MOScout Daily Update: 2020 Gubby Narrative - Arnott PAC - Parkinson Joins Bahr - Cornejo Seeks Judgeship and more....

Insider Parson?

A pair of recent stories in the press have given hope to Democrats that a favorable narrative could emerge in the gubernatorial campaign.

·         KCStar: Missouri Gov. Mike Parson flew to Washington, D.C., last week on the private plane of a nursing home executive whose company has been investigated for Medicare fraud and accused of numerous health and safety issues.  Parson and his chief of staff, Aaron Willard, traveled to the nation’s capital Wednesday, Dec. 11, on a plane belonging to Rick DeStefane, owner and president of Reliant Care Group LLC.

·         Post-Dispatch: Gov. Mike Parson quietly waded into a legal dispute with international implications: more than 3,000 young people from La Oroya, Peru, are suing the Doe Run Resources Corp., accusing the lead company of personal injuries caused by the company’s smelter in their town… On July 3, 2018, Parson sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer asking for “assistance” in moving the litigation from federal court in St. Louis to Peru.  The effort faltered, but the letter from the state’s chief executive demonstrates the Maryland Heights-based company’s continued pull in Missouri…

While these type of stories are generally greeted by business-as-usual shrugs from the knowing hallway denizens, it’s that business-as-usual look which Team Galloway will hope to contrast with the squeaky-clean, tough-on-corruption, outsider auditor.  Every story that makes Parson look too cozy with or compliant to the lobbying class is another brush-stroke in the portrait they’re painting.

But

All this may not matter.  It could be that this election will be a referendum on President Donald Trump.  And Republicans – after his 19 point rout in 2016, and their breakeven legislative races in 2018 – are doing what they can to keep it a Trump-centric race here.  Rep. Nick Schroer tweets… Since no one has asked the Democrat candidate running for Governor, let's ask: @AuditorGalloway  are you for or against the impeachment of our president @realDonaldTrump

Senate Bits

·         Former Rep. Mark Parkinson has left Sen. Bill Eigel’s staff and is going to work for former Rep. Kurt Bahr at the St. Charles Election Board.

·         Word is that Republican candidate David Lenihan will be putting his own money (six figures) into his campaign in Senate 1 (Sifton termed).  It won’t be an easy seat for Republicans to flip.  But it could help divert Democratic resources away from other battlegrounds like Senate 15 and Senate 19, helping protect those incumbents.

·         Cleaner MO is expected to be the first big debate in the Senate this year.  But after that, there’ll be a move to go after the initiative petition process itself.  Republicans are getting tired of playing defense against ceaseless progressive IPs.

Gun Laws

Wall Street Journal reports that “the federal background-check system can flag only fugitives who cross state lines, according to a Justice Department ruling three years ago that reversed a policy dating to when the Federal Bureau of Investigation began conducting instant background checks in 1998. Since the change, the number of gun purchases denied to fugitives has plummeted, to 5,754 last year from 24,502 in 2016, according to the FBI.

Now, with recent mass shootings increasing concern about guns falling into the wrong hands, lawmakers in Texas and Wisconsin are proposing bills that would block fugitives who don’t cross state lines from buying firearms. They would join three states with histories of stronger gun regulations that already have such prohibitions: California, Massachusetts and Oregon…”

And

House Floor Leader Rob Vescovo reiterates his opposition to “red flag” laws.  See it here.

Privacy R.I.P.

Crazy New York Times piece about companies gathering data about where you go every day – not online, where you go every day in real life.  It makes me think maybe Senator Josh Hawley is ahead of the curve on his crusade against tech giants – though none of the names in this article are giants.  Read it here.

“It doesn’t take much imagination to conjure the powers such always-on surveillance can provide an authoritarian regime like China’s. Within America’s own representative democracy, citizens would surely rise up in outrage if the government attempted to mandate that every person above the age of 12 carry a tracking device that revealed their location 24 hours a day. Yet, in the decade since Apple’s App Store was created, Americans have, app by app, consented to just such a system run by private companies. Now, as the decade ends, tens of millions of Americans, including many children, find themselves carrying spies in their pockets during the day and leaving them beside their beds at night — even though the corporations that control their data are far less accountable than the government would be.”

Bits

·         MO Greenway reports that “testing facility applicant Botannis Labs has become the first applicant to receive a facility license in the state of Missouri, receiving their testing facility license certification Thursday morning. Botannis was the top-ranking applicant in the state for the facility type.”  Jeffrey Altmann is the lobbyist for Botannis.

·         Getting passed around… Post-Dispatch sports writer Ben Frederickson rips into Governor Mike Parson.  See it here.  “He didn’t just strand the St. Louis leaders who considered him an ally. He embarrassed them… St. Louis and the MLS4TheLou ownership group had no reason to believe the state would stiff-arm this plan. In fact, it had evidence of support.  A lot of support… Missouri's governor is a teammate you can't count on…”

·         Governor Mike Parson appointed R. Travis Willingham as Associate Circuit Judge for the 16th Judicial Circuit. He will fill the Associate Circuit Judge vacancy created by the appointment of the Honorable Cory L. Atkins to Circuit Judge.

Cornejo Seeks Judgeship

The Appellate Judicial Commission announced the applicants for the vacancy on the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, created by the retirement of Judge Lawrence Mooney.  They are: Deborah J. Alessi, Kelly C. Broniec, Thomas C. Clark II, Robert W. Cornejo, Michael E. Gardner, Kathleen S. Hamilton, Joseph B. Kloecker Jr., Ellen S. Levy, Fredrick J. Ludwig, Jeffery T. McPherson, Darrell E. Missey, Michael W. Noble, Eric S. Peterson, Michael D. Quinlan, David E. Roland, John P. Torbitzky, David R. Truman, M. Celeste Vossmeyer, and Carl M. Ward.

New Committees

Greene County Sheriff PAC was formed.  It’s an IE PAC to support Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott.  Its treasurer is Allen Lumley.

$5K+ Contributions

House Republican Campaign Committee, Inc - $6,800 from Express Scripts PAC.

Uniting Missouri PAC - $5,200 from Gary Forsee.

Keep Government Accountable - $10,000 from IUOE Local 513 Political and Education Fund.

Lobbyists Registrations

Nancy Giddens and Shannon Cooper added Missouri Soybean Association.

Don Logue added Don C Logue.

Patrick Lynn added Carvana.

Craig Barker, LeRoy Huff, Kay McMurtrey, Ray Williams, and Sarah Riss deleted Missouri Association of School Personnel Administrators, Missouri Council of Career and Technical Administrators, Missouri State High School Activities Association, Missouri United School Insurance Council, Missouri Council of Administrators of Special Education, Missouri Association of School Business Officials, Missouri Association of Secondary School Principals, Missouri Association of Rural Education, and Missouri Association of Elementary School Principals.

Craig Barker, LeRoy Huff, Ray Williams, Sarah Riss deleted Missouri K-8 Schools Association

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Melissa DeStefano Furey, Ellen Sherberg, Bart Koman, Ben Murray, Bob Jacobi, and Claudia Kehoe.

Saturday: Sen. Andrew Koenig, Rep. Don Rone, Virginia Young, John Combest, and Brendan Lind.

Sunday: Doc Brown, and Shannon Cooper.

Monday: Mike Revis.

Tuesday: Sen. Paul Wieland, and Lindell Shumake.

MOScout Schedule

I’m off Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday next week!  See you on the 26th!

Finally

I don’t usually mix my rock-star persona with my blogging life, but… if you’re in St. Louis tonight, I’m giving a concert and this is your invitation.  See it here.