On April 3, over 200 community members from PICO affiliate Communities Creating Opportunity (CCO) in Kansas City, Missouri attended a town hall meeting with state legislators to lay out their vision to expand health coverage and limit predatory lending practices across the state.

"We are presenting a vision in which every family, every child has health coverage and where working people can obtain fair and just rates on payday loans," said CCO leader Valorie Bratcher from Abiding Peace Lutheran.

At the meeting, CCO leaders reported that Missouri ranks 47 out of 50 states when it comes to the amount of state money that is spent on public health. Each week, an average of ten working-aged Missourians die from lack of adequate health coverage. CCO asked that legislators commit to providing funding for health care coverage for all low-income working parents who earn at or below 100 percent of the federal poverty level. They also asked for children's health legislation that would cover all Missouri children by 2010. Currently, 92 percent of Missouri children have access to health insurance.

CCO leaders are also calling on state officials to pass legislation placing a 36 percent cap on interests on payday loans and eliminate "rollovers," or the ability to cover previous loan balances by taking out new loans. All of the states surrounding Missouri have a 36 percent annual percentage rate, except for Arkansas, which has a 17 percent cap.

A number of state representatives who had committed to attend the event cancelled at the last minute due to unexpected committee meetings in the state capital. Those who attended pledged full support of CCO's vision for healthy communities. The meeting helped build momentum towards a visit to the state capital later in the month, where CCO leaders will ask for additional support for their plan.

For more information on CCO, visit www.cco.org

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Too many Missourians have no health insurance