MOScout Daily Update: Dem Staffers Vent on Price Episode - Big Ed Reform Bill Moves - Good Dec Jobs Report and more...

MOIndy: Dem Staffers Air Disappointment

Fallout from the Wiley Price ethics complaint continues.  This morning the Missouri Independent has published an essay from a group of Democratic House staffers decrying the actions of their caucus.  See it here.

“Watching the debate unfold was like watching an episode of the Twilight Zone. People who we admire actively let us down, and people for whom we have no warm feelings rushed to our defense.  It is shameful that the Democratic Caucus, a group that consistently claims the mantle of championing dignity for working people, should be so complicit in worsening an already toxic environment for their own employees… when we needed them most, where was their support? Strategically absent…”

Big Ed Bill Passed Out of Sen Committee

The Senate Education Committee created a big ole committee substitute and passed into out of committee yesterday.  SB 55 is now the vehicle for education reformers.  See a summary here. Among the provisions: charter school expansion, ESAs and term limits for the State Board of Education.

It passed 5-4 with Sen. Elaine Gannon joining the Democrats in dissent.

What It Means

Education reform is one of Floor Leader Caleb Rowden’s top priorities.  It’s now teed up to get early floor time this session.  The most likely path forward: lots of negotiations with Dems – and reluctant Republicans (Gannon, and Sen. Karla Eslinger for sure) – to see if an acceptable floor substitute can be crafted.  If not, a long afternoon, night, and maybe morning of debate to force a compromise.

If this follows Rowden’s previous playbook, this will all happen as early in session as possible, definitely before Spring break.  Possible “COVID pauses” in the future could derail session.  And the farther along you get in the calendar, the more pieces of legislation are in play, and easier it is for seemingly unrelated items to get tangled up with each other.

For those reasons, Rowden will want to move on ed reform as quickly as possible, and deliver it to the House with a wink: “No give backs!”

December Jobs Report

The December jobs report showed good news for Missouri. Total employment rose 24,831 from the previous month.  We still have nearly 100,000 fewer people working in Missouri now compared to last year, so there’s plenty of room to go.

Reminder: Ignore the unemployment rate right now.  It did jump up to 5.8% from 4.5%, but it is not a useful indicator of the health of the labor market right now.  It is a meaningless distraction.

As the economy improves, more people will rejoin the labor force.  Last month the civilian labor force increased by 70,532 people.  That’s what sending the unemployment rate higher.

Keep an eye on job creation, not the unemployment rate.

And

After the trillion-dollar deficits of the Trump Administration, even greater fiscal stimulus might seem impossible.  But it’s not.  It looks like there’s going to be a lot more money coming from Washington.  Even if President Joe Biden doesn’t get his full $1.9T package, he’ll be getting something.  That will help the MO economic recovery as well.

New Committees

·         JB PAC was formed.  Its treasurer is Amber Watson.  This could be an IE PAC for Sen. Justin Brown; we’ll see…

·         Show Me Integrity Action Fund was formed.  It’s a PAC.  Its treasurer is Mike Pridmore.  He’s a Democratic fundraiser. The deputy treasurer is Tyler Schlichenmeyer.  He was recently involved in the passage of Prop D in St. Louis City.

Lobbyists Registrations

David Winton, Jessica Petrie, and Henrio Thelemaque added Decoding Dyslexia.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Andrew McDaniel, Jay Hahn, Mike Lodewegen, Anne Marie Moy, Michelle Colbert, and Lynn Morris.

Weekender Returns Tomorrow

Look for a St. Louis County poll, and the Hallway’s take on the new Biden Administration, as well as Who Won the Week…