Friday, January 16, 2015

January Quarters

The January quarter following the general election is not a mandatory filing (See it here).  So many folks in the mix for 2016 (Jason Kander, Peter Kinder, Chris Koster, Will Kraus, Kurt Schaefer, Scott Sifton, Jake Zimmerman…) didn’t file.

Two who did were Catherine Hanaway and Tom Schweich… Hanaway had already filed a 30Day After the general election, so this was really just a report on how her December went.  There wasn’t much action.  Raised $71K, of that $40K was from her patron Rex Sinquefield.  Hanaway has $1.3 million on-hand.  And as has been noted again and again: Sinquefield has given a total of $1 million to her.

Schweich’s report, like Hanway’s, just covers December.  He raised $85K and has $1 million on-hand.

I had a reliable source tell me that Schwiech and Hanaway had a meeting last week.  I reached out to both camps for confirmation with no luck.  Everyone’s mum.  But if true, it should be taken as a good sign for Republicans – especially on the heels of Claire McCaskill’s yielding to Chris Koster – that these two are not above some détente.

Also Reporting

Sen. Eric Schmitt raised $100K in a report which covers most of November and December.  He now has $1.7 million on-hand.

And

The Missouri Republican Party’s cash on-hand… $235.19.

Grow Missouri Polling

Last night a few folks reported receiving a poll from Grow Missouri.  It asked about transportation issues and St. Louis City-County “merger.”

First, it asked respondents to rate the conditions of roads. It asked about a one-cent sales tax increase for roads; asked whether a gas tax or toll roads were more preferable.

Then it gave reasons for St. Louis City re-entering St. Louis County and asked if respondents supported it.

Oddly, the poll didn’t include any demographic questions.  So perhaps they were identifying households for future communications?

House Committees

Speaker John Diehl announced the Republican committee members.  See them here.  Waiting on the minority party’s appointments…

Falling Off the Laffer Curve

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback promised to continue “the march to zero income taxes” despite revenue shortfalls.  Read it here.  This turn of events strips the policy of its intellectual underpinnings.  Remember in the theoretical Laffer Curve, you’re not aiming to go to 0%.  And if cutting income tax leads to less revenue as happened, then you were on the wrong side of the curve to begin with, so you shouldn’t be cutting more.

Car Futures

It tickles the brain sometimes to imagine the future.  Governing Magazine looks out at the implications of the advent of driverless cars and what it means for infrastructure needs.  Read it here.

And

More immediately lawmakers received an invitation to a reception to hear about Tesla at the Grand Café later this month with the opportunity to test drive the cars.  Let’s hope they’re serving soda pop at the reception, so we don’t send some lawmakers on the road with a few in them….

Finally

I think this is what we’ve been waiting for, but I’ve been let down so many times before… We’ll see… follow the new anonymous capitol parody Twitter account here.

Help Wanted

Missouri State Public Defender System seeks Department Director.  “The State Public Defender Director is responsible for oversight of an annual budget of approximately $39 million and direction of 587 employees in 44 offices across Missouri. The Director testifies before legislative bodies regarding legislation that impacts the system and in accordance with the requirements set forth by the Commission. This position works out of Columbia and Jefferson City, Missouri, and reports to the Public Defender Commission…. Starting salary range $133,716 - $145,343/year contingent upon experience….”  See the ad here.

Lobbyists Registration Changes

James Harris added Delta South Properties LLC.

Alexandra Klaus added Van Matre, Harrison, Hollis, Taylor, And Elliott PC.

Kevin Gunn added Missouri American Water, and Brightergy.

Salvatore Panettiere added Burns & McDonnell, and Fred Dreiling LLC; and deleted KC 2016 Host Committee.

James Foley, Chris Liese, Mark Bruns, and Gary Burton added Lincoln University.

James Foley, Chris Liese, Mark Bruns, Andrew Foley, Neal English, Donald Soph, Dawn Nicklas, and Gary Burton deleted Missouri Association of Career Fire Protection Districts.

$5K+ Contributions

Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $10,000 from Grow Missouri.

Civic Progress Action Committee - $7,500 from U.S. Bank.

Happy Birthday

Happy birthdays to Rep. Don Gosen (52), and former Rep. Mary Still (61).

Saturday: Sen. Mike Kehoe (53).

Sunday: Reps. Bill Lant (68) and Shawn Rhoads (38), Robert Knodell, and Carl Bearden (59)

Monday: Reps. Michele Kratky (58), and Michael Butler, MOTimes’ Scott Faughn (35), and Deb Dubin.

MOScout News

Legislature is off for MLK Day; I am too.  There’ll be the Who Won the Week and Weekly Summary later this morning, and the MOScout Poll on Sunday.  But then I’ll see you on Tuesday morning…