MOScout Daily Update: Neely Adds $$ - Impeachment Yawn - Dems on Guns - Eigel's Oil Tax and more...
Neely Adds $$$
In the large contributions (below), Rep. Jim Neely added $184,557 to his campaign account. He’s running a longgggg-shot campaign against Governor Mike Parson in the Republican primary.
While $184K is nothing to sneeze at… it’s hardly worth more than a cough considering that Parson for Missouri has $1.3 million on-hand, and the Uniting Missouri PAC has another $5.1 million on-hand.
Impeachment Trial Starts
The U.S. Senate’s impeachment trial begins today. MOScout’s Hallway Index has consistently yawned at this having a meaningful impact on Missouri politics. In fact, the last time I asked the question (in November) twice as many folks thought the whole thing would be of greater benefit to Missouri Republicans than to MO Dems.
· Trump won MO by 19. Anything that fires up his base benefits R’s. Trump will call this a witch hunt for the next 12 months.
· It seems to be just cementing folks to whatever camp they were in to start with.
· Everyone is already in their corners. I don’t think it swings much either way.
Driving the Day
The House Democratic Caucus will hold a news conference at 1 p.m. on Tuesday in the House Lounge to discuss a package of legislation aimed at reducing gun violence in Missouri…
What It Means
This is Dems using a specific issue to target the districts where Republicans are most vulnerable: the suburbs. Smart politics.
Driving the Week
· The legislature reconvenes today at 4PM from the long weekend.
· Tomorrow at 10AM is the normally laborious “State of the Judiciary” address.
· Also tomorrow… [press release] “Missouri charter school students, parents, and community members from Kansas City and St. Louis will flock to the state’s Capitol Rotunda for a rally leading up to National School Choice Week. Several hundred are expected to attend the event, including guests of honor Rep. Doug Richey, Rep. Michael O’Donnell, and Sen. Jamilah Nasheed. The rally, which will be the first led by charter schools in several years, will kick off at noon on Wednesday, Jan. 22 with a student performance… This event is organized by the Missouri Public Charter School Association….”
More on Wieland Appt…
First, multiple MOScout sources say the governor’s office definitely had a conversation with Sen. Paul Wieland about an appointment. It appears the difference between the claims lies in what constitutes an offer or just talk.
And readers weighed in…
· If this is chess, they are playing it very poorly. Who becomes Speaker if Rob Vescovo leaves? Does it get any easier? They got Scott Fitzpatrick out and now deal with Cody Smith, which has not been better for them. They’ve just magnified Rob’s power with all this.
· I’m willing to have someone correct my math, in case it’s wrong, but if Paul Wieland resigns, the calculus for Vescovo to consider is more likely two years as speaker or ten years as a senator… if a successor elected in a November 2020 special election waited until at least the third day of regular session (Monday, January 11, 2021) to take the oath of office, rather than the first day (Wednesday, January 6, 2021), it would be “service of less then . . . two years, in the case of a member of the senate, by a person elected . . . to complete the term of another person,” and he or she would be eligible to run for re-election twice more (2022 and 2026).
Mizzou Cut
One item in the governor’s budget raising eyebrows is the $7 million cut to University of Missouri NextGen Precision Health Institute.
A couple of theories have emerged about the slight to the flagship university. One is that it’s “3-D chess” with the 2nd floor teeing up a win for Senate Floor Leader Caleb Rowden. Rowden has been a good working partner with the governor and faces a tough re-election bid in a swing district. Perhaps his ability to restore the cut will be a good talking point. Others see it completely unnecessary and simply a move that gives the House a point of leverage in their eventual negotiations with the Senate.
We’ll see….
