Wednesday, December 14, 2016
Marshall for Senate 34
Rep. Nick Marshall amended his campaign committee to run for Senate 34 in 2018. See it here.
This will send shivers down the spines of interest groups across the state.
The current senator, Sen. Rob Schaaf, has not been much of a team player in the Senate. He has been immovable on issues with a clear consensus such as the prescription drug monitoring system. But he also is unpredictable and can rise from his seat to denounce “choosing winners and losers,” or in defense of liberty.
I imagine Marshall, as senator, following in the same mold. We’ll see….
Two More AFL-CIO IPs
Mike Louis, president of the Missouri AFL-CIO, filed two more initiative petitions with the secretary of state’s office. These two are broader than the eight I wrote about yesterday. But they appear to be aimed at the same target – to give organized labor constitutional protections that would serve as a platform to mount legal challenges to legislation that may be passed this session. See one here.
Language: No law or ordinance shall restrict or impair an agreement which requires employees to support their chosen collective bargaining representative. The rights guaranteed by this section shall be unalienable. Any restrictions on these rights shall be subject to strict scrutiny and the State of Missouri shall be obligated to uphold these rights and under no circumstances decline to protect against their infringement.
Steelman for OA?
Add this one to the rumors… Sarah Steelman for director of the Office of Administration. One source says that Steelman wants to be back in the arena, and as “a former statewide, [she] has to be cabinet level or chief of staff.”
And
There’s some concern that we haven’t had more announcements from Greitens Transition Team. (“I hope they are ready if something like a blizzard happens January 10…”)
So I went back and looked at Nixon’s timeline. He obviously entered the transition with a great deal more knowledge of the state government.
Governor-elect Jay Nixon’s announcements…
November 7 – John Watson for Chief of Staff.
November 12 – Ted Ardini for General Counsel.
November 17 – Kelvin Simmons for OA.
December 2 – Transition Team Members Wayne Goode and Margaret Donnelly conclude the current fiscal year faces a $342 million shortfall.
December 18- George Lombardi for Dept of Corrections.
December 19 – Karen Mitchell for Dept of Revenue.
December 30 – Ron Levy for DSS.
Silvey Makes Case for Approps Chair
Missourinet has a story up featuring quotes from Sen. Ryan Silvey making the case that he should lead the Senate Appropriations Committee. See it here.
Silvey was Chair of the Budget Committee when he was in the House and has served on the Appropriations Committee since his election to the Senate. He argues that his experience together with the circumstances – a budget shortfall – make him uniquely suited for the task.
Pull Quote: With term limits, with the new administration coming in, believe it or not I’m the only person in state government who’s actually written a state budget before. All the others have term limited out,” says Silvey.
In the hallways, the consensus had evolved over the past year that Pro Tem Ron Richard would appoint Sen. Dan Brown to chair the committee, in part because Brown was ardent handler of the anti-organized labor legislation that Richard coveted, while Silvey was sympathetic to unions. But we’ll see soon enough…
Greitens Announced the GOP State Party Leadership
Today, Governor-elect Eric Greitens announced his support of a leadership ticket for the Missouri Republican Party led by former U.S. Attorney Todd Graves. This team will work with the Governor-elect to advance conservative causes across the state and build on the party's success from 2016…
GOP Leadership Ticket
Todd Graves, Chair
Kay Hoflander, Vice Chair
Nick Meyers, Secretary
Pat Thomas, Treasurer
MCADSV Rallies For Clemency
From: "Jennifer Carter Dochler"
> Subject: MCADSV Action Alert: Contact the Governor's Office
>
> MCADSV Action Alert for Clemency
> To: MCADSV Member Programs
> From: Jennifer Carter Dochler, Public Policy Director
> Date: December 13, 2016
> Re: MCADSV Action Alert: Contact the Governor's Office on Thursday, December 15
> Clemency for Imprisoned Abused Women: Call the Governor's Office on Thursday, December 15
MCADSV continues its partnership with the Community Coalition for Clemency to gain Gov. Jay Nixon’s grant of clemency to release 15 women victimized by violence who are imprisoned… The grant of clemency is a legal act of mercy that only can be exercised by a Governor.
Clemency petitions for the release of these women have been on the Governor’s desk for years. Most of them were the victims of domestic violence throughout their lives, and are in prison for acts of self-defense against the abuse they suffered. Several already have spent more than 30 years in prison. Four of them are older than 65. The oldest is 74…
The Community Coalition for Clemency includes MCADSV, Missouri law school professors and law clinic students, former judges, former elected Representatives, legal scholars, former Governor Bob Holden and others. The purpose of the organization is to advocate for incarcerated women in Missouri who received sentences that were disproportionate to their crimes, and in many cases, harsher than what men have received in similar circumstances. The 15 women all have significant abuse histories, with a range of sexual abuse and sexual violence committed against some and domestic violence against others. Petitions for clemency through sentence commutation have been submitted to Gov. Nixon. We again are working to show the Governor the support that exists for him to exercise his Constitutional duty and grant clemency for these women…
Auditor Action
Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway has announced a bipartisan effort to increase penalties for government officials who steal public dollars. Senate Bill 176 increases the penalties for public officials convicted of misconduct, and grants additional authority to Missouri prosecuting
attorneys and law enforcement agencies when inappropriate or illegal activity is suspected at the local level. The bill is supported by the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys… The bill was pre-filed by Sen. Dixon in advance of the upcoming legislative session, which begins on January 4, 2017.
Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway has released an audit of the Lawrence County government. The report raises concerns with county bidding procedures surrounding the county's selection of the company to supply and operate court-required GPS and alcohol monitoring equipment. The report describes how the county commission selected a company that did not submit the lowest bid to receive the contract. Then the commission voided the contract and following submission of new bid proposals reissued it to the same company for a lower price, but still at a higher cost than the other bidder without adequate explanation as to why the lowest bidder was not selected…
See the audit here.
Lawrence County is represented by Sen. David Sater, and Reps. Mike Moon and Scott Fitzpatrick.
Bits
NGA gets real. City opens bidding process for a chain link fence around the site…. See it here.
Claire McCaskill for President? Read it here.
The Missouri Ethics Commission fined Lance Donze $11,000 for a whole lot of violations concerning the committee Bring Back Our Future. See it here.
Missouri ranks low (40th) on the Pew Charitable Trust’s look at overall mortality rate. See it here.
New SOS Filings
11/1/2016 - Michael Hafner, registered agent for Spartan Strategic LLC, Limited Liability Company (LLC) (Domestic).
11/9/2016 – Dan Engemann, registered agent for Engemann Consulting LLC | Limited Liability Company (LLC) (Domestic).
eMailbag on All the Lawsuits
People say diversity does not matter. But I think these [lawsuits] are more likely when your inner circle is white male attorneys.
$5K+ Contributions
Missourians for Affordable Energy - $197,877 from Missourians for Affordable Energy (MECID #C161071).
Birthdays
Happy birthday to Cheryl Dillard.