Attention to detail often becomes more central to success when dealing with an issue or idea, rather than a tangible product or service.  Historic American Author Louis L’Amour said “There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. Yet that will be the beginning.” This can be applied to politics in the sense that many corporations, small businesses, and associations may believe the work stops within the legislature or with campaigns. While keeping a pulse on legislative action can play a major role in all market sectors, many battles can be lost in the administrative rules process as well.  There are 187 state agencies in Missouri that write rules and regulations to implement the laws in Missouri Revised Statutes (RSMo) passed by the General Assembly or through initiative petition.

Twice a month, Missouri’s Secretary of State publishes the Missouri Register. This contains proposed rulemakings by departments and agencies that are then subject to public comment and a hearing.  With 24 editions and over 1200 pages of proposed rules and regulations over the course of one year, it is easy to see why attention to detail is so important. A major component of the rulemaking process is the role of the Small Business Regulatory Fairness Board (SBRFB), which is charged with ensuring state agency rules and regulations do not create an unfair burden for small businesses.

A recent example of this can be seen in a rule published in November of 2008 by the Department of Social Services (DSS) that required all MO HealthNet providers to contract with a Patient Safety Organization (PSO) at the request of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).  On January 3, 2012, the Department of Social Services proposed to rescind this rule after the Missouri Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (MASCA) filed suit for not properly engaging the SBRFB to analyze the impact this would have on small businesses.  Ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) add considerable value to Missouri’s economy, with a 2009 statewide economic impact of $841.5 million, including more than $42 million in tax payments and employment of 1,800 full time workers. Additionally, for every dollar spent in the ASC sector of the state economy, $2.35 worth of economic value is created in the state.¹

Patient safety and convenience is the centerpiece of the ASC business model, as surgery centers strive to provide high quality medical care at lower costs with lower infection rates.  A recent national study found that seven-day mortality rates were 25 per 100,000 outpatient procedures at ASCs, compared to 50 per 100,000 in hospital outpatient departments. ¹ Therefore, a regulatory mandate by the Department of Social Services for ASCs to contract with PSO’s could be a cost burden with little to no added value to the quality of care. Most importantly, the Department of Social Services skipped a vital step when they bypassed the SBRFB and neglected the impact this mandate might have on ASCs in Missouri.

This recent victory by the Missouri Ambulatory Surgery Center Association gives new meaning to free enterprise and quality health care in our state.  With a strong lobbying voice and regulatory oversight, all corporations, small businesses, and associations can prevent state and federal government from implementing costly requirements that could be passed on to consumers.  It is MASCA’s mission to continue advocating for free enterprise and competition in the legislative and regulatory environment that will lead to lower costs and high quality care for Missouri patients.

Link to January 3, 2012 edition of Missouri Register:

http://www.sos.mo.gov/adrules/moreg/current/v37n1/v37n1.asp

Source: [1] Oxford Outcomes (2010). ASC Impact Analysis.

In what might initially sound like a leisure water sport, dragon boat racing will undoubtedly leave paddlers breathless and drained of energy after three intense races across Creve Coeur Lake.  In what is symbolic of most team activities, whether it’s in the athletic arena or corporate and government workforce, synchronized team effort and coordinated action define success at the finish line.  Despite the physical exertion, the competitive nature and philanthropic spirit of the event sends teams rushing back each year to take part in the festival and benefit the Signature Health Foundation.  Aside from the races, the festival included live music, barbeque, and fun activities for the 25 teams, friends, and families.

All proceeds of this event benefit Operation Family Help, a new Signature Healthcare Foundation initiative to assist families of patients with financial challenges by providing services such as therapy, equipment or transportation.  Signature Healthcare Foundation was founded in 2002 with a vision to “be a recognized leader in the local and national health care dialogue and spearhead physician leadership in improvements and efficiencies in the healthcare delivery system.” Signature Medical Group, its founding organization, has been a longtime lobbying client of Pelopidas in the Missouri Legislature and our organizations have actively worked together outside of government affairs over the years to benefit a variety of philanthropic causes in the St. Louis community.

Our Pelopidas team would like to thank John Marshall and the rest of Signature Healthcare Foundation for putting on a great event to benefit the community.  After a few weeks of rest and muscle relaxers, the Pelopidas Pow-Oar-House will begin training for next year’s competition!