Trump’s Medicaid Transformation
Wall Street Journal reports that the “Trump administration plans to release guidance as soon as this month for granting states waivers to convert Medicaid funding to block grants, according to two people familiar with the matter, paving the way for a transformation of the 55-year-old program that is likely to reignite a partisan feud… Approving state waivers to change Medicaid funding to block grants would be among the administration’s most controversial moves to reshape Medicaid, a federal-state program that provides health coverage to one in five low-income Americans… Medicaid funding is open-ended, meaning the federal government matches state spending. If that funding is converted to a block grant, a state could get a limited, lump sum of federal money instead… Medicaid block grants have long been an ambition of conservatives. States that get block grants likely wouldn’t have to adhere to certain federal eligibility requirements or specific health-benefit services, for example…”
What It Means
· While Todd Richardson has been digging away trying to revamp Missouri Medicaid delivery system within the current framework, this has the potential to blow-up the whole design.
· However, the article explains that Trump’s move will likely get detoured into the courts delaying any impact for perhaps years.
Eigel’s Oil Tax
Today the Senate Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing on Sen. Bill Eigel’s SB 573.
· It would annually increase the gas tax until it hits an additional 6 cents in 2024. The money would be deposited into the “State Road Fund.”
· Offsetting the increased tax burden would be another shaving of the state income tax, cutting off .3%.
· Although the bill checks all of Eigel’s ideological boxes, it’s likely a non-starter on the Senate floor because it would blow a hole in the budget.
RGC Wags Finger at MO
From Casino.org (see it here): Four US states have been named and shamed for failing to meet their responsible gaming spending targets in a new report from the Responsible Gaming Collaborative (RGC)… Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and Oklahoma each fell short on their promises to plow an allocated quota of funds from gaming tax revenue into responsible gambling initiatives… In 2018… Missouri had $395,598 allocated for responsible gambling initiatives, but spent only $120,418… Formed last year, the RGC is a research collaboration between disparate stakeholders that include nonprofits like the National Council on Problem Gambling, academic institutions like the Yale School of Medicine, and industry bodies, such as the American Gaming Association…
Court Bits
· The Appellate Judicial Commission announced its panel of nominees to fill the vacancy on the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District. The nominees are Michael E. Gardner, Jeffery T. McPherson and Michael W. Noble…
· Governor Mike Parson appointed T. Todd Myers as the Associate Circuit Judge for the 31st Judicial Circuit. He will fill the Associate Circuit Judge vacancy created by the appointment of the Honorable Becky Borthwick to Circuit Judge.
Lobbyists Registrations
Shanon Hawk added Missourians For Local Asset Governance.
Miranda Renee Pratt added Humane Society Legislative Fund, and Stray Dog Capital
Scott Penman and Kaycee Nail added Cornerstones of Care and Missouri Association of Convention and Visitors' Bureaus; and deleted Americans for Patient Access.
Zach Brunnert, Franc Flotron, John Gaskin, Richard McIntosh, Bill Stouffer, and David McCracken added Fathers and Families Support Center.
Jacqueline Bargdett added Associated Cemeteries of Missouri.
Kyna Iman added National Coalition for Public School Options.
John Coffman added AARP-Missouri, John B Coffman LLC, Consumers Council of Missouri, and Missouri Civil Liberties Association.
Ryan Johnson added People United for Privacy, Exemplar Public Affairs LLC, United For Missouri, and United For Missouri's Future.
Mike Grote added Missouri Gaming Association, Missouri School Boards' Association, AT Government Strategies LLC, Western Governors University, Winton Policy Group, North Central Missouri Regional Water Commission, Polsinelli PC, Missouri Association of Rural Health Clinics, Missouri Juvenile Justice Association, Boone County Missouri, American Registry of Radiologic Technologists, Gateway Foundation, Dogwood Energy LLC, eBay Inc., and Missouri Association of Municipal Utilities.
$5K+ Contributions
American Dream PAC - $50,000 from RSLC - Missouri PAC.
Citizens For Neely - $184,557 from James Neely.
Midwest Region Laborers' Political League Education Fund - $7,117 from Laborers Supplemental Dues Fund.
Birthdays
Happy birthday to Farrah Fite.