Thursday, April 23, 2015
Webber’s Non-Discrimination Bill Stuck?
Rep. Stephen Webber’s bill to expand the definition of discrimination include sexual orientation and gender identity remains in the House Civil and Criminal Proceedings.
Supporters of the bill have whipped the committee votes and insist that they have enough to pass it out.
Chairman Robert Cornejo hasn’t given them a reason for not exec-ing the bill, but some think that the speaker’s office is reluctant to give Webber any legislative accomplishments ahead of his Senate 19 race next year.
Meanwhile the World Marches On
The Washington Post has a new poll this morning showing broad support for gay marriage. See it here. See the story here. “A record-high 6 in 10 Americans support same-sex marriage and a similar share say individual states should not be allowed to define marriage as only between a man and a woman…”
Muni Bill Passes House
The House passed Sen. Eric Schmitt’s SB5. Virginia Young has the story here. The Senate can pass this House version two chambers now have to conference on the differences.
Lobbyist: “It was obviously the John Diehl show, but Robert Cornejo gets credit for shepherding the bill through the House, strengthening the enforcement of the penalty provisions and passing it with 131 votes…”
And
Sen. Ryan Silvey called out Diehl for not allowing a vote of the people on the proposed new stadium in St. Louis…
@RyanSilvey: Horse trading at it's finest as the Speaker fishes for signatures on HB 5 without stadium protection language. He doesn't want a vote.
@RyanSilvey: Crazy that Speaker @johndiehljr is so afraid of letting people vote on a new stadium. Amazing lengths tonight to stop a vote #MoLeg #Freedom
SB 152 Tug of War
There was a tussle in the conference committee on SB 152 yesterday morning.
Sen. Jason Holsman argued that keeping Rep. Rocky Miller’s provision (HB 923) that any Energy Plan would have to be approved by the General Assembly would “lead to a veto by the governor.”
Rep. TJ Berry gave the yawning answer: "So?"
Neither side seemed willing to give any ground. And we’re getting to the point in session where these little skirmishes can spark wider conflicts as people start taking revenge.
We’ll see….
Brunner in the Building
John Brunner was hallways yesterday… working the legislators to build support for his gubernatorial bid? We’ll see…
April Revenues Strong?
There’s still a week left in the month, and sometimes depending on how the days match up, revenues can zig instead of zag, but…. This appears to be a nice strong month of tax revenue receipts for the state. The bellwether individual income receipts are up double digits right now, and the month totals might push the year-to-date numbers to +7%.
All together now… We’ll see…
What Nixon’s Middle Finger Looks Like
AP has the story on an audit released yesterday that Governor Jay Nixon is doing whatever he wants with the budget despite the legislature’s attempts to use the power of the purse. See it here.
Pull Quote: Nixon said he hadn't seen the audit's findings but added that he doesn't plan to change the way his office operates… Since 2012, the budgets passed by legislators have included wording restricting most state agencies from paying for travel and personnel expenses for the governor's office and other statewide elected officials. But the audit shows that Nixon's administration has continued to do so…
Diehl Mas Macho?
One labor source says that after the House played the unemployment benefit cuts by a lower than expected total, Speaker John Diehl – apparently blaming labor – put three prevailing wage bills on the calendar to send a message. He laughed… It’s Diehl playing “Quien Es Mas Macho?”
Bits
Kelley Miller, running in the Monarch Fire District, gets fined $60 by the Missouri Ethics Commission. See it here.
How do you keep your in-box? See the National Journal’s article about people who keep “zero” unread messages in their in-box – and those who don’t. One building denizen admitted to thousands of unread emails in his in-box. Who’s the worst offender out there? Anyone with an in-box out of control?
Virginia Young writes about Nicole Galloway’s shake-up at the auditor office (see it here) with echoes of what I’d heard of it happening a little too soon. “While it is normal for an incoming statewide elected official to bring his or her top staffers, some thought Galloway might ease in given the trauma that has rocked the office.”
Lobbyist Registrations
Bill Stouffer and Richard McIntosh added HDI Solutions LLC.
Shanon Hawk added Taser International LLC.
Richard Martin added J.E. Dunn Construction Company; and deleted Carmax, and Kansas City Southern Railway Corporation.
Scott Mills deleted Allergan Inc.
$5K+ Contributions
Missourians for John Brunner - $5,001 from Samuel Coryell.
Greitens for Missouri - $25,000 from Bryan Bradford.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Sen. Gina Walsh (58) and Rep. Jeff Pogue (34).