MOScout Daily Update: MOScout Senate Primary Book - Reopening Details on Thurs? - SBOE on Mizzou Charters - Rex's Motive? - Justice on Defund Police and more...
MOScout Senate Primary Book
I’ve compiled candidate information into a PDF document. You can find it here.
There are some holes, but for each Senate primary race, it contains photos of candidates, a brief biography, links to their Facebook or campaign websites and their current fundraising numbers. As well as an early MOScout forecast of who will win.
Enjoy! And of course send me any goofs or corrections you find as I will likely update it.
Parson Briefing
Highlights from Governor Mike Parson’s press briefing yesterday…
· Look for details Thursday about further reopening of the state economy.
· A special session sounds like it could happen and the governor said that addressing business liability as it relates to coronavirus could be “on the table.”
· He hasn’t looked at SB 600 yet, but he’s “not interested in building more prisons.” Minority Leader Crystal Quade sent Parson a letter saying, “there is one action you can and should take right now to keep the situation from getting worse, and that is to veto Senate Substitute for Senate Bill 600, legislation that seeks to take a significant step backward from the important sentencing reforms Missouri has adopted in recent years.”
SBOE Puts Mizzou On Notice
At its monthly meeting yesterday, the State Board of Education dove into an in-depth discussion on the shortcomings of the University of Missouri-Columbia's role as a charter school sponsor. The SBOE voted to approve a notice of "material noncompliance" which kicks off a corrective action process.
Mizzou has until March 2021 to turn things around, or they may face sanctions, which include losing its sponsorship powers and potentially forcing schools to close. Assistant Commissioner Chris Neale said, "It's not a fun message to deliver, but we believe it's just honest when we say we want every sponsor to be stronger." He added that it's not that Mizzou never oversees its charters; it's that their oversight is not organized or specific.
Board member Carol Hallquist has talked with folks at some of the schools Mizzou sponsors, and they characterize the sponsor/charter dynamic as a relationship "about form-filling; not about mentoring and coaching for their sponsors."
According to the MU Office of Charter School Operations, their protocol is to visit each school four times a year but admitted they could be "more of a mentor and a guide to our schools."
Mizzou sponsors four schools in Kansas City (Frontier School of Innovation, Genesis School, Inc., KIPP: Endeavor, and Lee A. Tolbert Community Academy) and three schools in St. Louis (Confluence Academies, La Salle, Eagle College Preparatory Endeavor).
Board President Charlie Shields pointedly asked, "What's the benefit to the University?" Mizzou answered, "It's about improving education in every type of school in Missouri" and pointed to their success in bringing in large federal grants.
DESE pays sponsors an amount equal to 1.5% of a charter school's share of state and local funding to its sponsor. According to the DESE portal, Mizzou has received $606K for the payment year 2019-20. The College of Education has a staff of three in their charter school department that receive combined salaries totaling $219K per year.
And
The board recognized Deputy Commissioner Roger Dorson, who announced his retirement. Dorson stepped in as interim commissioner during Margie Vandeven's Greitens-era forced absence.
Dorson also gave a finance update for FY21. He expects the governor will restrict funding in July in an amount similar to June ($131M) and said, "it would not be a surprise if it's something maybe a little more than that."
MedEx Bits
· One lobbyist tells me what he thinks is the real motive behind Rex Sinquefield’s rumored foray into defeating the Medicaid expansion proposal: it would blow a hole in the state budget that would prevent the future tax cuts/reform that he cherishes.
· Missouri Foundation for Health released a report that Medicaid expansion would “lead to large-scale economic growth. On a yearly average, Missouri would see a $2.5 billion increase in economic output (averaging approximately $16,500 per Missouri business), a $1.6 billion increase in gross domestic product, and a $1.1 billion increase in personal income. The personal income increase averages to more than $500 per Missouri household every year.” See it here.
Justice: Good and Evil
Wonder how the “defund police” movement is playing in rural Missouri? Here’s Senate 25 Republican candidate Eddy Justice’s take…
Let me be clear: I am 100% against defunding the police. The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. We live in a world that is marred by evil, true evil. There are people out there who, for whatever reason, will stop at nothing to mutilate human beings. People are ultimately responsible for their own actions; to choose good or to choose evil. In the case people choose evil, there must be guardians who are willing, with ferocity and fury, to stop evildoers dead in their tracks…
That is why radical leftist cries to “defund the police” are not only wrong, but dangerous. Groups like Black Lives Matter and Antifa want to see the police totally disbanded; ironic how groups instigating riots and looting want to see the dissolution of armed police forces. There is a radical agenda being pushed by socialists to end funding to police departments, and thereby close them down….
Senate 31: Brattin Fundy
In Senate 31, Rick Brattin trails Rep. Jack Bondon in the money race. He has an event next week, June 18 hosted by Chris and Janice Patterson, with special guest, the senator he’s trying to replace, Sen. Ed Emery.
What It Means
Campaigning has returned to normal in rural Missouri. One Republican operative says that suburban districts where there are Democratic voters, some Republican candidates are modifying their behavior to conform to social distancing guidelines. But in deep red places, it’s game on.
House 33 Primary Fight
Republican Rep. Donna Pfautsch is term limited in House 33. There are two Republicans vying to replace her and no Democrat filed.
But there’s a feud between the two GOP candidates. Alex Holt filed a lawsuit alleging that his opponent, Chris Sander, is ineligible based on the residency requirement.
In posting this on Facebook, Holt put up photos of Sander with his boyfriend.
Republican Reps. Phil Christofanelli and Tom Hannegan jumped on Holt’s post…
· Christofanelli: Mr. Holt- Whatever your legal dispute may be with Mr. Sander’s eligibility for office, these photos from his personal life have no relevance to it. This is conduct unbecoming of a State Representative. These tactics have no place in our party or our political process.
· Hannegan: Mr Holt likes to talk about the type of behavior that isn’t welcome here. Well, in 2020, on the first day of Pride month, gay baiting rhetoric and calling out by name the significant others of candidates is not welcome in the party of Lincoln. These are the type of tactics which discourage gay men from running for office. Appealing to prejudice with irrelevant photos of a candidate’s personal life is gutter politics. Please consider a donation to Chris’s campaign.
House 48: A Horse Across the District
Republican Donnie Baragary – running to replace termed Rep. Dave Muntzel – pulled a new stunt. He rode a horse across the district for an eleven-day campaign trail. See it here. Baragary is Commissioner of Cooper County.
Candidate Withdrawal
Charles Triplett (Democratic) withdrew from House 98 race. He’d run and lost against Rep. Shamed Dogan in 2018. His withdrawal leaves Angie Schaefer as the Democratic nominee.
Lobbyist Registrations
Zach Brunnert added Center For Diagnostic Imaging.
Missty Slater added American Heart Association.
$5K+ Contributions
A Better Missouri Political Action Committee - $10,000 from Anheuser-Busch Cos.
Missourians for Healthcare - $6,315 from Affinia Healthcare.
Missourians for Healthcare - $250,000 from Health Care Issues Committee of the Missouri Hospital Association.
Missourians for Healthcare - $250,000 from Centene Charitable Foundation.
KCFOP PAC - $6,235 from Kansas City Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 99.