MOScout Daily Update: Senate Perfects Tort - Dems Target Claire Districts - Schatz on Hogs - GOP Disowns West and more...

Senate Perfects Tort Bill

After an all-long filibuster, the Senate perfected Sen. Bill White’s tort reform bill. The bill addressed merchandising practices and punitive damages – two priorities for the Republican supermajority. But in laying over Sen. Bill Eigel’s SB 575, Dems prevented changes to the asbestos claim procedure.

What It Means

·         It’s a great victory for the Senate leadership.  They’ve now accomplished two top goals for the session – CLEAN Missouri and tort reform.  An they’ve done so while preserving relatively good relations with the minority party, as well as preventing any breakaway renegade groups from their own party.

·         In recent years, Dems have faced the hard truth that elections have consequences.  Their super minority can’t stonewall the entire GOP agenda.  This compromise represents the acknowledgment that voters have supported majority party – and they have a right to pass at least some version of their priority bills.

·         And Dems are hopeful there won’t be anymore big tort bills this session.

·         By keeping the Senate a functional body, and knocking two big ticket items off before Spring Break, every senator has a better change at getting their individual priorities passed through the body without a big bottleneck.

House Dems Target “Claire Districts”

House Democrats are targeting district won by Claire McCaskill in 2018 as they draw up their 2020 battle plans.  They’re making no secret about this.

·         The thinking is that there are places where the Dem brand is so damaged that even if voters agree with them on the issues, they won’t punch a D.  But districts that voted for McCaskill two years ago have not gone “culturally Republican,” and can be flipped.

·         This is a change from some previous Dem thinking – hoping for a wave and having lots of candidate in position to catch the anti-Donald Trump tsunami.  It didn’t come in 2018 like they hoped.

On the hit list…

House 10 – Rep. Bill Falkner

House 16 – Rep. Noel Shull termed.

House 30 – Rep. Jonathon Patterson.

House 47 – Rep. Chuck Basye.

House 65 – Rep. Tom Hannegan.

House 94 – Rep. Jim Murphy.

House 106 – Rep. Chrissy Sommer termed.

House 135 – Rep. Steve Helms.

But

Of course, Dems are eying other districts.  For example, they think their candidate in House 31, Rhonda Dolan will give Rep. Dan Stacy a run for his money.

And

They’re thinking about the long game.  At an event with candidates after filing, Minority Leader Crystal Quade singled out Rep. Deb Lavender as a shining example of someone who ran and ran and ran, knocking doors and slowly building a winning coalition, until she flipped her district and eventually ran unopposed.

Also

If Clean isn’t overturned but actually gets implemented, that will provide a boost in 2022 to the Dems’ push to gain seats.

GOP Disowns West

The Republican House leadership denounced Steve West, who’s running in House 15.

Statement from Speaker Elijah Haahr, Majority Leader Rob Vescovo and Speaker Pro-Tem John Wiemann: “Steve West's shocking and vile comments do not reflect the position of the Missouri Republican Party or indeed of any decent individual.  West's abhorrent rhetoric has absolutely no place in the Missouri Republican Party or anywhere. We wholeheartedly condemn his comments. To our knowledge, no member of the Missouri Republican Party, the House Republican Campaign Committee, or sitting member of the General Assembly recruited Mr. West to run for office; we find his statements to be vile, offensive, and out of line with our party's values.”

And

The Missouri Republican Party will be donating West’s $50 filing fee to a non-profit which combats anti-Semitism.

Gas Utility Bill in Pipeline

Sen. Wayne Wallingford’s SB 618 is on the Senate calendar and may see debate soon on the floor.  It seeks to clarify the statute about replacing gas infrastructure after a Western District Court changed the previous understanding of what was covered. 

The Public Service Commission apparently disagreed with the court’s opinion.  It has appealed their decision.  In the meantime, SB 618 would explicitly define the matter.

It’s a very brief and straightforward bill….

Mains, valves, service lines, regulator stations, vaults, and other pipeline system components installed to comply with state or federal safety requirements as replacements for existing cast iron, steel, or other facilities that [have worn out or are in deteriorated condition] can no longer be installed under currently applicable safety standards, including any connected or associated facilities that, regardless of their material, age, or condition, are replaced as part of a qualifying replacement project in a manner that adds no incremental cost to a project compared to tying into or reusing existing facilities;

KMOV on Dem Prez Preference

KMOV unveiled a poll which shows Missouri Democrats favor Joe Biden still (22.4%) followed by Mike Bloomberg (17.4%). See it here.

