MOScout Daily Update: Graves Heads New Herzog Foundation - Hill Hearing - Ethics Meets Today - More on Death Penalty and more....
Graves Takes Reins of New Herzog Foundation
Kansas City Business Journal reports on a new foundation founded by the late Stan Herzog. It’s focused on education. See the article here.
Stan Herzog, former chairman and CEO of Herzog Contracting Corp. in St. Joseph, amassed a fortune in the rail and heavy highway construction industry and bequeathed hundreds of millions of dollars for a new charitable foundation dedicated to increasing the quality and availability of Christian education… The foundation's primary focus will be K-12, but it also will invest in Christian educational initiatives for colleges and trade schools, and non-school educational programs.
Herzog named Kansas City lawyer Todd Graves, a partner at Graves Garrett LLC, as chairman of his foundation…
Todd Graves will now ensure Herzog's wishes for the foundation are carried out. He's joined in management of the foundation by Vice President John Elliot, an executive at Smithville marketing company Inside Information Inc., and Treasurer Kristen Ansley, a Kansas City lawyer who has held several roles related to the Missouri Republican Party….
Graves said the foundation will not just spend the interest earned on the endowment each year. Herzog wanted the endowment spent as well. "Stanley believed we should spend the entire amount in 15-20 years," Graves said. "He thought there was no reason to have some kind of ongoing bureaucracy. Stanley was an entrepreneur and he was big on results. He didn't believe in building a bureaucracy to exist for its own benefit. So we'll be spending all the money."
What It Means
There’s no mention of political engagement from this new foundation. But with a focus on education and several big GOP names involved, they could certainly influence educational policy in Jeff City if they decided to enter into the debate.
Circus With the Tent on Fire
The House held its hearing last night on Rep. Justin Hill’s resolution declaring no confidence in the presidential election results. It was, in the words of one building denizen, “a circus with the tent on fire.”
Rudy Guiliani showed up via Zoom as Republicans and Democrats spoke past each other “mostly saying hooray for our side.”
From the other side of the building: I am always OK with the House reminding people why lobbyists generally don’t give a sh*t about them anymore and just come over to the Senate when it’s time to do something productive.
Roeber Denied Membership in GOP Caucus
Missouri Independent reports that “Rick Roeber, the Republican elected to the Missouri House while facing allegations by his adult children that he physically and sexually abused them when they were young, will not be allowed to caucus with his party when the legislative session begins next month. Roeber will be sworn into office next month, and the allegations against him will be investigated by the House ethics committee… Last month, three of Roeber’s children — Anastasia Roeber, Samson Roeber and Gabrielle Galeano — sent a letter to Vescovo detailing the allegations and pleading that Roeber be prevented from serving as a state representative…”
What It Means
House leadership is navigating a very tricky situation as astutely as possible. On the one hand, this information was widely available by Election Day and the voters chose Roeber. On the other, the allegations – coming from his own kids – appear very credible and must be taken very seriously.
The Organizing Never Stops
Conservatives aren’t taking time off after the election. Here’s an invite for what looks like old fashioned grassroots organizing – no fundraising sales pitch.
Though one politico told me they suspected it could be the start of laying groundwork for a 2024 bid. We’ll see….
LIHTC Restart
Post-Dispatch reports that the “Missouri Housing Development Commission could meet as soon as this week to allocate Missouri Low Income Housing Tax Credits for projects around the state, including several in the St. Louis area. It would be the first time that Missouri has issued state low-income tax credits since Greitens’ administration in December 2017 engineered a vote at the commission halting the state credits, angering a politically powerful industry…
Critics of the program have cited state audits from offices led by both political parties rapping the program for inefficiency. A large chunk of the value of the credits is lost because they’re paid out over a decade, purchased at a discount and used to pay administrative and financing expenses incurred turning the complicated program into actual money for housing construction…
The Housing Development Commission this year did make some changes to the program, capping the state tax credit match at 70% of the federal credits, a level similar to that called for in the failed 2019 legislation. That will lower the cost to the state over the years, which is substantial…. Another change in this year’s state credit issuance is a new pilot program that will front-load the amount of state credits doled out to some developments, giving projects more credits more quickly. That, many hope, will increase the value of the state credits by getting them into the hands of investors more quickly…”
House Ethics Meets Today
As I understand it, there are two outstanding ethics complaints before the House Ethics Committee – one Republican and one Democrat. The Committee meets today at 12:30PM. We’ll see if there’s any resolution. It’s possible the complaints can be dismissed without any comment, or there could be a formal conclusion made public.
In a less likely third scenario, the case or cases could be referred to next year’s Ethic Committee. If that happens, it’s normal practice that they begin the proceedings from scratch so that the new members of the Ethics Committee hear all the evidence.
I’d like to say “we’ll see,” but we may not.
eMailbag on Death Penalty Adding to Costs
· In the e-mail you posted regarding the cost of the death penalty had one telling sentence that said in most cases where the death penalty is sought it is not imposed. Many cases where the death penalty is on the table result in a plea to life without parole. This saves the victim’s family from having to go through a trial and possibly testifying. It also saves the state the cost of the trial. However, if the death penalty is removed as an option and the only possible sentence for first degree murder is life without, there is no incentive for the defendant to enter into a plea. The result is significantly more trials and more costs.
· I’ve asked the AGs office, the Judiciary and the public defenders how many fewer FTEs they would need if the state dropped the death penalty. I’ve also asked how much out of their budgets the leg could expect to see reduced if dropped. I’ve also asked Corrections how much the leg could reduce their budget or reduce FTEs if the death penalty was eliminated, I never, not one single time, had any of them show me a savings.
Lobbyists Registrations
Tom Dempsey added Exemplar Public Affairs, and People United for Privacy.
Stacey Pellett added John Deere.
Trent Watson added Aligned, and Missouri Rural Water Association; and deleted AmeriHealth Caritas Family of Companies, and Dascena, Inc.
$5K+ Contributions
Supporters of Health Research and Treatments - $25,000 from George Paz.
Birthdays
Happy birthday to Ric Telhorst.