Friday, May 3, 2013
OA: House Tried to Hack CCW Data
Rudi Keller reports that “the state Office of Administration on Thursday caught someone using a Missouri House computer address making ‘repeated and unauthorized attempts’ to look at a confidential file of concealed weapon permit holders. When House Chief Clerk Adam Crumbliss refused to divulge the address where the attempt was made, Commissioner of Administration Doug Nelson issued a Sunshine Law request to find out. According to a news release issued Thursday evening, Nelson sent the request to House Speaker Tim Jones, Crumbliss and the House director of information systems.” See it here.
Looks like a ploy by the Nixon administration to drive a wedge between the House and Senate on the issue. I doubt that Sen. Kurt Schaefer takes the bait and starts asking questions about the House’s involvement in this, but it is possible given the back-and-forth he and Jones have been playing.
Nicastro Continues Push
Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro released a stream of tweets yesterday making the case for the common core (see them here) which brought this text from a Senate source…
I'm guessing that since she really wants to discuss Common Core before May 17th there are members that will find a way to accommodate her.
Schmitt Joins the Sauer Club
Fred Sauer, head of the Roundtable for Life, sent another open letter out. This one addressed to Sen. Eric Schmitt.
Excerpts
“Please do the job that the voters of Missouri sent you to Jefferson City to do and do not allow yourself to be beholden to one of the most amoral and corrupt special interest groups that has ever appeared in Missouri — the cloners… The proposed MOSIRA legislation; attempting to illegally enact it; the stubborn rejection of protections against spending taxpayer dollars for embryo experimentation, human cloning, and abortion; and now the proposal to use tax credits as a form of funding suggest that there is more going with the cloners than meets the eye. Maybe it is time for a much more formal process to see if you can be dislodged from them.”
I’m just waiting for someone to write an “open letter” back to Sauer…
Yesterday’s Highlights
The House perfected the bonding proposal (HJR 14). It was a voice vote, so it’ll be interesting to see next week, after Fiscal Review when it comes back for passage, what the roll call looks like. With two weeks left, the clock is major player on this issue, but it is still alive.
The Senate wasn’t able to pass Sen. David Pearce’s higher education formula. Sen. Kurt Schaefer blocked it. The next step is hard to see. Since it’s been perfected there’s no way to amend it to address Schaefer’s concerns. Perhaps some assurance of changes in conference? But again, with the clock ticking this may be pushed off until next session…
Grove Exits
Sean Grove, legislative assistant to Sue Allen and Tom Flanigan, is no longer listed on the House website of staff members. According to one source, he issued “an ultimatum to them regarding his employment arrangement… The time frame for them to make a decision was yesterday at 5:00PM and they decided to fire him instead of meeting his terms.”
Stenger Follow-Up
A supporter of St. Louis County Councilmember Steve Stenger insists that he is running for St. Louis County Executive. Although others have offered the auditor possibility, that’s not happening…
The incumbent County Executive, Charles Dooley, didn’t raise any money last quarter, so this could all be positioning for the inevitable Democratic primary to replace him.
Meanwhile all the Republicans I’ve spoken to throw their hands up at the race. If the GOP couldn’t win the race in the strong 2010 cycle, they don’t see any chance to regain the increasingly Democratic county.
State Revenue Continues to Climb
“State Budget Director Linda Luebbering announced today that 2013 fiscal year-to-date net general revenue collections increased 11.2 percent compared to 2012, from $5.99 billion last year to $6.67 billion this year. Net general revenue collections for April 2013 increased by 27.4 percent compared to those for April 2012, from $933.4 million to $1.19 billion.”
Nixon Touts Third F-150 Shift
From the press release: “Gov. Jay Nixon was joined today by leadership from the Ford Motor Company to announce a third production shift at the plant for the Ford F-150, to meet the increased demand for America's most popular pickup truck. With Ford F-Series sales up 24 percent in April and 19 percent for the year, a third production shift at its Kansas City Assembly Plant will help Ford meet this demand while creating an additional 900 auto manufacturing jobs. The company will also begin hiring 1,100 workers to prepare for the introduction of the all-new Ford Transit full-size van in 2014…”
Major Brands Antes
In the $5K+ Contributions (below), Major Brands deposits $50,000 into one of its new PACs…
Rehder Off Issue Development
Rep. Holly Rehder has been taken off the Bipartisan Freshmen Issue Development Committee.
Lobbyist Registrations
From the Pelopidas website:
Francis E. Flotron, David McCracken, and Richard McIntosh added Pinckney Bend Distillery.
Whitney ODaniel added Major Brands.
Mark J Rhoads added Inrofmatix Inc.
Michael Cargnel deleted City of North Kansas City.
Janette M Lohman deleted Tyco International Inc.
Charles Ballard deleted Agape Boarding School.
$5K+ Contributions
MO Democratic State Committee - $10,000 from CHIPP Political Account.
Missourians for Koster - $75,000 from Michael Ketchmark.
Missourians for Responsible Liquor Laws - $50,000 from Major Brands.
Civic Progress Action Committee - $33,373 from Citizens for Safe and Accessible Arch and Public Parks Initiative In Collaboration with Civic Progress c/o Daniel White.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Polsinelli’s Susan Moore, Rep. Mike Frame, and Roy Temple.
Saturday: Secretary of State Jason Kander (32).
Sunday: former Rep. David Day (50), John Hickey and Michael Hafner.