On Tuesday, April 9th the Chesterfield Township Democrats membership meeting featured a presentation by Jeff Smith, Ph.D., former Missouri State Senator and author of Mr. Smith Goes to Prison.  Jeff gave a personal view on the realities and first-hand experience of life in a federal prison in Kentucky.   The presentation was given to about 35 guests and members and gave those attending his perspective on the state of prisons and the state of prison reform as well as the complete lack of efforts in the prison system to prevent recidivism. If you missed his talk to our group, check out this YouTube video of a presentation he made at the Clinton School of Public Service.  At our March meeting we heard from Samantha Stangl, M.S.W. who represented the Clark-Fox Family Foundation working toward prison reform in Missouri.  The combination of these programs gave our membership and guests a comprehensive view of both state and federal prisons.

Additionally, we had announcements about showmeintegrity.org.  This is a bipartisan group working to preserve the provisions of Amendment 1, Clean Missouri that was passed by Missouri voters last November.  The group is lobbying the MO state house to prevent passage of legislation that would overturn the voter’s referendum.  Jim Moore briefly presented portions of the “People, Poverty and Public Policy” highlighting senate bills, and SB 4 and MO house bill 183 which mandate work requirements for those MO citizens on Medicaid.  He also discussed SB 208 that will repeal the circuit breaker tax credit for seniors and the disabled who rent and HB 584 that will allow online sales tax to be used to reduce highest income tax bracket (originally from 1938).  Details and more information on Jim’s presentation can be found on the CTD website.

The Chesterfield Township Democrats continue to grow and consistently host informative and timely presentations about politics at the state and national level.  Please join us on May 14th when our guest speaker will be local journalist Tony Messenger.  Stay informed and be a part of progressive, positive change.