Brothers and Sisters,
Late yesterday afternoon, 1st Vice President Ken Mitchell called me from Jefferson City and reported bad news concerning our effort to seek relief from the City's Residency requirement.
The Bill that our lanuage was attatched to went to committee. The committee was made up of 5 Reps, 5 Senators... we knew that 3 of the members on that committee were not in favor of our residency issue. A filibuster was threatened by Senator Jeff Smith if the residency lanuage was left in the bill, and unfortunately, the committee agreed to remove it.
The positive side of this is that we got further this time than we did last time and that everyone down there knows how important this issue is to us. We had overwhelming support from the Represenatives and Senators. It was only through the filibuster tactics were our opponents able to prevail. We knew we had the votes if it came to the floor and they knew it as well. Our opponents have chosen their side and it is clear to us who our true friends are in Jefferson City.
A special thanks to everyone who helped with this issue this year, especially 1st VP Ken Mitchell, who spent alot of personal time and extra effort working for us on this issue. The support of the rest of the Executive Board who pitched in to help with this issue and the other responsibilities that needed to be attended to during this time. Sec/Treas Jeff Glorioso for his work on researching the legislation and keeping everyone here in town up to date on what bills our lanuage was attatched to, MSCFF Legislative Director Mark Habbas who worked his tail off for us on this issue and other bills that will benefit all members of the Fire Service, IAFF 2nd District VP Mark Woolbright who took time out from his busy schedule to come to Jefferson City to help out with the effort, Lobbyist Lynn Schoesler who put in alot of time and effort for us, and of course State Senator Jim Lempke and State Rep Bryan Pratt who sponsored our bill and passionately worked for us. I also would like to thank our other Union Brothers and Sisters who understand our plight and supported the State Councils involvement in our effort.
There is always next year. As long as the membership of Local 73 instructs us to work for this issue, we will. A tremendous effort went into it this session. Alot of hard work, long days, late nights and time away from our families while we lobbbied in Jefferson City and here in town were involved in this effort. Our opponents know what we can do, have seen how strong we are, and we know that they are not looking forward to this fight again,,,but we are prepared to do what ever we need to do. We are not afraid of this fight. We aren't playing a game so that we can simply live where ever we want, We are fighting for the right to provide the best life for our families.
Thank you for your support
The good news is that the Line of Duty Death Bill did pass which will give the family of a First Responder $25,000 from the State. This may not seem like a whole lot of money, but considering the economy and the fiscal situation of the state, this was a huge accomplishment. When times are better, we will attempt to increase the amount to a more suitable level.
Thanks again for the trust and support you give to us,
Chris Molitor
Mouse Races STLFD2.doc
