KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Missouri has seen a number of disasters in 2012, ranging from blizzards to tornadoes, and now lawmakers are looking at ways of improving how the state handles disasters in the future.
The Missouri House Interim Committee on Disaster Recovery is working on ways to improve state response to disasters. The move comes in particular after a massive EF-5 tornado tore through Joplin on May 22, killing 161 people and causing billions of dollars in damage as it leveled nearly one-third of the city.
During the Joplin disaster, doctors and nurses from all over the region arrived to help, but red-tape kept some out-of-state medical professionals from assisting.
“We don’t want to have red tape that would prevent someone from being able to come over from Kansas or Oklahoma or even Arkansas to be able to treat someone medically,” said Rep. Shane Schoeller, a Republican from Willard.
New rules being considered would allow out-of-state medical professionals to jump in and help during an emergency. Another issue lawmakers are grappling with is the issue of prevailing wages in a during a disaster recovery.
In Joplin, the prevailing wage nearly tripled to $21 an hour following the storm. Some lawmakers want to put in exemptions to help control costs, while others say workers should be allowed to earn as much as they can.
“I think we should pay a living wage and you got to think the more money that these people make in our community, in the community that we are building up. They’re going to spend it here,” said Rep. Sylvester Taylor, a Democrat from Black Jack.
The committee hopes to get their final report to the Speaker’s Office soon. The 2012 legislative session will begin in January.