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Speaker Jones wants to examine Medicaid reform

Debate over a voter ID bill heated up in the Missouri Capitol Monday.
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Debate over a voter ID bill heated up in the Missouri Capitol Monday.

Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones formally announced the creation yesterday of two interim committees that will look at ways to reform the state’s Medicaid system. 

One committee will have House members and selected citizens team up to research ways to improve Medicaid.  They will then hand off their findings to the other committee, which will make recommendations for next year’s legislative session.  Jones said they’re taking a thorough approach to fixing a broken system.

“Medicaid [and] Social Services take up a third of our state’s budget," he said. "I think it’s wise to have more eyes and hands working on the issue, and more diverse interests across the state rather than less.”

Meanwhile, the Missouri Senate has also formed an interim committee to examine Medicaid, and a bill awaiting Governor Jay Nixon’s signature would give him the authority to appoint a joint Medicaid committee made up of both House and Senate members.

Missouri Public Radio State House Reporter Marshall Griffin is a proud alumnus of the University of Mississippi (a.k.a., Ole Miss), and has been in radio for over 20 years, starting out as a deejay. His big break in news came when the first President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in 1989. Marshall was working the graveyard shift at a rock station, and began ripping news bulletins off the old AP teletype and reading updates between songs. From there on, his radio career turned toward news reporting and anchoring. In 1999, he became the capital bureau chief for Florida's Radio Networks, and in 2003 he became News Director at WFSU-FM/Florida Public Radio. During his time in Tallahassee he covered seven legislative sessions, Governor Jeb Bush's administration, four hurricanes, the Terri Schiavo saga, and the 2000 presidential recount. Before coming to Missouri, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Blue Ridge Mountains, reporting and anchoring for WWNC-AM in Asheville, North Carolina. Marshall lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Julie, their dogs, Max and Mason, and their cat, Honey.