Wednesday, August 16, 2017
Cierpiot Vs Shields in Senate 8
Rep. Mike Cierpiot took another step to become the senator from the 8th yesterday as he won the Republican nomination for the special election to be held in November.
Democrats chose Hillary Shields as their nominee. Cierpiot is the overwhelming favorite in this race. He promised to run a “full campaign.”
Now comes the flurry within the House Republican Caucus for floor leader. Their summer caucus meeting starts tomorrow, expect this to be the source of a lot of talk. Best guess is floor leader election in January.
Tilley To Lobby for Osage
Osage Nation has hired Steven Tilley’s lobbying firm. You may recall that Osage Nation was one of Governor Eric Greitens inaugural celebration donors ($50K), and spoke straight-forwardly to Post columnist Tony Messenger about their contribution. See that here. “That was me trying to establish a good relationship with the governor of Missouri,” Chief Standing Bear told me last week in an interview. “We thought we would show him respect.” The Osage Nation chief hopes that respect ultimately leads to a casino in Missouri, possibly in Cuba, fronting Interstate 44, about 80 miles southwest of St. Louis.
GOP Coalescing on Hawley
Treasurer Eric Schmitt on Facebook: I am truly honored by the encouragement I have received to run for the U.S. Senate in 2018 but I'm encouraging Josh Hawley to run against Claire McCaskill. We must come together, unite and work together to win this critical race not just for Missouri but for our country.
This is win-win-win event. Missouri Republican Party takes another step toward any distracting primary, and avoids a scenario where an Akin-type (Ed Martin) could win a splintered field and give McCaskill a deja-vu dream. Josh Hawley can now roll over the minor opponents and keep his target trained on McCaskill. And Schmitt gets credit for being a team player, but also picked up some national relationships if his future leads him in that direction.
Hawley’s Voting Snafu
The Jefferson City News Tribune reported that Attorney General Josh Hawley voted in Boone County’s special election last week. See it here. Good, right? We all love our elected officials participating in democracy.
But there’s a small wrinkle…. From the JCNT article: Hawley's action appears to violate a state law, which says: "The attorney general shall reside at the seat of government and keep his office in the supreme court building." The Missouri Constitution defines the seat of government as Jefferson City… He said in February he was renting a two-bedroom apartment in Jefferson City's limits and planned to use it when he is working late — but noted the quarters are large enough that his wife and two children also can stay there. "I will stay there as needed to make it a true personal residence (for legal purposes)," Hawley said, emphasizing that his primary home will remain in Columbia. Of Missouri's six statewide elected officeholders, only the attorney general is mandated by law to reside inside Jefferson City's corporate limits. A state law defining voters notes: "Any person who is qualified to vote shall be entitled to register in the jurisdiction within which he or she resides."
One Republican dead-pans to me: Thanks to the AG, we now finally have a documented case of voter fraud…
What It Means: It’s an unforced error on Hawley’s part. It serves as a reminder that although he’s talented, has huge money ties, and is an elected statewide office-holder, he’s still new to the game of politics. To beat “vulnerable” McCaskill, he’ll need to bring his A-game.
Dogan on POTUS Presser
Rep. Shamed Dogan replied to MOGOP’s retweet of a Fox News fist-pump for President Trump’s news conference yesterday with “Umm, did you watch the same press conference I just watched?”
Dogan wasn’t the only Republican aghast. One texted me: “I thought we fought a world war and came to the conclusion Nazis were bad…” And Lieutenant Governor Mike Parson’s statement: “Americans and Missourians must be vigilant for hatred and bigotry, and do all we can to ensure no citizen of our country is discriminated against.”
And
From Mike Allen’s Axiom AM: It was a green light for more hatred, and probably more violence — because now the president has put white supremacy on the same level as angry people reacting harshly to it… It puts Trump's tortured staff in a bigger jam: How do they look their African American friends in the eye, and rationalize their support of Trump?
