MOScout Daily Update: House Passes CLEANER, PDMP - May, Hoskins Wrestle - The Other Onder on COVID Suits and more....
House Passes Priorities
The House passed two big priorities yesterday.
· They passed SJR 38, handled by Rep. Dean Plocher. This is also known as “CLEANER,” the GOP plan to replace the CLEAN Missouri redistricting plan.
· The passed Rep. Holly Rehder’s prescription drug monitoring program.
But
Sen. Bob Onder indicated that he’s willing to hold up PDMP in the Senate until HB 1450, which has provisions dealing with fentanyl and other drugs, passes.
The Other Onder on COVID Lawsuits
From the St. Louis Business Journal: Jim Onder, whose Onder Law Firm has represented plaintiffs in class-action lawsuits over Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder and Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller, said he expects two primary types of lawsuits to come out of the pandemic and shutdown.
· The first is Covid-19-related personal injury and wrongful death cases. "The Missouri Legislature is about to pass an immunity law to protect anyone who gives you Covid," Onder said. "I don't have any problem with that for medical professionals. The problem I have is immunity for nursing homes." Onder said a federal law passed in 2016 specifically requires nursing homes to follow infection control procedures to avoid the risk of a pandemic...
· The second type of suit will be over business interruption insurance. "Most policies are what are called ISO policies that contain an exclusion for viruses. Seventy-five to 80% of policies have no coverage for business interruption due to a virus," Onder said. "However, some insurance carriers do not adopt the ISO standard. You have to look at each policy." Class-action lawsuits, which Onder has used extensively in talc and Roundup cases, are not a likely avenue for business interruption….
House Approves No Excuse Voting
Post-Dispatch reports that the “proposal, adopted by the House Wednesday, would work like an absentee ballot, but it would not require voters to state a reason why they can’t go to the polls on Election Day. It would only be available in the August and November statewide elections. Voters would still have to get the ballot envelope notarized before it could be turned back in. Rep. Dan Shaul, R-Imperial, who sponsored the provision, said voters would be able to request a mail-in ballot in person or by mail. The proposed change, which still needs Senate approval, comes after county clerks and voting rights groups have said people shouldn’t have to risk going to polling places during a global pandemic…”
May, Hoskins Wrestle Over Awareness Proclamation
The Senate worked almost the entire day and night on HB 1682. Senate handler David Sater tried mightily to keep amendments off which he thought were too controversial.
It was a long and winding road.
At one point, Sens. Karla May and Denny Hoskins hurtled down an hour-long wormhole debating about an awareness proclamation. May amended the omnibus healthcare bill to add that: “The month of August shall be known as ‘Minority 5 Organ Donor Awareness Month’.”
Hoskins thought it should only be a week. So he offered his own amendment, that “The month of August shall be known as ‘Organ Donor Awareness Month’.”
Sen. Jamilah Nasheed expressed befuddlement how these two distinctions would be listed on a flyer. Hoskins amendment was defeated.
Running Your First Race Indoors
Maggie Nurrenbern, Dem candidate in House 15, was interviewed in the New York Times about campaign during the coronavirus. See it here.
The 35-year-old teacher is running her first political race, while also contending with the complexities of how we live now.
She’s teaching her high school courses virtually. Parenting three boys, 6 and under. Dealing with the risks that come from having a husband who works in health care. And, on top of all that, she’s campaigning as a Democrat for a seat in the Missouri House of Representatives from her suburban Kansas City district.
This is hardly the situation Ms. Nurrenbern pictured when she began her campaign months ago. I talked to her about distance learning, “scheduled chaos” and politicking in a pandemic…
What kind of stuff can you even do for the campaign right now?
Everything is virtual. I would represent 36,000 people and so canvassing is just a huge part of that, meeting voters face to face. Now we’re shifting to doing that through phone banking. Right now it’s reaching out and doing wellness checks: “How are you doing right now?” And if there is any way to connect them with resources…
Are you fund-raising?
That’s been the toughest part. It’s really hard to fund-raise for a political office when people have lost their jobs, when they’re worried about being able to pay the rent. But at the same time, we see how imperative it is that we have elected officials that understand the realities of working families… It’s kind of a necessary evil that we do have to raise money and change who is in office.
But you’re trying to do it, it sounds like?
To some extent. It’s not maybe the hard ask that I would do before, like, “Can I count on a donation today of $200?” But more, you know, “Hey, if you’re able I would really appreciate this when you can.” So it’s coming from a place of understanding…
In-Box: ALEC Event Still On
Greetings,
I wanted to let you know ALEC's 2020 annual meeting is still a go and will take place July 15-17 at JW Marriott Grande Lakes in Orlando, FL. The Missouri State Night event will take place Thursday, July 16 with further details to come…
Also, if you were not already aware, both NCSL and SLC have cancelled their 2020 annual meetings.
In-Box: Corona Scuttles ECE IP in STL County
From the Ready by Five campaign: In February we celebrated the launch of Ready by Five, a campaign to ensure local public funding for early childhood education in St. Louis County. We planned to spend the months of March through May collecting the signatures needed to get a modest sales tax on the ballot for our youngest children…
Signature collection is no longer a viable path to a November vote in St. Louis County. We are advocating for our proposed ballot initiative to be put on the ballot by the County Council as an integral part of the health, humanitarian, and economic recovery of our region. We will know by August if this path is viable….
And One List Bit
Eric Greitens, hanging with Courtland Sykes (remember him, maybe?) in DC. See it here.
Help Wanted
Empower Missouri seeks Board Nominees. We would like to seat seven new Board members at our July retreat, so applications are due by June 30. The Nominations Sub-Committee of our Governance Committee wishes to enrich our Board by adding to the diversity of geography and profession that is present. See it here.
Lobbyists Registrations
Andy Blunt added CoSo Health.
Mike Whatley added National Restaurant Association.
Matthew Dennis Alsager deleted Kinetic Solutions LLC.
$5K+ Contributions
Vote 2020 - $22764 from New Venture Fund (Washington DC).
Keep Missouri Great - $20,000 from Sam Scism Motors, Inc.
MOScout Schedule
No Weekender edition on Saturday.