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Missouri News
The latest news from every corner of the state, including policy emerging from Missouri's capitol.

Missouri veterans are lobbying for more money from gaming

St. Louis Public Radio | By Jonathan Ahl
Published January 28, 2022 at 9:11 AM CST
Veterans salute during the national anthem at a rally in the state capitol in Jefferson City this week
Jonathan Ahl
/
St. Louis Public Radio
Veterans salute during the national anthem at a rally in the state capitol in Jefferson City this week

A state representative wants Missouri to give more of its gaming revenue to veterans projects.

Currently the Missouri Veterans Commission is primarily funded by a $2 charge for every person who visits one of the state’s casinos. The casino owners pay that fee.

That tax brought in $26.7 million to the Veterans Commission in 2014, but a drop-off in attendance saw that go down to $19 million in 2019, the last full year before the coronavirus pandemic further reduced attendance.

Efforts to increase the fee by $1 or $2 per gambler have failed.

Rep. Dave Griffith, R-Jefferson City, is sponsoring a bill that would put a question in front of voters for Missouri to give half of all its $400 million in gaming revenue, including the lottery, to veterans programs.

“It solves our problems with the veterans homes, it solves our problems with the cemeteries, but more than anything else it solves a lot of problems for our veterans,” Griffith said at a rally at the state Capitol this week.

The Veterans Commission reports the seven state-run veterans homes are at half capacity because of low staffing levels caused by the homes paying less than comparable positions at other nursing homes and long-term care facilities. Gov. Mike Parson is trying to address this, in part, with his request to increase the pay of all state workers. That would include nurses and other state employees at the veterans homes.

But that isn’t enough, Griffith said. He said the state needs to show more of a commitment to veterans in the way it budgets.

“We need to have a line item in the budget where we can have a revenue stream we know is going to be dependable each and every year,” Griffith said.

If the measure passed and was then approved by voters, it would move $200 million a year from education to veterans causes. That’s likely to face stiff opposition from educators and schools, but it won’t stop veterans from lobbying lawmakers.

“We have to let our legislators know,” said Troy Williams of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. “We need to ask our legislators to stand up for our veterans.”

Follow Jonathan on Twitter: @JonathanAhl

Copyright 2022 St. Louis Public Radio. To see more, visit St. Louis Public Radio.

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Jonathan Ahl
Jonathan is the General Manager of Tri States Public radio. His duties include but are not limited to, managing all facets of the station, from programming to finances to operations. Jonathan grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago. He has a B.A in music theory and composition from WIU and a M.A in Public Affairs Reporting from The University of Illinois at Springfield. Jonathan began his journey in radio as a student worker at WIUM. While in school Jonathan needed a summer job on campus. He heard WIUM was hiring, and put his bid in. Jonathan was welcomed on the team and was very excited to be using his music degree. He had also always been interested in news and public radio. He soon learned he was a much better reporter than a musician and his career was born. While at WIUM, Jonathan hosted classical music, completed operations and production work, was a news reporter and anchor, and served as the stage manager for Rural Route 3. Jonathan then went to on to WIUS in Springfield where he was a news anchor and reporter covering the state legislature for Illinois Public Radio. After a brief stint in commercial radio and TV, Jonathan joined WCBU in Peoria, first in operations then as a news reporter and for the last ten years of his time there he served as the News Director. Jonathan’s last job before returning to Tri States Public Radio was as the News Director/ Co-Director of Content for Iowa Public Radio. During Jonathan’s off time he enjoys distance running, playing competitive Scrabble, rooting for Chicago Cubs, listening to all kinds of music and reading as much as he can. He lives in Macomb with his wife Anita and children Tommy and Lily.
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