Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Meet Hancock and Prouty
John Hancock and Jonathon Prouty are hanging out a shingle… Hancock & Prouty, LLC, a full-service political strategy, research, communications, and public affairs firm.
From the press release: Hancock most recently served as Chairman of the Missouri Republican Party, and Prouty served as Executive Director. They took over the state GOP in early 2015 at a time when the party was demoralized, divided, and saddled with a six-figure debt, ultimately leading the party back to financial stability and electoral success.
See their website here.
Greitens Contra Red Tape
On Twitter Governor Eric Greitens announced his second executive order. See it here. It freezes new rule-making for six weeks. See the order here.
The Order
Every State Agency shall immediately suspend all rulemaking. This suspension shall remain in effect until February 28, 2017.
The Out
Any proposed regulation that affects health, safety, or welfare, or is otherwise time sensitive or required by law, should be submitted to the Office of the Governor prior to February 28, 2017.
The Heavy Lift
Every State Agency shall undertake a review of every regulation under its jurisdiction within the Code of State Regulations…. by May 31, 2018.
In an email that was circulating Super-lawyer Chuck Hatfield gave his take on the order.
All,
I've had several questions about the Governor's action today so wanted to provide a little legal analysis.
- A state agency's authority to issue rules is found in state statutes. The Governor's order cannot legally repeal the authority to issue rules.
- The Governor certainly has the authority to direct agencies under his control as to how he wants them to behave. In those cases, the Governor could take action against agency heads who disobey his directive, but if they were to put out rules, those rules would still be valid. (See Kinder v. Holden case on arbitration).
- There are some state agencies, of course, that are not under the Governor's control (MoDOT and Conversation being obvious examples), an Executive Order has no effect on those agencies other than to advise them of the Governor's wishes and put them on notice that he may be displeased if they disobey.
- Bottom line is the E.O. does not invalidate any regulations or even automatically suspend rule-making authority. It does mean the governor has told agencies what to do and I think we should all expect they will follow his orders to varying degrees.
Hassani to Hawley
Rachel Hassani, who staffer Scott Rupp in the Senate and then staffed him at the Public Service Commission, is now working for Attorney General Josh Hawley. She’s his new legislative director.
Goguen at Inaugural?
Post-Dispatch on another guest of Governor Eric Greitens’ at his inaugural. See it here.
Pull Quote: The other inauguration guest is Los Angeles-based political consultant Nick Ayers, who has worked for his campaign and who also has ties to group that provided a mysterious $1.9 million "dark money” donation to Greitens last year. As the Post-Dispatch has documented, that donation was funneled through a federal superPAC before being sent to Greitens' campaign, exploiting a loophole that allowed it to legally skirt both state and federal laws that require full disclosure of the sources of campaign money. To date, Greitens hasn't revealed who provided the $1.9 million…
Dems for Smoke-Free House
The press release: House Democrats today attempted to finally make all House offices smoke free, but the idea was rejected by majority Republicans on the House Consent and House Procedure Committee on a straight party-line vote. Under state law, smoking is prohibited in public buildings. However, the Capitol offices of individual lawmakers are exempt….
Body Cameras Petition
The press release: A proposal to consolidate the St. Louis Recorder of Deeds office and use the savings to purchase body cameras for St. Louis police officers will appear on the April 4th ballot in St. Louis City. “Since July, we have knocked on 51,000 doors and spoken to thousands of City voters,” said Travis H. Brown, President, Great St. Louis, Inc. “This proposal is about good
Government and making citizens safe.”
“I’ve been working for two years in the state legislature trying to secure funding for police body cameras,” said State Senator Jamilah Nasheed. “I look forward to passing this in April and making body cameras a reality.”
Bits
Sen. Jamilah Nahseed endorsed Tishaura Jones for St. Louis City mayor. Considering that another candidate, Antonio French, had managed her first Senate race, it must have been hard for her to do.
St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann traveled to Jefferson City to support HB130 which was heard in General Laws Committee. The bill would create a framework for the legalizing the operations of ride-sharing companies.
Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal’s SB22 will have a hearing today at the Commerce Committee (Senate Lounge, Noon). “This legislation would create the Hazardous Waste Home Acquisition Program to purchase homes in St. Louis County that are, or have been, contaminated with radioactive material processed in St. Louis during the Manhattan Project…”
Help Wanted
Spectrum seeks Senior Director, Regional Government Relations. “The Senior Director of Government Affairs is responsible for developing, coordinating and implementing government affairs strategies and activities that advance the company’s interests in the Colorado/Missouri Region states, primarily at the state and local level. The job includes significant management experience; the candidate for Senior Director will oversee multiple employees across multiple jurisdictions and will have a senior level management role reporting to the Regional Vice President for State Government Affairs in the Midwest Region.” See it here.
Lobbyists Registrations
Danny Pfeifer, Gregory Porter, Alex Eaton and Rebecca Lohmann, added Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM)
Joan Gummels added Office of the State Auditor; and deleted MO Attorney General`s Office.
Stacie Phan added Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc
Kent Gaines added First Rule.
Robert Pagano added Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits LLC.
Jill Landry added Lafarge North America Inc, Aggregate Industries Management Inc, and Holcim Inc.
Tom Dempsey added Southwestern Bell Telephone Company DBA AT&T.
Scott Swain added Central States Water Resources.
James Harris added Missouri Automobile Dealers Association.
Gregory Mourad added National Right to Work Committee.
Brian Colby added AARP, Missouri Budget Project.
Alissa Johnson added Concerned Women of America of Missouri.
Sarah Riss added MO K-8 Association, Missouri Association of School Business Officers, Missouri State High School Activities Association, Missouri Council Of School Administrators, Missouri Council Of Administrators Of Special Education, Missouri Association Of Secondary School Principals, Missouri United School Insurance Council, Missouri Association Of Elementary School Principals, Missouri Association Of Rural Education, Missouri Association Of School Administrators, and EducationPlus.
Douglas Hayter added Mo K-8 Association, Missouri State High School Activities Association, Missouri Council Of School Administrators, Missouri Association Of Rural Education, Missouri Association Of Elementary School Principals, Missouri Association Of School Business Officials, Missouri Council Of Administrators Of Special Education, Missouri United School Insurance Council, Missouri Association Of School Administrators, and Missouri Association Of Secondary School Principals.
Jeffrey Brooks added Air Evac LifeTeam, MO Coalition for Lifesaving Cures, Missouri Health Care Association, Signature Medical Group, American Traffic Solutions, Kansas City Missouri, Pharmacy Business Associates, and True Care Pharmacy.
David Jackson added American Traffic Solutions, Inc., and BioSTL.
Bill Gamble and Cynthia Gamble added Signature Medical Group.
Brad Green deleted Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Rep. Judy Morgan, Darin Cline, and Scott Intagliata.