Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Big Checks to Greitens Ahead of A2
Yesterday in the large contributions, World Wide Technologies’ David Steward gave $100,000 to Greitens for Missouri. This morning there’s a check from August Busch III for $50,000.
One rumor circulating is that the Greiten team is putting the heavy ask on folks to get some big checks in before Amendment 2 takes effect. If the squeeze is being applied we’ll see how effective it is in the coming days and weeks by how many similar checks show up. It’s unclear if these are to offset inaugural expenses or to stockpile for future campaigns.
But I suppose this is an improvement from having an anonymous LLC contribute to an anonymous 501c who then gives to the Greitens…
And
MEC has started putting up information about Amendment 2. Here’s their one-pager saying that its effective date is December 8, and folks should request formal opinions if they have questions.
Jones in the House
Post-Dispatch reports on the progress that Governor-elect Greitens is making on the transition, looking at the budget and prepping a round of withholds to keep it from getting too far in the red as we move to the second half of the fiscal year. See it here.
The news in the article that created the most buzz among Missouri politicos was the cameo by Rep. Caleb Jones….
Late on Monday afternoon, the transition office in a building near the Capitol was mostly quiet. Former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman was on hand as one of a handful of Republicans assisting Greitens transform from a first-time political candidate to the chief executive of a Midwestern state. Steelman’s husband, Dave, a former GOP leader in the House, also is assisting, as is former House Speaker Catherine Hanaway and Rep. Caleb Jones of Columbia. Former state Rep. Rick Stream, who served on the school board in Kirkwood, also is on board and helping, Chambers said.
Is Jones headed to the Greitens administration? The best guess comes from one lobbyist: Caleb would more than ably fill any number of high-level jobs in the Greitens Administration, but I expect him to fulfill his remaining two years in the House. Greitens needs power players like Jones in the legislature to help move his agenda there.
And
Although it seemed that there was never any love lost between LG Peter Kinder and Eric Greitens during the primary, the two are taking the high road now and not holding a grudge. One rumor is that the Greitens administration has asked Kinder for some policy input and Kinder is cooperating.
Holy Hundreds of Millions of Delinquent Taxes Dollars
The Missouri Department of Revenue is putting out a bid for the collection of delinquent taxes.
Inside the RFP are some eye-popping numbers. Previous legislatures have tried tax amnesty from time to time with varied success. The most recent time, the response was underwhelming.
From the RFP
The Department of Revenue refers delinquent Personal Tax Accounts and Business Tax Accounts to a third party for collection once the accounts are at least six (6) months old. Prior to placement with the third party collection agency, various collection activities may have taken place by the Department of Revenue… The following shows the average annual referrals of delinquent Personal Tax Accounts and Business Tax Accounts (including actual and estimated amounts, penalties and interest to date) assigned under the current collection contracts for FY15 and FY16. Note: The Department of Revenue started referring accounts for second placements in March 2015.
Personal Tax Accounts – First Placements - # of Accounts: 46,176; Account Balance: $95,054,956
Business Tax Accounts – First Placements - # of Accounts: 5,094; Account Balance: $28,630,717
Personal Tax Accounts-Second Placements - # of Accounts: 36,402; Account Balance: $114,192,313
Business Tax Accounts-Second Placements - # of Accounts : 10,310; Account Balance: $144,352,338
Boyd In Mayoral Race
St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Alderman Jeffrey Boyd declared himself a candidate for mayor. See it here. Boyd has run unsuccessfully for city-wide office before. As a sitting alderman he’s a credible candidate, but in an already crowded field he’s likely to simply siphon away north-side votes from other candidates like Lewis Reed, or Antonio French than have a path to victory himself.
As I wrote yesterday, I think this field is fuller than it will be when filing opens.
Bits
Route Fifty imagines the future of education. See it here. Charter-school expansion, tax credits for parents who send their kids to private schools, and vouchers for families to use for the education option of their choosing—policies that McGuinn described as the “the bread and butter of the Republican agenda”—are all on the horizon, particularly in states where the GOP both houses of the legislature and the executive spot.
Meghan Luecke is no longer listed on the Senate website as part of research staff.
Sarah Gillooly announced on Facebook that she’d accepted the position of Policy Director at the ACLU in Raleigh, NC. I'll be heading out December 11th…
On LinkedIn Tyler Hobbs (who ran unsuccessfully in House 132) posted that he’s LA-ing for Rep. Holly Rehder.
New Committees
Termed Rep. Mary Nichols started a committee to run for statewide office in 2020.
St. Louis City Committeewoman Pam Boyd started a committee to run for Alderman of Ward 27. The current alderman is former Rep. Chris Carter. Boyd called on Carter to resign earlier this year.
Lobbyists Registrations
Tracey Hannah added CommunityAmerica Credit Union.
David Sweeney and Julie Murphy Finn added JBS LLC.
Jon Gubera added National Math + Science Initative, and Gubera Public Affairs LLC. (See Gubera Public Affairs here).
Megan Shackelford added Kiel Center Partners LP; and deleted Centrex Strategies.
$5K+ Contributions
Committee to Elect Reed - $50,000 from David Steward.
Greitens for Missouri - $50,000 from August Busch III.
Progress KC PAC - $50,000 from CHIPP Political Account.
Schupp for Senate - $7,000 from William Danforth.
Birthdays
Happy birthday to former Rep. Therese Sander.