MOScout Daily Update: Senate Appros Gathers - Pro-Eslinger PAC - Governing on Virtual Lobbying and more...

Senate Convenes

The Senate will hold hearings today as the legislatre convenes for an abbreviated week to deal with their most urgent business.  See the hearing schedule here.

Committee: Appropriations, Senator Dan Hegeman, Chairman

Date:  Tuesday, April 7

Time:  12:00 p.m.

Room:  Rm 117

HB 2456 (Pending Referral)

HCS for HB 2014 (Pending Referral)

Please note additional procedures will be in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic:

• All entrants to the Capitol building will be required to submit to screening questions and physical screening by health professionals. Members of the public must enter the building using the carriage entrance.

• Seating in Room 117 will be very limited and no overflow space will be available.

• The committee hearing will be streamed here.

• Written testimony may be submitted in lieu of in person testimony via email to public.testimony@senate.mo.gov. All submissions must be received by 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, April 7, 2020.

Senate Floor Leader Caleb Rowden tweeted about the upcoming week.  See it here.  Among the tweets: For the many who have asked, we are unsure what the remainder of session looks like at this time. We will evaluate how this week goes, as well as watching the trajectory of #COVID19 cases in our state and re-evaluate where we are after this week.

Governing: Lobbying Goes Virtual

Governing reports on lobbying during a time of coronavirus.  See it here.

With capitols closed to the public, the mechanics of lobbying have changed for everybody… Under the circumstances, it’s very hard for lobbyists to make their voices heard. The throngs of lobbyists and interested parties who normally hang around outside legislative chambers, hoping to buttonhole lawmakers, have disappeared…

Controversial pieces of legislation like that are scarce these days. Legislators are trying to meet as little as possible. When they do hold sessions, their focus is fixed on coronavirus response and shoring up rapidly sinking budgets… Lobbyists have been spending a lot more of their time lately talking to clients. Especially for those representing membership and trade associations, there have been a lot of questions about what stay-at-home orders mean in terms of running a business….

Perennial concerns about lack of transparency in drafting legislation have naturally been heightened. “There’s a lot of legislation that’s passing in a very quick manner that may be addressing concerns, but the public has no way of knowing what is being said and done,” says Kelsey Johnson, a St. Paul lobbyist. “The difficulty for us is we’re hearing there’s multiple meetings occurring and no one is aware of who is hosting those meetings and what is being discussed.”  Lobbyists are trying to work the connections they have. They have to hope the legislators they have strong ties with are being kept in the loop…

Lawmaking is usually a highly personal activity. Every state capitol is like a village, with people constantly colliding and supplicants seeking favors…

Senate 23: Team Eigel Fires Back

Gregg Keller tweets a retort to the claim that Sen. Bill Eigel is a CINO.  See it here.

Does Eric Wulff really think calling @BillEigel a “Conservative in Name Only” is a credible message? The same Bill Eigel who alone in MO Senate with @Koenig4MO  @EricBurlison

 got @ACUConservative  Award for Conservative Excellence? FOHWTBS. http://acuratings.conservative.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/09/CLA_Missouri_2019_web.pdf

Senate 33: Eslinger IE PAC Formed

Conservative Leadership of the Ozarks, a new independent pro-Karla Eslinger PAC, was formed.  Its treasurer is Terry Newton.

Eslinger is running against Rep. Robert Ross and Van Kelly in the Republican primary.  It’s expected that Eslinger will receive backing from the educational community.

Independent Expenditure PACs have become a staple of state senate and statewide races in Missouri since the most recent implementation of campaign finance limits. The candidates may raise money for the committee, but can’t direct their expenditures.

Corona Updates

·         NYTimes highlights millennials in Kansas City facing their first economic crisis. See it here.

·         Washington Post reports on how different models show different curves and peaks to the virus’ spread.  See it here.

·         As grocery workers die of the coronavirus, we’ll see if Governor Mike Parson reconsiders union appeals to give them first-responder status during this time. 

·         St. Louis Public Radio’s Jaclyn Discoll has been making the case on twitter that the Parson’s administration’s current daily press briefings without press are problematic for getting information to the public.  See one example here.

·         Parson issued an executive order yesterday allowing notaries to perform their duties via “audio-visual technology.”  See it here.

New Committees

Donnie Owens formed an exemption committee for his Senate 27 bid.  It means he can’t raise or spend more than $500.  Owens is a Dmeocrat.

Neal Barnes formed a candidate committee (Committee to Elect Neal Barnes) to run for House 56 as a Democrat.

Aaron Hailey formed a candidate committee (Empower Missourians Hailey) to run for House 163  as a Democrat.

Conservative Leadership of the Ozarks was formed.  It’s a PAC to support Karla Eslinger.

Lobbyists Registrations

Ron Berry added Lafaver & Associates, LLC.

$5K+Contributions

Health Care Issues Committee of the Missouri Hospital Association - $173,745 from BJC Healthcare.

MO Republican Party - $10,000 from American Dream PAC.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Rep. Suzie Pollock, Ryan Rowden, and Kaycee Nail.

MOScout Schedule

Updates tomorrow and Thursday, then I’m taking a long weekend.  No Update Friday, no Weekend edition.