MOScout Daily Update: Rural MO Hit by COVID - Hobbs to DPS - RIP BJ Marsh - Bush Won't Back Pelosi? and more...
COVID Deaths
As we close out the year, the state’s COVID dashboard data shows that many of the hardest hit areas were rural. Initially, the virus seemed to proliferate in the more densely populated cities, but it ultimately had a deeper impact in rural Missouri.
The top ten counties (death by capita, per 100K) are all rural… United States’ overall death by capita (per 100K) is about 102.
Clinton – 275
Gentry – 243
Grundy – 223
Holt – 204
Gasconade – 197
Phelps – 184
New Madrid – 170
Miller – 164
Carroll – 161
Washington - 158
St. Louis County is #24 on the list currently; St. Louis City #52; Greene County #53; Kansas City #70.
Bush Maybe Won’t Back Pelosi?
Politico reports on a CNN segment in which Congresswoman-elect Cori Bush decline to commit to vote for Nancy Pelosi for speaker.
I don’t understand DC politics enough to understand how well this gambit plays. Interesting to see though, definitely a chance from Lacy Clay.
Hobbs to Dept Public Safety
Tyler Hobbs is the new legislative liaison for the Department of Public Safety. He’d previously been with the Missouri Republican Party as Director of Strategic Initiatives, and a staffer with Congressman Billy Long before that.
RIP BJ Marsh
Springfield News Leader remembers former Rep. BJ Marsh. See it here.
B.J. Marsh, who led thousands of Springfieldians on bus tours across the country and then represented them in the Missouri House with maverick flair, died Thursday morning from complications of COVID-19. He was 80 years old. Born in tiny Pennsboro in Dade County, he graduated from Greenfield High School and came to the Queen City in 1958…
In 1988, he ran for a seat in the Missouri House left open when Democratic Rep. Bob Holden ran for state treasurer…
Marsh’s Republican party was deep in the minority at the time, so passing major legislation was generally out of the question. Still, he found ways to help his constituents with whatever they needed…
Chuck Wooten, a fellow Republican who came into the House with Marsh in 1988, said his friend also wasn’t afraid to put principle over party politics. “Sometimes every Republican on the floor would vote one way and he’d vote the other,” he said. “But he'd make up his own mind, and that’s the way it would be.”
That wasn’t enough to win a third consecutive term in 1992, when Democrat Mike Schilling beat him by 59 votes. But even in defeat, Marsh found a way to do his constituents a solid. When some of his friends urged him to demand a recount on the tight margin, he rebuffed them, telling the News-Leader, “that would cost taxpayers money.”
“It’s a tough seat to hold,” he added. “(Schilling) won it fair and square.”
Eight years later, Marsh took it back and never lost again, serving four consecutive terms from 2001-2009. And with his party in the majority, he eventually got the chance to do something really big for his constituents: pass the bill that dropped the “Southwest” from Southwest Missouri State. After Norma Champion got the name change through the Senate, Marsh worked across the aisle to corral 120 votes in the House to put an exclamation point on a decades-long effort.
He also maintained that independent streak. When his party passed a sweeping anti-abortion bill, he objected because it made it harder to offer sexual education aimed at reducing unplanned pregnancies. He was the only Republican in the region to do so….
Goodman Gets Appt
Governor Mike Parson “announced the appointment of Judge Jack A.L. Goodman to the Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District. Judge Goodman will succeed Judge Daniel E. Scott, who will retire on December 31, 2020.”
Goodman served in the state senate, overlapping with Parson’s time there for just a few years.
And
Governor Mike Parson also made two other appointments…
· Kea S. Bird-Riley as Associate Circuit Judge for the 16th Judicial Circuit. She will fill the Associate Circuit Judge vacancy created by the appointment of the Honorable Sarah Castle to Circuit Judge.
· Ginger Koller Joyner as the Reynolds County Prosecuting Attorney. Ms. Joyner will fill the vacancy created by the election of Michael Randazzo to Circuit Judge.
Oxford Out at Empower
Jean Mott Oxford, the guiding force of Empower Missouri for many years, wrote on Facebook over the long break: It is with deep sadness that I share with Facebook friends that, on December 11, I was terminated from Empower Missouri. When I asked why, the only reply from the board president and vice president was that it was “without cause” and they are going in a new direction. Empower Missouri has an incredible 120-year history of working for social justice in Missouri. It was such an honor to follow in the footsteps of people like Roger Baldwin, Herman and Dorothy Johnson, Mary Kay McPhee, Elaine Aber, Janet Becker, Pat & Ben Martin, Peter DeSimone, Marcia Hayes-Harris, Ted & Linda Schroeder, Pat Dougherty, Debi Pratt, Joe Yancey – and others - who were either on staff or key Board members/organizational leaders during times of great challenge. I could not have asked for better workmates than Christine Woody, Rico Bush, and Sarah Owsley (and Molly Pearson too before her December 11 departure to work at PROMO). I pray the "new direction" keeps bending the arc of history toward justice, and I grieve that I am not allowed to be part of the Empower Missouri staff team any longer.
Lobbyists Registrations
Trent Watson added Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc.
John Bardgett, Jacqueline Bardgett, Mark Habbas, Chris Roepe, and Erika Leonard added St. Charles County Ambulance District, and Evergy; and deleted Valencia Group.
John Bardgett and Jacqueline Bardgett deleted Gallagher NAC and Missouri Association of Career Fire Protection Districts
John Parris deleted all clients except Associated General Contractors of Missouri.
Kim Tuttle deleted all clients.
Chris Roepe deleted Gallagher NAC.
David Winton and Jessica Petrie deleted DentaQuest LLC, and Greene Fox Holdings.
Mark Rhoads deleted Check Into Cash, and Multistate Associates Inc.
$5K+ Contributions
Missouri United - $7,500 from Xcaliber International Ltd LLC.
CWA-COPE Political Contributions Federal Committee - $41,000 from Communications Workers of America- COPE PCC.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Janes Harris, LuAnn Madsen, Renee Holshof, and Sue Entlicher.
MOScout Schedule
Hope everyone is having a nice holiday. It’s another short week for me… Just Monday through Wednesday.