MOScout Daily Update: Parson Expands Call - DHSS Issues More Licenses - McDowell Blames Voter Fraud? and more....

Parson Expands Call

“What a fu**ing sh** show.  I’m voting for Galloway.”  That was a text I received from an elected Republican legislator after Governor Mike Parson announced he was expanding the special session call to allow the Attorney General’s Office to prosecute homicides in the City of St. Louis.

Adding the new provision looks like a political move.  If this is so important, why wasn’t it part of the original call?  It looks like a quasi-desperate grab for another anti-crime headline.

It didn’t help that Parson cited the backlog of cases as his rationale for the move.  And then, when a reporter asked Parson what the backlog was, he didn’t know.  Parson mumbled a bit, trying to do the math between how many murders there have been and how many prosecutions, as if every murder has been solved.  Maybe next time his staff should make sure he has the actual facts in hand, not just some talking points so it doesn’t look completely haphazard.

The press release for the new call goes into detail about what the governor envisions.  The Attorney General will be able to prosecute cases only if 90 or more days have passed, the chief law enforcement officer makes the request of the Attorney General, and the Circuit Attorney has not yet filed charges…

But the actually call (see it here) is much more vague.  It simply asks for authorization for the AG to prosecute murder – and related cases – in the City of St. Louis.  It’ll be interesting to see how narrowly or broadly defined the role of the AG is in the drafted legislation.

As far as I can tell there’s no consensus in the legislature how to handle the new request from the governor. 

The House didn’t vote out SB 1 yesterday as expected.  That will happen Wednesday.  It’s extremely unlikely that Judiciary Chair David Gregory would amend SB 1 to put this provision in the bill.

The Rules Committee (chaired by Rep. Holly Rehder) can’t amend the bill.

But perhaps there could be an amendment offered on the House floor.  One source sees Rep. Nick Schroer as a likely sponsor of that amendment.  The outcome of a floor vote is uncertain.  On the one hand, Kim Gardner isn’t a popular figure among many Republicans.  On the other hand, there are many motivations to vote against the provision.

·         Democrats will likely be unanimous or near unanimous against it.

·         Some conservatives dislike the intrusion against local control.

·         Some constitutional conservatives dislike the “special law” nature of the request.

·         Some Republicans don’t like the precedent it could set for when there’s a Democratic governor and/or AG.

The other route would be to start a second bill in the Senate.  It would certainly face even greater resistance from the St. Louis senators than the first bill.  One rumor had the governor’s folks testing out Republican senators about their willingness to PQ the issue for him.  It’s hard to believe that you’d find enough senators who are willing to blow up the Senate for what’s being viewed as an election year stunt. 

For the Record

St. Louis City Public Safety Director Jimmy Edwards testified what most actual city residents will tell anyone who actually wants to reduce violent crime in the city: the proliferation of guns is the number one cause of shootings.

It’s part of the cultural divide exemplified by the McCloskey gun-waving incident. While rural folks saw it as an exercise of the Second Amendment, city folks saw it as reckless. Another example of using guns to further escalate a situation.  It happens too often, and it often ends with deadly results in St. Louis.  Arguments, revenge feuds, deals gone bad, drunken quarrels… access to guns increases the odds that they can become fatal.

·         See the Second Amendment vs “three guys in a Dodge Durango” argument.

In the meantime you can create a new plan to tackle violence every year – as Parson has – with little to no impact.

FYI

The organizing group behind protests and rallies for racial equity and police reform, Expect Us, will be bringing a group to Jefferson City on Wednesday.

DHSS Issue Four More MMJ Licenses

The press release: Four new medical marijuana infused product manufacturing facility licenses were issued today to the entities next in line on the conditionally denied applicant list. During the compliance review process for all new medical marijuana facility licenses, the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) has determined that certain infused product manufacturing facilities submitted duplicative applications for licensure and therefore received multiple licenses for a single proposed facility.  Facility applicants were not prohibited from submitting duplicative applications; however, one facility can only utilize one license. Therefore, DHSS has merged the redundant licenses for each of these facilities and issued four new licenses to the entities next in line on the conditionally denied applicant list…

And

You want to get a piece of the action.  It’s not too late.  This Plattsburg facility is looking for investors…. 

Great opportunity to own an equity stake in an entity that holds two vertically integrated licenses in Missouri. Active operational ownership or absentee option… Investors are given a preferred return until the invested capital is repaid... 

See it here.

McDowell Blames Voter Fraud for Loss?

On Facebook, Saundra McDowell blames her loss in the gubernatorial primary to voter fraud??

No one knows anyone who voted for Parson.

I ran my campaign on a platform of obedience to the Lord and bringing the Lord back to our state and country!! I am only a vessel for what the Lord has been speaking this whole time.

When you mess with a servant of the Lord, that can’t be good.

I pray for all of those involved in the election fraud that took place during the primary election! I pray that they come forward and repent for their evil deeds….

New Committees

Northwest Missouri Conservatives PAC was formed.  Its treasurer is Jacqueline Stevens.

Lobbyists Registrations

Jake Silverman added Olympus Political Consulting, LLC.

$5K+ Contributions

Together KC - $25,000 from The Civic Council of Greater Kansas City.

Together KC - $25,000 from Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City.

MO Opportunity PAC - $10,000 from Samuel M Coryell.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Bruce Sassmann and Doug Healy.