MOScout Weekender: Welcome to Pre-Filing - Koster on the Forces of Division - MOScout Poll - Who Won the Week and more...

Welcome to Pre-Filing

Pre-filing of bills starts today. 

From the Senate news release: The start of Missouri’s 2019 legislative session is more than a month away, but already senators are hard at work drafting new laws. The scope of their efforts will become apparent Saturday, Dec. 1, the first day bills are officially posted in the public record…

In 2018, 303 bills – 54 percent of 558 bills considered – were filed before the start of formal business.

Although pre-filed bills are not official until December, the Missouri Constitution and Senate rules allow the secretary of the Senate to begin accepting draft legislation as early as July 1. Bills are sorted by sponsoring senator and assigned numbers in order of the author’s seniority. Traditionally, the longest-serving member of the Senate claims the coveted Senate Bill 1 slot during the first session of each General Assembly.

As pre-filed bills come into the secretary’s office, each of Missouri’s 34 senators, old hands and fresh faces alike, is allocated three consecutive spots in the bill order. The rotation repeats again until all pre-filed bills are numbered. Bill numbers assigned in 2020…

Staff from the Senate’s Enrolling and Engrossing office proofread bills submitted to the Missouri Senate.

“Truth be told, there isn’t much practical advantage to a low bill number. Bills aren’t debated in the order they’re filed,” says Secretary of the Senate Adriane Crouse. “But it never hurts to be first. Bills are referred to legislative committees in numerical order so pre-filed measures may stand a greater chance of being heard in committee.”

To see Senate bills submitted for consideration during the First Regular Session of the 100th General Assembly of the State of Missouri, log onto https://www.senate.mo.gov/legislation. Bills for the 2019 session will be available for viewing on Dec. 1, 2018…

MOScout Poll: Transportation Funding

With the election season behind us, I decided to ask about an issue to and see if it yielded any insights.  I asked a few questions about road funding.  See the full results here.

Survey conducted November 28 through November 29, 2018. 932 likely 2020 General Election voters participated in the survey. Survey weighted to match expected turnout demographics for the 2020 General Election. Margin of Error is +/-3.2%.

Q: What condition would you consider Missouri roads and bridges to be in?

Excellent: 3%

Good: 16%

Average: 41%

Below average: 26%

Poor: 14%

Q: If Missouri must invest money for roads and bridges, which of the following options would you prefer?

Sales tax: 17%

Gas tax: 39%

Tolling: 19%

Income Tax: 9%

None – our roads and bridges don’t need repairs: 16%

Q: If you had to choose one reason you don’t like tolling, which of the following would it be?

The idea of getting stuck in traffic in a toll booth: 15%

I don't want to pay for tolls: 39%

Other: 46%

MOScout’s Hallway Index: What Might Blow Up the Senate this Session?

This week, I asked my pool of lobbyists and building denizens: What issue is most likely to blow up the Senate next session?  26 replies.  I’d like to say that “it’s never the things you worry about,” but with the Senate, it usually is precisely the issue you’re worried about…

RESULTS

Charter School Reform….. 19.2%

Organized Labor Law…… 0%

Revising Redistricting Process…. 42.3%

Tort Reform…. 26.9%

Other….. 11.5%

Sample of Comments

Charter Reform because “expecting epic fights on education policy as newly elected reformers try to shake up the education establishment.”

Redistricting because “It’s the only issue that really impacts the future of the two parties in the chamber.”

The other possibilities mentioned: Abortion, and Tax Reform /  Tax Policy.

Who Won the Week?

Political Consultants – The early talk is making 2020 look like a promising year for the state’s dozens of political consultants.  Even without a US Senate race, there will be most of the other state-wides up for re-election, plus talk already of initiative petitions like Medicaid expansion, and an anti-CLEAN Missouri.

Jean Peters Baker – Jumps into the fray to lead the State Democratic Party, leading to speculation about her 2022 plans…

Dan Hegeman – Gets one of the most sought after committee chairs as Pro Tem Schatz hands him the gavel to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Emanuel Cleaver II – Congressman/pinch-hitting fireman.  From KSHB’s reporting… Cleaver, D-Kansas City, drove past the crash around 11 a.m. near the Swope Dog Park in the 5000 block of East Gregory Boulevard…  At the scene, Cleaver saw a man who was unconscious behind the wheel of a car… As two of the bystanders helped keep the man conscious, Cleaver tried to put out a car fire that had started after the crash…

Jo Mannies and Alderman Terry Kennedy – Two old school pros stand for a round of applause as they transition to a new phase in their careers.  Mannies will head to semi-retirement next years after decades of chronicling the state’s political scene, and Kennedy takes over as the first African America clerk of St. Louis City’s Board of Aldermen.

Find a downloadable version here.

Koster on the Forces of Division

In this week’s Jewish Light, there’s a commentary from Chris Koster from a speech he gave at U. City Shul Gala.  I can’t decide if the tone is more gubernatorial or senatorial. See it here.

Sometimes in my career, I was successful at bringing people together but, unfortunately, often I was not.

My time in elective office spanned from 1994 until 2016.  Ironically, it was during these years, I would argue, when division as a political strategy became a more potent tool for victory than our efforts to foster unity were able to combat.

We live in a time when the levers of division are all around us. Social media, 24-hour cable television, political gerrymandering and the tech industry’s ability to predict my next Google search have taken the analysis of our differences to unprecedented heights. These new levers have proven far more successful at exploding and exploiting our differences than they have at illuminating our similarities.

When I look back at my campaign of 2016, I admit my frustration and even sadness that a campaign that aspired to “bring people together to build roads and fund schools” would lose so badly to a campaign that actually used a machine gun and an exploding barrel to illustrate its promise to “blow up Jefferson City as we know it.”  Yet it is the world we live in.

Lobbyist Registrations

Caroline Hoover added Chargepoint Inc.

Ginger Steinmetz added Orexo US Inc.

Gary Burton, Tony Dugger, Chris Liese, Andrew Foley and James Foley deleted Saint Louis Police Officers Association, and Missouri State Fraternal Order of Police.

James Foley deleted Kansas City Fraternal Order of Police

Jay Riechard, Angela Schulte, Ginger Steinmetz, Andrew Blunt, Chris Moody, and Noel Torpey deleted St. Louis Blues, and Kiel Center Partners / Scottrade Center.

Trent Watson deleted Missouri Society Of Professional Engineers, American Council Of Engineering Companies Of Missouri, and RGA Enterprise Services Company.

Rodney Boyd and Katherine Casas deleted McDonald’s Corporation.

$5K+ Contributions

Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $10,000 from CFM Insurance.

Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $10,000 from The Doe Run Company.