Friday, December 4, 2015
Bax to Take CoS Spot
Greta Bax will become the new chief of staff to minority leader Jake Hummel. She takes the place of Terry Witte.
Bax has been the legislative director for the minority caucus. She is the first woman to hold this position under the Democrats. When Mark Richardson was minority leader, his chief of staff was Julia Nienaber.
Schaefer and the Cities
Getting attention among the pre-filed bills is Sen. Kurt Schaefer’s bill to end the earning taxes in Kansas City and St. Louis. Post-Dispatch reports on it. See it here.
One observer thinks it’s not a smart move politically for Schaefer because it may “alienate him from a lot of donors and business interests who are now motivated to actively help Josh Hawley or his Democratic opponent…”
Meanwhile Dems shake an angry fist…
From Teresa Hensley
“Why would the Senator from Columbia care how we raise revenues for our cities? Because Senator Schaefer is seeking higher office and has a very special donor he must appease in order to raise the millions he will need to win. Rex Sinquefield has already given him a $750,000 campaign contribution - and Senator Schaefer wants more to advance his political career. Senator Schaefer has decided his political gain is more important than the safety of Kansas City and St. Louis residents. He is letting one political donor (King Rex Sinquefield) drive decisions that would gut our two major cities' budgets for police officers and fire fighters….”
Statement from Sen. Joe Keaveny
"Voter-enacted laws should not be changed at the whim of the Legislature. Moreover, when the issue is one of local control, it is prudent to have a sponsor from the locality at issue. Senate Bill 575has neither a local sponsor, nor the backing of voters. The General Assembly did not impose an earning tax; the citizens did themselves."
Schmidty’s Stadium Study
Brian Schmidt of MOWonk has conducted a study of the economic impact of the proposed new football stadium. The Associated Industries of Missouri's Taxpayers Research Institute of Missouri and the St. Louis NFL Stadium Task Force partnered to sponsor the study.
Schmidty concludes that the “net benefits to the state are $170 million over the next 36 years if the Rams stay and the stadium is built. For every dollar the state spends, they get $1.31 back in benefits directly resulting from having the Rams and building the stadium and a total of $1.47 back if you count the indirect and induced benefits (from the economic activity associated with having the Rams and building the stadium).
“Most of the benefits come in the form of state income taxes from Rams players, which currently total $10 million per year. This study assumes the salaries and income taxes paid will grow by 3% per year, an extremely conservative assumption considering the NFL salary cap has quadrupled in the past 21 years (growing from $34 million in 1994 to $143 million this year). For comparison purposes, $1 in 1994 is worth $1.60 today in terms of inflation.
“If the Rams leave and stadium is not built, the state is still on the hook for $78 million over the next 9 years, a present value of $70 million in today's dollars. But the state won't have the tax revenues from the Rams to offset the costs of the existing obligations of the Edward Jones dome.
“In short, the state gains $170 million if the Rams stay and the new stadium is built. The state has $70 million in obligations to fulfill if the Rams leave, but won't have the taxes they generate to offset this cost.”
Collins-Muhammed for House 77
John Collins-Muhammad started a campaign committee to run for House 77 as a Democrat. The current incumbent, Rep. Kimberly Gardner, is expected to forgo re-election to run for St. Louis City Circuit Attorney.
According to LinkedIn, Collins-Muhammed is Special Assistant at the Paula J. Carter Foundation. See his campaign Facebook page here.
Follow-Up on Solon Contribution
To clarify the contribution to Rep. Sheila Solon yesterday: the money came from MO Freedom (a PAC of MATA), not from Missouri Alliance for Freedom, if there was any question…
Follow-up on Senate Subpoenas
Good source says “Sen. Kurt Schaefer issued subpoenas to the lab over a week ago… He also issued one to Planned Parenthood…”
Follow-up on Tax Amnesty
The apparent weak tax amnesty receipts means we’re about to see a round of finger-pointing. The Republican legislature expects that Department of Revenue will say they didn’t have adequate funding to advertise the amnesty deal. We’ll see…
Bits
Former Sen. Jeff Smith will be at the St. Louis County Library tonight for a book signing and discussion about prison reform. See it here.
Every morning I dutifully go through the auto-replies of folks who are out of the office and missing their Daily Update. Yesterday I got my favorite one yet… “I am out of the office on vacation and will have no ability to respond to email. However if you are from the Nobel Prize Committee or the Missouri State Lottery please feel free to leave a message. If you are not from either of those esteemed and valued organization please wait to contact me until I am back.”
Today’s Events
From Mary Scruggs’ indispensable events calendar:
MO Night at ALEC – Mastro’s Ocean Club – 6PM.
Lobbyists Registrations
Chris Liese, Andrew Foley, James Foley added Missouri Southern University.
Stephen Hoven added SSM Health.
Chris Leise, Andrew Foley, James Foley, Gary Burton, Neal English, Donald Soph, and Mark Bruns deleted The Bank of Washington, and Northside Regeneration LLC.
Chris Leise, Andrew Foley, James Foley, Gary Burton, and Donald Soph deleted Northside Regeneration LLC.
Chris Leise, Andrew Foley, James Foley, Gary Burton, and Mark Bruns deleted Lincoln University.
Gabriel Ovanessian deleted Brevan Howard Asset Management LLP.
Joseph Thompson deleted Consumer Lending Alliance Inc.
Ann Covington deleted University of Missouri Board of Curators.
$5K+ Contributions
Committee to Elect Donnie Williams Jr. - $8,000 from Donnie Williams.
Eastern MO Laborers Education & Benevolent Fund - $10,865 from Political Action Committee of Laborers Local No,42.
Birthdays
Happy birthday Jennifer Florida, and Sean Gagen (the big 5-0).
Sunday: Joe Bednar.