The Swamp logo

When a state hates its residents.

Missouri has gone out of its way to deny aid to its citizens.

By Buck HardcastlePublished 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago 3 min read
Like
The Missouri State Capitol

The state government of Missouri is rotten. This isn’t about policies that it has gotten wrong, though there are plenty of those. I’m referring to how the state government of Missouri doesn't just refuse to help its citizens, it actively works to stop assistance provided by the federal government.

Currently Missourians receive federal pandemic unemployment programs, including the $300-per-week boost to regular state unemployment, benefits for gig workers and the self-employed, plus the extra 13 weeks of checks beyond the usual 20 provided by the state. However, that’s all going to end June 12. Republican governor Mike Parson announced Missouri wouldn’t be taking the federal aid anymore. The unemployed were being too well taken care of, they need to get a job. I interact with a lot of business, I know many of them are in fact hurting for employees. That doesn’t mean businesses have started offering a living wage though.

I know Burger King needs more minimum wage workers but, I don’t know, maybe fuck Burger King? Just like, a little bit? Fuck Burger King? The state government is supposed to watch out for the interest of all Missourians, not out-of-state business owners. As much as business owners have cheered cutting unemployment benefits, this is really short sighted. Since taking away people’s unemployment benefits means people won’t have money to spend at Missouri businesses.

This is actually part of a one-two punch that the state of Missouri is doing to the unemployed. Around 46,000 people in Missouri have been told to pay back unemployment money they received during the COVID-19 pandemic because of various errors, none the fault of the recipients. Of course most of these people don’t have this money cause they spent it to live. Missouri legislators said they would waive requirements for payback, but then, woops, they didn’t. It’s not enough to take away benefits, Missouri has to punish people for ever receiving them in the first place.

Missourians will still be paying federal tax dollars towards the federal unemployment benefits--we just won’t be receiving federal benefits anymore. Of course this kind of shooting yourself in your own foot is nothing new to Missouri. When the Affordable Care Act expanded Medicaid, Missouri was one of the states that just refused to accept the federal funds. Being able to spend money on your constituents is usually popular for politicians so Obama didn’t think any state would actually refuse funding. Missouri did, just out of spite apparently.

In 2020 the people of Missouri had enough and in a direct referendum voted to expand Medicaid. Then, in a mind melting move, the state assembly thwarted the will of the people by refusing to fund the 10% of the expansion that would come out of state funds. We refused to spend $200 million to get $1,800 million. 275,000 Missourians could have gotten coverage, including members of my household. However, the state took pains to stop the expansion of healthcare during the middle of a pandemic. In case you are wondering, Missouri is not short on cash, we have a budget surplus. See, you can save a lot of money when you have the lowest paid state employees in the country.

Why are Missouri legislators doing this? Why are they going out of their way to screw over the people of Missouri? Well, you may not be surprised to learn that this is not a uniform movement in the Missouri house and senate--this is coming from the Republicans. And they are confident they can get away with it since the people who voted for Medicaid expansion tend to live in the Democratic enclaves of St. Louis and Kansas City. Of course this is dumb logic because rural hospitals would hugely benefit from Medicaid expansion. But no, Republicans would rather let rural hospitals shut down then give an inch to “urban” voters.

Missouri Republicans take our money and hate us for it.

---------

If you want to read about the shittiest Missouri Republican, click here.

legislation
Like

About the Creator

Buck Hardcastle

Viscount of Hyrkania and private cartographer to the house of Beifong.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.