|
|
|
|
|
Legislators: Where Are Your Priorities?
This year the Missouri General Assembly has been conjuring up ways to offer new tax cuts or credits to corporations while proposing legislation that would hurt the poor, such as SB 350, a bill that would repeal the senior citizens property tax credit for low-income renters. A tax cut for businesses may or may not be advisable and may or may not promote economic growth, but in the zeal to pursue this goal, legislators should not take away tax relief currently available for our most vulnerable citizens.
In the same vein, the MCC is hoping that legislators, in their enthusiasm for economic development, do not inadvertently open the door to subsidizing unethical research that destroys human life at the earliest stage of development. In this update find more details on these issues and how you can respond.
|
|
Help Stop the Spread of Abortions by Telemedicine
Abortion is an evil that should not be spread by any means, much less by the use of modern technology. When Planned Parenthood started performing telemedicine abortions in Iowa, they increased the number of clinics there from five to 17. Let's not allow that to happen in Missouri!
Next week, the Senate will most likely debate HB 400, a bill that would ban telemedicine abortions in Missouri.
Click here to see how you can contact your Missouri state Senator to encourage them to vote in favor of HB 400.
|
|
Tax Help for Low-Income Elderly and
Disabled in Jeopardy
SB 350 would repeal the renter's portion of the senior citizens property tax credit. Currently, this tax credit is available to renters who are elderly (65 or older) or disabled and who have household incomes of $27,500 or less if single, or $29,500 or less if married.
Over 104,000 Missourians from every corner of the state currently receive this credit, which averages $534 annually. SB 350 has passed the Missouri Senate and now awaits action in the House.
The MCC is urging State Representatives to vote "NO" on SB 350. Click here to read the MCC alert and then contact your State Representative.
|
|
Economic Development Needs Moral Compass
This week the MCC sent a letter to all members of the Missouri General Assembly addressing concerns with economic development bills under consideration in the closing days of this year's session. The MCC urged legislators not to open the door to subsidizing unethical research, such as experiments that destroy human life at the earliest stage of development. The letter also asked legislators not to forget the poor and most vulnerable when considering tax relief. Click here to read the letter.
|
|
Pope Francis Challenges Us to
Keep Christ as Our Center
Pope Francis celebrated Mass on Sunday evening April 14 in the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls and issued a challenge for all Christians. "... we have to empty ourselves of the many small or great idols that we have and in which we take refuge, on which we often seek to base our security. They are idols that we sometimes keep well hidden; they can be ambition, a taste for success, placing ourselves at the centre, the tendency to dominate others, the claim to be the sole masters of our lives, some sins to which we are bound, and many others. This evening I would like a question to resound in the heart of each one of you, and I would like you to answer it honestly: 'Have I considered which idol lies hidden in my life that prevents me from worshipping the Lord?' Worshipping is stripping ourselves of our idols, even the most hidden ones, and choosing the Lord as the centre, as the highway of our lives." |
|
Death Penalty Repeal Bill Signed in Maryland
This week Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley signed into law a bill ending the death penalty in Maryland.Governor O'Malley, a Catholic, actively campaigned for the bill that made Maryland the sixth state in six years to end the death penalty. Overall, 18 states now have abolished capital punishment. Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton, California, who chairs the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, praised Maryland's actions, calling it a courageous step toward a culture of life. Expressing his solidarity with victims and their families, Bishop Blaire commented that, "We must lift up the dignity of all human life-even for those convicted of the worst crimes." The U.S. bishops have long called for the end of the use of the death penalty. To read more about the USCCB statement, click here. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
