MOScout Daily Update: Galloway Prepping for 2020? - Senate Fireworks - Top COH Committees - Gutting STL City's Public Safety and more...

1 Big Thing: Galloway Makes Moves

In this off-election year the fundraising numbers can seem less consequential, but… peeking inside Auditor Nicole Galloway’s April report, there are hints that she’s beginning to make moves for a 2020 gubernatorial bid.

Still on the payroll…

·         Fundraiser Mike Pridmore.

·         Campaign Manager Eric Slusher.

Out-of-state help…

·         New Blue Interactive - $1,000/monthly retainer for digital fundraising.

·         Hart Research - $46,500 for what must be a very thorough poll.

And not in the expenditures, but reportedly helping Galloway’s team prep for 2020…

·         Oren Shur, Jay Nixon’s 2012 campaign manager, now with SKDKnickbocker.

Not going unnoticed: Galloway raised $114,194, not too far from the amount raised by Mike Parson, the sitting governor: $198,931

But

If she dives into this race, Galloway will have to redouble her fundraising because Team Parson holds a big money lead.  His campaign committee has more than $1 million cash on-hand (Galloway has $65K COH), and Parson’s allied PAC, Uniting Missouri, has $2.3 million on-hand.

Senate Fireworks

Sen. Mike Cierpiot, whose SB 56 has been stymied all session by the Conservative Caucus, unleashed a critique of those senators yesterday on the Senate floor.

He expressed his frustrations, “I’ve made efforts to reach compromise – thought we had agreement – then watched that agreement evaporate. I am finished with that approach with that group unless they change.”

Cierpiot also noted that members of the Conservative Caucus are promoting bills which aren’t  conservative: a tax credit for the film industry, expansion of gambling, various budget earmarks. And suggested they adopt a different caucus moniker like “Inconsistent Caucus” or “Kansas Caucus” or “Chaos Caucus.”

Sen. Denny Hoskins, as the sponsor of the film tax credit and various gambling bills, took offence.  But he didn’t rebut Cierpiot’s central charge that the Conservative Caucus has gleefully killed bills that “aren’t conservative,” while their own members are hot for some not-so-conservative legislation.

Sen. Bill Eigel also rose to object to Cierpiot’s “diatribe,” making two salient points:

·         Cierpiot could have handled this privately instead of on the Senate floor.

·         Eigel believes in a robust Senate where individual senators are empowered instead of mimicking the House’s herd mentality.

Reaction from the hallway varied…

·         “Not sure what Cierpiot did was any different than when Koenig tried to shame some senators into supporting ESA’s.”

·         “That was a long time coming. He’s listened to the Conservative caucus all year… and it’s been hard to listen to the inconsistency of the rhetoric… Since Cierpiot doesn’t usually speak, I think those long thought through words carried weight with the body.”

·         “WFT does [Cierpiot] get out of poking this bear?”

·         “Right after allowing the transportation deal? That would have pissed me off too. [Eigel] was very gracious letting Rowden do the supplemental budget and adjourn… could have just destroyed the entire session.”

What It Means

This was just a bubbling over, nothing that hasn’t been said privately by others – on both sides.  Getting it out in the open may even have a therapeutic effect. 

I don’t think it will change behaviors or create an additional lasting damage.  Instead it’s a symptom of where this Republican supermajority is: they have real differences both in policy and in expectations about how much senators should accommodate each other.

Top 25 COH Committees

From the April Quarter, committee with the most cash on-hand.

Uniting Missouri PAC - $2,294,861  

Parson For Missouri - $1,081,433

Eastern Mo Laborers Education & Benevolent Fund - $940,446     

Carpenters Help in the Political Process - $863,419 

Enterprise Holdings, Inc. PAC - $839,588

Greitens For Missouri - $737,084

Leadership For America - $696,812

Lyda Krewson for Mayor - $639,099

Friends Of Gregory FX Daly - $597,988

BUILD St. Louis PAC, Inc. - $501,485        

MO National Education Assoc-PAC - $500,436

MO Opportunity PAC - $497,912     

Citizens For Jake Zimmerman - $495,418

Callahan for Missouri - $488,690

Schmitt For Missouri  - $415,973

Sanders For Jackson County - $411,469

We Are Missouri - $401,633

Prospects For Missouri - $398,960

Friends Of Eric Burlison - $393,029

Supporters of Health Research and Treatments - $374,608  

Missouri Realtor PAC Inc - $320,966

Scott Sifton for Missouri - $313,111

American Property Casualty Insurance Association Political Account - $283,385  

HealthPAC - $276,884

Committee To Elect Jill Schupp - $276,852

Daily Revenue Watch

As of close of business April 12, state revenues are down -2.75%, $191 million.

Rewriting STL City’s Public Safety Policy

In yesterday’s House Crime Prevention and Public Safety Committee, Rep. Ron Hicks presented his HB 1177 which would eliminate the requirement that St. Louis City policemen live in the city for seven years – and that they live within a one-hour response time if they move out of the city.

That last part is a critical component of the City’s policy, and it’s surprising that Hicks, chair of the Special Committee on Homeland Security, would suggest it should be cavalierly dismissed.  Surely when he researched his bill and spoke to City officials, they explained the reason behind the provision. 

The City holds major regional events throughout the year.  Forget about the 50,000 Cardinal fans going downtown eighty times a year.  What if there were an earthquake during Fair St. Louis when 300,000 are under the Arch?  Or a worst case scenario of a terrorist attack or dirty bomb?  Insisting first responders live within a reasonable radius of the City is prudent policy for those tasked with emergency planning.

Bits

·         Jefferson City is looking for a master developer for the Missouri State Penitentiary Redevelopment Project.  See it here.

·         Heidi Miller filed a new version of a Medicaid expansion IP.  See it here.

·         Associated Industries of Missouri celebrates AIM Centennial Industry Day today.

·         Minority Leader Crystal Quade appointed Rep. Matt Sain to the Committee on Crime Prevention and Public Safety, removing Rep. Bruce Franks, Jr.

·         Some House members formed the Missouri General Assembly Local Government Caucus “to help provide guidance to legislators while continuing to collaborate with local governments.” See it here.

And

Post-Dispatch metro columnist Tony Messenger has won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary, for a series of columns about debtors prisons in Missouri, the Pulitzer awards committee announced Monday. Messenger found defendants across the state who had fulfilled their sentences and served out their paroles only to be saddled with thousands of dollars in “board bills” for the time they spent in jail.  See it here.

Lobbyist Registrations

Henrio Thelemaque and Mike Winter added Independent Colleges & Universities of Missouri.

$5K+ Contributions

MSCEW PAC Federal Cmte - $15,000 from IBEw PAC Educational Fund.

Missouri Growth PAC - $6,250 from Torch Electronics.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Matt Dameron and St. Louis Alderman Shane Cohn.