These children were about to be marginalized, forgotten. They were in limbo between adulthood and the haven of school because they were “incorrigible”: they’d broken laws, disrupted classrooms or violated public school safety codes. Some serious infraction had removed these children from their public school and funneled them into a labyrinthine system where education was unlikely and graduation seemed completely out of reach. These were the children Judge Edwards heard from daily, and it was only a matter of time before they ended up back in Edwards’ courtroom on more serious charges and with less hope.

The reaction from Edwards was superhuman. In April 2009, he saw opportunity in the closing of Blewett School on Cass Ave., and in a few short months he had a building, 45 community partners, and a Principal vetted by the toughest juvenile offenders to open ICA.

Innovative Concepts Academy, in just its first year, is getting local and national attention for the profound changes happening in the lives of the most “incorrigible” youth. A few ideas seem to be the pillars of this success, and are woven into every program:

ICA is a place to be safe. Sure, it’s replete with security tech and staff – but they also provide medical services and 3 square meals a day, counseling, and staff trained to deal with trauma victims. For Edwards, it’s not enough to treat symptoms like acting out in class: many of the kids at ICA may have witnessed violent crimes or may be in a situation that precludes success.

ICA is a place to learn – or for many students, the ONLY place to learn. A child expelled from school doesn’t lose access to classroom learning and accountability. A juvenile offender doesn’t while away time in a facility that further limits her opportunities. More than that, students get and learn respect. Some of the boys mention that adults take them more seriously when they’re wearing a tie. The entire staff and mechanism of the school reinforces the idea that effort is rewarded – even desirable – and that they are all capable.

Third, it’s a place to get inspired. While mandatory extra-curricular programs keep kids off the street and out of trouble, those 45 community partners have given ICA students a remarkable smorgasbord of activities that aren’t simply about marking time. Golf lessons, chess instruction, classical music, creative writing and ballroom dance are just a few of the ways students can spend their afternoons.

A St. Louis Magazine documentary of Innovative Concepts Academy ends with one young man at a piano knocking out beautiful riff after beautiful riff: for me, that made the ICA not just a good idea, but something we should cherish, support and replicate. Just think, a pianist, a chess master, an author, a thinker, a good parent, or a hard worker may be that child who was about to slip through the cracks.

The plight of students in St. Louis is often harsh. The dropout rate is untenable: some kids are homeless, others are hungry, and some are discouraged. In one year, a rejection of all the things that don’t work; a fresh start based solely on what at-risk kids need to choose a better path; and a resolute leader accomplished not just a good school, but also hope.

We now have hope that there are solutions to the problems that have baffled us – but only if we’re willing to be radical thinkers, and put our energy behind a good idea.

For a Missouri lobbyist and our media productions team, being a corporate sponsor of this weekend’s USS Missouri commissioning was a rare opportunity. For a moment, we were able to depart from the Missouri General Assembly, show-me state politics, and even the Fortune 500 arena of government affairs, to enjoy some sessions dedicated to preserving American freedom.

Yes, the ceremonies in Groton, CT still applied many of the usual special event dressings of our state & federal legislative world: two Governors shaking hands, several Members of Congress worked by Pentagon public relations brass, and many other constituencies lobbying for the new new thing.

But beyond the tweets and public speeches, you could still believe in the triumph of the American spirit coming together for a capital project on this scale. Governor Jay Nixon, fresh from his trip from Afghanistan, gave weight to the large number of Missourians sorted into the Naval Pier. Congressman Ike Skelton gave several living history examples from his family and beyond about how important such military efforts have been to the battled history of our democracy. Commander Rexrode and his dedicated team of submariner advocates gave incredible witness to the future of our global security using stealth-based technologies. All in all, watching the campaigns from various contractors, leaders, and public figures come together into one $1.8 billion vessel served as a sincere inspiration.

For Rachel and I, there were several personal reminders from this experience worth noting:

Our American government can still lead global innovation, but it must be remain accountable to every taxpayer.

Part of what made everyone affiliated with the USS Missouri so proud was that SSN780 was delivered in 65 months, ahead of schedule, and under budget by nearly $100 million. The sense of accountability and transparency among defense initiatives is now enabling a further expansion of the Naval fleet into FY 2011.

For States fortunate to still host American military bases or strategic assets, use it or lose it as your economic hub.

