MOScout Daily Update: Arthur Hits $100K Again - Rehder, Koenig Report Oct #s - Green in Senate 5 - Wilson Passes - AR Work Experiment and more...

Early October Quarters

The deadline for filing October fundraising quarters is 5PM today.  Here are a couple of interesting early filers.

Sen. Lauren Arthur, running for re-election in Senate 17, put up Schuppesque numbers.  She raised $101,513, and now has $282,696 on-hand.  Hitting the $100K mark for a state senate race is very impressive given the contribution limits in place.  And keep in mind….

·         It’s the second quarter in row she’s hit that mark.

·         There’s still no declared Republican opponent.

Rep. Holly Rehder raised $47,842 for her senate bid.  That’s significant because it put her cash on-hand stash above $200K.  Her Senate 27 rival, Rep. Kathy Swan, hasn’t filed yet.  Holly PAC reported $12,050 on-hand.

·         These aren’t huge numbers from Rehder, but they probably outpaced Swan and she’s showing a consistency that could pay-off down the road.

Sen. Andrew Koenig raised $32,755 and now has $128,986. 

·         Fundraising is not Koenig’s strength. 

·         I’ll be surprised if his Democratic opponent, Rep. Deb Lavender, doesn’t outraise him again this quarter. 

·         However, the Republican caucus goes all out to protect their incumbent senators.  So there should be plenty of support for his re-election.

Rep. Karla Eslinger has been mentioned as a candidate in Senate 33.  She didn’t raise any money in the last three months and now has $764 on-hand.

·         It’s yet to be determined whether Eslinger could be a legitimate factor in this race.

Rumorville: Seniors To Vote?

One reader writes that there’s a move afoot to allow House Republican seniors to vote in the leadership races this year.   The vote traditionally takes place immediately after the November elections with the newly elected representatives voting instead of seniors.  One insider yawns, “[there’s talk of this] every year.”  An actual change in process is a long-shot.

·         The case for seniors voting is that they know the candidates much better than incoming freshmen.

·         The case for maintaining the current process is that it’s the freshmen who will be serving under the leadership, not the out-going seniors.

Green Officially Jumps into Senate 5

St. Louis Alderwoman Megan Green says she’s running for Senate 5….

I took that month to talk with past supporters, donors, volunteers and community leaders, as well as residents of the district, about the race. From these conversations it's clear that the 5th Senatorial District wants a Senator with a proven track record of fighting for reproductive rights, living wages and the rights to organize, public education, environmental protections, healthcare for all, LGBTQIA+ rights, and protections for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.

·         The campaign kick-off is November 12.

·         A MOScout/Remington poll from August 22 gave Green the lead in a three-way primary for this seat.  Green 32%, Rep. Steve Roberts 23%, Michelle Sherod 11% with 34% undecided. MOE was +/- 4.5%.

Wilson Passes

Former Sen. Yvonne Wilson passed away.  KCUR reports…

Former Missouri state lawmaker and educator Yvonne S. Wilson died Monday. The 90-year-old Democrat from Kansas City was remembered by many as a community advocate, especially for children.   Democratic State Sen. Kiki Curls confirmed Wilson's death to KCUR, and called Wilson a friend and mentor.  “She became my mom away from home in Jefferson City when I first came to Jefferson City. She was an awesome mentor about legislative issues and social issues and other personal things there so I was very close to her," said Curls, who represents the Senate district that Wilson did from 2004-2010.

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Wilson spent 35 years as a teacher, consultant, principal and Director of Elementary Education in the Kansas City School District before beginning her political career. She served in the Missouri House from 1999-2002 before winning a Senate seat in 2004….

WSJ:  AR Work Requirement

Wall Street Journal reports on Arkansas’ “experiment” with work requirement for Medicaid benefits.  See it here.

[M]ore than 18,000 people… were cut from the Medicaid rolls after Arkansas embarked on a closely watched experiment in June 2018, when it became the only state to fully implement a work requirement for program recipients. The outcome in Arkansas could help shape the future of Medicaid, a state-federal program for low-income and disabled people that covers one in seven adults across the U.S. President Trump and Republicans promote the mandate as a way to rein in safety-net costs and increase employment.

In a blow to the GOP, a federal judge in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in March blocked Arkansas’ Medicaid work requirement, saying federal officials didn’t adequately consider its potential to cause recipients to lose coverage…

Lessons from Arkansas’ 10-month test run illustrate the potential pitfalls for the growing number of states pursuing their own work requirements. The state reported estimated costs of implementing the mandate at $26.1 million, and it had spent more than $24 million between June 2017 and December 2018, based on a report this month from a federal watchdog agency. That doesn’t include other costs, such as notifying enrollees of the change... The state still doesn’t know how many recipients gained employment as a result of the work requirement because it never set up a system to track whether people subject to it had found jobs.

Many beneficiaries lost coverage when they didn’t comply with new reporting requirements, because they were confused or unaware of the mandate, according to several studies….

IE PACs

Many folks have asked about the IE PACs list that I’ve done.  It matches PACs with the candidate or cause that they support.  It’s a work in progress.

It now has its own tab on the MOScout page.  Find it here.

The next version will look prettier.

eMailbag on Ice Cream Wars

When Prairie Farms bought Central Dairy years ago, the plan was to shutter the ice cream stand. But the uproar was such that the ice cream stand stayed open. That fierce loyalty to Central Dairy is unlikely to go away.

Lobbyist Registrations

Sonette Magnus and David Sweeney added Partners Groups Administration Services.    

$5K+ Contributions

Conservative Future Fund - $5,001 from CL PAC.

Humane Society Legislative Fund of Missouri PAC- $13,000 from             Stray Dog Capital.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Rep. Chrissy Sommer, and Dean Morgan.