Budget Bump Ahead
Post-Dispatch’s Kristen Taketa tweets “Cost to fully fund MO school formula is expected to increase by $100m because state adequacy target will rise this year, says Roger Dorson”
What It Means: After Budget Chair Scott Fitzpatrick’s long quest of searching, scrimping and scraping to fully funding the state’s education foundation formula, he’s not going to give up his trophy. Formula spending will remain a high (if not the top) priority, potentially squeezing out other competitors for state dollars.
Meanwhile
Post-Dispatch’s Kurt Erickson reports that the Greitens administration is still unable to detail some of the withholds they announced a month ago.
At the Missouri Department of Social Services, top officials acknowledged Tuesday that they have not formally identified how they plan to withhold $30 million in spending in order to comply with Greitens’ June 30 order. “That is something we are still working on,” said Valerie Huhn, acting deputy director of finance for the agency. “We’re doing a lot of different internal looks.”
Holsy Responds to eMailbag about Transparency
Sen. Jason Holsman writes in to respond to the MOScout eMailbag asking if there’s a difference in disclosure standards between the governor’s non-profit political slush fund and the new Maxwell-Shoemyer Ag non-profit. “If any C4 expends money for or against a citizen of Missouri by name then they should have to disclose donors. If they stick to issue advocacy then they shouldn’t have to disclose. That was the way of the world before the Citizens United ruling wrecked the common sense balance between privacy and transparency.”
DED Vs Opioid Crisis
Press release: As part of a statewide effort led by Gov. Eric Greitens, the Missouri Department of Economic Development (DED) will prioritize applications in the "second round" of the 2018 Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP) received from Missouri non-profits to help fight opioid misuse in communities throughout the state… Through this program, DED plans to increase the number of non-profits working toward the effort to end opioid misuse while making people aware of the opioid epidemic. DED will also prioritize existing non-profits working in the field to expand their services to more Missourians. The goal is to help as many people as possible to overcome their addiction to the drug.
And
There’s a Washington Post article today about the powerful new drug, fentanyl, in the opioid epidemic. See it here.
Pull Quote: Philadelphia’s Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said the city is averaging 100 overdose deaths per month in 2017, noting that fentanyl “has thrown gasoline onto a fire that was already raging.” “This is a health crisis that’s worse than we’ve ever seen,” Farley said. “This will kill more people than the AIDS epidemic. You’d have to go back to the influenza pandemic of 1918 if you even wanted to start making comparisons.”
Bits
Press release: The Missouri chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has named Gena Terlizzi incoming executive director, effective immediately… Most recently, Terlizzi served as Director of Communications for the State Auditor's Office.
Kansas start-up trying to lower healthcare costs while improving outcomes. NYTimes reports here. “The whole idea is to align incentives between society and doctors and patients,” Dr. Mostashari said, adding that Aledade has helped reduce hospital readmissions and decrease visits to specialists in many of its markets.
Huh? I wake up and The Mooch has followed me on Twitter?
New Committees
Ann Kelley started a committee to run for House 127 as a Republican. The current incumbent is her husband, Rep. Mike Kelley. He’s term-limited. Mike is the deputy treasurer for the committee. The treasurer is Bubs Hohulin.
Gary Wester formed a candidate committee to run in House 102 as a Democrat. The current incumbent Rep. Kurt Bahr is termed. This should be a safe Republican seat.
eMailbag on New PACs
So much for Amendment 2 "reducing money in politics" and bringing heightened transparency and accountability to Missouri's campaign finance laws. With multiple new PAC's being formed nearly every day, there will be more complicated layers of the legal laundering of money in MO politics than ever before, which one would assume would be the direct opposite of what Amendment 2's authors hoped to accomplish. Nice work Fred Sauer...next time, leave the ballot initiatives to the professionals.
Lobbyists Registrations
James Gwinner added Appriss Inc.
Steven Tilley, Shawn Rigger and Thomas Robbins added Osage Nation.
David Klarich added Sequel LLC.
$5K+ Contributions
MBA Capitol Region PAC - $7,046 from Hawthorn Bank.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Reps. Sue Meredith and Crystal Quade, and Randy Wright.