MOScout Daily Update: Here Come Omnibus Bills - Riggs for Asst Floor - Tech Problems in Hearing - Greitens Gives Defective Masks and more...

Legislating by Omnibus

The House and Senate appear to be using massive omnibus bills as vehicles during these final weeks.

The House has shoveled dozens of House bills into various Senate bills.  See the list here.

The Senate likewise used its floor time yesterday to pile up vehicles.  They added several big amendments to SB 704 before it got derailed.  And then they did the same perfecting HB 2046 with ten amendments.

The calculation seems to be that the legislature can act more efficiently this way, passing many lesser priorities instead of pushing them off to next year.  But this method certainly has draw-backs.

·         The House omnibus bills are very difficult to track.  They’re going through various iterations without any summary language to easily know what’s in the latest version.

·         The odds of unintended consequences due to language not being carefully vetted goes way up.

·         The conference committees will wield enormous power while the individual committee are essentially cut-out of the formal process.

·         There will inevitably be Hammerschimdt concerns as the bills take on a hodge-podge nature.

And

Asking folks to stay away only works if the technology works and stakeholders are assured that last minute changes won’t cut them out of the process.  MATA President Brett Emison tweets that it didn’t happen at yesterday’s hearing of HB 2049.  See it here.

@MataPresident: There was nothing "open" about today's Senate Gov't Reform Hearing on #HB2049 in #MoLeg. There was no audio from either the bill sponsor or cmte chairman. I have attended in person virtually every committee hearing on major tort reform bills this session.  I testified against #HB2049 when it was heard in the House Judiciary Cmte.  I wanted to attend the senate hearing but the Senate advised interested persons to submit written testimony and watch from home. That's what I did. I could not hear any of the substantive discussion of this bill.  When the Chairman turned on his mic, it was to add additional language to bill language that I did not know would be added to the bill when I filed my testimony last night.  The Chairman then incorrectly suggested that I had "signed off" on the language that was added.  I had not; and I was unable to correct the record to the committee.

Riggs for Asst Floor

Rep. Louis Riggs announced that he’s running for Assistant Floor Leader.  He joins Reps. Hannah Kelly and Jeff Porter.

From his announcement letter (see it here): I make a permanent commitment to you that I will always operate transparently, answer your questions promptly, and will communicate with you as often as need be to assist leadership in helping you meet your legislative goals. No one in this caucus will work harder for you than I will…

Hospital Cash Crunch

Kaiser Health News reports on the cash crunch hospitals are feeling.  See it here.

Inova Health System, with campuses in some of the wealthiest suburbs of Washington, D.C., and Truman Medical Centers, a safety-net hospital in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, have little in common. But, today, they are confronting the same financial plague: mass cancellations of nonessential surgeries that are their biggest moneymakers while bracing for an expensive onslaught of coronavirus patients… Truman has less than a month’s worth of cash reserves to keep it afloat…

“At the end of the day, not all hospitals are created equal,” said Charlie Shields, Truman’s president and CEO. “If you were sitting on a year of … cash on hand, that would not be as challenging, but most safety-net hospitals are south of 25 days, and we’re probably around 10. How do you manage through that?”

Corona Impact on Politics

A pair of Wall Street Journal articles tries to imagine how the coronavirus crisis will impact politics over the long-term.

• The first imagines that “the era of big government is back.”  See it here. The Great Depression produced both a bigger social safety net and a host of new government programs, World War II led to the creation of a unified Defense Department and the Cold War spawned an interstate highway system. In just the past two decades, the 9/11 terrorist attacks produced new consolidated agencies to handle homeland security and national intelligence, and the 2008 financial meltdown led to a broad range of new actions by the Federal Reserve that are being replicated and expanded now.  Today, both parties and a vast majority of voters have come together behind a broad and aggressive response at both the federal and state level, and have accepted a sea of new red ink at a time the federal budget deficit already was heading toward a trillion dollars annually…

• The second sees “nationalism” getting a boost from the crisis.  See it here. Immigration has been restricted. Lawmakers from both parties resolve that the U.S. will never again be so dependent on foreign suppliers for critical goods. Washington has pulled back from the leading global health organization. Longstanding connections to both China and Saudi Arabia are being questioned. In short, the nationalist sentiment running through the American body politic has picked up strength and speed as a result of the virus crisis…

Comcast COVID Response

Comcast on their continuing COVID response…

Comcast announced today it will extend its commitments for Xfinity customers through June 30 to help ensure students can finish out the school year from home and remain connected to the internet during the COVID-19 crisis.

Originally announced on March 13, Comcast made the following commitments that will now be extended into the summer:

• No Disconnects and Waiving Late Fees: We will not disconnect a customer’s Xfinity Internet, Xfinity Mobile, or Xfinity Voice service…

• Xfinity WiFi Free for Everyone: Xfinity WiFi hotspots in business and outdoor locations across the country will be available to anyone who needs them for free…

• Pausing Our Data Plan… we are pausing our data plans to give all customers unlimited data for no additional charge…

• Internet Essentials… We are extending our offer of 60 days of complimentary service for new customers through June 30…

Bits

·         KCStar reported that masks donated by former governor Eric Greitens were defective! See it here.

·         Post-Dispatch reports that the Eureka mayor says he’s done with St. Louis County’s stay-at-home order and his muni is going their own way.  See it here.

·         Columbia Tribune reports that Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler received PPP loans.  See it here.  And Charles Jaco questions the legality of it.

·         Congrats to Stateline Strategies’ Emma Shankland on being appointed to the Kansas City Health Commission.

New Committees

Yonnee Fortson formed a candidate committee (People to Elect Yonnee Fortson) to run for House 74 as a Democrat.

Lobbyists Registrations

Gamble & Schlemeier added Riverwalk Enterprises LLC.

Jane Dueker deleted Missouri State Council of Fire Fighters.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Brad Bates and Belinda Harris.