MOScout Daily Update: DC Chaos - MEC Gets Children's Committee - Fitz to Chair Ethics - 4 New House Committees - Sharpe's Cig Plan and more...
DC Chaos and MO Politics
Yesterday may become one of those touchstone days that everyone can remember where they were. Like the Challenger tragedy and 9/11.
An angry mob of Trump loyalists scaling the walls and breaking the windows of the capitol to prevent Congress from certifying the presidential elections… unbelievable images etched into the psyche of Americans.
But how does it affect Missouri politics? I asked a round as it was happening and received no clear consensus. It may take a few days for the impact to be fully digested….
· Immediately, some see the security system at Missouri’s capitol as woefully inadequate and vulnerable to similar breaches. They’ll want to look at upgrading capitol security.
But looking at the longer-term, three folks I spoke to saw three different scenarios as MOGOP goes forward…
· One thinks this is an inflection point and Trumpism starts to fade. There’ll be a reversion to conservatism as Republicans don’t wish to be associated with the Trump-inspired lawless interference of democracy.
· A second see no real change… “Most of rural Missouri supports the President and believes fraud occurred in the election.”
· And a third predicts the middle path… “a battle for the soul of the Party” that plays out over the next election cycle or two.
Individual Pols
· Senator Josh Hawley got a profile boost from his involvement in perpetuating the president’s election fraud misinformation, but some think (or hope) that the resulting chaos becomes a liability for his aspirations. We’ll see…
· And Rep. Justin Hill was mentioned a fair amount yesterday. He skipped the legislature’s opening day to participate in the DC rally-turned-riot. One Republican quietly told me: there better not be any pictures of him inside the capitol.
Also
In a bit of bad timing, just as the Trump insurrectionists were marauding capitol’s senate chamber and congressional offices, Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman’s press release was zapped out touting her bill to rename part of a highway after the Trump…
Vescovo Starts Committee Assignments
Speaker Rob Vescovo made assignments to three committees.
· Rep. Sara Walsh is chairing Consent and House Procedure to which the new House rules were referred. Read the rules here.
· Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman is chairing Children and Families. This was an early committee assignment because Vescovo has signaled that greater adoption support is a high priority. He’ll be referring legislation to that committee quickly.
· Rep. Travis Fitzwater is chairing the Ethics Committee. Ethics gets an expanded mandated, presumably to handle the case involving Rep. Rick Roeber. The new rules say, “which may include actions that occurred prior to the member's term of office or prior to the current general assembly.” Also, HC1 was filed. This is the complaint concerning Rep. Wiley Price which will come before the House.
And
It appears there will be four new standing committees in the House…
· Emerging Issues – consider and report upon bills and matters referred to it relating to general or miscellaneous issues as determined by the Speaker.
· Legislative Review – review bills to determine whether proposed amendments or substitutes are appropriate and whether bills are technically correct. House bills and resolutions and Senate bills and resolutions may, on amendable calendars, be committed by motion to the Committee on Legislative Review after the bill has lain upon the calendar for one legislative day. Bills may be committed before or after amendment, but not after third reading. The committee may then make a recommendation to the House in the form of a house substitute.
· Public Safety – consider and report upon bills and matters referred to it relating to law enforcement and public safety matters.
· Rural Community Development – consider and report upon bills and matters referred to it relating to rural community development.
Vescovo to Push for Ed Reform
Speaker Rob Vescovo’s opening day speech made it clear that he’ll push for education legislation. By my measure 1,107 words of his 2,676-word speech were dedicated to the topic. That’s 41%. It’s personal for him…
· Let me tell you about a young man who tried his hardest, but struggled every step of the way in his journey through our education system. From 2nd to 6th grade he was placed in 6 different schools… Because of his ADHD and other learning challenges, he continued to struggle with his schooling…he was constantly ridiculed and torn down along the way…By the time he was 16, he was so frustrated with the system that he dropped out of school entirely… he ultimately went back to obtain his GED at Harris Stowe State University… and then went on to college… I think his story is one that is ultimately successful as he went on to become an elected member of this body… and today became the Speaker of the House.
