MOScout Daily Update: Gov Activates Guard - Shields for Caucus Chair - TIF Audit - Building EV Infrastructure and more...

Gov Says He Still Feels Fine

Governor Mike Parson called into Mark Reardon’s talk show yesterday, and also released a short video, both with the message that he was feeling fine and doing the people’s work as he self-quarantined at the governor’s mansion.

Meanwhile

ABC17 News reported that Rep. Chuck Basye said “that his 86-year-old mother has been hospitalized with COVID-19… he had been in quarantine for 14 days. The local health department notified him Wednesday that he was free to end his quarantine… Basye said his father and brother were also in quarantine because they were in contact with his mother, Joanne, when she became ill. Basye said he drove his mother to a local hospital when she started having trouble breathing two weeks ago…”

Shields for Caucus Chair

Rep. Brenda Shields has joined Reps. Chris Dinkins and Sarah Walsh in the Republican House Caucus Chair race.

And

Shields has an independent expenditure PAC.  It’s the Lewis and Clark Leadership PAC.  I’ll be updating my IE PAC list next week.

Parson Activates National Guard

Press release: Governor Mike Parson signed Executive Order 20-17 activating the Missouri National Guard as a precautionary measure in response to recent instances of civil unrest across the country. The National Guard, as well as the Missouri State Highway Patrol, stands ready to assist local law enforcement if necessary… Executive Order 20-17 declares that a state of emergency exists in Missouri due to civil unrest and calls on the Adjutant General, or his designee, to forthwith call and order into active service such portions of the National Guard as he deems necessary to aid executive officials of Missouri to protect life and property…

See the EO here.

But

Super Attorney Chuck Hatfield wonders on Twitter whether the governor’s powers extent to imaginary emergencies that haven’t happened yet.  See it here.

Not sure the statutes envision anticipatory emergencies, particularly given the law’s use of the word “actual.”  Section 44.010:   (6)  "Emergency", . . . upon the actual occurrence of a natural or man-made disaster of major proportions within this state . . .”

STL TIF Audit

Auditor Nicole Galloway released an audit of the City of St. Louis' use of Tax Increment Financing (TIF).

Among the findings…

·         New projects are approved without defined program goals or strategic preferences on location of projects.

·         More than half of the projects intended for redevelopment are located in the four city wards (out of 28 total) with the highest assessed property values. 

·         The city also does not clearly define the evaluation process or criteria used in project selection.

·         Although there are city policies intended to control project costs, the limits are frequently waived, and the city lacks a consistent or transparent process for when these exceptions are granted.

·         The policies also have been ineffective in ensuring that project revenues are sufficient to cover financing costs. Because the city primarily finances projects with interest-bearing TIF notes, projects regularly accrue significant levels of interest.

·         The audit also found the city does not maintain TIF data in a useful and transparent manner, making informed strategic decisions and complete analyses impossible, and hindering oversight of the TIF program by both the Board of Aldermen and taxpayers. 

See the report here.

Nursing Home Visits

Press release: This week, the state released revised guidance for long-term care facilities in Missouri that choose to establish an Essential Caregiver program and/or resume general visits either inside or outside the facility.

Facilities should have a policy in place to determine how contact with loved ones can occur while protecting the health of residents. Each facility will ultimately make the decision as to whether or not to adopt this guidance.

See the new guidance here.

This has been priority for Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin.  When she spoke about the response to the coronavirus, long-term care facilities was one of her concerns.

Like most of the administration’s guidance, this is voluntary.

EV Infrastructure

Earlier this week Ameren and Evergy announced they are part of a six-utility collaboration with the goal to build out a charge network across the mid-west. This is believed to be the first of its kind partnership among utilities in the country.  This timing is consistent with electric vehicles reaching a point of widespread availability for consumers. Over the next 36 months, it is forecast to be four times more EV models on the market, including full size vehicles. And, according to the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), there are more than 1.5 million electric vehicles on U.S. roads today, the number will be more than ten times higher by 2030. 

Meanwhile

The Wall Street Journal reports that California “will ban the sale of new gasoline and diesel vehicles, effective in 2035, is just the latest sign that the days of the internal combustion engine might be numbered.”

AB for Safe Elections

Bardgett and Associates, which represents Anheuser Busch, sent a letter to legislators this week reporting what their client is doing to contribute to safe elections this November.

In mid-August, Anheuser-Busch launched a had sanitizer initiative in support of November’s General Election. You can read more about the initiative here: https://www.anheuser-busch.com/newsroom/2020/08/anheuser-busch-providing-hand-sanitizer-in-support-of-2020-elect.html

Yesterday, Missouri received a shipment of the hand sanitizer for the Secretary of State to coordinate delivering to polling sites throughout Missouri.

Anheuser-Busch first began producing and distributing hand sanitizer earlier this year to help accommodate the growing need for critical resources among its employees, partners and communities in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. This spring, the brewer donated more than 500,000 8oz bottles of hand sanitizer to community organizations – including emergency management agencies, food banks, and healthcare systems – across 20 states and Washington DC….

MO TITS?

Couple of folks were giggling over Jay Ashcroft’s latest initiative: Trusted Info through Trusted Sources.  One MOScouter: In politics you always want your projects or legislation to have some kind of name with an acronym that is catchy. You also don’t want to accidentally launch the Missouri TITS initiative if you’re a conservative Republican.

$5K+ Contributions

Protect Missouri Freedom - $100,000 from Laborers Union Local #110 PAC Fund.

Keep Government Accountable - $25,000 from Simmons Hanly Conroy.

First Capitol PAC - $28,800 from Accel Entertainment Gaming LLC.

Lathrop Gage Consulting Political Action Committee - $8,000 from Diamond Game Enterprises.

Purple PAC - $7,500 from Alliance for Progress LLC

Purple PAC - $20,000 from SWMW Law.

Purple PAC - $10,000 from Edelman and Thompson LLC.

DougPAC - $20,000 from SWMW Law.

DougPAC - $10,000 from Edelman and Thompson LLC.

Missouri Action PAC - $50,000 from John Douglas Arnold (Houston TX).

Missouri Action PAC - $25,000 from Missouri & Kansas Laborers' PAC.

SEIU HCII Missouri PAC - $50,000 from SEIU Healthcare Illinois Indiana.

Ford Motor Company Civic Action Fund - MO - $40,000 from Ford Motor Company Civic Action Fund.

Ozark Gateway Leadership PAC - $10,000 from Missouri Growth PAC.

Lobbyists Registrations

Lynne Schlosser deleted Missouri Association of Area Agencies on Aging.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Jeff Roe, Bryan Spencer, Gordon Reel, Katie Reichard Eiken, and Mark Schwartz.