Thursday, April 7, 2016
SJR Fight
Businesses rallied to show their opposition to the “religious freedom” resolution, SJR 39, sending a letter saying that the language should stop with clergy and not extend “to individuals and private businesses that voluntarily enter the stream of public commerce.” The Post-Dispatch reports on it. See it here.
Pull Quote: More business leaders are coming out in opposition to a resolution in the Missouri Legislature that would grant greater legal protections to those opposed to same-sex marriage…. On Sunday, several local and national business leaders penned an open letter to committee chair Rep. Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield…. The signees include executives from some of the St. Louis area's most well-known companies, including Edward Jones, Monsanto, Express Scripts, Ameren and BJC HealthCare. St. Louis native Jack Dorsey, co-founder and CEO of Twitter and CEO of Square, which recently opened an office in St. Louis, also signed on…
The complete list of signees:
Warner L. Baxter, chairman, president and CEO of Ameren Corporation
John R. Sondag, president of AT&T Missouri
Steven H. Lipstein, president and CEO of BJC HealthCare
Jerald L. Kent, chairman and CEO of Cequel III, LLC
David Kemper, chairman and CEO of Commerce Bank
Larry Ryan, president, energy and water solutions, The Dow Chemical Company
David P. Hatfield, president and CEO of Edgewell Personal Care Company
James D. Weddle, managing partner of Edward Jones
George Paz, chairman and CEO of Express Scripts
Sam Fox, founder of Harbor Group
Mark Trudeau, president and CEO of Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals
Rob reeg, president, MasterCard operations and technology
Hugh Grant, chairman and CEO of Monsanto Company
Jack Dorsey, CEO of Square
Joe Reagan, president and CEO of the St. Louis Regional Chamber
James G. Powers, president of UniGroup
Mark S. Wrighton, chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis
And
I received vehement disagreement from a few business interests yesterday with the assertion from yesterday’s eMailbag that they had an early heads up on SJR 39.
Richard Stands Down on E-Tax
Pro Tem Ron Richard told the Post-Dispatch that the Senate wouldn’t be considering earning tax legislation this year. See it here.
Pull Quote: A day after residents in both cities overwhelmingly voted to keep taxing their incomes for another five years, Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard said he wasn’t planning on pursuing any of the bills filed in the House and Senate this year that seek to end the tax.“I’m not of a mind to move something at this time,” the Joplin Republican told the Post-Dispatch.
Senate to Hit the Budget?
Folks are expecting the Senate to take up the budget bills today. It makes sense to move the budget along to the next step as it’d give leadership a little more flexibility for the final month to have the budget finished. The Engler advice is useful: get the important stuff done first, then you spend time (and capital) on the controversial stuff.
House Preps for Paycheck Protection Override
Sounds like the House has been whipping votes for the paycheck protection override. It’s said that they may have lost a few votes since it passed earlier in session.
We’ll see…
Meanwhile, Hill Pokes King
Mary Hill, a Republican primary challenger to Rep. Nick King in House 17, sent out a statement… “The Missouri House is poised to pass historic legislation for Paycheck Protection. Rep Nick King was a ‘yes’ vote on this bill previously. He now has the opportunity to do the right thing and vote with conservatives again. I encourage Rep King to vote yes on Paycheck Protection and call upon others to ask him to do the same…”
King faces a serious Democratic challenger, Mark Ellebracht, in November as well.
Senate Passes Gas Tax
The Senate passed Sen. Doug Libla’s SB 623 which would raise the gas tax by 5.9 cents by a vote of 21-10.
Voting against were Sens. Dan Brown, Kiki Curls, Ed Emery, Will Kraus, Bob Onder, Rob Schaaf, Kurt Schaefer, Eric Schmitt, Scott Sifton, and Ryan Silvey.
Sen. Mike Parson was the only senators running for a statewide office this year who voting in favor of it.
Look at IL
Supporters for the public utilities’ proposed regulatory reform are pointing to a recent rate decrease in Illinois as an example of the virtues of their plan. See it here.
Brown Against Tax Increase
Rep. Wanda Brown did non-committee expenditures to fight sales tax proposals in Benton County. See the expenditure report here.
Both failed… Prop 1: sales tax in the amount of one-half of one percent (1/2%) to provide funds to construct a new jail that will ensure compliance with minimum American Correctional Association (ACA) standards for detention facilities only received 44.2%. And Prop 2: sales tax in the amount of one-eighth of one percent (1/8%) for the purpose of operating the new jail facility only received 43.6%.
Help Wanted
Monsanto seeks regional government affairs directors in two regions.
Northeast region: “As a State and Local Government Affairs Director for Monsanto in the Northeast region the successful candidate will be responsible for covering 11 states (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland). The candidate for this position will report to directly to the Team Lead, State and Local Government Affairs. This position within the Government Affairs team has the responsibility for all state and local legislative and regulatory activities that ensure Monsanto's freedom to operate within the designated geography.” See ad here.
Southeast region: “As a State and Local Government Affairs Director for Monsanto in the Southeast region the successful candidate will be responsible for covering 8 states (Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida). The candidate for this position will report to directly to the Team Lead, State and Local Government Affairs. This position within the Government Affairs team has the responsibility for all state and local legislative and regulatory activities that ensure Monsanto's freedom to operate within the designated geography.” See ad here.
Lobbyists Registrations
Robert Robey added Indivior Inc.
Whitney O’Daniel added Associated Industries of Missouri.
Charles Giger deleted Madsen & Wright Inc., and Hirner Associates LLC.
Charles Ballard deleted Agape Boarding School.
$5K+ Contributions
Greitens for Missouri - $5,400 from Robert Zarnegin.
Returning Government to the People - $65,000 from Fred N Sauer.
Central Bancompany PAC - $15,000 from The Central Trust Bank.
Supporters of Health Research and Treatments - $35,750 from Sam and Marilyn Fox.
Ashcroft for Missouri - $25,000 from Herzog Contracting Corp.
AGC of MO PAC - $6,000 from Fabrick CAT.
AGC of MO PAC - $6,250 from Ritchie Brothers Auctioneers.
Birthdays
Happy birthday to Ryan Rowden.