Monday, July 10, 2017
US Senate Updates
The Post-Dispatch reported that Rep. Paul Curtman is thisclose to starting an exploratory committee to jump into the US Senate race. Curtman has never raised the kind of huge money that’s necessary for a statewide race before. However he would bring a right-wing credibility that could create enthusiasm among the activist base. Depending how fractured the field is, his slice could be significant.
Austin Petersen who ran for president (of the United States) as a Libertarian also declared he’s running. See it here.
Meanwhile there are still plenty of names in the rumor mill mix/float – Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler (One savvy insider puts a Hartzler candidacy at 80%...), Congressmen Jason Smith and Blaine Luetkemeyer, Treasurer Eric Schmitt, Sen. Mike Kehoe, Governor Eric Greitens and David Wasinger among them.
And nearly all of these folks are waiting to see what Josh Hawley decides. He’s the front-runner. One keen observer says “No one can beat Hawley… He is the complete package: disciplined, articulate and a good fundraiser. No one else will have that trifecta…”
If Hawley decides not to run, it creates a lot air for others to step in.
And
If Hartzler goes, look for Rep. Caleb Rowden to explore a congressional run….
AHCA a Boost to CMC?
From Politico’s Huddle last week… “Claire McCaskill may be one of the most endangered Democratic senator on the map, but she's found a burst of support in Trump country for her vehement opposition to the Senate GOP health care bill. Elana joined McCaskill in Macon, where the senator found little energy for the Republican Obamacare replacement plan…” See it here.
And
The Atlantic also has an article about senators like McCaskill using their opposition to Trump in their re-election bids. See it here.
St Louis Safety Plan Coming
The media advisory… “On Monday, July 10, Governor Eric Greitens will detail Missouri’s plan to bring safer streets to the city of St. Louis at a news conference with cabinet directors, local, state, and federal law enforcement, St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, and community and faith leaders…”
And
Krewson recently talked to the St. Louis Business Journal about her plans for public safety – more community policing, and higher salaries for cops. See it here.
Ashcroft on Trump Request
Rudi Keller writes that “voters are inundating Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s office with calls and emails objecting to his decision to cooperate with the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity by providing data from registration files.” See it here.
Ashcroft has responded by assuring people he’s not playing it straight down the fairway. “We are treating this request as an open records request under Chapter 610, RSMo, commonly known in Missouri as the sunshine law, and we are required to respond. Just like the majority of states, we will provide only public information to respond to this request. This is required by Chapter 115.157, RSMo, which outlines the data that is open to the public… To be clear, no voter's social security number (full or partial), driver license number, active/inactive status, cancelled status, information regarding any felony convictions, information regarding voter registration in another state, information regarding military status, and overseas citizen information is available to the public and we will not provide it to the commission…”
Meanwhile
McCaskill Quote: “Do you think for a minute that Secretary of State Ashcroft would have sent that data if a Democratic president had asked for it?”
And
Auditor Nicole Galloway gets in on the action writing, “By handing over large amounts of this information in bulk to a federal task force that intends to release it publicly, the state cedes its authority to ensure the information is used in accordance with the law. For example, to protect Missouri consumers, the law prohibits the use of even publicly available voter information for commercial purposes. I have serious concerns about the federal government’s data collection project and master voter database…”
And
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft is quoted in this AP story about the security of state election databases… “State election officials voiced doubt Saturday that adequate security measures can be adopted before 2018 elections to safeguard against the possibility of a foreign government interfering in U.S. elections… The Department of Homeland Security said last fall that hackers believed to be Russian agents targeted voter registration systems in more than 20 states. And a leaked National Security Agency document from May said Russian military intelligence had attempted to hack into voter registration software used in eight states…”
Cunninghams to Camden
Blogger/Rabble-rouser John Hoffman writes “Former State Senator and her husband are moving to Camden County making their weekend home on the Lake of the Ozarks their permanent residence. Jane Cunningham officially announced her resignation effective at the end of July from the Board of Directors of the Monarch Fire Protection District. “I am not like Elliot Grissom. When I move out of my jurisdiction I resign,” said Cunningham taking a poke at the former Chesterfield councilman who moved to Wildwood and did not resign from the city council for months until his term expired…”
Tech Upgrade Coming to MDC?
The Missouri Department of Conservation is bidding out the implementation of a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) Financial Reporting Software Solution.
