How To Reach Us:
St. Louis Front Page
P.O. Box 1354
St. Louis, MO 63188
Voice: 314-771-0200
Fax: 314-771-0300
To submit news, contact:
editor@slfp.com
To advertise, contact:
advertising@slfp.com
|
|
|
ST. LOUIS NEWS TODAY - Sunday, February 20, 2005
|
Governor Visits St. Louis to Discuss
Legislative Efforts on Tort Reform
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com) February 20, 2005 - Missouri Governor Matt Blunt met Friday with St. Louis physicians to discuss the Legislature's quick action on meaningful litigation and medical malpractice reforms designed to improve Missourians' access to health care and improve the state's business climate.
The Missouri House overwhelmingly passed major tort reform legislation earlier this week and sent the bill to the Senate for consideration.
"As a candidate and as governor, I have pledged to support litigation reform and medical malpractice reform and I am pleased that the Legislature is acting so quickly and decisively on these important issues on behalf of the people of Missouri," Blunt said during a visit to St. Anthony's Medical Center in St. Louis. "This legislation will prevent physicians from being forced out of this state because of soaring medical malpractice costs while at the same time ensuring that small businesses will be able to flourish without the threat of outrageous legal awards hanging over their heads."
As part of his tort reform legislative package, Blunt supports limits on punitive and non-economic damages, restrictions on so-called venue shopping and increased sanctions against unscrupulous attorneys who file frivolous lawsuits.
The governor supports a non-economic damage cap of $250,000 in medical malpractice cases, which has been successfully used by other states to address litigation reform. Blunt also wants to eliminate joint and several liability, a rule that runs counter to fairness and common sense. Under the current system, a party can be forced to pay 100 percent of a settlement even if they are only 1 percent liable.
"Missourians who deserve access to health care and businesses trying to create jobs have been denied those opportunities repeatedly in the last two years. They will be denied no more," Blunt said. " Not only will litigation reform improve health care but it will also help Missouri's small businesses create jobs and economic opportunity."
The tort reform legislation is sponsored by Rep. Richard Byrd, R-Kirkwood, and House Speaker Rod Jetton, R-Marble Hill.
"This legislation represents our commitment to job creation and strengthening our health care system," Blunt said. "I am looking forward to working with lawmakers, physicians and health care providers on these important issues in the months ahead and I am confident that we will solve the medical and legal crises currently facing our state and its citizens."
Business and Convention Travel
Shows Signs of Recovery
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com) February 20, 2005 - Business and convention travel is finally showing signs of recovery, although greater emphasis on travel policies and the increasing use of technology has caused the business travel landscape to shift, according to a new report from the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA), the National Business Travel Association (NBTA) and the Institute of Business Travel Management.
Top 25 cities for general business and travelers ranked: 1. Chicago, 2. Los Angeles-Long Beach, 3. Washington, DC (metro area), 4. New York, 5. Atlanta and 13. St. Louis, MO. Top 25 cities for conventions, seminars, conference travelers ranked: 1. Chicago, 2. Las Vegas, 3. Washington, DC (metro area), 4. Orlando, 5. Atlanta and 22. St. Louis, MO.
The 2004 Business and Convention Travelers Report shows that between 1998 and 2003, business and convention travel volume declined more than 14 percent. However, business travel volume grew more than four percent in 2004 and strong growth is expected over the next few years.
" Business travel has been one of the most seriously affected by the events of recent years and the slowest to recover," said Dr. Suzanne Cook, senior vice president of research for TIA. "We believe that this reflects some of the changes that American businesses and business travelers themselves have made in recent years to enhance the efficiency of both the time and money they spend - changes that are still evolving."
The report found that the majority of business travelers work at companies with one or more travel policies in place, including restrictions on airfare class, limits on travel per diem, restrictions on hotel class or requirements that travel be approved by upper management. Improvements in technology have also altered the business travel landscape, creating greater acceptance of online business communication technologies as an alternative to travel. Nearly 40 percent of all business air travelers were substituting technology, increasingly webconferencing, for some travel in 2004, although this is down from 47 percent reporting the same in 2002.
Nearly three-quarters (71%) of all business air travelers in 2004 felt that the use of teleconferencing, webcasting or videoconferencing was somewhat or much more efficient than travel, up from 65 percent in 2002. However, only 37 percent of business air travelers feel that using such technology is more effective than a face-to-face meeting as a way of meeting business goals.
Despite these challenges, business travel remains big business in the U.S. More than 38 million business travelers generated 210.5 million person-trips in 2003. And although business travel comprises 18 percent of total travel volume, these travelers generate 31 percent, or $153 billion, of all domestic traveler spending.
Proposed Legislation Will Build on Help America Vote Act
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com) February 20, 2005 - U.S. Senators Kit Bond and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) have introduced the Voter Protection Act of 2005, legislation that builds upon the progress made by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). The Senators stressed that this legislation will make it easier to vote and harder to cheat.
"Our goal should be elections that are free of suspicion, doubt and cynicism about the results. There are steps that remain to be taken to ensure that elections are conducted in a sound and secure manner so that the integrity of the ballot box remains beyond doubt. These simple steps will begin to clean up the mess created in the registration process while taking away what remains of the enticements to game the system, said Bond.
The Help America Vote Act of 2002, on which Bond and McConnell were the lead Senate Republican sponsors, made significant improvements to the voting process by imposing minimum standards for equipment, registration and provisional voting backed up by an unprecedented $3 billion of federal funds to pay for them. The legislation introduced today will clarify the previous bill and try to alleviate some of the administrative burdens placed on election workers.
- Photo ID to be presented at the polling place - with grants to states to provide free photo identifications.
- States to sync their databases with each other to remove duplicate registrants and allow the use of social security numbers to facilitate this goal.
- Voter registration forms must be complete to be accepted -- affirming the registrant's citizenship.
- Forms from a voter registration drives must be submitted within 3 days after the registrant signs them.
- Polling sites to have lists of those who already voted and those who requested an absentee ballot.
- Election officials to clean their lists of non-voters.
- Absentee ballots are returned by Election Day.
- States to determine how provisional ballots are counted.
- Drivers license number, last 4 digits of social security number or photo ID to get absentee ballot.
- Pilot program for use of indelible ink at polling places to signify that an individual has voted. States can apply for grants to participate in the program.
- Penalties for individuals who pay someone to register to vote and for those who destroy property with intent to impede the act of voting are also part of the Voter Protection Act.
|
STL-News is owned and maintained by the Moore Design Group as a special feature of the Saint Louis Front Page for the sole purpose of disseminating news and information about the Metropolitan Saint Louis area. Text or graphics may not be copied, rewritten or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission. For more information, contact editor@slfp.com
All rights reserved world wide
© 1996 - 2008 Moore Design Group .
|
|
Click here for
AD Rates
|
|