We were surprised to learn from the Governor of Connecticut that $8M of state monies have been appropriated to help expand the Groton base infrastructure. It seemed as if everyone from this region was keenly-aware that economic activity from these initiatives were as important (if not more certain) as doling out state industrial incentives for Pfizer, Ford, or Bombardier. We wonder if the same understanding is true among the Show-Me State’s Ft. Leonard Wood, Whiteman Air Force Base, and Southern Illinois’ Scott Air Force Base.

For those who doubt what discipline, leadership training, and team focus can do, stare into the young eyes of our nation’s soldiers.

When you look at the front lines of what defends our freedom today, it is hard not to be amazed about how well we can serve with the right structure in place. We should always challenge our next generation in all industries to pursue excellence, apply your best work ethic, and to work for a team for which you would give your life. It was heartening to know that the Saint Louis Science Center broadcast this commissioning live to help show others how to apply science.

The positive network effects from military science and technology has helped all Americans greatly today.

What economists would hail as positive network externalities are likely nowhere more accurate than from projects like the SSN780. As a private pilot, we flew to this excursion with a retired USAF bomber & A-10 pilot, and a retired army manager. During our discussion about how planes flew a generation ago, I was reminded just how military technology has been instituted within today’s system of general aviation. Our transponder codes to avoid mid-air collisions: once used as “identify friend or foe” fighter jet communications. Our tough, sturdy landing gear: aided greatly by “controlled crash” landings on Navy aircraft carriers. I can only imagine what SSN780 will do for us in the future once declassified.

Leadership and celebrity coach Anthony Robbins has said that: “It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.”

Commander Rexrode, may your destiny and decisions help shape many lives through peace in our time. The roads you take may be lonely, but vital to our society.

“Washington, April 12, 1945 – Fate today raised to the highest administrative post on earth a plain, friendly man from Missouri – Harry S. Truman.

On the eighth of next month he will be 61. As he steps into the bright light of world celebrity he can look back on a career that began behind a plow on a 600-acre farm near Kansas City…”

The epic months that followed America’s closure to World War II remind us all how amazing it was to have our entire country doing what they could to protect our liberties. Part of what made Truman’s legacy so memorable was that he rose to challenges thought to be much larger than anyone might choose for themselves.

This week, I was fortunate to join the St. Louis Science Center in their hosting of the USS Battleship Missouri Memorial event, along with the St. Louis Navy League. Under the stars of the planetarium, we were reminded how the American spirit of freedom was transformed into this monstrous structure of teak wood, steel, iron, and ammunition named ole “BB-63” – the USS Battleship Missouri.

Most had come to know the “Mighty MO” of our Pacific fleet as the place where Japan surrendered to America. Its presence for this conflict alone is enough to retire it admirably. However, I was amazed to learn about how seamen and technology adapted itself over the decades to project its capabilities even as recent as Operation Desert Storm.

When you think about lobbing 2,700 pound projectiles at a precise range from 16-23 miles using the analog computers from the 1930’s, our computing systems of today owes much to this military experience. When I think about how my uncle must have felt at Pearl Harbor walking to church when the sirens went off, you have to believe that surviving ships like “Mighty MO” were a substantial inspiration as he flew across the Pacific into harm’s way.

When you hear about the dent in the ships’ side left after a Japanese kamikaze pilot tried to sink it, it reminds us all of the value of mental toughness over adversity. The Mighty MO has always been about more than naval superiority, it’s 45,000 tons gave each generation something onto which we can attach our emotions.

At our dinner event, we were each given a small piece of teak wood from this historic deck, now in process of a historic preservation in Hawaii. The battleship is all but retired, except for an appearance before a Universal Studios upcoming movie in 2012. However, just like decades before, the USS Missouri is adapting its mission again – this time for science educators and their pupils. Over the next month, many school groups will use it as their living history classroom. The St. Louis region is fortunate to have at least two strong advocates for science education within Admiral (Ret) Lee Metcalfe and General Duncan J. McNabb.

The torch defending our freedom now passes to the next generation. Just like before, our country is stepping up with something bigger and better. In my next blog, we will feature what’s next to come: the USS Missouri Virginia class of submarine.

Travis H. Brown

Powered by Twitter Tools.

Powered by Twitter Tools.

Powered by Twitter Tools.

Powered by Twitter Tools.

Powered by Twitter Tools.