Declarations

Rebuilding Begins

“I have been clear from the beginning: We will rebuild Joplin.”

—Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon on June 1 announced the start of debris removal in Joplin, Mo., following the devastating tornado that hit the city on May 22, 2011. The rebuilding effort began in earnest when crews began trucking rubble to one landfill in Lamar and two in Kansas. Nixon wouldn’t estimate how long it would take or what the cost would be, other than “tens, perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars.” Whatever the final figure is, the federal government will pay a greater-than-usual share – 90 percent, as it agreed to do after deadly storms in Alabama in April, Nixon said. The state and local governments will share the rest.

More Work Needed

“While perhaps well-intentioned, HB 1698 is unlikely to produce the much-needed outcomes to ultimately reduce the costs of Illinois’ overly-expensive system.”

—Steve Schneider, Midwest region vice president for the American Insurance Association (AIA), said despite Illinois lawmakers’ passage of a workers’ compensation reform measure, future efforts to significantly reform the system remain necessary. The AIA advised that future changes should include the required use of the American Medical Association (AMA) Impairment Guidelines, employer direction of medical care, medical fee schedule reductions, and enhanced utilization review authority, among others.

Healthy Expansion Expected

“While higher commodity prices have cooled regional growth a bit, our survey points to a healthy expansion in the months ahead, with exports making a significant contribution to growth.”

—Creighton University economics professor Ernie Goss. Goss’s research group released a report showing that strong export numbers are boosting the economy in nine Midwest and Plains states. High raw material costs have hurt profits, but even with the higher costs, companies in the region are adding jobs, the report found. The May employment index grew to 58.1 from April’s already positive 54. The states in the survey are Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.