Monday, February 4, 2013
Hennessy: Lamping v Jezebel
On Bill Hennessy’s blog, he takes a whack at those supporting Medicaid expansion. That’s unsurprising given that he was one of the founders of the St. Louis Tea Party.
What’s odd is that Sen. John Lamping is taking such a front-and-center role in championing Hennessy’s position. He’s trumpeted on Hennessy’s site (see it here): “The one man fighting this unholy alliance is Senator John Lamping, but he can’t defeat this Jezebel alone. Fight the prostitutes in business suits.”
Aside from the fact that there are scores of other legislators who dispute that Lamping is the singular superhero standing between Missourah and Obamacare, Lamping’s district is likely not so incited by the notion of Medicaid expansion. He squeaked through the toss-up district in the good year of 2010 by projecting the image of a moderate, and now he’s waving Hennessy’s tea party banner?
Blackout Tweets for ISRS
When the lights went out at the Superdome, Missouri politicos didn’t miss a chance to advance their ISRS agendas via twitter…
@ScottCharton: “No more persuasive case for #MO#SB207 building reliability in power infrastructure than #SuperBlackout#moleg#SuperBowl”
@MBEF: The #poweroutageat #Superbowlunderscores importance of @SpeakerTimJonescommitment to #MO#energy#infrastructure. #SB207
But the best tweet of the night… @calebmjones: “I have officially spent too much time in the Capitol. I just saw #SB47on a tweet and immediately looked up what senate bill that was”
And
CDT’s Hank Waters gives ISRS the okay in his editorial. See it here.
CD-8: Complex Statutes Govern Committee Make-Up
There’s a complicated – but reasonable – legal memo in the Special Reports this morning which argues that the make-up of the congressional nominating committee should be different than the current consensus. See it here.
Since the bombshell of Jo Ann Emerson’s retirement from Congress exploded two months ago, the committees that would choose her replacement has received intense scrutiny from those seeking the nomination. There have been reports of unexpected “drop-ins” by candidates at committee members’ houses, for example. Thousands of hours have been spent by this group of
volunteers in advance of this weekend’s committee.
But what have gone unnoticed are some statutes which could be, and have been, interpreted to suggest a different composition. In particular the memo makes the case for excluding county chairs and vice-chairs when the county is not wholly in the congressional district. Additionally, in those counties, they would receive representation in the form of committeemen and women from the townships in the county. Finally, the memo argues for the exclusion of the chairs and vice-chairs of committees from those legislative districts not wholly in the congressional district.
One observer notes that the practical implications of this alternative interpretation would be to increase Jefferson County’s weighting on the committee. A previous analysis by Missouri Scout found that Jefferson County’s representation on the nominating committee already exceeded its proportion by population more than any other county.
I sent a copy of this memo to Eddy Justice, chair of the 8th Congressional Republican Committee. His response: “Considering the amount of time that has been put into reviewing this situation and the faith I have in our representation, I am confident that we are well within the intent and scope of Missouri State Statute. This is not the first attempt at disparaging the process and I am expecting it not to be the last.”
For the record – I haven’t sought any comment from the Democrats in the Eighth District because I don’t consider them competitive in this district, but I understand they are using the same process for committee composition as the Republicans.
Richardson Releases Video
8-CD hopeful Rep. Todd Richardson released a web video. See it here.
The strategy of going web seems counter-intuitive in a race determined by 86 people, but Peter Kinder has apparently also gone this route with newly reinvigorated web ads.
The idea is to use any means necessary to get your message across, but also – one politico thinks – to subtly reinforce the perception that they are a strong district-wide candidate who will hold the seat over the long-term.
Senate Today
Today the Senate will take up Sen. Scott Rupp SB1 which deals with the difficult issue of the Second Injury Fund. See summary here.
Committee Hearings of Note This Week
Senate
Joint Committee on Education – Monday, 11am – HR2
Director of the Joint Committee on Education, Dr. Stacey Preis, and Senate and House staff, will present a detailed updated draft of the Higher Education Funding Model.
