MOScout Daily Update: Bill Hearing Begins - New ECE Campaign in STL - Bloomberg's MO Team - MoCann Questions Scoring and more...
Driving the Week
This first week of hearings gives a pretty good indication of the legislature’s tops priorities…
Senate Side
· Monday, the Judiciary Committee will hear two bills from chairman Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer: two tough on crime bills… one dealing with murderers and the other with “street gangs.”
· Tuesday, Ed Emery’s Government Reform Committee will hear a tort reform bill to make it the award of punitive damages less likely, and two bills (which appear to be identical) to crack down on illegal gaming. One is filed by Sen. Mike Cunningham; the other by Pro Tem Dave Schatz.
· Tuesday, Rules Committee will hear a version of CLEANer (SJR 38). The sponsor is Sen. Dan Hegeman.
· Tuesday, Sen. Bill Eigel will hear his own tort reform bill in General Laws. SB 575 deals with asbestos claims.
· Wednesday, Commerce Committee will hear identical bills from Sens. Justin Brown (SB 597) and Cindy O’Laughlin (SB 604) to prohibit the Grain Belt Express from using eminent domain.
House Side
· As previously mentioned, the House General Laws Committee will hear Hyperloop and Grain Belt at noon on Monday – and they’re scheduled to be voted out on Tuesday!
· Tuesday, Rep. Robert Ross’ Professional Registration Committee will hear three bills to relax licensing regulations. Reps. Steve Lynch and Nick Schroer are similar, but Rep. Derek Grier’s goes farther to include teaching licenses and a slew of other occupations. They are scheduled for committee votes on Wednesday.
· Tuesday, Judiciary Committee will hear Rep. Ron Hick’s HB 1604 which would remove the residency requirement for St. Louis City policemen and women.
Coming Wednesday… SOTS
Wednesday is the State of the State (3PM). But perhaps more important than the speechifying will be the governor unveiling his budget….
More Readers on MO Slow Growth
· The fact is that Missouri has cut taxes significantly over the last two–three decades, with absolutely no positive impact on economic growth, BUT with significant harm to the services and infrastructure that families, communities and the economy need to thrive. As a result, the state is falling further and further behind our neighbors. Some of those tax changes are still being implemented (Senate Bill 509 from 2014). But, when you add all of the reductions together, since 1993, Missouri’s tax changes will reduce state general revenue by $1.5 billion annually (not including tax credits). There’s also little evidence that state tax levels and income taxes have any impact on where people live. Analyses have found that people have been moving away from the Midwest and toward southern and southwestern states for decades for things like jobs, less expensive housing in some cases and for warmer climates. These moves are about lifestyle and not connected to state tax levels. See the following: https://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/state-taxes-have-a-negligible-impact-on-americans-interstate-moves
· Why is everyone ignoring the elephant in the room (pun intended). Every other state has or is expanding Medicaid. It keeps our tax dollars in state, grows the economy and lets rural hospitals stay open. Sheesh, even KANSAS is doing it.
New ECE Push in STL
St. Louis Public Radio reported last week that a community organizing group called WEPOWER wants to raise revenue for early childhood education. According to the playbook, see it here, there’s a plan for St. Louis County and a plan for the St. Louis City.
The plan for the county is to put a half-cent sales tax question on the November 2020 ballot. If successful, the estimated $84 million in revenue will go to the St. Louis County Economic Development Board.
In the city, WEPOWER will ask the Board of Aldermen to amend the city’s charter to “allocate existing dollars from St. Louis City’s general fund, where there is currently a budget surplus of $23 million,” and set it aside for early childhood education. The City of St. Louis Fund Administration Board will receive those funds.
In both the city and county, the public boards will then pass the funds to the community-led, not-for-profits created by WEPOWER to pay for things like child care subsidies, Pre-K seats and home visitation.
According to the playbook, UMSL estimates that high-quality, universal, early childhood education will cost $1.3 billion annually ($356.7 million for the city; $961.4 million for the county). The combination of the sales tax and the city’s surplus general revenue, totaling $107 million, will go to the highest-needs families. The group also plans to seek private and foundational funds.
It’s unclear whether the group will be able to pursue a ballot measure without first passing authorizing legislation at the state level.
