MOScout Daily Update: Biden Wins MO - House Perfects BioDiesel - Schaaf Testifies About C-Virus and more...
MO Dem Prez Results
Joe Biden won Missouri with 60% of the vote. He also notched wins in Michigan, Mississippi, and Idaho. It appears he’ll ultimately be the Democrats’ presidential nominee.
The conventional wisdom among Missouri Democrats holds that Biden as nominee is marginally helpful to their efforts.
Also seen positively by Dems: yesterday’s turnout.
· Washington Post report Dave Weigel tweeted, “Missouri may be the most dramatic example of the Democrats’ suburban shift. Statewide, turnout pretty flat compared to 2016 - from 629k to 664k. But St. Louis County jumped from 162k to 172k. St. Charles County from 40k to 46k. Clay County from 23k to 29k.”
Coronavirus Update
The Joint Committee on Disaster Preparedness and Awareness met yesterday. Dr. Randall Williams testified that his team has been meeting and preparing for this for weeks.
· Approximately 80% of coronavirus cases are considered “mild,” 14% require hospitalization, and the fatality rate is about 2%.
· The Hospital Association testified that hospitals in the state have capacity to handle approximately 3,000 hospitalizations from this.
· The math (3,000/.14) means that more than 21,500 Missouri cases would stress the healthcare system’s ability to provide for the afflicted.
· Missouri now has one confirmed case; the United States has 1,000 cases. There’s no debate that both these numbers are going higher. The question is how high, how fast.
Other Testimony
Former Sen. Rob Schaaf testified: “You are hearing from the bureaucrats that we are prepared. We are not prepared.”
· He told lawmakers they should stop everything else you’re doing and work on this.
· Schaaf suggested emergency rules for the legislature to continue to work even if the capitol is on lockdown or legislators can’t congregate.
· The state should furlough non-violent or inmates near the end of their term because the virus will hit them especially hard.
Rep. Justin Hill said that the clerks of both chambers are preparing plans for the possibility that legislative work and votes might have to be done remotely.
And
St. Louis Public Radio Julie O’Donoghue tweets about her husband not being able to be tested for the coronavirus. Read it here.
Ed Watch: SBOE Agenda
The State Board of Education meets this morning. The agenda looks fairly light with consideration of new rules covering student transportation, professional development and teacher education. A few charter schools are up for discussion to which one building denizen shrugged, “They’ll just bitch about their performance and then give them a renewal.”
And
The Senate Education Committee debated Sen. Mike Cunningham’s SB 830 yesterday. Sen. Jill Schupp questioned why the bill mandated career planning conversations in high school. One observer commented that she sounded like a Republican. Minutes later Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin said this was out of the norm, but that she “completely agreed with Schupp.” Then Sen. Ed Emery seconded that and said early career planning “might be great in a socialist country,” but cautioned that we may be pushing too hard for kids to pick a career before they graduate.
More on PDMP
Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin explains the PDMP compromise on Facebook: For eight years conservatives in the legislature have refused to create a GOVERNMENT PRESCRIPTION DATA BASE which could be accessible to law enforcement, government busybodies monitoring you and your doctor, virtually anyone who wants to know your private information as the PDMP's in place across the country are not protected by HIPPA laws.
Our Conservative Caucus kept their commitment to refusing to allow a government data base to be initiated and maintained.
Last night our Conservative Caucus introduced a method whereby electronic medical records (which are in use virtually everywhere now as required by law) could be linked together so your doctor or pharmacist can see your prescription history for certain scheduled drugs. This data CANNOT BE SHARED OR ACCESSED EXCEPT BY YOUR DOCTOR OR PHARMACIST. There is no "DATABASE" which could be exported or sold to outside entities such as local governments or the federal government. The idea of a PDMP kept on servers in Jefferson City or elsewhere has been finally (once truly agreed and finally passed) put to rest….
Wayfair Next?
As the Senate keeps checking off its big-ticket items, next up on the To Do list appears to be adding an internet sales tax…
House Perfects Biodiesel Mandate
Rep. Mike Haffner’s HB 1858 was perfected yesterday in the House. It will be interesting to see a roll call vote on this when it’s third read. Several conservative Republicans declared their opposition on the floor. Assuming it passes this week or next, look for this battle to continue in the Senate after Spring break….
Bits
· Post-Dispatch reports that “leaders of the Missouri House and Senate are urging school groups and other lobbying organizations to stay away from the Capitol during the coronavirus outbreak…” See it here.
· AP reports on Claire McCaskill’s move into the role of TV pundit. See it here.
· Lobbyist Aaron Baker is running for school board in his hometown of Atlanta. But he’s not spending money because the law forbids a committee being formed by a lobbyist…
New Candidate Filings
Raymond Kinney filed to run in Senate 31 as a Democrat. This is Sen. Ed Emery’s district.
Gabriel Jones filed to run in House 93 as a Republican. This is Bob Burn’s district.
New Committees
Patriot PAC was formed. Its treasurer is Mark Milton.
Lobbyist Registrations
Kathy Becker added Downtown Community Improvement District; and deleted Kathleen A. Becker.
Jim Cooper added Casey’s General Stores, Cooper Governmental Services, and Independent Electrical Contractors Association of Greater St. Louis.
Mike Hely added St. Louis Area Business Health Coalition.
David Sweeney added Mission St. Louis.
Mark Bryant added Greenwood Management.
Drew Tamoney and Bill Manthorne added Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC.
$5K+ Contributions
Missourians for a New Approach - $10,000 from Fresh Green, LLC.
Missourians for Healthcare - $18,194 from The Fairness Project (Washington DC).
MO Republican Party - $10,000 from Uniting Missouri PAC.
Birthdays
Happy birthday to Jay Reichard.