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NewsJune 5, 2004

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's First Friday Coffee for the month of June was a time for hellos and good-byes. The chamber opened the proceedings by welcoming 56 new members who joined during a recent membership drive. This was followed by a legislative wrap-up from guest speaker Jason Crowell, who said good-bye to some of his constituents after four years as 158th District state representative...

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's First Friday Coffee for the month of June was a time for hellos and good-byes. The chamber opened the proceedings by welcoming 56 new members who joined during a recent membership drive. This was followed by a legislative wrap-up from guest speaker Jason Crowell, who said good-bye to some of his constituents after four years as 158th District state representative.

"Most of the time people focus on our arguments and what we didn't get done," said Crowell, the House majority floor leader who is running for the Missouri Senate. "But we got an amazing amount of good work done this year."

Crowell cited the passing of House Bill 2, which set aside $143 million more for elementary and secondary education. He also touted the assembly's appropriation of $20 million more for higher education.

"Education hasn't been good in terms of budget for the past few years," he conceded. "But things are much better this year."

The representative emphasized that the state's real assets were in innovation through patents and brain power.

Crowell also touted the work that the legislature did for Southeast Missouri, such as saving the Cottonwood Children's Residential Treatment Center in Cape Girardeau.

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"My Spanish isn't very good," Crowell said. "By I learned that cottonwood means alamo. Well, we managed to save the alamo."

After Gov. Bob Holden made the recommendation to close the center for children with emotional and behavioral problems as part of a cost-cutting plan, Crowell said, he and Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder worked to formulate an answer using federal Medicaid money to help save the center.

In addition, the legislature approved a new budget for Cottonwood that is $117,000 greater than that of the previous year.

Crowell also pointed to the $200,000 that he and his fellow legislators got Holden to release funding for programs geared toward the treatment of autism. On top of that, the legislature appropriated an additional $200,000 in the state mental health budget for a Southeast Missouri provider to implement additional autism services.

trehagen@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137

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