O’Laughlin on MMJ

On Facebook Sen. Cindy O'Laughlin echoes criticism of the medical marijuana license process… I had a visit from one of the applicants who had applied for multiple licenses and lost out by very few points. The scoring of the applications was done by a third party (why is it our departments seem to always have to hire someone outside the government to get something done?) In the particular case that I am mentioning the very same page was scored very low in one application and high in the other. This makes no sense to me, nor to them. Of course the Department has lawyered up so you can't really talk with anyone about specifics. Applicants have also lawyered up so my conclusion is that government is good for one thing....lawyers.

Schatz on Hogs

In his weekly column pro tem Dave Schatz explains fighting the feral hog problem in Missouri.  See it here.

The MDC has been battling feral hogs for years, and they have settled on a strategy of trapping large groups of hogs and terminating them… When hunters shoot feral hogs, it complicates efforts to remove these pests. Hogs are social animals that travel in groups called sounders. Shooting one or two hogs scatters the sounder and makes trapping efforts aimed at catching the entire group at once more difficult, because hogs become trap-shy and more wary of baited sites. With their high reproductive rate, removing one or two hogs does not help to reduce populations. Anyone who observes a feral hog or damage caused by feral hogs should report it to the Conservation Department rather than shooting the animal so we can work together towards eradication…

With federal and state agencies partnering with property owners, I believe we can make progress on eradicating this invasive species. Feral hogs were eradicated from Missouri once before, and we can do it again.

Press releases

• All three major credit rating agencies recently affirmed Missouri’s AAA credit rating and responded positively to Governor Mike Parson’s proposed establishment of a Cash Operating Expense Fund (COEF) in Missouri….

• Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that Missouri has joined a bipartisan, multistate investigation of JUUL Labs.  The 39-state multistate coalition is investigating JUUL’s marketing and sales practices, including targeting of youth, and more… In 2019, according to the Center for Disease Control, 1 in 4 high school students said that they use vaping products.

• Missouri Technology Corporation’s (MTC) Board of Directors announced that Jack Scatizzi will lead MTC as its new executive director.

Gubby Appts

Governor Mike Parson announced five appointments to various boards and commissions and filled one county office vacancy. 

·         Robert P. Ballsrud, of St. Louis, was appointed to the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority.

·         Edward Frederick, of Boonville, was appointed to the State Technical College of Missouri Board of Regents.

·         Nate K. Johnson, of St. Louis, was appointed to the Bi-State Development Agency of the Missouri-Illinois Metropolitan District.

·         Wayne Johnson, of Sedgewickville, was appointed as an Associate Commissioner for Bollinger County.

·         Steve Sellenriek, of Jonesburg, was reappointed to the State Technical College of Missouri Board of Regents.

·         Shanda Trautman, of Springfield, was appointed to the State Technical College of Missouri Board of Regents.

New Candidate Filings

Kevon Graves filed to run in House 22 as a Democrat.  This creates a primary for Rep. Yolanda Young.

Dottie Baily filed to run for re-election in House 110.

Lobbyist Registrations

James Harris added Missouri Cable Telecommunications Association.

David Jackson added Jefferson City Medical Group.

Jeremy Kudon added PGA Tour Inc, National Basketball Association (NBA), and Major League Baseball (MLB).

Jeremy LaFaver added St. Joseph Medical Center, and St. Mary's Medical Center.

Shanon Hawk added Stub Hub.       

Randy McGinley deleted Bayer Corporation.

$5K+ Contributions

American Dream PAC - $10,000 from Evergy Metro Inc.

House Republican Campaign Committee, Inc - $15,000 from Graves for Congress.

Uniting Missouri PAC - $15,000 from Thompson Coburn LLP.

New Approach PAC - $100,000 from New Approach PAC.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Hannah Beers and Doug Crews.

Congratulations

To Aaron Griesheimer and his wife Amanda on the birth of their daughter Shiloh Rae Griesheimer!