Thursday, December 3, 2015
No Makinen in Senate 11
Word comes that Robbie Makinen aint gonna be running in Senate 11. “He doesn’t live in the district, and he’s not moving into the district,” from a definitive source.
Dieckhaus, Knodell Job Swap
Robert Knodell was named the new executive director of House Republican Campaign Committee. Here’s the press release…
House Speaker Todd Richardson said, “Robert helped me win my first campaign, he is one of the best political minds in the Midwest. He is the best person for the job and I am excited about the veteran leadership he brings to lead our team in the 2016 election cycle.”
Knodell has a long history with the organization beginning before the Republicans held the majority in 2000, he has held various staff positions within HRCC and previously served as Executive Director from 2007-2010 where he was the architect of many of the largest Republican gains in State history, picking up 17 seats and defeating 10 Democratic incumbents during the 2010 elections. After serving two cycles as Executive Director Knodell went on to work as Political Director of the Missouri Republican Party and eventually became a partner in the consulting firm of Barklage and Knodell where he helped Republicans win state senate, congressional and statewide campaigns…
Knodell will begin the transition in the coming weeks and will officially begin his new role on January 1, 2016.
And
Scott Dieckhaus, who’s been the captain of the HRCC ship for the last several cycles, is headed to join David Backlage’s firm.
Dentons Adds St. Louis Zoo
Denton’s Rodney Boyd and Brian Grace picked up the St. Louis Zoo in the lobbyists’ registrations (below). It looks like they’ll be charged with getting legislation through to enable the Zoo to ask for a tax increase to fund their proposed expansion of InBev AB’s Grant’s farm.
Budget: November Revenues Solid
State tax receipts turned in good numbers in November. Here’s the press release…
Acting State Budget Director Dan Haug announced today that 2016 fiscal year-to-date net general revenue collections increased 4.2 percent compared to 2015, from $3.22 billion last year to $3.36 billion this year.
Net general revenue collections for November 2015 increased by 9.0 percent compared to those for November 2014, from $633.2 million to $690.4 million.
Individual income tax collections… Increased 14.2 percent for the month.
Sales and use tax collections… Increased 7.7 percent for the month….
Budget: Rumor Amnesty $$$ Very Weak
But what’s worrisome from a budget perspective is the rumor that the state’s tax amnesty program – which just ended on November 30 – is running sharply below expectations. Those numbers are not included in the November results.
The final figures from it won’t be available for another week or two, but the scuttlebutt is that so far only $12-13 million has arrived from the amnesty offer.
One observer frets that such a number would be “pretty much a disaster in terms of expectations…”
From fiscal notes it looks like officials were looking for “a total of $75 million would be collected, including $50 million already identified from DOR investigations completed or in process…”
And if the rumor of weak amnesty results are true, it pretty much kisses goodbye to the $40 million that was budgeted to go to provider increases….
Budget: Next Up Consensus Revenue
Next week the Senate House budget folks will sit down with the governor’s office and hammer out a consensus revenue figure for the next fiscal year.
The general playbook is assumed to be that the governor wants a high consensus revenue figure – so he can make budget decisions “vis a vis” withholdings when the actual numbers are weaker. And the legislature wants a lower consensus revenue figure for the opposite reasons – their budgets can be meddled with.
Rumorville: Senate to Subpoena Lab?
Rumor has it that the Sanctity of Life Committee, chaired by Sen. Kurt Schaefer is planning to issue subpoenas a pathology lab involved in the Planned Parenthood controversy.
One observer expects this to create “a fascinating legal battle over whether the Senate can enforce subpoenas or not. The Missouri courts have not addressed the issue. Schaefer has previously issued subpoenas to government agencies or officials. Historically, Senate subpoenas have been limited to government agencies. The Senate has never before asserted that it has subpoena authority to haul a private individual in front of a Senate Committee. If the Senate has that authority, it could signal a major expansion in the way legislative committees conduct themselves. Imagine a committee issuing subpoenas to Stan Kroenke to talk about his plan for the Rams or issuing a subpoena to a municipality for its records on municipal tickets…”
Bits
Post-Dispatch reports that in the continuing legal battles surrounding the new share-economy companies, Judge Joan Moriarty dismissed a lawsuit against Lyft. See it here.
Southeast Missourian reports on a “land dispute” between Rep. Kathy Swan and the city of Cape Girardeau. See it here.
Congressman Jason Smith’s chief of staff Josh Haynes will be walking the halls next year, working government affairs for Wellcare. See it here.
In the “help wanted” below, Missouri EdCounsel is looking for an attorney. I’d never heard of them before, so I went to the website. Kind of interesting. See it here.
According to the Senate website, Alexandria Zumsteg has joined Sen. Kurt Schaefer’s staff.
On the Air… Politico reports MORE MOVEMENT ON A MAJOR BILL: Advocates of Sen. Chuck Grassley’s criminal justice reform compromise are running radio ads to gin up support in red states with large black communities. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights has started airing spots in Jackson and Hattiesburg, Mississippi; Memphis, Nashville and Chattanooga, Tennessee; and St. Louis, Missouri, urging senators to support the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act…. See it here.
Luke Sinquefield, son of Rex Sinquefield, makes an appearance in the $5K+ contributions below…
eMailbag MOPromise
The comment about MO Promise…so wrong. MO Promise was a merit-based scholarship program that would have mainly benefited high achieving students from middle and upper income families and actually would have done little to benefit academically disadvantaged students.
Help Wanted
Missouri EdCounsel, LLC seeks an experienced attorney for fast-paced education law practice. The firm provides both general counsel and defense counsel to public school districts across the state of Missouri. The current position is for a staff attorney in our Columbia office. See the ad here.
Today’s Events
From Mary Scruggs’ indispensable events calendar:
House candidate Mark Milton Reception – Lakin home, St. Louis – 5PM.
Lobbyists Registrations
Rodney Boyd and Brian Grace added Saint Louis Zoo Association.
Shannon Cooper and Nancy Giddens added St. Louis - Kansas City Carpenters Regional Council, and Missouri Cattleman’s Association; and deleted Carpenters` District Council of Greater St. Louis and Vicinity, and Missouri Jobs With Justice Voter Action.
Charles Pierce added Associated Industries Of Missouri, Missouri Automobile Dealers Association, and Taxpayers Research Institute of Missouri.
Tim Green added The Laclede Group; and deleted Missouri Retired Teachers Association.
Sandie Benen added Sandie Benen.
Andy Blunt, Jay Reichard, Mark Schwartz, and Chris Moody deleted The Bank of Washington, and Northside Regeneration LLC.
Neal English deleted Americans for Prosperity.
$5K+ Contributions
Local 41 Political Action Fund - $8,464 from DRIVE Committee.
MO Freedom - $9,224 from Dollar, Burns & Becker L.C.
Safer Families for Missouri - $9,224 from Dollar, Burns & Becker L.C.
Greitens for Missouri - $5,001 from Randy Mooney.
Laclede Political Action Committee - $50,000 from Laclede Gas Company.
People for Solon - $15,000 from Missouri Freedom.
New Approach Missouri - $40,000 from Luke Sinquefield.
Birthdays
Happy birthday to Jill Ott.