From the RFP: Deficiencies of the Current System: The current legacy system, named Raptor, was put into production in Fiscal Year 2002. Written in Classic ASP, over the years many changes have been implemented, which has created a code base that is extremely difficult to manage. The application is housed on a server that is unsupported due to the age of the operating system. The state is having great difficulty moving the application to new servers, due to the age of the code and supporting patches. Another deficiency of Raptor is the inability to report on more than 20 levels and multiple combinations of MDC’s chart of accounts.
Whisper Number for Luetky
It’s said that Republican Tony Luetkemeyer will put up good fundraising numbers later this week. Luetky is running in Senate 34 as an “outsider” against Rep. Nick Marshall to replace Sen. Rob Schaaf. The whisper number is $115K raised with over $100K on-hand. At this point in the cycle fundraising is one of the few data points available to judge a candidate’s credibility; and that kind of number would show a very strong start.
St. Louis Aldermanic Special
Tomorrow is Election Day in Ward 28 to replace Mayor Lyda Krewson’s seat on the Board of Alderman. The Post-Dispatch has an overview here.
Heather Navarro has the committee endorsement, and the help of Mayor Krewson’s crew. But Celeste Vossmeyer has had strong fundraising and the backing of many long-time residents as well. Meanwhile Steven Roberts is the wildcard, with one MOScout reader saying he’s put out a lot of mail and has plenty of yard signs around.
First in MOScout: Brown to Easterseals
Cathy Brown is leaving Paraquad (see a Help Wanted for her job below). She’s headed to Easterseals Midwest to be their Vice-President of Employment and Community Services.
Scooplette: Return of LaFaver
Look for former Rep. Jeremy LaFaver to soon be registering to lobby in Missouri. His initial client list with include MO Budget Project, Alliance for Childhood Education, and FosterAdopt, Connect.
Each of these organizations already has representation in Missouri and none of that will change. They’ll all still be a regular presence in the halls, but LaFaver will give them one more player on their respective teams.
Fulks Leads Division of Administrative Services
Mark Stringer, Director of the Department of Mental Health, sent an email last week…
I am pleased to announce Lynne Fulks as the Director for the Division of Administrative Services. She has been serving as both Acting Division Director and Budget Director for the division since Dan Haug left in 2016. Dan will remain State Budget Director under Governor Greitens’ administration.
Lynne has done an outstanding job as the Acting Division Director and I look forward to her continued leadership for Administrative Services.
Bits
The 31st Circuit Judicial Commission selected a panel of three nominees for the associate circuit judge vacancy in Greene County created by the retirement of Judge Dan W. Imhof. The nominees are: Jerry Harmison, Todd Myers, and Todd Thornhill.
Last week on his morning radio show Jamie Allman, who regularly talks with politicians to get an "inside scoop" and background on issues, predicted that Rep. Robert Cornejo will be the next Speaker of the House. Hear it here.
NYTimes reports on Mizzou’s woes. See it here. “Now, with budget cuts due to lost tuition and a decline in state funding, the university is temporarily closing seven dormitories and cutting more than 400 positions, including those of some nontenured faculty members, through layoffs and by leaving open jobs unfilled… Students of all races have shunned Missouri, but the drop in freshman enrollment last fall was strikingly higher among blacks, at 42 percent, than among whites, at 21 percent…”
Patterson Passes
From Kansas City Business Journal… Neal Patterson, who helped build Cerner Corp. into a health care IT giant and wrote another chapter in Kansas City's entrepreneurial lore, died Sunday of complications after a recurrence of cancer. Cerner co-founder and Vice Chairman Cliff Illig has been named chairman and interim CEO. Patterson, Illig and Paul Gorup came up with the idea for Cerner around a picnic table at Loose Park. Their idea of incorporating technology to improve health care grew into a public company and industry giant whose imprint is seen throughout the metropolitan area skyline. Along the way, Patterson and Illig prodded Kansas City to boost entrepreneurship, with Patterson regularly hosting events at his home where promising entrepreneurs could talk to local masters, and turned Kansas City into the "Soccer Capital of America" after leading a group that purchased what is now Sporting Kansas City and built Children's Mercy Park.
Patterson was diagnosed with a soft-tissue cancer in January 2016. He last spoke in a surprise appearance at the Cerner Health Conference in November, recounting his experience as a cancer patient and his aspirations for the company… See it here.
