More on Senate 31

One observer sees the potential Senate 31 match-up as a study in contrasts.

·         Rep. Jack Bondon has lined up top tier consultants in Palm and Axiom, and is hauling in Jefferson City money.  This is Bondon’s playbook: beat an opponent before it starts.  And, this observer notes, Bondon has been so successful in this strategy that he’s never been in a drag-out fight.

·         Meanwhile former Rep. Rick Brattin knows tough fights. He started his career by upsetting popular Democratic Rep. Luke Scavuzzo; then he had to hold off Democratic candidate Ashley Beard-Fosnow; and later unseated the incumbent Republican Cass County auditor.  Brattin’s strength lie in his ground game and hitting the doors.  Additionally, in this contest, he may also have the endorsement of incumbent Sen. Ed Emery.  Still he faces a big money gap with Bondon.

Odd Place to Make A Stand

KCStar reports that “Missouri Gov. Mike Parson will continue to redact certain information from public records, despite a letter from the attorney general’s office Thursday advising him to stop using the First Amendment as justification to withhold records from public disclosure.  Kelli Jones, Parson’s spokeswoman, said Friday afternoon that while ‘we respect Attorney General (Eric) Schmitt’s opinion,’ the governor’s office believes his letter highlighted a lack of clarity in the law… The letter cited numerous court cases to support that conclusion, noting that when public entities have asserted a constitutional right to privacy to protect personal information sought by a Sunshine Law request, ‘Missouri courts have viewed that constitutional argument skeptically.’”

CD-7 Talk

A few folks weighed in on the possibility of an open Congressional seat in the Seventh District in 2022…

·         “Another intriguing name in 7th Congressional District: Jered Taylor…”

·         “I had a board meeting of my organization and asked a few of our board members for their take on the 7th CD and if they had a favorite. Nobody had a favorite, but one guy said ‘the opposite of Billy Long’ and the other two said ‘oh yeah, that.’ Another guy said ‘someone who is a serious person and can get shit done like Blunt did, and still does.’”

Medicaid Drop Debate

Post-Dispatch reporter Jack Suntrup tweeted about “no-touch” Medicaid renewal.  See it here.

Several states use “no-touch” renewals, which don’t require manual paperwork, to automatically re-enroll Medicaid recipients by checking other sources. But Missouri is only using no-touch renewals for about 11% of its renewals, said Joel Ferber, Legal Services of Eastern MO

So which Sen. Bill Eigel replied…

That sounds like a great way to remove even more accountability from a program that has been recently found to already have billions in annual waste. #moleg

Merideth on Online Sales Tax

On Facebook, Rep. Peter Merideth makes the case for an online sales tax…

We are now one of only two states in the country that hasn’t yet passed legislation to start collecting sales/use tax from online purchases from out-of-state vendors. That’s millions of dollars we’re losing in state and local revenue for vital services, while giving out-of-state retailers a huge advantage over our local brick and mortars.

I’d also note that this is not a new tax we’re talking about. It’s a tax on purchases in our state. Purchasing patterns have changed the past couple decades and more folks are shopping online. But we don’t have a real mechanism to collect the tax on those sales. So while sales are growing, say 3% a year, our sales tax revenue is dropping.

We’re left with less revenue for local and state services. Then, new sales tax increases get out on local ballots to make up for that loss (see Prop P overwhelmingly passing STL county to fund police). Sales tax rates get even higher, and the difference in cost of a good from a local store compared to an out of state online retailer gets even bigger!... MEANWHILE, our local shops get stuck with the tax when selling to OTHER states that have all established internet sales tax collection, while those businesses in those other states don’t have to collect it when selling here!

BSA Parents Launch

Press release: St. Louis parents and advocates of Scouting launched BSA Parents in St. Louis, an independent advocacy group this month. The mission of BSA Parents is to amplify the voices of those who believe in the crucial role the Boy Scouts of America has had in our country and communities for more than 100 years and committed to seeing it continue for future generations.

Of note: Eagle Scout John Hancock is involved.  Listen to an interview he did on KMOX here.

And Rep. Michael O’Donnell is featured in this video.

eMailbag on UDSA

“Sounds like sour grapes and the blame game on Rubin's part… It has more to do with amenities and workforce than it does lobbyists. [And] nowhere in the article did it mention that Influential Rep. Graves, Sen. Blunt and US Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (KS) preferred the KC location.  Also PortKC came to the table and offered incentives to close the deal…”

MEC Actions

The Missouri Ethics Commission fined Sen. Jamilah Nasheed $2,500 for failing to report some contributions.  See it here.

And they fined Roger Leabo, mayor of Norborne, $,1982 for a conflict of interest when his company Leabo Oil was given a no-bid contract.  See it here.

New Committees

Bennie Cook formed a candidate committee (Bennie Cook For State Representative tor un for House 142 as a Republican.  The current incumbent, Republican Rep. Robert Ross, is termed.

$5K+ Contributions

Missouri Leadership Forum - $15,000 from Craftsmen Management, LLC.

Lobbyist Registrations

Nickie Renee Davis added Downtown Community Improvement District.

Scott Dieckhaus added Missouri Charter Public School Commission.

Ginger Steinmetz added AMIkids.

Caroline Hoover deleted St. Francis Community Services.

Birthdays

Happy birthday to Warren Wood.