MOScout Daily Update: Vaccination Rollout - GOP MedEx Strategy? - Trump Day in the House - Clay County Reset and more...

How Many Vaccines? How Fast?

Director Randall Williams told reporters that he expected to have enough supply of vaccines to cover two million Missourians by the end of February.

That’s extraordinary news.

If delivered effectively to target populations it would largely allow a “return to normal.”

By vaccinating nursing home residents (approximately 85,000), you can probably cut the number of COVID deaths in half immediately.

Healthcare workers (350,000), teachers and essential workers (200,000), and then vaccinate a big chunk of the 1.8M Missourians with pre-existing conditions.

Once the vulnerable populations are covered, restrictions on daily acts of commerce and entertainment can be loosened presumably without much outcry.

But

Missouri Independent reports on the potential snafus in distributing the vaccines.  Read it here.

But receiving enough doses is just the first step. Missourians will also have to be willing to take them.  “It is not the vaccine that will get us there — it’s vaccinations,” Randall Williams, the state health department’s director, said late last month… In a draft of a marketing campaign included in Missouri’s vaccine distribution plan, a proposal to spend nearly $600,000 aims to do just that, including tailoring social media posts to targeted audiences like in areas where there might be outbreaks; putting posters and billboards in communities with nursing homes; using Google Search to drive people to the state’s website as they search for a vaccine’s availability; and working with “minority influencers” and community newspapers to specifically reach the state’s Black residents.

What It Means

Getting Missourians vaccinated – the logistical challenges, prioritizing the distribution as well as the public campaign to instill confidence and compliance – will be the number one issue for the Parson administration over the next ten weeks.

There have been rumors of changes in the second floor, but it wouldn’t surprise me if everyone stays put until this critical mission is accomplished.

GOP Coalescing on MedEx Strategy?

There seems to be an emerging consensus among Republican legislators that “reforms” are necessary with the coming Medicaid expansion.

Most recently House Budget Chair Cody Smith was quoted: "We will need to have some reforms to our Medicaid program that will generate cost savings,"

This follows similar talk from Sen-elect Jason Bean (see it here), and Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin (see it here).

The constitutional amendment prohibits making changes to eligibility. Therefore, work requirements or other potential barriers to enrollment are off the table.

Bean mentioned two ideas: moving some portions of the Medicaid program to managed care, and cutting back on reimbursements, particularly for out-of-state patients. O’Laughlin, meanwhile, suggested decreasing payments to urban hospitals.

For the Love of Trump

I guess the House is going to go on with a hearing on Rep. Justin Hill’s resolution to express no confidence in the American presidential election. 

It seems a bit frivolous, given the Supreme Court dismissed the latest and greatest lawsuit from President Donald Trump’s legal team, and the Electoral College is voting today.

And

Apparently, Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman is petitioning to rename a portion of a highway after Trump.

Clay County Reset

The animosity which has characterized the Clay County Commission over the past couple of years is lifting with last month’s election results.  Commissioner Jerry Nolte writes on Facebook: Husch Blackwell has resigned as legal counsel for Clay County effective December 31. I wish them luck in their future endeavors. As part of the New Clay County Commission, I look forward to working with Megan and Jon in the selection of new counsel as well as the other challenges and opportunities we face. We are rapidly approaching an exciting new chapter of governance for Clay County and its citizens, this is our time to make Clay County a truly First Class County.

eMailbag on Death Penalty Poll Numbers

Interesting death penalty [poll] numbers… The death penalty is a moral issue for some and a policy issue for others. However, it is also a government program with related costs and possible benefits. Many people assume that the state saves money by employing the death penalty since an executed person no longer requires confinement, health care, and related expenses. But in the modern application of capital punishment, that assumption has been proven wrong.

The death penalty is far more expensive than a system utilizing life-without-parole sentences as an alternative punishment. Some of the reasons for the high cost of the death penalty are the longer trials and appeals required when a person’s life is on the line, the need for more lawyers and experts on both sides of the case, and the relative rarity of executions. Most cases in which the death penalty is sought do not end up with the death penalty being imposed. And once a death sentence is imposed, the most likely outcome of the case is that the conviction or death sentence will be overturned in the courts. Most defendants who are sentenced to death essentially end up spending life in prison, but at a highly inflated cost because the death penalty was involved in the process.

Lobbyists Registrations

Michael Junk added QuikTrip Corporation.

John Anthony Dupuy added Maker Redux Corporation.

Adam McBride deleted Missouri Laborers' Legislative Committee.          

Lisa Christie deleted Burch & Associates.

$5K+ Contributions

314 Forward (pro-Tishaura Jones) - $20,000 from Fuse Advertising.

St. Charles County Association of REALTORS Political Action Committee - $5,622 from Missouri REALTORS.