Nov 23 – Weekly Capitol Update
NEW FORMULA DROPS MISSOURI’S GRADUATION RATES
Missouri’s high school graduation rate for the 2010-2011 school year dropped by 6.6 percentage points under a new federally imposed formula for calculating such rates. Under the old method, Missouri’s graduation rate for 2011 was 86.4 percent; the recalculated rate is 79.8 percent.
The new formula is intended to establish uniform reporting in order to allow for more accurate comparisons of graduation rates among the states. Previously each state determined its own method for calculating graduation rates, making state comparisons difficult.
GOP PLAN TO IGNORE PRIMARY DOESN’T DETER HOPEFULS
The Missouri Republican Party’s decision to ignore the results of the state’s 2012 GOP presidential nominating primary didn’t deter the big-name Republican contenders from filing to participate in the Feb. 7 contest. The state GOP committee has decided to render the primary ballots cast by Republican voters non-binding and instead hold caucuses in March in which party insiders will award Missouri’s delegates to next year’s Republican National Convention.
Ten Republicans nonetheless filed as candidates in Missouri’s primary by the time the filing period closed on Nov. 22. The field includes nearly all of the main contenders — businessman Herman Cain, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. The only big-name Republican candidate not participating in Missouri is former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia. Three politically unknown candidates round out the GOP field in Missouri.
The state GOP committee decided to abandon its primary results after the Republican-controlled General Assembly failed to pass a bill in a recent special legislative session that would have delayed the presidential primary until March 6. The bill was prompted by new rules imposed by the national Republican and Democratic parties prohibiting all but certain states from holding presidential primaries or nominating caucuses prior to March.
The Missouri Democratic Party intends to abide by its primary results. But with President Barack Obama facing three political unknowns on Missouri’s ballot, the rightful winner of the state’s Democratic delegates isn’t expected to be in dispute.
MoDOT TO LIMIT CONSTRUCTION OVER HOLIDAY WEEKEND
The Missouri Department of Transportation will limit construction on major state highways over the long Thanksgiving weekend in an effort to provide smoother holiday travel on Missouri roadways. Highway work on travel lanes will cease at noon on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and resume at 9 a.m. on the following Monday. Construction that doesn’t result in the closure of lanes will continue, however. Travelers can find information on highway construction zones and road conditions in the event of inclement weather at modot.org.
Category: Weekly Capitol Update
