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Blind program cuts still cause for debate

The fate of a program for blind Missourians still hangs in the balance.
david shane
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flickr
The fate of a program for blind Missourians still hangs in the balance.

A State Senate panel spent several hours Wednesday putting together their version of Missouri’s state budget for next year.  But the fate of a program for blind residents is still up in the air.

When the pension program came up Wednesday night, Appropriations chairman Kurt Schaefer chose to defer final action until next week at the earliest. 

But he did reverse the House’s decision to provide some money for the blind by taking it away from the newspaper industry.

Schaefer says he’s looking into Governor Jay Nixon’s proposal to divert nearly 18 million in new-found federal Medicaid funds to the blind. 

The Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to wrap up their budget work later Thursday.

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.
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