Monday, August 7, 2017
Scooplettes: Moves, Rumored Moves and Spotted
Mark Schwartz has left Statehouse Strategies, a lobbying firm headed by Andy Blunt. He deleted his client list (see registrations below), but did not terminate his registration as a lobbyist. No word on where Schwartz is headed. He was previously chief of staff to Sen. Ryan Silvey.
One MOScouter passes on this rumor: Austin Chambers is rumored to have moved to Washington DC recently. He changed his twitter handle from Senior Advisor to Eric Greitens and now lists Atlanta and DC. I suspect many Republican lawmakers including Ron Richard are happy to see him go…
And… former US Attorney General John Ashcroft was spotted in Jefferson City pulling a trailer. As a former aide said, John would think it is frivolous to pay someone to help move….
Moves from Late Last Week
After three years with the St. Louis Regional Chamber, Charlie Hinderliter is leaving. He’ll join the St. Louis REALTORS as their new Director of Government Affairs.
The REALTORS current GA director, Martina Johnson, is going back to school… Washington University Law School.
And, Jeff Mazur, former Nixon staffer, was named the new executive director of Launchcode.
And Then There Were Four
It looks now like there will be three moneyed groups pursuing marijuana reform at the ballot box in 2018. There’s the new Mike Colona/Steve Tilley/Travis Brown group called Missourians for Patient Care; there’s New Approach which just missed getting the necessary signatures last year and is said to have a commitment for a $250K match; and finally there’s Brad Bradshaw, the Kansas City doctor/attorney who has a constitutional proposal to tax pot at a high rate and fund medical research.
Add to these three a fourth grassroots IP put forth by the Missouri Marijuana Legalization Movement that would institute total legalization.
NAM is considered more grassroots friendly than Patient Care because they include home grow, and have lower fees for distributors. But it seems Patient Care has the momentum right now as it was announced that former NAM board member Mike Kielty is joining the Patient Care effort.
And there’s still the looming question of whether the legislature would prefer to weigh in on this rather than washing their hands of it and leave it to these various advocacy groups.
Oliver for Pence?
NYTimes talks about behind-the-scenes maneuvering among Republicans imagining that Donald Trump might be a one-termer. Missouri’s Jack Oliver makes an appearance as well as Greitens’ dark money advisor Nick Ayers. See it here.
Pull Quote: The vice president created his own political fund-raising committee, Great America Committee, shrugging off warnings from some high-profile Republicans that it would create speculation about his intentions. The group, set up with help from Jack Oliver, a former fund-raiser for George W. Bush, has overshadowed Mr. Trump’s own primary outside political group, America First Action, even raising more in disclosed donations…. Mr. Pence also installed Nick Ayers, a sharp-elbowed political operative, as his new chief of staff last month — a striking departure from vice presidents’ long history of elevating a government veteran to be their top staff member…
Dept of Conservation Seeks HCP for Bats
The Department of Conservation has issued a RFP for a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) for 5 species of bats.
From the RFP: The covered bat species included in the HCP include the federally endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalist), the federally endangered gray bat (Myotis grisescens), and the federally threatened northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis), as well as the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) and the tri-colored bat (Perimyotis subflavus), both of which are currently being considered for federal listing.
As part of the HCP, a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Compliance Document, which includes an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), will be required. The EIS document is a detailed written statement required by section 102(2)(C) of NEPA containing analyses of environmental impacts of a proposed action and alternatives considered, adverse effects a project included in the HCP that cannot be avoided, alternative courses of action, short-term uses of the environment versus the maintenance and enhancement of long-term productivity, and any irreversible and irretrievable commitment of resources.
Bits
Post Dispatch reports that “when it comes to accepting gifts from lobbyists, Missouri’s lieutenant governor stands alone. Unlike other statewide elected officials, Lt. Gov. Mike Parson accepts freebies from the platoon of lobbyists that patrol the Capitol corridors, records show…” Read it here.
Tomorrow is the Special Election Day for House 50 and Senate 28.
Today’s Events
From Mary Scruggs’ indispensable calendar:
NCSL Legislative Summit – Boston, Mass.
Lobbyists Registrations
Paul Barba deleted AARP Missouri.
Mark Schwartz deleted all his the clients for which he was registered.
$5K+ Contributions
New Approach Missouri - $10,00 from Larry Ellison.
Stand Up Missouri - $9,750 from Tower Loan of Missouri LLC.
Midwest Region Laborers’ Political League Education Fund - $6,689 from Laborers Supplemental Dues Fund.
Ruth Walter for Cass County Clerk - $6,700 from Ruth Walter.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays Don Suggs, and former Rep. Mike Dethrow.