MOScout Daily Update: Galloway on the Attack - Roe on 2020 Prez Election - MMJ App Day for Patients - FB Comments Drive Mayor From Office - Cole in Senate 29 and more...
Galloway on the Offense
Post-Dispatch reports that “Auditor Nicole Galloway on Thursday issued an open letter to Gov. Mike Parson pressuring the governor to address the influence of so-called “dark money” in state government… “You could issue an executive order immediately to ensure transparency when it comes to the role of dark money in securing government contracts,” Galloway said, adding that she had proposed legislation that would act as a framework for such an executive order. Her legislation, she said, would require people or businesses entering into a state contract for $5,000 or more to disclose payments over $500 annually to 501(c)(4) nonprofits, which do not have to reveal donors…. Her letter comes a year after she sent a similar letter to Parson, days after former Gov. Eric Greitens left office and Parson was sworn in. Greitens’ 501(c)(4) nonprofit, A New Missouri, raised $6.1 million in contributions in 2017, and the identities of the vast majority of the nonprofit’s donors remain secret…”
What It Means
· There appear to be two lines of attack that Galloway is pursuing. First, Parson is a political insider, swampy and tight with lobbyists as opposed to her shine-the-light-on-them Auditor image. Second, Republicans are too extreme on social issues, mainly abortion.
· This hits the first point.
Cole Announces
One day after Rep. Mike Moon unveiled his online fundraiser “money bomb” (now at $1,208.35 raised, by the way), David Cole officially announced for Senate 29. Cole had formed a campaign committee earlier this year.
From the announcement: Cole is a 5th-generation resident of Barry County and the 29th District with deep family ties to the area. Cole owns and operates a local law office in Cassville and is a small business owner of more than 20 years. Cole is also past-chair of the Missouri Republican Party and the 7th Congressional District. In this role, he helped grow and sustain large Republican majorities in the Missouri Legislature. He also help secure conservatives victories in statewide and U.S. Senate and House seats. Cole plans to bring a fresh perspective to Jefferson City. "I don't hold any public office. The government doesn't pay my way and I don't want a career in politics,” said Cole. “My goal is to take our southwest Missouri conservative values to Jefferson City as a citizen legislator and make a difference."
MMJ: Patient Application Day
DHSS will start accepting patient identification card applications today. See the application here.
The qualifying illnesses are:
· Cancer
· Epilepsy
· Glaucoma
· Intractable migraines unresponsive to other treatment
· A chronic medical condition that causes severe, persistent pain or persistent muscle spasms, including but not limited to those associated with multiple sclerosis, seizures, Parkinson’s disease, and Tourette’s syndrome
· Human immunodeficiency virus or acquired immune deficiency syndrome
· A chronic medical condition that is normally treated with a prescription medication that could lead to physical or psychological dependence, when a physician determines that medical use of marijuana could be effective in treating that condition and would serve as a safer alternative to the prescription medication.
· A terminal illness
· In the professional judgment of a physician, any other chronic, debilitating or other medical condition, including, but not limited to, hepatitis C, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn’s disease, Huntington’s disease, autism, neuropathies, sickle cell anemia, agitation of Alzheimer’s disease, cachexia, and wasting syndrome
But
Springfield News-Leader reports that doctors with the big medical groups aren’t going to be writing these scripts.
On the heels of a Mercy Health announcement late Wednesday that it was "not recommending" medical marijuana to patients, CoxHealth informed its own employees Thursday morning that doctors tied to the system "will not be certifying patients" for medical marijuana… “CoxHealth recognizes that Missouri law allows marijuana to be used by individuals with certain qualifying medical conditions. At the same time, the use and possession of marijuana is still prohibited by federal law… Because we must certify every year that we are in compliance with all federal laws, or risk losing the ability to provide care for Medicare and Medicaid patients, we cannot act in a manner that is in any way inconsistent with federal law… CoxHealth will not be certifying patients as having a qualifying medical condition for use of medical marijuana. Additionally, physicians with privileges to see patients at CoxHealth also may not certify patients as having a qualifying medical condition for use of medical marijuana while they are receiving care at a CoxHealth facility, nor will medical marijuana be allowed in any form at CoxHealth…”
Facebook Comments Got To Him
AP reports: The mayor of Lexington, Missouri, resigned Tuesday, citing hatred, attacks and lies about him on Facebook. Lexington Mayor Fred Wiedner wrote an open letter to the city saying the job was no longer worth the battle. In the letter, Wiedner says he didn't sign up for the "mess."
Wiedner says the trouble began in February when the City Council voted to fire the city administrator, a popular longtime resident. Wiedner says he is comparatively new to town and the public blamed him. Wiedner says the situation led to continued social media criticism that he decided he didn't want to spend time defending.
Lexington, about 50 miles east of Kansas City.
Fun and Interesting
Politico has a roundtable of folks who ran Republican presidential campaigns in 2016, looking at the Democrats and next year’s election. Strongman Jeff Roe is one of them. It’s not Missouri specific, but pretty interesting if you have a few minutes. See it here.
· Jeff Roe: Kamala is going to be on the ticket, so that would be kind of fun. But Sanders is being undervalued. He’s an undervalued stock. It could be a lot of fun. And I think I could actually—I don’t know. He might be as bad as they say he is as a person, but Biden can only underperform. I think Biden is really overvalued as a front-runner. I feel like his ceiling, which he just reset at the highest poll, is at 41. He can’t get 41, so he can really only underperform. I think his floor-ceiling is a real problem for him, whereas with Sanders, he’s probably got a ceiling of 35 and a floor of 25. I also think that Biden is really playing out his hand poorly. He’s running a Rose Garden strategy. I would actually saturate and try and be their [version of] Trump in this race. When he does a gaggle, when he does the pizza parlor, when he does whatever, it’s him. I don’t think Rose Garden is going to work for Biden. I think I’d saturate and suck up all of the oxygen. I think he’s more Trump than anybody else they have for the earned media impressions.
· Jeff Roe: If I was going to run a [Democratic] campaign and I was thinking tactically, I would be up early, very early, attack early, because you can get him from talking about the issues he cares about. Give him Florida. You can fight like a dog the whole time, but you’re not going to win. Do not fight for Florida. I know you’re supposed to, but just let it go.
· Jeff Roe: I think history holds on this. I know we’re in new times and that we’re trying to think about things in ways because everything has changed in the last 10 years, but I think the normalcy of politics holds. You don’t lose reelection unless the economy is a mess. So, I think they need two things. They need the economy to take a downturn and they need a message of what their candidacy would change. [Trump] has taken very populist, outside-the-norm positions that the Republicans accept because he’s doing so much for them and because he’s a standard bearer and he fights the Democrats every day. They would have to have an economic downturn and they would have to have an overwhelming message that 51 percent could get behind—51 percent of the Electoral College. They’ll probably win the popular vote. But I don’t see anybody that does that if this continues the way it is. You still lose. That math holds up. That’s why we all thought we were running. It didn’t matter [that] Hillary was the worst [candidate] in the history of the world. It was only 100,000 votes. I get all that. But a Republican was going to win last time. I think any of our people—it pains me to say, even Kasich probably would have won.
Lobbyists Registrations
Cecil 'Ken' McKinley Franklin deleted Bi-State Development Agency; and added Missouri American Water.
$5K+ Contributions
Uniting Missouri PAC - $10,000 from BNSF Railway Company.
Citizens for Megan Thompson - $75,000 from Megan Thompson.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Nancy Rice.
Saturday: Former Sen. Tim Green.
Sunday: Rep. Jeff Porter and former Sen. Pat Dougherty.