Friday, April 22, 2016
SJR39 Spilling into Senate 19?
Don Hickle on Facebook mulls how the SJR39 debate might impact the Senate 19 race…
A political advisor of mine has made a suggestion that I think we will likely pursue. I am talking to a few excellent candidates about running as an independent against Caleb Rowden for the state senate seat in Columbia.
All we need is to get signatures of about 2 percent of the total number of voters from the last state senate race that Rowden is running for. That person would be on the ballot as an independent for the November election.
I think we need to ramp this effort up.
And
From a Dem: Just attended a fundraiser for Stephen Webber where Caleb Jones’ campaign treasurer did the candidate introduction to a room full of republican donors….
Meanwhile
Some say that Eric Greitens should worry about SJR39 passing. The conventional wisdom is that Governor Jay Nixon would place it on the August ballot. Would it bring out single-issue voters to the gubernatorial primary in which Grietens is the only candidate against their issue?
But
Source says: [Greitens position] was all of the talk at Chamber meetings yesterday. And all positive from Business leaders who write checks…
In Hindsight
The Republican Senate leadership’s decision to let the SJR39 debate to escalate into a PQ may have been the single most important decision of this session. It elevated the resolution into the center ring which Republicans likely would never have chosen to make their signature issue.
Patriots in Ethics Doo-doo?
Politico reports on the fact that Patriots for America never filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission. See it here.
Pull Quote: “A conservative super PAC that roiled the Missouri governor's race last year may be in legal trouble after finally revealing who funds the effort — a newly formed nonprofit that is not required to disclose its donors — and just how it has spent its money. ... What could land Patriots for America in trouble ... is the fact that it spent money on a state-level race without filing reports with Missouri’s campaign finance authorities, which requires faster disclosure for some activities, according to multiple attorneys. It has sent out mailers and run digital ads bashing [candidate Eric] Greitens, but none of that activity has been reported to Missouri's Ethics Commission. That could make it one of the few super PACs of the Citizens United era to face significant legal trouble, observers said.”
I wrote about this four months ago. See it here.
Schaefer and PP Reach Compromise
Post-Dispatch reports that Sen. Kurt Schaefer and Planned Parenthood have reached an agreement over their subpoena dispute. See it here.
Pull Quote: State Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia and the chairman of the interim Senate Sanctity of Life Committee, announced that the Senate and Planned Parenthood had reached an agreement over the documents. "We do have an agreement with Planned Parenthood that they will comply with the subpoena and produce documents through their lawyer," Schaefer said.
In a statement, Kogut portrayed the news as a win for patient privacy.
But
Planned Parenthood get hit in the budget. See it here.
Pull Quote: Working against a self-imposed deadline, Missouri lawmakers approved a $27 billion spending plan Thursday that restores many threatened cuts to higher education, includes a modest bump for public schools and forgoes any tax increases. With the clock ticking, the Republican-led Legislature worked to get the budget blueprint to Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon’s desk in order to give themselves time to override any possible vetoes before their scheduled May 13 adjournment date…. Losers include Planned Parenthood, which will see its state funding cut by an estimated $380,000 as part of an ongoing election-year move by Republicans to defund the agency. In order to slight the organization, perceived as an abortion provider, the state is leaving $8 million in federal funding on the cutting room floor.
Demographics Driving Pot Acceptance?
As a parent this actually makes sense to me. NPR reporting that Support for legal pot is high, but might not stay there. See it here.
Pull Quote: The Baby Boomers are a great example of why this is. In the late 1970s, when they were in their late teens through their early 30s, nearly half of boomers supported legalization, according to Pew. Then they fell off dramatically when they were in their 20s through 40s, only to pick up steadily again. One reason for that may be that they stopped supporting marijuana legalization once they had kids old enough to smoke it — and then started supporting it again once the kids left home. Having kids at home is one of the "big predictors of opposing marijuana legalization," Caulkins said…
And
Rep. Dave Hinson’s medical marijuana bill was defeated in the House by vote of 66-87.
Bits
Was that Sen. Joe Keaveny hanging with blues owner Tom Stillman last night during their double OT loss?? See the mighty Jason Rosenbaum’s twitterfeed here.
Getting over the NFL break-up, is this just a rebound relationship? See it here.
Jo Mannies writes about tobacco companies funding both sides of the tobacco tax increase. See it here. Pull Quote: For all the talk about increasing Missouri’s tobacco tax to provide more money for education and transportation, the state’s two dueling tobacco-tax proposals appear caught in a longstanding dispute that has nothing to do with their objectives… In a nutshell, the dueling donations stem from a decades-long fight between the nation’s largest tobacco companies, and the smaller ones.
Help Wanted
St. Louis City Board of Aldermen seeks Financial Analyst.
“Develops, prepares and maintains financial forecasting models including fiscal notes for proposed legislation…. Participates and assists the Ways & Means Committee of the Board of Aldermen in the City's annual budget process... Makes presentations to management or staff on financial research and analyses performed Assists with the preparation and presentation of the annual department budget…” See the ad here.
St. Louis City Board of Aldermen seeks Legal Researcher.
“Assists aldermanic standing and special committees with research and analysis of legislation and topics before the committees… Assists Board of Aldermen and committees with drafting of bills and amendments. Summarizes bills and committee hearings… Monitors legislative activity by attending committee meetings and full board meetings of the board…” See the ad here.
Today’s Events
From Mary Scruggs’ indispensable events calendar:
Rep. Bryan Spencer Mystery Dinner – Diekroeger Park – Wright City – 6:30PM.
Lobbyists Registrations
John Cozad and Ward Cook added Missouri Flagship Council and Praxair.
Jay Hahn added American Heart Association.
$5K+ Contributions
Citizens for a Better Columbia - $10,000 from TKG Management Inc.
Friends of Rick Stream - $5,015 from Citizens to Elect Sue Allen.
Working Families Committee - $10,000 from Sheet Metal Workers Int’l Ass’n Local 36.
Working Families Committee - $10,000 from Machinists Non-Partisan Political League.
Citizens for Steve Stenger - $10,000 from 5051 Southwest LLC.
Raise Your Hand for Kids - $5,001 from CHIPP Political Account.
Property Casualty Insurers Association of America Political Account - $15,605 from Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Sen. Gary Romine.
Saturday: Sen. Gina Walsh, and Rep. Jeff Pogue.
Sunday: Sen. Brian Munzlinger (the big 6-0).