MEC Fines MMJ Non-Profit
The Missouri Ethics Commission fined Missourians for Patient Care which funded the failed statutory effort for medical marijuana last year. See the consent order here. The Post-Dispatch article (see it here) yielded these nuggets…
· Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield were among the dozens of donors to a failed medical marijuana ballot initiative whose organizers refused to release the names of contributors ahead of the November 2018 election… [They] cut a $100,000 check weeks before the November election, and Great Saint Louis Inc., a group tied to Sinquefield, contributed an additional $875,000 to the effort…
· The consent order said Missourians for Patient Care hired [Travis Brown’s] First Rule for consulting work.
And
The Missouri Ethics Commission fined Alderwoman Megan Green, running for Senate 5, for failing to report an in-kind contribution. See the Post-Dispatch article here. And see the consent order here.
MMJ Product Facility Licenses
The latest announcement in MMJ licensing…
The Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) has begun the process of issuing 86 licenses for medical marijuana-infused products manufacturing facilities.
Marijuana-infused products are products infused with marijuana or an extract thereof and are intended for use or consumption by a means other than smoking. This can include but is not limited to edible products, ointments, tinctures and concentrates… See the list here.
Meanwhile…
MoCann, Missouri Medical Cannabis Trade Association, sent a letter to Lyndall Fraker raising a specific concern about how the scoring of cultivation licenses was implemented. See it here.
Based on significant feedback from our members, we believe there may be an issue with the scoring of question 47 on the cultivation application.
Question #47 asks applicants: What is your marketing plan, including to whom, method of delivery, and costs?...
This week we analyzed the scoring to this question and came up with some interesting data. Of the 577 cultivation applications, an unheard of 384 (67%) scored a zero on this question. Likewise, only 6% scored a four on the question and only 3% scored a seven, with the remaining 25% scoring a ten. Those scoring a zero on this question include winning and losing applicants alike.
This pattern doesn’t follow the scoring for any of the other questions and might possibly be the
result of human or technological error… While this question alone potentially only impacts a handful of applicants that just barely missed out on a cultivation license, a failure to review and explain this situation could erode confidence in DHSS and the scoring system by many. That’s obviously the last thing we want to see happen…
Bloomberg’s Boots in MO
The press release: Mike Bloomberg 2020 announced the hiring of 28 staff members in Missouri, including eight senior staff and 20 regional organizers deployed across the state. Veteran Democratic operatives, Ryan Hawkins and Grant Campbell, partners in St. Louis-based Winding Creek Strategies, are leading the state’s campaign efforts…. 80 percent of current staff members are women and/or people of color.
Others on the team:
· Roya Massoudnia, Statewide Organizing Director.
· Amanda Galloway, Communications Director.
· Hannah Allee, Digital Director.
· Adam Adamski, Political Director and Western Missouri Director.
· Samuel Rebmann, Deputy Political Director
· David Woodruff, Operations Director.
STL County to Tackle Gun Reform
St. Louis County Executive Sam Page in an email blast…
Today, I asked the County Council to pass legislation that will ban domestic abusers from carrying concealed firearms…
As frustrating as it is, state law makes it hard for local governments like ours to adopt even common sense gun reforms that have bipartisan support. But because the County legislation that I'm introducing would bring our local ordinances in line with federal law, we are on solid legal ground…
We know this legislation will save lives...
Thanks for your support.
Dr. Sam
eMailbag on the Coming Scandal
Oh, no. Since no one on the Hallway Index said "Scandal", I'm certain it will be a scandal. They always sneak up on you…
Help Wanted
Criminal Justice Ministry seeks Executive Director. “CJM is an independent, non-profit community agency affiliated with the Archdiocese of St. Louis that provides jail and prison ministry, client re-entry services, and advocacy for community safety and criminal justice reform… The ED is responsible for leading CJM to success through developing a strategic plan; managing effective programs and services; guiding fundraising efforts; forming a strong management team, and collaborating with key strategic partners. The ED assists the Board of Directors in assessing community needs, setting the agency’s direction and reporting on performance…” See the ad here.
New Committees
Tyler Merkel formed a candidate committee (Merkel for Missouri) to run for House 83 as a Democrat. The current incumbent, Democratic Rep. Gina Mitten, is termed. See Merkel’s bio here.
Lobbyists Registrations
Leslie 'Spud' La Vantres Farr added Knights of Peter Claver Assembly 29.
John Gaskin added Employment Connection.
$5K+ Contributions
St. Charles County Republican Central Committee - $10,000 from Believe in Life and Liberty – BILL PAC.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to St. Louis City Alderman Jeffrey Boyd.