legislative Update
The main focus this week has been the budget. It must be completed by Friday, May 9th at 6 p.m. and we are about two-thirds of the way to completion. This will be the largest budget in Missouri history. When completed, the budget for Fiscal Year 2009 will be right around $22.5 billion dollars... (Read the press release...)
April 16, 2008Legislative Update
There is a lot going on here at the Capitol this week. With only two weeks left, there is plenty of work to be done. The budget has to be passed by May 9th at 6:00 p.m. We should start working to finalize the budget sometime at the end of this week and most of next week... (Read the press release...)
April 16, 2008House approves unconstitutional bill to let Aquila off the hook
The House of Representatives today gave first-round approval to a likely unconstitutional bill that would give the Missouri Public Service Permission the authority to retroactively approve an Aquila Inc. power plant that the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District has twice ruled was illegally built and should be dismantled. State Rep. Luke Scavuzzo, D-Harrisonville, led the fight against the legislation. “After consistently and repeatedly losing in court, Aquila wants the rules changed so they can turn their defeat into a win after the game has been played,” Scavuzzo said. “Sadly, a majority in the House today said utility companies can do whatever they want – regardless of the law – and the legislature will sanction their actions after the fact.”
April 16, 2008Legislative Update
With only four weeks left in the session, the pace here at the capitol is a sprinters speed. Last week two very important bills were debated on the Floor of the House. On April 9th, by a vote of 80-58, the House of Representatives stripped a private school voucher provision from a bill to raise minimum teacher salaries. The second bill was House Joint Resolution 70. This bill would limit annual growth in general revenue spending to the rate of inflation with a further adjustment for population increases. (Read the press release...)
April 10, 2008Republicans force through committee passage of Aquila bill
Rep. Scavuzzo pledges to fight legislation on the House floor. Rep. Luke Scavuzzo vowed to continue fighting legislation approved today by a House committee that seeks to grant retroactive active approval for an Aquila Inc. power plant in Cass County that the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District has twice ruled was illegally built and should be dismantled.... (Read the press release...)
April 9, 2008Cass County residents testify against Aquila bill
A group of Cass County residents traveled to the Missouri Capitol today to join state Rep. Luke Scavuzzo in opposing legislation that attempts to grant retroactive approval for an Aquila Inc. power plant near Peculiar that the state Court of Appeals has twice said the company had no authority to build... (Read the press release...)
April 2, 2008Update on State Budget
Last week the House of Representatives approved a $22.45 billion state operating budget for the 2009 fiscal year which begins July 1st. This budget is nearly a half-billion dollars under the $22.94 billion Governor Blunt requested. This is the largest budget in Missouri history, but it still falls short in certain areas... (Read the press release...)
April 1, 2008House committee hears Rep. Scavuzzo’s bill to eliminate political patronage at license fee offices
The House Special Committee on Government Affairs held a public hearing today on a bill sponsored by state Rep. Luke Scavuzzo, D-Harrisonville, to eliminate the longtime practice of allowing the governor to award contracts to run the Missouri’s license fee office as perks to his political supporters. (Read the press release...)
March 13, 2008House Democrats enjoy success during first half of session
House Democrats scored some successes during the first half of the 2008 legislative session despite the overall lack of action in the Republican-controlled chamber. For the first time, the bill -- HB 1866 sponsored by state Rep. Luke Scavuzzo, D-Harrisonville -- is scheduled to receive a committee hearing. With Missouri guaranteed of having a new governor next year, which will result in the 183 fee office contracts being redistributed, Scavuzzo said now is the perfect time to institute a non-patronage system. (Read the press release...)
March 12, 2008Legislative Update
As of March 3rd, 1,044 House Bills have been filed with 49 of those bills reported “Do Pass” out of committee. Thirteen of those bills have been perfected, which means brought to the Floor for debate and approved, with twelve of those bills sent on to the Senate for their approval....
(Read the press release...)
February 26, 2008Luke Scavuzzo Announces His Candidacy for State Representative of the 124th District
Luke Scavuzzo (D), a life-long resident of Harrisonville, Missouri, announces his candidacy for State Representative of the 124th District. Luke was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 2006. He currently serves as the Minority Deputy Whip for the House...
(Read the press release...)
February 20, 2008Committee passes resolution on Hydrocephalus Awareness Month
A House committee on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution sponsored by state Rep. Luke Scavuzzo declaring March as Hydrocephalus Awareness Month and urging the federal government to undertake a comprehensive study on the impact of the condition. (Read the press release...)
February 13, 2008Harrisonville Wildcat Football Team Honored
On Tuesday, February 12th, the State Champions Harrisonville Wildcat Football Team was recognized by the Missouri General Assembly for their outstanding 2007 season. (Read the press release...)
February 7, 2008House Democrats propose expansion of meth, DNA databases
House Democrats today proposed upgrading Missouri’s methamphetamine precursor database so law enforcement agencies can better track suspicious purchases of common cold medicines used to manufacture the illegal drug. (Read the press release...)
February 6, 2008Floor Debate Begins on Insure Missouri Program
An issue that has started to get a lot of attention is the governor’s Insure Missouri plan. Insure Missouri is a new program intended to offer working adults Medicaid Managed Care coverage with more limited benefits than traditional Medicaid... (Read the press release...)
February 6, 2008Blunt to leave state saddled with $2.62 billion transportation debt
During his 2008 State of Transportation address to the General Assembly today, state Department of Transportation Director Pete Rahn warned that “the bottom drops out of Missouri’s transportation funding” in 2010. (Read the press release...)
January 22, 2008Rep. Scavuzzo seeks to end political patronage at license fee offices
State Rep. Luke Scavuzzo today filed legislation to eliminate the outdated practice of awarding contracts to run the state’s license fee offices as political patronage to supporters of the governor. (Read the press release...)
January 22, 2008House Democrats offer expansive proposals to reform government
House Democrats on Tuesday announced a wide-ranging package of reforms to improve accountability and integrity in state government. (Read the press release...)
January 9, 2008House Democrats to champion change in 2008 session
The 2008 legislative session began with House Democrats renewing efforts to restore health care services to thousands of Missourians, improve the quality of and access to public education and reform state government, among other goals in their 2008 Moving Missouri Forward legislative agenda. (Read the press release...)
January 7, 2008House Democrats propose supplement to A+ Schools program
Building on the successful A+ Schools program, House Democrats proposed a supplementary scholarship called Missouri Promise to allow A+ participants to advance to a public four-year college or university to complete their bachelor's degree. (Read the press release...)