Elections Committee – Monday, 2pm, Senate Lounge
Voter ID bills.
Judiciary Committee – Monday, 6pm, Senate Lounge
Medical malpractice bills.
Rules Committee – Tuesday, 1pm, Senate Lounge
Sen. Jolie Justus’ campaign contribution limits.
Commerce Committee – Tuesday, 3pm, Senate Lounge
The return of the pole attachment issue, and the chairman’s bill (SB207) – ISRS.
General Laws Committee – Tuesday, 3pm, SCR1
SB150 – “declares certain federal firearm laws unenforceable…”
EcoDevo Committee – Wednesday, 1pm, Senate Lounge
TIF legislation, tax credits and guest taxes…
House
Rules Committee – Monday, Upon Afternoon Adjournment – HR6
HB 44 – Allows hydropower produced in any quantity to be used to satisfy the renewable energy standard.
Special Standing Committee on Urban Issues Committee – Monday, 6pm, HR5
Chair Penny Hubbard holds an organizational meeting for the committee.
Economic Development Committee – Tuesday, 5pm, HR7
Tax credits, TIFS etc…
Elections Committee – Tuesday, 8am, HR5
Voter ID, term limits, and ballot initatives.
Emerging Issues in Agriculture Committee – Wednesday, 8am, HR4
HB81 would establish a website to allow Missouri agricultural producers to market Missouri-produced goods to international buyers.
Workforce Development Committee – Wednesday, 8am, HR5
Rep. Eric Burlison’s HB77 – Labor Organization Practices.
Journo Jobs
Missouri Times seeks reporter: The Missouri Times is expanding is editorial staff, and looking for a reporter to assit in achieving our mission of becoming "Missouri's Newspaper of Politics and Culture". Our ideal candidate will be someone who loves politics and the people involved in politics. The hours will be extrememly long, the enviroment very challenging, but the work more stimulating, interesting, and fun than any job in the state. Most days you will spend in the state capitol reporting on breaking news stories, writing profiles on important figues in state government, and lengthy features for our print edition.
The Missouri Times is a startup that debuted last month based out of Jefferson City, Missouri and has already grown to the point where we need to add staff. However, we are as stated a startup company and everyone who works with us will be required to pitch in and help with every aspect of the company. Only team players should apply, large egos would not be happy in this position.
A working knowledge of Adobe Indesign, Abobe Photoshop, and Wordpress are required.
Above all your success or failure in this position will be determined by your success at COPY EDITING.
Lobbyist Registrations
From the Pelopidas website:
Kathryn Ann Harness added Otuska America Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Steven Carroll added Missouri Grape and Wine Alliance.
Trent Ford added SupportKids Services Inc.
Tim Green added Missouri Retired Teachers Association.
Deanna L. Hemphill added Missouri Pork Association, Missouri Restaurant Association, Astellas Pharma US Inc., Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association, Amgen, Health Management Systems, Port Authority of Kansas City, Missouri Ambulance Association, Missouri Propane Gas Association, AT&T, and Brent Hemphill & Associates.
Lisa Hough added Propel Financial Services LLC.
Richard Martin added HNTB.
John Temporiti added Pelopidas.
Dennis Brown deleted Equipment Leasing and Finance Association.
John Cozad deleted Educational Services of America.
Andrew Hartnett deleted Missouri Attorney General’s Office.
Tim Swinfard deleted Pathways Community Health.
Tom Vansaghi deleted Metropolitan Community College – Kansas City.
$5K+ Contributions
A Better Missouri with Governor Jay Nixon - $16,170 from Carey & Danis LLC.
Missourians for Equal Credit Opportunity - $114,793 from Missourians for Equal Credit Opportunity (the terminating campaign committee).
Slay for Mayor - $10,000 from Burns & McDonnell.
Slay for Mayor - $50,000 from Missourians for Excellence in Government.
Missourians for Koster - $10,000 from Skilled Healthcare LLC.
Missourians for Koster - $10,000 from Missouri health Care Association PAC.