Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Sanders to Leave Office
Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders told the Kansas City Star that he was resigning effective December 31. See it here.
He denied that the persist rumors of investigations were a motivator. He wants to spend more time with his family.
“Sanders’ surprise decision opens one of the most important jobs in Kansas City-area politics. Sanders said he would appoint 3rd District Jackson County Legislator Dennis Waits as the interim county executive, but his permanent successor will be picked by voters next year… Waits’ resignation also would kick off a lobbying campaign for his seat on the legislature. Waits’ colleagues will choose his successor. Sanders on Monday did not rule out a future run for public office, but he strongly hinted it would be years before he’d consider politics again…”
The Scrum
We’ll see how the field to replace Sanders shakes out, but I would expect two people who will be mentioned as possible successors would be former Sens. Victor Callahan ($541K on-hand in his campaign account by the way), and Jolie Justus. Though I don’t imagine they’d run against each other. Also watch Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker…
NYTimes on Missouri Gun Laws
The New York Times has an article about Missouri’s increasingly lax gun laws. Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker gets the lede, but Sen. Kurt Schaefer is also quoted. See it here.
Pull Quote: In the past decade, Missouri has been a natural experiment in what happens when a state relaxes its gun control laws. For decades, it had one of the nation’s strongest measures to keep guns from dangerous people: a requirement that all handgun buyers get a gun permit by undergoing a background check in person at a sheriff’s office.
But the legislature repealed that in 2007 and approved a flurry of other changes, including, last year, lowering the legal age to carry a concealed gun to 19. What has followed may help answer a central question of the gun control debate: Does allowing people to more easily obtain guns make society safer or more dangerous?..
Research by Daniel Webster, the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, found that in the first six years after the state repealed the requirement for comprehensive background checks and purchase permits, the gun homicide rate was 16 percent higher than it was the six years before. During the same period, the national rate declined by 11 percent. After Professor Webster controlled for poverty and other factors that could influence the homicide rate, and took into account homicide rates in other states, the result was slightly higher, rising by 18 percent in Missouri.
Federal death data released this month for 2014 showed a continuation of the trend, he said. Before the repeal, from 1999 to 2006, Missouri’s gun homicide rate was 13.8 percent higher than the national rate. From 2008 to 2014, it was 47 percent higher. (The new data also showed that the national death rate from guns was equal to that from motor vehicle crashes for the first time since the government began systematically tracking it.)
Other measures suggested that criminals had easier access to guns after the permit law was repealed. Professor Webster analyzed data from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and found that the share of guns that were linked to crimes soon after they were bought doubled in the state from 2006 to 2010. The portion of guns confiscated by the police in Missouri that had been originally bought in the state — ordinarily a very stable statistic — rose to 74 percent last year, from 56 percent before the law changed.
In interviews, researchers cautioned that causation is hard to prove, and that just because the gun homicide rate rose after 2007, it does not mean the repeal was the reason. Still, most of them were convinced that the data suggested an effect…
Missouri was the only state in recent history to repeal a law requiring background checks and permits for all handgun sales, and Professor Webster said he had been drawn to study the aftermath because many had considered that type of law to be the most effective at keeping guns from people who should not have them. In 1995 Connecticut enacted a law similar to the one Missouri repealed, and gun homicides declined by 40 percent in the 10 years that followed, he found…
The changes tapped into profound differences between rural and urban Americans about guns. The state legislature is predominantly white, rural and suburban, but the effects of the laws it makes are felt largely in Missouri’s cities, where gun homicides are one of the biggest causes of death for young black men. In Professor Webster’s analysis, the gun homicide rate rose by 20 percent in metropolitan areas of Missouri, but was up by just 1.6 percent in rural areas. However, gun suicides, largely a rural, white problem, rose by about 16 percent in the years after the repeal, he found…
RTW Bits
Rep. Becky Ruth on Facebook, shakes a fist at the Accountability Committee: Many of you may have seen negative attack ads against me on FB, twitter, and cable tv because of my vote on RTW. I was elected to represent the people who live in my district, not the interests of wealthy people who live several hundred miles away. With that said, I am proud to represent my constituents, and I will continue to do so in the future. No special interests have ever or will ever bully me into turning my back on my constituents. Thank you all for your continued support.
And Pro Tem Ron Richard and Speaker Todd Richardson are mellow on the possibility of a redux of the right to work legislation this session. See it here.
Bits
Jon Galloway gets some ink in the Columbia Business Times. See it here.
Duane Lester writes on Facebook that he’s “accepted a position as a Grassroots Trainer and Curriculum Specialist for Americans for Prosperity Foundation's Grassroots Leadership Academy, effective today…”
ACLU will continue its challenge of Linn State’s drug testing policy. See it here.
Governor Jay Nixon appointed former Rep. Tim Flook Associate Circuit Judge for the Seventh Judicial Circuit in Clay County. See it here.
Former senator Jane Cunningham is filing to run for Chesterfield City Council…
eMailbag: Patriots Loophole
Saw your email bag on the in the Patriots for America loophole. Under that theory we have no candidates until filing opens because by law filing has not even opened. We could just have the wild west of campaign expenditures until filing… It is a ridiculous interpretation and far from the obvious purpose of the law but is the kind of nonsense that the Missouri Ethics Commission has bought way too often…
eMailbag on Staffers Moonlighting
That Jason Hancock article is a huge deal. There is a fine line on that stuff and lots of staff blow past it.
Help Wanted
Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence seeks Communications Coordinator. “The MCADSV Communications Coordinator is a salaried position responsible for writing, editing and proofreading all organizational publications, educational materials and training manuals. This individual is responsible for publications ranging from brochures to manuals, newsletters to training curriculum, online and printed information distribution, website updates to Facebook posts; will act as media contact; and must be able to work in multiple media formats and communicate with varied audiences. The coordinator must be able to manage a full publications schedule and multiple contributory writers/editors… and should be able to lift at least 30 pounds… Application deadline is noon, Tuesday, January 12, 2015…” See the ad here.
The St. Louis City Board of Election Commissioners is accepting applications and resumes for the position of Deputy Democratic Director of Elections. “As a member of the Board’s management team (consisting of both Directors of Elections, both Deputy Directors of Elections, and both Assistant Deputy Directors), the Deputy Democratic Director is responsible for recommending and developing program goals and objectives and implementing policies, procedures and courses of action to enable the Board to conduct elections in the City of St. Louis in compliance with federal, state and municipal laws, rules and regulations… SALARY: $75,000.00 to $85,000.00 per year…” See the ad here.
Lobbyists Registrations
Ann Mattingly added Otsuka America Pharmaceuticals Inc., and deleted Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization.
$5K+ Contributions
New Approach Missouri - $15,000 from Roger Winters.
Greitens for Missouri - $10,000 from W Grant Williams III.
Koster for Missouri - $20,000 from CRG-3M LLC.
Koster for Missouri - $15,000 from Operating Engineers Local 101 PAC.
Koster for Missouri - $20,000 from PCFP LLC.
Koster for Missouri - $10,000 from Technology Drive LLC.
Koster for Missouri - $25,000 from Strong Garner Bauer PC.
Committee to Elect Jon Carpenter - $5,001 from CHIPP Political Account.
Citizens for Burlison - $15,000 from Bill Burlison.
Progress KC PAC - $15,000 from Commerce Bancshares Inc.
Notes on Money
The three different LLCs giving Koster money in this report are all using the same business address.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Sen. Dan Brown, and Shannon Cooper.