Friday, August 4, 2017
United for Missouri Contra PDMP
Carl Bearden’s United for Missouri filed a lawsuit against St. Charles County’s prescription drug monitoring program in the 11th Circuit Court. See the suit here.
Press release: "The fourth amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees and preserves our right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures" said Bearden. "Our state constitution and state statutes also provide for and are intended to protect individuals from these same attacks on our individual freedoms."
Bearden added, "The system established by the St Charles County Narcotics Control Act presents the opportunity and possibility that persons may access and/or disclose personal prescription drug record information in the monitoring program without a warrant….”
Ludlum Leaving
Jay Ludlum, the Acting-Director of the MO HealthNet Division, is leaving. It’s said he’s headed to North Carolina.
This further thins the leadership ranks in that division.
Currently Valerie Huhn, Director of the Division of Developmental Disabilities at the Department of Mental Health, is serving as a Consultant to the Missouri Department of Social Services, MO HealthNet Division. By one estimation Huhn will be – after Ludlum’s exit – the only member of an executive leadership team which originally had four members.
Meanwhile Dr. Mike Nietzel, Deputy Director, Department of Mental Health, has been serving as Acting-Director of the Division of Developmental Disabilities in Huhn’s absence.
And one tipster says that multiple people “have declined to take the permanent job of Director of MOHealthNet.
Local NAACP Differs on Travel Warning
Post-Dispatch reports that the St. Louis County NAACP “says its national headquarters should rescind or amend a travel advisory urging caution while traveling through Missouri because the advisory could hurt African-American workers… Meanwhile, the chapter’s counterpart in the city of St. Louis is standing behind the advisory.” See it here.
Pull Quote: “We suggest that if the NAACP does not rescind their advisory immediately, then they should add to it the other 38 states, which all already have this standard for monitoring discrimination in place,” St. Louis County NAACP President Esther Haywood said in the statement.
Reporters Hunt for Dark Money
The new journalistic pastime during the dog days of summer seems to be uncovering dark money contributions to various Greitens non-profits.
Jason Hancock discovered that Express Scripts gave $10K to the governor’s inaugural.
Kurt Erickson writes that New Balance didn’t give money to the inauguration; it was listed by mistake.
Dems Files Ethics Complaint Against Hawley
KCStar reports that the complaint “alleges that [Josh] Hawley improperly used his state campaign committee’s spending on OnMessage and other companies after his November election to get better-known and help his prospective bid for U.S. Senate without filing as a federal candidate.”
Scott Declines SBOE Appointment
Springfield News-Leader reports that former Sen. Delbert Scott “is turning down his appointment… he wasn't aware of a state law regarding qualifications for appointees to the state board of education. According to Missouri law, ‘no member of the board shall be connected, either as an official or as an employee, with any public, private, or denominational school, college or university, nor be the holder of or a candidate for any public office.’
‘Nobody brought that to my attention,’ Scott said.” See it here.
“Nobody,” by the way, includes his son, Todd Scott, a former Senate staffer now with the Greitens administration…
New PAC
SHS PAC was formed earlier this week. My best guess is that SHS stands for Statehouse Strategies, Andy Blunt’s lobbying firm. The treasurer of the PAC is Jill Blunt, presumably Andy’s wife. Campaign finance law forbids lobbyists from serving as treasurers of PACs.
Lobbyists Registrations
Robert Dollard added BNY Mellon.
Michael Scott deleted Missouri Secretary of State.
Greg Hunsucker deleted V’s Italiano Ristorante, and Missouri Restaurant Association.
$5K+ Contributions
Property Casualty Insurers Association of America Political Account - $7,941 from Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Robin Carnahan, Don Soph, and Dick Wiles.
Sunday: Rep. Jack Bondon, and former Reps. Bryan Stevenson, and Bob Nance.