Friday, August 2, 2013
RCGA Splits With Lobbyists
The St. Louis Regional Chamber apparently exercised an option to terminate their lobbying contracts. Lobbyists Kim Tuttle, Tricia Workman and Jane Dueker deleted their registrations (see below).
Word is that the new CEO, Joe Reagan, has been reviewing all aspects of the Chamber’s operations, and that they’re considering all available options, from handling internally to hiring contract lobbyists, and everything in between.
Bannister Mall Gets Incentives
The Missouri Development Finance Board approved $10.7 million in tax credits for the redevelopment of Bannister Mall.
“The 220-acre project is being pursued by Trails Properties II, a company established by Neal Patterson and Cliff Illig, senior executives at Cerner Corp., to develop the property in south Kansas City.” See the Kansas City Star story here.
Governor Jay Nixon released a statement applauding “an announcement by Cerner Corp. that the company is taking the first step in moving forward with plans to extend its Missouri campus and bring between 12,000 and 15,000 jobs to the former Bannister Mall site in Kansas City. The company's agreement allows it to purchase approximately 237 acres in the Three Trails Crossing area and would pave the way for additional redevelopment including retail stores, restaurants and hotel at the site, which has been largely vacant since 2009.”
Behind the Deal
The pivot point in this deal was back in early May when, after a two-year push, the KC developers decided not to further pursue their inclusion in the extension of the land assemblage tax credits.
Apparently they traded the possibility of $30 million in land assemblage tax credits for $10 million in hand of MDFB contribution tax credits. Good ending for everybody involved… except perhaps Paul McKee…
And
Trails Properties II’s lobbyists are Polsinelli (Rodney Gray, Tami Holliday, Peter Levi, Susan Henderson Moore, and Richard AuBuchon) and Jewell Patek.
Cerner’s lobbyists are: Carrie Sherer and Doug Ervin (in-house), Flotron and McIntosh (Richard McIntosh, Kent Gaines, David McCracken, Zach Brunnert), and Patek.
Also Worth Noting
Sen. Brad Lager and Rep. Eric Burlison both work for Cerner.
Sanders for AG?
Having stepped down from the Dem Party Chair position, it’s said that Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders is mulling an attorney general bid.
So for those keeping score at home, here’s what the Dem 2016 scorecard looks like…
US Senate - ???
Governor – Chris Koster
AG – Mike Sanders
SOS – Jason Kander
LG – Barry Aycock
Treasurer - ???
On the bench – Clint Zweifel
But Maybe Just a Sanders’ Head Fake?
Says one Dem: “Sanders is always interested in getting his name out to run for something. If you remember he was all but in the Secretary of State's race and then the day before he was to announce said that he was not going to and withdrew from consideration. He also did float his name in 06 for US Senate and 2007 for KC Mayor even though he could never have met residency.
“He has made no secret of his desire to be next up in Cleaver’s congressional seat, but may be considering something else due to Cleaver expanding his national profile making a longer stay more possible…”
HRCC Summer Caucus Sponsorships Hit New High
The House Republican Summer Caucus to be held in two weeks has a record $380K in commitments from sponsors (corporations and lobbyists). Last year they recorded about $330K in sponsorships. Breaking that record in a non-election year is impressive.
Normandy Headed to Bankruptcy?
Some observers worry that the Normandy School District is vulnerable to a financial insolvency with its loss of students. The question is how fast they can make adjustments (layoffs), and how strong their reserves are.
But in so much as bankruptcy is a possibility, the transfer situation could get messier. Under that scenario, it’s likely the state would take over the district, perhaps dissolving it and sending portions of the student body to nearby districts.
Furthermore, one close observer warns, there are some small rural districts which are teetering around the edges of accreditation. These districts too might ultimately face dissolution.
In short, the education issue’s footprint looks to be expanding in the future…
Intelligence Cable from Senate 24
“Rs are waiting for John Lamping. Rep. John Diehl seems confident, no talk of him changing addresses, speaker much bigger prize. Lamping waiting to see if his daughter makes the cut for the Olympics. If not, he moves back to Stl.”
Bits
Is Congresswoman Ann Wagner a future speaker in DC? See it here.
Because it’s Friday… “Mutilated Cows Found at Missouri Farm, Police Not Ruling Out the Possibility of Aliens” See it here.
eMailbag: On Slay’s Gun Court Quest
“The issue is NOT graduating to more violent crimes, but rather REPEATING the same crime. State law must deal with making exceptions in SIS (suspended imposition of sentence) versus SES (suspended execution of sentence)… Too many underage offenders get away with their initial crimes and it does not get on their permanent record. Too many judges are allowing this to happen. But again this would require a change in state law first.”
eMailbag: Typo in Lembke LLC?
“Do you think (former state senator Jim) Lembke really meant to call his company Liberty Inc. (instead of Liberty Ink) but just didn’t know the difference?”
$5K+Contributions
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc - $10,000 from St. Louis Association of Realtors PAC.
MO Chamber PAC - $200,000 from Grow Missouri.
Lobbyist Registrations
From the Pelopidas website:
Jane Dueker, Kim Tuttle, and Tricia Workman deleted St. Louis RCGA.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Rep. Kimberly Gardner, former minority leader Mike Talboy (36), former Reps. Tom Todd (66) and Jim Viebrock (46), lobbyist Dawn Nicklas, and Deaconess Foundation’s Starsky Wilson.
Saturday: Former Rep. Larry Wilson (70), and MASW’s Christine Woody (34).
Sunday: Don Soph and Dick Wiles (64)