Tuesday, August 26, 2014
A Hundred of Votes During Veto Session?
As more attention is finally being paid to the upcoming Veto Session (two weeks from tomorrow folks!) there’s the realization that this could be more involved than previous ones.
This will be true if the legislature decides – as expected – to override many of Governor Jay Nixon’s line item vetoes from the budget bills. According to a few observers, overturning those cuts must happen line-by-line. So that instead of a big vote on the bill, as would happen with the other 30 “legislative” bills, these would require perhaps a hundred smaller votes.
This raises the prospects of hours and hours of votes – especially if Democrats stand up to speak on these items.
Still it sounds like folks have no desire for a drawn out Veto Session, so if this happens it will be some very long days and nights – probably Wednesday and Thursday. But, we’ll see…
Maxwell in DC
A reliable source says that Joe Maxwell was in Washington DC last week talking up potential donors for a “Missouri race.” A few weeks ago, KC Star columnist Steve Kraske had floated the possibility of a Maxwell challenge to Chris Koster in 2016…
Meanwhile on the Republican side of the gubernatorial equation, one Republican disputes my assertion yesterday that Catherine Hanaway jumped the gun by declaring her candidacy years before the election by insisting that Tom Schweich has been telling folks his plans for the future as well…
Kander Certifies Results, Anti-Farming Group Asks Recount
Secretary of State Jason Kander certified the results of the August primary yesterday. See it here. And the Post-Dispatch reports that the opponents to Amendment 1 accordingly asked for a recount. “Election officials across Missouri will conduct a recount of the narrow passage of a constitutional amendment creating a right to farm, as opponents of the measure seek to reverse the results… Those results show that voters approved the right-to-farm amendment by a margin of 2,490 votes out of nearly 1 million cast, a victory of one-quarter of a percentage point. Missouri law allows the losers to request a recount whenever the margin of victory is less than half a percentage point.” See it here.
House 68: Atkins Says His Signatures Are In
Former state representative Bert Atkins is telling folks that he turned in his signatures to challenge Rep. Keith English as an Independent in November.
House 150: Dems Optimistic
In House 150 (Kent Hampton retiring), Democrats are feeling more optimistic about their changes with some polling that shows their candidate Walter Dearing running slightly ahead of the Republican Andrew McDaniel, 48%-41% (+/-5%).
This is the bootheel where decades of traditional Democratic dominance has been slowly eroded by Republicans focusing on social issues. Hampton beat Democrat Tom Todd in 2012 with 50.5% of the vote.
And
In Jefferson County, Democrats acknowledge it will be a fight. However, again, if their polling holding up, they’re thinking it will not be the sweeping tide that Republicans have been hoping for in this battleground county.
Wyoming Next?
LA Times reports that “Wyoming is finally talking to federal officials about expanding Medicaid. That would make Wyoming the twelfth state with a Republican governor to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, leaving 16 with GOP leadership still in the "no expansion" column. The reason for Wyoming's wavering is clear: it's money.” See it here.
White House Honors Allen
Tomorrow the White House will honor Champions of Change, “veterans and their families who are doing extraordinary work across the country as leaders in entrepreneurship… The Champions include veterans who have started a for-profit or non-profit business, veteran spouses who have started their own business, and individuals that support veteran entrepreneurs by providing them with skills, capital, and other necessary resources.” One Champion will be from Kansas City.
“Jim Allen, a Navy JAG Corps Veteran of the Vietnam era, is the President of Honor Capital, LLC. Honor Capital's mission is to help post-9/11 veterans start small businesses that create jobs and build communities…”
Fundraising Calendar
Today’s fundraising events from Mary Scruggs’ indispensable events calendar:
Rep. Kurt Bahr Golf – Pheasant Run Golf Course – O’Fallon.
Lobbyist Registrations
From the Gate Way Group website:
Steven R Carroll added DDAL.
Hart Gabriel Nelson added St. Louis Regional Chamber.
Richard M Aubuchon deleted Polsinelli and its clients.
$5K+ Contributions
Teamsters Local Union No 688 Political Action Committee - $11,107 from DRIVE Committee.
Committee to Elect Ron Richard - $15,000 from Lewis & Clark Leadership Forum.
Happy Birthday
Happy birthdays to Rep. Anne Zerr, and former Rep. Ray Salva (67).