Thursday, March 14, 2013

In recent memory I don’t recall the sort of mad dash before Spring Break.  But this week, there seems to be an emphasis on moving pieces forward so they’re in good position after the break.

Sporting Events Tax Credit to Gov’s Desk

In a big victory of SNR Denton’s lobbying team and Sen. Eric Schmitt, the sporting events tax credits are headed to the governor’s desk before Spring Break.

Schaefer: I Was Lied To By DOR

Sen. Kurt Schaefer took to the Senate floor to call out the Department of Revenue for lying to him “three times in the past two weeks.”  The accusation centers around DOR using a Homeland Security grant to record and retain biometric data on citizens.  Biometric data as best as I could tell is the “width of your eyes?”  and other facial recognition features which I guess could be plugged into software to take security camera footage and identify people?  I really don’t know, however a parade of senators stood up to denounce not only the lies, but the actions.

The question for the senate becomes: after the pouting, what do they do about it?

But

The Washington Missourian – Sen. Brian Nieves’ home paper – is ho-hum on the emerging “scanning scandal.”  Read it here.

Also Perfected in the Senate

Sen. Ryan Silvey’s SB 216 to let KC police officers engage in political activity was perfected.

After a long interruption, Sen. Jamilah Nasheed’s SB 125 that changes the teacher tenure policy in the City of St. Louis was perfected.

Sen. Mike Kehoe’s one-cent sales tax for transportation was perfected.  To solve the oversight problem, the department of transportation will develop a priority list, and report annually to the legislature on their progress.  Sen. Joe Keaveny offered an amendment to set a portion (15%) for public transit.  It was rejected.

In Committees…

ISRS Moves Through House Committee

Rep. Jeanie Riddle’s HB 389 passed out of the House Utilities Committee by 18-6.  Rep. Todd Richardson offered amendments which were voted down.

FERAF blasted the vote with a statement: “Today members of the House Utilities Committee reached into the pocketbooks of Missouri families and small businesses…”  While the Missouri Electrical Alliance saw it as a “positive step toward modernization of our state’s energy infrastructure…”

Budget Passed Out of House Committee

Missourinet has a good run-down of the amendments offered on the budget yesterday.  See it here.

Pull Quote: “The Committee also voted to pull $85,000 from the administration of the Department of Revenue. That amendment was sponsored by Representative Robert Ross (R-Yukon), who says he is not satisfied with the Department’s response to questions about its scanning and retention of personal information from Missouri driver’s license and concealed carry permit applicants.”

Medicaid Expansion Voted Down in Senate Committee

The Appropriations Committee voted 8-3 against Sen. Paul LeVota’s Medicaid expansion bill. The defeat was expected.

The real action on this front will occur after break when Rep. Jay Barnes’ “transformation” bill gets scrutinized.  The question is whether folks will consider it Republican enough to defend in the 2014 primaries.  Some contrarians note that considering how often Medicaid expansion has been declared dead, the fact that some form of it is still alive gives them cautious optimism.

And

The Missouri Hospital Association released a study saying that they would either get reimbursed from Medicaid or from cost-shifting….  Read it here.

Bits

The re-branded version of the House Democratic Campaign Committee was formed.  It’s called the House Democratic Victory Committee.  See it here.

Rumor is that former state senator Tim Green will be resigning his position on the Missouri Building and Construction Trades Council.  And that he will start for the National Electrical Contractors Association.
According to Politico’s Influence, the Gephardt Group is making some coin working in DC for Google.  “GOOGLE BRINGS IN CONSULTANTS FOR BOOT CAMP… The company, which spent nearly $16.5 million on lobbying, has a veritable army of hired guns, including Lugar Hellmann Group, Franklin Square Group, Gephardt Group Government Affairs and JGB & Associations, among others.”

Help Wanted

Teach for America seeks a manger of corporate and foundation relations.  See it here.

Missouri Labor and Industrial Relations needs a lawyer.  See it here.

KSHB-TV, 41 Action News in Kansas City, MO is advertising for a web producer.  See it here.

eMailbag: Jane Fonda Crack

“Please tell me you are going to call the utilities out for trying to say ISRS has anything to do with manufacturing SMRs in Missouri?  That’s a bigger stretch then a Jane Fonda work out video.”

Jesuits, Jesuits Everywhere

Ok, so the new pope is a Jesuit, fine.  But on our list of politicos with Jesuit education, add Phil Hess, former MATA president, graduate of Rockhurst.

Lobbyist Registrations

From the Pelopidas website:

Mark J Bruns, Gary Burton, Chris Liese, and Jim Foley added City of North Kansas City.

David Overfelt added MC Power Companies; and deleted Solar Link.

Larry Rohrbach added Morphotrust USA.

Kelvin L Simmons added Bridge Leadership Academy.

David J. Klarich added Glazer’s Family of Companies.

Scott Swain added LINQ3.

Rodney Boyd, Brian Grace and Kelvin Simmons deleted Midwest Technical Institute.

Richard I. Martin deleted Logisticare Solutions LLC.

$5K+ Contributions

Central Bancompany PAC - $10,000 from Central Bancompany.

Progress KC PAC - $10,000 from Continue to Care Committee.

Progress KC PAC - $10,000 from Keep KC Jobs.

Progress KC PAC - $15,500 from Yes on 2 Committee.

UTU-PAC - $9,000 from United Transportation Union PAC.

Birthdays

Happy birthday to Mark Bruns (52).