Jeff Roe on Twitter: The kindness and generosity that he showed Missy and I has and will impact us for a lifetime. God made few men like NLP and now he's at home
Nutter Passes
From Kansas City Star… James B. Nutter, a titan in Kansas City’s business and political circles, died on Friday. He was 89. Nutter, who founded home mortgage company James B. Nutter & Co. in 1951, was known as a businessman for his forward-thinking policies. James B. Nutter & Co. was among the first mortgage banking companies to offer Veterans Administration loans, extended loans in minority communities that other banks would overlook and eschewed the type of risky subprime loans that helped trigger the Great Recession… Nutter also was a political power broker in Kansas City and more broadly in Missouri. Former Gov. Mel Carnahan, Sen. Claire McCaskill and Congressman Emanuel Cleaver are among many recipients of his political donations and campaign advice. See it here.
Help Wanted
University of Missouri System seeks Chief Lobbyist. “Serve as the Chief Lobbyist for the University of Missouri System with responsibility for building and maintaining relationships, setting strategy and conducting long term planning for the state (and some federal) government affairs function of the organization; provide management and leadership over all aspects of the university’s state (and some federal) government relations activities with a focus on planning, development, and implementation,; and oversight of activities and operations while working with internal and external constituencies and stakeholders, including government agencies, legislators, lobbyists, and others, to advance the strategic objectives and operational goals of the University of Missouri System and its four campuses…” See it here.
Paraquad seeks Director of Public Policy and Advocacy. “The Director of Public Policy and Advocacy is a member of the leadership team responsible for directing and guiding Paraquad’s policy and advocacy agenda… Maintain ultimate responsibility for developing, implementing and evaluating Paraquad’s policy and advocacy strategies; Manage department budgets, grants and expenditures; Coordinate with the public policy staff to provide expert testimony and advocate for local, state and federal governments to enact disability rights policies as needed…”
University City seeks City Manager. “The City is looking for a progressive, collaborative and transparent professional with strong communication skills. Work experience with a racially and economically diverse population and active citizenry is important. Town-Gown experience and a record of visibility in the community are highly valued. Proven financial expertise and HR skills are required… The Council/Manager form of government enjoys a long history and support in the community. Residency in the City is required. Starting salary range: $150,000 – $160,000 +/- DOQ. An excellent benefits package is also offered…” See it here.
Today’s Events
From Mary Scruggs’ indispensable calendar:
Rep. Robert Cornejo Golf – Old Hickory Golf Club – St. Peters – 8:30AM
Rep. Glen Kolkmeyer Reception – Boulevard Brewing Co. – Kansas City – 5PM.
Lobbyists Registrations
Kemp Shoun added Missouri State Troopers’ Association.
Gregory Fisher added Pace Funding.
David Jacobson added Epic Strategies.
William Kuehling added FOPA Partners LLC c/o The Lawrence Group, and Discovery Pier Land Holdings LLC.
Michael Lindsey added Wal Mart Stores Inc.
Shawn Rigger, Steven Tilley, and Thomas Robbins added Sterling Bank.
Lisa Tames added Bank of America N.A.
Brian Bunten added United Healthcare Services Inc; and deleted Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Alan “Chip” Mason deleted Show Me You Care, Dixie Stampede LLC, Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation, Silver Dollar City Inc.
Kent Gaines deleted First Rule.
Linda Barefoot deleted Purdue Pharma LP.
Amy Haste deleted Google Inc.
Sheryl Schmidt deleted Families for Home Education.
Rose Marie Hopkins deleted RL Polk & Co, Sonny’s Solid Waste Service Inc., The 1090 Group LLC, Association of Missouri Nurse Practitioners, TIAA, and The Doctors Company.
Kyna Iman deleted Coporate Security Advisors Association, National Council of State Boards of Nursing, and Cheyenne International LLC.
Ginger Steinmetz deleted Missouri School Board Association.
Keith Faddis deleted Mid-America Regional Council.
$5K+ Contributions
Operating Engineers Local 101 Political Fund - $100,000 from Engineers Political Education Committee.
We Are Missouri - $7,250 from American Postal Workers Union Sty. Louis Gateway District Area Local.
We Are Missouri - $15,000 from International Union of Operating Engineers Local #101 General Fund.
SMARTKC - $10,000 from MFRG.
Clay4Kinds - $75,000 from Synergy Services.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Russ Carnahan, Eli Yokley, and former Rep. Cole McNary.