MOScout Daily Update: Greitens on the Offense - Watching Moon - House GOP Caucus Sec Race - Reformers Request of Parson - Justus Joins Truman and more....
Greitens on the Offense
Eric Greitens burns for vengeance.
See a new video posted to his Facebook here which dismisses the scandals which drove him from office and attacks Governor Mike Parson for restarting the state’s LIHTC program.
· One observer’s take: RGA spent $16M electing Greitens and now may have to spend another $16M electing Parson thanks to Greitens fomenting a mini rebellion against him on the right…
And Greitens filed a sweeping sunshine request of the General Assembly. See it here. It also asks for records from many individuals associated with the LIHTC industry.
· One Dem politico wonders if Greitens is searching for an October surprise to daisy-cutter on Parson.
But
The mighty Jason Rosenbaum wonders whether Greitens will ever find what he’s looking for. Rosenbaum too filed sunshine requests for impeachment correspondences and was denied. See it here.
Watching Moon
This is the Rep. Mike Moon we’ve seen over and over in the past eight years in the House. How will it translate in the Senate?
Moon yesterday: The Missouri House is ready to vote on House Committee Substitute for House Bill 46. The bill will remove the requirement for St. Louis police officers to reside within the city limits. I agree with the bill. However, the bill creates a special law. The MO Constitution requires that a notice of intent be published in the affected localities at least 30 days before the bill is introduced. And, the notice must be cited in the bill. The Constitutional requirements were not met. I’ll be voting “no.”
Floor Leader Race Quip
One Republican rep says the telltale sign that majority floor leader race is heating up: “lobbyists forget to ask how your campaign is going, but instead just want to know who you’re voting for.”
Justus Joins Truman
Steve Vockrodt reports that “former Missouri state senator and Kansas City Council member, as well as Kansas City mayoral aspirant, [Jolie Justus] will become general counsel for Truman Medical Centers on Sept. 4. Justus joined the hospital as assoc. GC in March after working at Shook, Hardy & Bacon.”
Turman’s CEO is Charlie Shields who served with Justus in the Senate.
GOP Caucus Secretary Race
Yesterday two Republican state representatives sent word that they’re jumping into the race for Caucus Secretary.
Reps. Tom Hannegan and Ann Kelley each threw their names in the hat.
Ed Reformers Ask Parson to Waive Statute
The National Coalition for Public School Options, the Children’s Education Alliance of Missouri, and the Missouri Education Reform Council sent a letter to Governor Mike Parson asking him to use emergency powers to waive a provision of the Missouri Course Access and Virtual School Program which they say is preventing families from using the program.
MOCAP was passed into law in 2018 to provide Missouri families with new access to public school online options of their choice. The entire purpose of the new law was to open up choices and opportunities beyond those that any individual school district might offer to its families. In the face of the COVID crisis, the MOCAP obviously takes on an incredibly heightened importance for some families…
[M]any districts are simply not complying with MOCAP. We now know from testimony that many districts only come into compliance and honor parent’s clear statutory rights after being threatened with litigation by attorneys for parents…
In light of this critical new information, we call upon you to exercise your authority, as you have in numerous other areas of the educational code, to waive the resident district veto provision of MOCAP while the COVID emergency remains in place. That action would address the current educational emergency for the Missouri families caught in legal limbo while allowing the Legislature, DESE and the State Board time to - hopefully - achieve longer term solutions to these serious problems.
House Pass Crime Bills
The House passed crime bills yesterday in the latest step of this session that has unfolded quite differently than the usual in-and-out affair of narrowly crafted special sessions. Kurt Erickson reports…
· Missouri moved a step closer to having its own, state-level witness protection program Tuesday, but there is no money earmarked for the crime-fighting effort… the next step will be to find a funding source and bring lawmakers back for another round of voting. That could come as early as mid-September…
· The House also is ignoring a call by Parson to approve legislation allowing the state attorney general to intervene in homicide cases in St. Louis.
· The House also approved legislation allowing people to give firearms to children without their parents’ permission. Parson had sought to increase the penalty to crack down on criminals who use guns unlawfully and then give them to minors to avoid being caught with them by police. The new version would end the misdemeanor crime of giving guns to minors without parents’ permission but would make it a felony to give firearms to children to avoid felony arrest or criminal investigation.
Twist on the Famous ‘Are You Better Off’
Senator Roy Blunt offers a 2020 update to the famous re-election litmus test, Are you better now than you were four years ago?
"Were you better in January of this year than you were three years ago or four years ago? And almost every American, if they look at that question, would say we absolutely were better off ...
We'd like to get back to an America that has that kind of economy and that kind of opportunity.”
Waters Memorial Drive
Scott Charton tweets about today’s planned memorial motorcade for deceased publisher Hank Waters. See it here.
“A motorcade through downtown #CoMo is planned Wednesday afternoon to honor the life of former @columbiatribune publisher Hank Waters, who died last week at age 90.” Starts 4pm at CDT 4th and Ash. Passes @MissouriPress @Mizzou
New Committees
James Coyne formed a candidate committee (Citizens for Coyne) to run for Senate 19 as a write-om candidate.
Missouri Mutual Insurance PAC was formed. Its treasurer is Chris Kespohl.
$5K+ Contributions
Your Vote Matters MO - $10,000 from The Simon Law Firm, P.C.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Ray Salva, Robert Butler, Anne Zerr, and Stephanie Bell.