MOScout Daily Update: House Chairs - Top COHs - Gepford New Dem ED - Vescovo Contra Fraker? and more...

Haahr Appoints Committee Chairs

Here’s the list…

Administration and Accounts - Glen Kolkmeyer

Aging - Lynn Morris

Agriculture Policy - Don Rone

Budget - Cody Smith

Approps Subcommittee - Ag, Conservation, Natural Resources, and EcoDevo – Hannah Kelly

Approps Subcommittee – Education - Rusty Black

Approps Subcommittee - General Admin - Curtis Trent

Approps Subcommittee - Health, Mental Health, and Social Services - David Wood

Approps Subcommittee - Public Safety, Corrections, Transportation, and Revenue - Sara Walsh

Children and Families - Sheila Solon

Consent and House Procedure - Donna Pfautsch

Conservation and Natural Resources - Tim Remole

Corrections and Public Institutions - Shane Roden

Criminal Justice - Shamed Dogan

Crime Prevention and Public Safety - Kenneth Wilson

Economic Development – Jean Evans

Elementary and Secondary Education – Rebecca Roeber

Elections and Elected Officials – Dan Shaul

Ethics – J Eggleston

Financial Institutions – Jack Bondon

Fiscal Review – Dan Houx

General Laws – Dean Plocher

Downsizing State Government – Jered Taylor

Health and Mental Health Policy – Mike Stephens

Higher Education – Dean Dohrman

Insurance Policy – Noel Shull

Judiciary – David Gregory

Local Government - Tom Hannegan

Pensions – Patricia Pike

Professional Registration and Licensing -  Robert Ross

Rules- Legislative Procedure – Rocky Miller

Rules- Administrative Procedure – Holly Rehder

Special Committee on Career Readiness – Jason Chipman

Special Committee on Homeland Security – Ron Hicks

Special Committee on Small Business – Allen Andrews

Special Committee on Student Accountability – Bryan Spencer

Special Committee on Tourism – Jeffery Justus

Special Committee on Urban Issues – Bruce Franks

Transportation – Becky Ruth

Utilities - Travis Fitzwater

Veterans - Chuck Basye

Ways and Means – Chrissy Sommer.

Workforce Development – Kathy Swan

What It Means

·         As expected, Reps. Rocky Miller and Holly Rehder will chair the two Rules Committees. Those committees serve as gatekeepers for the flood of bills.  Miller and Rehder have both earned the trust of Speaker Elijah Haahr; they won’t let anything troublesome or embarrassing make it to the floor.

·         Miller’s move from Utilities opened that up for Rep. Travis Fitzwater to become chair.  And Rep. Jean Evans will take over Economic Development which was previously chaired by Rehder.  These are two power committees which can be good platforms for  creating relationships in the business community.

·         The powerful Fiscal Review Committee will be chaired by Rep. Dan Houx. That’s a surprise, and a big win for Houx, showing he clearly has the speaker’s confidence.

·         Rep. Kathy Swan took Workforce Development.  This is a nice catch for Swan.  With Governor Mike Parson on the second floor there’s going to be a lot of action in this policy area.  It puts her right in the mix.

·         Rep. Rebecca Roeber will chair Education.  She’s considered a reformer and might give the education establishment fits.  It signals that Haahr is going to pursue the ed reform agenda unabashedly.

·         Rep. Robert Ross will stay as chair of Professional Registration Committee.  It’s a popular committee because it touches a lot of industries.  Likewise, Rep. Tom Hennegan will chair Local Government Committee, another committee which reaches into nearly every district across the state. 

·         Rep. Dean Plocher will chair General Laws.  The catch-all committee is a good spot for an attorney will good judgment.  Plocher remains an impact player and is still positioned for leadership down the road.

·         With Plocher on Gen Laws, Rep. David Gregory will chair Judiciary.  Gregory is considered very sharp, but he’s relatively young. Word is that freshman Rep. David Evans – a retired judge – will be assigned to Judiciary, offering Gregory a seasoned judicial veteran as a member. Meanwhile, it’s also possible that a Special Committee on Tort Reform could be created at some point to handle that subset of legislation.

·         Rep. Shamed Dogan will chair the Committee on Criminal Justice.  Look for criminal reform to happen here.  It’s an issue that Dogan is passionate about, and the appointment means Haahr’s serious about getting something big done on it.

·         Returning Rep. Ron Hicks will chair the Special Committee on Homeland Security, while returning Rep. Sheila Solon chairs Children and Families Committee

·         Rep. Jared Taylor will chair the Downsizing Government Committee, a perfect fit for the conservative.

