MOScout Daily Update: Schmitt to Start Testing Kits - New HA Poll - Bates for School Board - G-Men in I-City and more...

Schmitt’s SAFE Kits Initiative

Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced in a press conference the results of a statewide inventory of all untested sexual assault kits as part of his SAFE Kits Initiative… 6,987 sexual assault kits were found…  6,157 of those kits were untested. Of the untested kits, 4,438 were reported, meaning they had a police report to go along with them… “It’s important to remember, these kits are not just numbers. They are not footnotes to the reporting of a crime. They represent real human beings, who have suffered, confronted their fears, reported the assault and submitted a kit. A kit that may have been put on a shelf and remained untested. Until now.”

What’s Next

From the report: With the completion of the inventory of untested SAFE kits, efforts to test inventoried kits will begin… a private forensic laboratory selected through a competitive bidding process will test Missouri’s backlog… The AGO estimates that existing grant funds will allow 1,250 inventoried SAFE kits to be tested during this grant period… The AGO believes that all reported SAFE kits should be tested to provide every opportunity to bring predators to justice and vindicate victims. Additional funds will be needed to test all reported kits; therefore, the AGO will continue to seek additional funding to ensure the elimination of Missouri’s SAFE kit backlog. In keeping with national best practices and the victim’s wishes, the AGO believes that unreported SAFE kits should not be tested. Victims’ safety and autonomy must remain a priority as Missouri works to address the SAFE kits backlog…

Bates for School Board

News Tribune reports that “Brad Bates will seek a seat on the Jefferson City School District's Board of Education in the April 2020 election.”

Bates is a lobbyist, representing the Missouri Association of Beer Wholesalers.

Patterson to UDP

Matt Patterson is leaving Missouri, and heading to Utah where he will be the Executive Director of the Utah Democratic Party. Patterson has been Policy Advisor at Renew Missouri since 2017.

MOScout/Human Agency Poll

November 17-20, 400 people surveyed, MoE +-5% (95% Conf.).  See full results here.

Q: If the 2020 election for Governor of Missouri were held today, who would you vote for?

Nicole Galloway (D) - 35.3%

Mike Parson (R) - 50.5%

Not sure - 14.2%

Q: If the 2020 election for Missouri State Attorney General were held today, who would

you vote for?

Richard Finneran (D) - 31.7%

Eric Schmitt (R) - 48.6%

Not sure - 19.7%

Q: Do you favor amending the Missouri Constitution to:

● adopt Medicaid Expansion for persons 19 to 64 years old with an income level at or

below 133% of the federal poverty level, as set forth in the Affordable Care Act

● prohibit placing greater or additional burdens on eligibility or enrollment standards,

methodologies or practices on persons covered under Medicaid Expansion than on any

other population eligible for Medicaid; and

● require state agencies to take all actions necessary to maximize federal financial

participation in funding medical assistance under Medicaid Expansion

Favor - 41.4%

Oppose - 29.3%

Not sure - 29.3%

Q: Do you approve of House Bill 126 passed by the General Assembly in 2019, which

specifically amends Missouri law to:

● provide the unborn child with the same protections as those already born;·prohibit

abortions at eight weeks of gestation (at which time there is a medically detected

heartbeat), except in cases of medical emergency;

● establish successive times at which abortions are prohibited (fourteen weeks, eighteen

weeks, twenty weeks, all with medical emergency exceptions) if earlier time frames are

found unlawful; and

● prohibit an abortion based solely on the sex, race or Down Syndrome screening of the

unborn child

Approve - 49.8%

Disapprove - 38.2%

Not sure - 12.0%

Q: Do you think Donald Trump should be impeached?

Yes - 37.5%

No - 56.4%

Not sure - 6.1%

FeeBees Poking Around Independence

KCStar reports that Independence City “Council members Karen DeLuccie and Scott Roberson separately confirmed to The Star that they had spoken with a pair of FBI agents.

DeLuccie said agents asked her on Nov. 7 about a nearly $10 million contract awarded in 2017 to a St. Louis company, twice the amount bid by another company, to decommission an electric power plant in Missouri City owned by Independence Power & Light… Both council members said they were aware of others who had been questioned by the FBI agents but declined to name them… The Star reported previously that a St. Louis company called Environmental Operations, which does work in environmental remediation projects, submitted a $9.75 million bid to tear down a shuttered Independence Power & Light power plant in Missouri City. Another company, Commercial Liability Partners, handed in a $4.45 million bid.… Stacy Hastie, owner of Environmental Operations, did not return a message seeking comment. A 2012 story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch described Hastie as a prolific donor to Missouri politicians and whose company dominated the state’s brownfield tax credit program.”

What It Means

·         It’s never a good look to have the G-men asking questions about appropriations.

·         But it’s not uncommon for questioning to never evolve into a full-blown probe.

Mizzou’s Gun Rule Upheld

Columbia Tribune reports that “Circuit Judge Jeff Harris on Monday rejected the arguments of the last three state attorneys general — one Democrat and two Republicans — and upheld the University of Missouri’s ban on carrying concealed guns on campus.

Ruling in a case that began in 2015 with a lawsuit filed by Royce Barondes, a professor of law on the Columbia campus, Harris wrote that the rule does not violate the state constitution’s guarantee of the right to bear arms and supports the university’s compelling interests of promoting safety on its campuses…”

Gross And Gas Tank II

Dem AG candidate Elad Gross writes… The tweet was actually for kids! I helped two kids on Delmar in St. Louis who had run out of gas push their car to the gas station. Here's the correction tweet for Kurt Erickson from yesterday.

MFH Reorg

Missouri Foundation for Health is announced the restructuring of its Executive Team. The MFH Executive Team will now be comprised of the following individuals:

Bob Hughes, President & CEO

Jill Nowak, Chief Financial & Administrative Officer

Kristy Klein Davis, Chief Strategy Officer

Ryan Barker, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives

Kathleen Holmes, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives

Courtney Stewart, Vice President of Strategic Communications

Deena Lauver Scotti, Vice President of Program Administration

Vice President of Health Policy – vacant

Vice President of Learning & Research – vacant

New Committees

Randy Railsback formed a candidate committee (Railsback for Missouri) to run for House 8 as a Republican.  The current incumbent, Republican Rep. Jim Neely, is termed.

Chad Perkins formed a candidate committee (ChadPerkins4Missouri) to run for House 40 as a Republican.  The current incumbent, Republican Rep. Jim Hansen, is termed.

Jaret Holden formed a candidate committee (Holden for Missouri) to run for House 143 as a Republican.  The current incumbent, Republican Rep. Jeff Pogue, is termed.

$5K+ Contributions

Keep Government Accountable - $10,000 from Shamberg Johnson & Bergman.

Health Care Issues Committee of the Missouri Hospital Association - $10,500 from Health Care Leadership Committee.

Lobbyists Registrations

Doug Bailey added GoPuff.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Ginger Steinmetz, John Valenti, and Henrio Thelemaque.