MOScout Weekender: Poll Shows Missourians Down on MO Vaccine Rollout - Lobbyists Support Mask Mandate in Building - WWTW and more...
It Was Twenty Years Ago Today…
Take a minute this morning and read a fun reminiscence from Peter Kinder in the SEMissourian. See it here. He looks back on twenty years ago when the Republican took control of the Missouri Senate.
This week marks a milestone in Missouri's political history. Twenty years ago, Missouri Republicans wrung down the curtain on 53 years in the minority, going up with a slim 18-16 edge in that chamber. (So strong were the ancestral Democratic loyalties dating from the Civil War, that the GOP's last term in the majority -- 1946-1948 -- was one of only two, two-year cups of coffee in the 20th Century.)…
When he called with hearty congratulations, I asked then-Missouri Sen. Kit Bond what it would be like to be pro tem, and leader of a gang of fiercely independent senators whom you can't fire. "Will it be like herding cats?" Bond's response: "No. More like loading frogs into a wheelbarrow."
Remington/MOScout Poll: Statewide Sentiment
Survey conducted January 27 through January 28, 2021. 1,070 likely 2022 General Election voters participated in the survey. Survey weighted to match expected turnout demographics for the 2022 General Election. Margin of Error is +/-3% with a 95% level of confidence. Totals do not always equal 100% due to rounding. Survey conducted by Remington Research Group on behalf of Missouri Scout. Find full results here.
Q1: How would you rate the distribution of the COVID vaccine in Missouri so far?
Excellent: 12%
Good: 12%
OK: 18%
Not good: 24%
Terrible: 35%
Q2: Do you approve or disapprove of Josh Hawley’s job performance as United States Senator?
Approve: 46%
Disapprove: 40%
Not sure: 14%
Q3: Do you approve or disapprove of Roy Blunt’s job performance as United States Senator?
Approve: 38%
Disapprove: 39%
Not sure: 23%
Q4: Do you approve or disapprove of Nicole Galloway’s job performance as State Auditor?
Approve: 32%
Disapprove: 40%
Not sure: 28%
MOScout’s Hallway Index: COVID and Legislative Session
I asked lobbyists: Which statement best expresses your feeling about COVID and this session? 26 replies…
RESULTS
1. There should be a mask mandate in the building…. 57.7%
2. All legislators and staff should get vaccines… 7.7%
3. Cancel session… 7.7%
4. Stay the course… 11.5%
5. Something else…. 15.4%
Sample of Comments
· Masks in motion. Mandate in common areas. Defer to legislators for their offices.
· I know [a mask mandate] isn’t a realistic expectation, but I feel like it’s the one thing that might help the stops and starts, people in quarantine.
· [Stay the course] There are no good options. This certainly sucks, but it’s the best available option.
· As someone who contracted COVID in the building amid many non-masking wearing legislators, it makes me very angry that so many disregard the health and safety of the public. I lost two weeks of productivity not to mention feeling very sick and also infecting my family. There is a lot of pressure to be in that building when laws are discussed that effect the public.
· Enough political games with the masks/no masks. Wear a mask. Make it easier to testify remotely. Tone the hyperbole down in the Senate. Let’s get back to work, and act like statesemen and women with serious jobs who do serious work.
· They had all summer and fall to figure this out and the best they can do is violate CDC quarantine protocol everyday? Where is the plan to attempt to function virtually?.. This session will bump along and not much will get done.
· Republican leadership is negligent in protecting employees and members, and their families. It is hard enough on spouses back at home, but members now have to quarantine because their colleagues choose feigned freedom over being decent human beings… Wednesday, streets were icy and a virus is spreading throughout the capitol, yet the Capitol was business as usual. I can't decide if it is self-importance or insecurity that leads to this void of leadership.
· Really one and two, it’s not partisan to be considerate and at least try to care about spreading the virus.
· Republicans are in charge, so we are going to do it their way. Give people the freedom to do what they want. If Democrats were in charge, it would be a different strategy. But they aren't… If we can't have session logistically, then we won't have session for a week. No big deal.
· We should push back session until legislators can get vaccinated (when they're "supposed to"). It's what IL is doing and they have basically the same legislative timetable (Jan-May) that we do. And then still implement masks and social distancing, per CDC guidelines, especially if the South African strain makes its way here.
Who Won the Week?
Rob Vescovo – Standing up to a governor never hurts a speaker with his caucus.
David Gregory – Shows he’s serious about a statewide run for auditor with $200K deposited into his PAC.
Cindy O’Laughlin and Tony Luetkemeyer – It appears that the Senate will be back in business next week, and their bills are in the cue for floor debate.
Raychel Proudie – The House Democrat finally lands the chairmanship with this session as Vescovo names the Urban Issues Committee.
Uniting Missouri PAC consultants – As one cynical lobbyist wrote me when I wrote about Uniting MO continuing its work… “What it Means is that a couple people will continue to make a couple calls a week on behalf of the governor to companies and interest groups who cannot say no so that a couple allies of the governor can continue collecting the proceeds of said calls on a monthly basis for the next few years.”
Find a downloadable version here.
Gubby Appts
Governor Mike Parson made a few appointments yesterday…
· Keaton Ashlock as the Hickory County Prosecuting Attorney.
· David Cole as Circuit Judge for the 39th Judicial Circuit.
· Mathew Kasper as Associate Circuit Judge for the 39th Judicial Circuit.
$5K+ Contributions
Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $10,000 from JeffCo Now.
One St Louis PAC - $10,000 from United Food and Commercial Workers International Union AFL-CIO,CLC.
UFCW Local 655 Elect Club- $5,959 from UFCW Local 655.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Chuck Caisley, and Erika Brees,
Sunday: Robin Wright-Jones.