MOScout Daily Update: Parson Declare Emergency Over Unrest - Galloway PAC Gets $250K - MedEx Campaign Gets $750K - Updated IE PAC Listing and more...
Parson Declares Emergency
The press release: Governor Mike Parson today signed Executive Order 20-11 to declare that a State of Emergency exists in Missouri due to civil unrest. The Missouri National Guard and the Missouri Highway Patrol stand ready to support local authorities.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of George Floyd. We are also saddened by the acts of violence that have transpired across our nation and state in response to this event. At this time, we are taking a proactive approach to protect Missouri and its people,” Governor Mike Parson said….
This Executive Order calls the Adjutant General of the State of Missouri, or his designee, to forthwith call and order into active service such portions of the National Guard as he deems necessary to aid the executive officials of Missouri to protect life and property.
AG Response
· AG Eric Schmitt on Twitter: The death of George Floyd is a tragedy & heartbreaking. All of us have a God-given right to peacefully protest, to assemble, to be heard. We cannot accept violence & looting. We must recognize the dignity of every individual.
· Dem candidate Elad Gross launched “Our Missouri Justice Initiative, a statewide effort to fix Missouri's broken justice system. The project will bring together community members, law enforcement, health care and social workers, public defenders, and any Missourian interested in building a true justice system for our state.”
· Dem candidate Rich Finneran hasn’t posted any comment on the death of Floyd or the subsequent civil unrest.
And
Public health officials warned that the crowds of protestors could spark a “second wave” of coronavirus. See the NYTimes article here.
Mass protests against police brutality that have brought thousands of people out of their homes and onto the streets in cities across America are raising the specter of new coronavirus outbreaks, prompting political leaders, physicians and public health experts to warn that the crowds could cause a surge in cases… More than 100,000 Americans have already died of Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. People of color have been particularly hard hit, with rates of hospitalizations and deaths among black Americans far exceeding those of whites…
Big Checks
Yesterday two big checks were recorded late last week…
Missourians for Healthcare received $750,000 from Health Forward Foundation. Missourians for Healthcare is the campaign committee for Medicaid expansion.
· There’s every indication that the MedEx campaign will be well-funded even with the timeline moved up to August.
Keep Government Accountable received $250,000 from United Auto Workers V Cap. Keep Government Accountable is the pro-Nicole Galloway PAC.
· Galloway’s PAC has trailed Parson’s, and while this won’t change that dynamic, $250K certainly doesn’t hurt Team Galloway.
Black Churches in STL Wary on Reopening
Washington Post reports on wariness among black churches on the push to reopen. See it here.
On any given Sunday, the soaring sanctuary of St. Louis’s Church of God in Christ echoes with thundering sermons, joyful music and ecstatic professions of faith. Just not this week. Or next.
Silent since March, the church will stay that way until Bishop Elijah H. Hankerson III deems it safe — even though local authorities have authorized places of worship to reopen and President Trump has prodded them to do it fast. Much as Hankerson wants to get back to preaching the gospel face-to-face, rather than online, he knows through tragic experience exactly what is at stake.
“I have a more personal view of the devastation than many people,” Hankerson said.
So many in St. Louis’s black community do. As is true nationwide, African Americans have been far harder hit by the novel coronavirus in the St. Louis area than other groups. They account for less than half the city’s population but nearly two-thirds of both cases and deaths. In the surrounding county, the death rate for African Americans is twice as high as it is for whites.
The disproportionately heavy impact led Hankerson and other black faith leaders in St. Louis into an unexpected — and uncomfortable — position this spring: urging officials from the governor on down to keep their churches closed, along with much of the rest of normal life…
FBI Subpoenas
KC Star reports on a grand jury in Independence. See it here.
A federal grand jury in March issued a subpoena demanding records of non-public meetings of the Independence City Council, The Star has learned through a records request it submitted to the city on Friday. The grand jury subpoena sought minutes describing discussions and votes taken during three City Council executives sessions, which are meetings that council members are allowed to have outside of public view to discuss certain sensitive matters…
Separately, FBI agents on May 8 requested receipts submitted by four members of the Independence City Council for reimbursement during the entirety of their council terms. The four council members for whom the FBI sought expense records were Curt Dougherty, Mike Huff, John Perkins and Tom Van Camp….
IE PAC Database Updated
I have been trying to keep track of the so-called leadership PACs in Missouri. These are the political action committees which are aligned with candidates, but are not subject to the campaign contribution limits of candidate committees.
I’ve added…
Conservative Citizens Coalition – Eric Burlison
Doug For Freedom PAC – Doug Richey
Eastside Forward PAC – Barbara Washington
eMailbag on Partisan View of COVID
I have to believe the partisan divide on the impact of the virus is directly correlated to the source of a person’s news.
New Committees
The Jackson County Sheriff PAC was formed. Its treasurer is Callie Wyrsch.
Lobbyist Registrations
Shantel Smith added Missouri State Medical Association; and deleted Missouri Dental Association.
John Arthur Young added QuikTrip Corporation.
Salvatore Panettiere deleted Empower Missouri, and Foster Care Technologies.
Nexus Group deleted Beyond Organics, LLC.
$5K+ Contributions
St. Louis Rising - $74,583 from Pelopidas LLC.
Change STL PAC - $25,000 from Chase McKeague.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Reps. Steve Lynch and Randy Pietzman, Miles Ross, and John Wright.