The one specific piece of legislation mentioned in Vescovo’s speech…
· I see the need to provide students more opportunities for learning. We can create these opportunities through tools like Education Savings Accounts…
Schatz Speech
Senate Pro Tem Dave Schatz avoided specific policy proposals in his opening day speech. Here’s an excerpt: As we begin the 101st General Assembly, we can be hopeful the worst is behind us. But make no mistake—there will be difficult challenges ahead as we work to recover, restore, and rebuild… Missourians are counting on us to honestly and seriously confront the issues facing our schools, public safety, infrastructure, and economy.… I hope future Missourians will look back at the work we began today—and see serious, solemn leaders who came together, with purpose, to chart a path towards a safer, more prosperous, more resilient Missouri…
Senate Committees Take Shape
In the proposed new rules for the Senate this session, we get an early glimpse of the Senate Committees.
As I had guessed in my early predictions from back in November (see them here)…
· Seniors, Families and Children Committee is being combined with Veterans and Military Affairs.
· And Fiscal Oversight is being combined with Government Accountability.
But what I didn’t guess…
· Small Business is continuing as a stand-alone committee; I’d thought it might combine with Economic Development.
· And the Government Reform Committee is being eliminated.
Sharpe’s Cig Play
Rep. Greg Sharpe’s HB 646 proposes an interesting change to tobacco tax public policy. It would repeal the state’s monopoly on tobacco tax, eliminating the language: “The general assembly hereby occupies and preempts the entire field of legislation increasing the taxation of cigarettes and tobacco products to the complete exclusion of any order, ordinance or regulation by any political subdivision of this state”
Instead, the bill would give local political subdivisions of the state the power to tax tobacco.
Sharpe’s northeast House district borders both Iowa and Illinois where the tax on cigarettes is much higher than Missouri’s tax. Accordingly, his district sees lots of residents from those two states cross over to buy the cheaper Missouri cigarettes.
That means localities in his district could raises their cigarette tax, still be cheaper than their neighbors, and net a windfall for themselves.
Parson Releases Budget Money
Amid the continuing strong state tax revenue numbers Governor Mike Parson released some money he had previously withheld from the current fiscal year. It’s a sign that his administration is no longer fearful of the state’s fiscal situation.
Press release: Due to the financial impact of COVID-19, the state restricted approximately $449 million in FY21 spending to ensure a balanced budget and the necessary funds to combat the virus moving forward. At the time these budget decisions were made, Missouri’s unemployment rate was projected to be at roughly 16.3 percent. With Missouri's current unemployment rate at 4.4 percent and 67 percent of jobs recovered as of November 2020, the state is in a better economic position than previously projected.
The funds released today include nearly $26 million for the Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development and $1.5 million for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education…
Tougher Recruiting in Law Enforcement
Daily American Republic reports on Butler County’s challenges in recruiting new law enforcement officers. See it here.
· Law enforcement training academies that used to be full, with 20 to 30 students attending, now have fewer than 10, [Butler County Sheriff Mark Dobbs] said. “The number of people wanting to go into law enforcement has been decreasing dramatically because of the negative attention brought to law enforcement in the past year,” Dobbs said.
· Poplar Bluff Police Chief Danny Whiteley agreed. “Since the events at Ferguson back in 2014, law enforcement has been very challenging, and the challenges seemed to have increased every year thereafter,” Whiteley explained. “It’s a nationwide trend; it is not specific to one area.
New Committees
Yinka Faleti formed a candidate committee, Faleti For Missouri, to run for an unspecified statewide office in 2024 as a Democrat. See the paperwork here.
Tracy Grundy formed a candidate committee, Tracy Grundy for Missouri, to run for House 102 as a Democrat.
The 100 PAC was formed. Its treasurer is Mark Milton. Jim Lembke is listed as the chairman on the MEC paperwork. Sen. Bill Eigel appears to be involved in fundraising for this PAC.
Lobbyists Registrations
There were a lot of lobbyists who forgot to make their annual filing and their registration lapsed. I will give it a day or two to settle out before I make a new listing.
$5K+ Contributions
Operating Engineers Local 101 Political Fund - $30,000 from Operating Engineers Local 101 Kansas Political Action Committee.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Chris Moreland and Gentry Trotter.