MOScout Daily Update: More Haffner Talk - Defense of Liberty Pushed to Feb - Music Industry $$$ and more...
Talk on Haffner
Lots of traffic on the Rep. Mike Haffner and his plans. The speculation and rumors are running in all directions. A few things…
· First, a number of readers noted that Haffner runs a Christmas tree farm which is set to open for season very soon. This is his busy time of the year. And that – more than any other reason – is why he wasn’t at the House Caucus.
· An inside source says that Haffner hasn’t closed the door on anything. He’s running for floor leader, but he’s also exploring the possibility of a congressional bid. It’s unlikely he makes any concrete decision until there’s some clarity about how the CD-4 district is going to look.
Other observations from folks…
· [K]eep in mind, he’s running for House Majority Floor Leader which, technically, is a statewide office. As a leader in the state, one of the things he should be focused on is defending Missourians against the blatant overreach of the federal government.
· If Haffner and [Kurt] Schaefer get into CD4, that’s 3 candidates in the race from Boone County and 2 from Cass. The race is getting crowded, but only in certain parts of the map.
Defense of Liberty Event Pushed to Feb
Missouri Independent follows up on its report yesterday about the Defense of Liberty’s event being cancelled after WePay pulled back its service.
· There is too little time left to make the Dec. 3 Defense of Liberty PAC event in St. Charles a success, said the group’s founder, former state Rep. Paul Curtman. The group sold $30,000 worth of tickets to the event through WePay, a subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase, before the company canceled the contract on Nov. 9.
· A company representative called Wednesday evening to relay the change and apologize, Curtman said. When he asked that the apology be put in writing, he said, he received only the statement that was sent to The Independent.
· Defense of Liberty PAC is looking for a date in February when the scheduled speakers are available.
· Chase is facing other fallout from the controversy… U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley sent a letter Thursday to [Chase CEO Jamie] Dimon… Attorney General Eric Schmitt also wrote a letter to Dimon.
And
The silver lining for DOL folks is that this episode has generated a ton of free media for them. And Sen. Bill Eigel had a tweet retweeted by Donald Trump Jr., which became his most-liked tweet ever.
MO Music Industry $$$
Post-Dispatch’s David Nicklaus takes on the proposal to create incentives to spark Missouri’s music industry. Read it here.
· The state had a tax credit for movie and TV productions from 2000 to 2013, but wisely let it expire after research showed little economic benefit. Now another branch of the entertainment business is begging for subsidies. Gateway Studios, which is building a facility in Chesterfield where musical groups will put their tours together, has hired lobbyists to push for a music production tax incentive.
· Lobbyists sometimes promote the incentives as a free lunch for taxpayers. They say the industry will generate so much economic activity that new tax revenue will more than pay for the cost of the tax credits. Don’t believe the hype. Study after study shows the math falling far short of break-even. A Florida audit found just 7 cents of new revenue for each dollar the state handed to filmmakers. Massachusetts learned it was getting back just 13 cents of each dollar spent.
· The new Gateway Studios facility in Chesterfield is already benefiting from taxpayer largesse. It received $2.9 million in Missouri Works incentives, plus job training funds and property tax abatement.
The Gateway project is in the district of Sen. Dave Schatz.
Tracking the New Economy
To Missouri’s south, Walmart continues to invest in delivery technology. They recently started driverless delivery on a few routes. Now they’ve started limited delivery by drone. We’re in the beginning baby steps of a radical transformation of our transportation economy.
· Starting today, drones shaped like miniature airplanes will drop packages of 4 pounds or less in customers' yards when they order from a Walmart Neighborhood Market in Northwest Arkansas.
· The era of ubiquitous delivery by drone is inching forward, with scattered pilot programs involving pizzas and other light shipments — and the imprimatur of Walmart on this service is a big deal.
· [Walmart’s partner Zipline] says its cute little aircraft can loft packages of about 4 pounds, and can get them to customers within 30 minutes of an order.
· Customers increasingly expect to have their orders delivered as soon as possible, and the "last mile" persists as the thorniest issue. According to Deloitte, delivery-by-drone is estimated to become a $115 billion industry by 2035.
Lobbyists Registrations
David Linton added Flotron & McIntosh, and The McIntosh Company.
David Sweeney added Ballpark Village.
Eapen Thampy added RadianceSTL, and Great State Strategies, LLC.
$5K+ Contributions
Jeffco Vision PAC (pro-Dan Shaul) - $30,000 from Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc.
MO Cattlemens Association PAC - $24,504 from MCA Beef House.
UAW Region 5 Midwest States Political Action Committee (PAC) (MO) - $6,000 from UAW Region 4 Exchange Account.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Fred Dreiling, Tom Crawford, Brianna Lennon, and Kenny Jones.
Saturday: Matt Blunt, Rep. Dan Houx, Sharon Pace, Michal Vogt, and Myron Neth.
Sunday: Rep. Ed Lewis, Ginger Steinmetz, Henrio Thelemaque, and John Valenti.
MOScout Schedule
No Weekend editions Saturday or Sunday. And a short week, next week for Thanksgiving. Slacker!