·         Finally, both Reps. Mike Stephens and Don Rone got good draws, receiving the chairmanships of Health and Mental Health Policy Committee, and Agriculture Policy Committee respectively.

Driving the Day

·         State of the State speech today at 3PM.  Look for it to be heavy on workforce development.

·         In coordination with the speech, Governor Mike Parson will release his budget recommendations.

·         Plus, Senate will be naming their committee assignments today.

Vescovo Contra Fraker?

One MOScouter pointed out HB509 to me.  Its sponsor is House Floor Leader Rob Vescovo.  Floor leaders don’t typically carry much legislation themselves.  In fact, this is Vescovo’s only filed bill.  It’s a short bill.  It reads: Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, the Director of Medical Marijuana shall be a licensed pharmacist as defined in section 195.010.

Former Rep. Lyndall Fraker, who was recently appointed to the new position, is not a pharmacist.

January Quarters: Top COH

Missouri campaign committees had over $27 million in the bank at the end of the year.  Here are the campaign committees with more than $200K cash on-hand.

Hawley For Missouri - $1,057,029

Greitens For Missouri - $977,648

Eastern Mo Laborers Education & Benevolent Fund - $869,657

Carpenters Help in The Political Process (CHIPP) - $757,462

Friends of Gregory FX Daly - $605,221

Leadership for America - $499,648

Citizens for Jake Zimmerman - $495,413

Callahan for Missouri - $489,106

BUILD St. Louis PAC, Inc - $485,777

MO National Education Assoc PAC - $460,259

We Are Missouri - $434,830

Schmitt For Missouri - $421,803

Lyda Krewson for Mayor - $415,871

Prospects for Missouri - $400,000

Supporters of the Health Research and Treatments - $374,758

Friends of Jamilah Nasheed - $344,332

Scott Sifton for Missouri - $317,989

Missouri Realtors PAC Inc - $276,523

HealthPAC - $272,032

Pipefitters Assoc Local union #533 - $266,734

Cooperative Owners Political Action Committee (COPAC) - $263,124

Miller For Mayor - $252,280

Justus For KC - $249,992

Laborers Union Local #110 Voluntary Political Fund - $243,574

House Republican Campaign Committee Inc - $236,502

Mantovani For STL - $231,498

Lucas For KC - $229,120

Citizens for Jay Wasson - $219,093

Association of MO Electric Cooperatives-PAC - $215,298

Kander For Kansas City - $204,479

Other Filing Bits

·         The state party COH numbers I cited yesterday only take into account their state accounts.  I mistakenly omitted their federal accounts, where most party spending takes place. According to the most recent federal filings (11/26/18), the MO Republican Party had $224,720 COH while the MO Democratic Party had $467,270 COH and $80,730 in debt.  The next federal reports, covering the month of December, are due later this month.

·         Eric Greitens’ campaign committee saw a net increase in its balance as it received a $285,433 refund from California media buying company, Target Enterprises.  Greitens committee again paid out six-figures to Husch Blackwell LLP for legal service.  That amount ($114,527) was remarkably similar to the amount on the October quarterly report ($114,544).

Gepford New Dem ED

Lauren Gepford writes on Facebook… “[I]t won't be voted on by our Missouri Democratic Party (MDP) until later this month, but I'd like to get the show on the road and begin discussions. I started as Acting Executive Director of the Missouri Democratic Party today. It's been the most exciting/interesting first day on a job as I've ever had. That's okay though, that's what's needed and what I prepared for. Working with newly elected MDP Chair Jean Peters Baker has been such a pleasure thus far… I fully recognize that this is a reorganizing period for Missouri Democrats as we have fewer Democrats elected statewide than we have had in my living history… I believe Missouri is still a competitive state for Democrats. Having specialized in data for the past 5 years, I think I can back up my claim with #s and plan to do so (oh yeah, our voter file is getting updated soon)…”

Bits

·         Senator Josh Hawley gets some airtime during the Judiciary Committee hearing on the Barr nomination.  See his Big Tech question here.

·         Jeff City’s possible hospital merger is getting fierce.  One tipster notes: SSM hired Bardgett & Associates to lobby for passage of antitrust legislation to allow MU Health to purchase SSM’s St. Mary’s Hospital in Jefferson City.  This is turning into a heavyweight battle with Bardgett (SSM) and Andy Blunt/Husch (MU) on one side vs. Gamble & Schlemeier (Coalition for Choice) opposing the merger.

·         What’s that electricity in the air?  It’s the anticipation building from this tweet of Saundra McDowell… “I’m excited to share an announcement with you this week! #staytuned”

Lobbyists Registrations

Rodney Hubbard deleted Amikids.

Jason White deleted Mid America Regional Council.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to former Reps. Mary Still and Don Gosen.