MOScout Daily Update: Cleaver on All-White Lobbying Firms - McIntosh MMJ Interest? - Budget Debate Preview - Roorda Prepping Run? and more...

Post Source: McIntosh Has MMJ Interest

Post-Dispatch has a report on lobbyist Richard McIntosh having an interest in a medical marijuana company.

·         In emails obtained by the Post-Dispatch under a public records request, Audrey McIntosh frequently cited a conflict of interest that prevented her from hearing medical marijuana license appeals. The emails don’t disclose her conflict of interest. But a person familiar with the matter who spoke to the Post-Dispatch on the condition of anonymity said Audrey McIntosh told the person in early 2020 that Richard McIntosh had received more than one medical marijuana license…

·         Richard McIntosh is not personally listed as receiving a license on the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services’ database of medical marijuana licensees. But the state has refused to release ownership structures of license applicants, so there is no way to know who the investors are in the licensed companies. No licensed marijuana companies show up on Audrey McIntosh’s personal financial disclosure, which lists her husband’s interests, but it’s impossible to know if some of the companies she lists hold interests in medical marijuana companies…

·         The state is still citing privacy provisions in the amendment and declining to release ownership structures of the applicants, concealing the real players behind them…

·         [Mike] Wolff said the whole process has contributed to an erosion of trust in government. “People have a right to know who is conducting the marijuana business in the state — it’s not like they’re selling marshmallows,” he said. “Do people get licenses for what they know or who they know?”

Big Business

DHSS press release: Fourteen months after the first sale to a qualified patient occurred in a Missouri medical marijuana dispensary, the total sales as part of the state-regulated medical marijuana program reached the $200 million mark.

Cleaver on All White Lobbying Firms

Politico has an article featuring Congressman Emanuel Cleaver telling DC lobbying firms they need to diversify their firms to stay in the game.  Read it here.

·         Long a bastion of white men, K Street has found itself scrambling in recent years to up its representation of employees of color. But the threats from Black lawmakers to stop meetings with certain firms represents one of the most aggressive attempts to actually force K Street to change from within.

·         “We choose not to have any meetings with people who don't have African American or Latino lobbyists,” Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) told POLITICO. “You got to be way out of it if you go into a meeting repeatedly with people of color, and you keep bringing three white men from Yale. It's just, no.”

·         The increasing power and sheer size of the Congressional Black Caucus in the Democratic Party makes it a formidable political force on and off the Hill...

·         The practice of not meeting with — or making their displeasure known to — firms that don’t have Black operatives in their top ranks is not entirely new. Sources and Cleaver said that Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) started putting firms on notice more than a decade ago…

·         “Now, it’s widespread. I know it’s not everybody but it’s growing,” Cleaver said. “Why should we meet with you, you're putting on display what you think about inclusion.”

Roorda Preps Senate Run?

In an op/ed in Missouri Times, former Democratic Rep. Jeff Roorda says he’s now a Republican. 

·         Rumors have him eying the Jefferson County state senate race. 

·         This could be a prelude to his entry.  The mighty Jason Rosenbaum says Roorda won’t make a decision until after the maps are completed.

Hints of Coming Budget Debate

A Pew news article about Governor Mike Parson’s proposal to raise state workers’ pay offers insights into the coming budget battles this session.  Read it here. 

Sen. Denny Hoskins expresses the conservative point of view. 

·         First, while not opposed to the pay raises, he wants to see if waste can be cut from the budget to offset some of the expense. 

·         Second, he wants to be careful that the state’s budget surplus isn’t dedicated to ongoing expenses that will create unsustainable budgets down the road.

I think these two positions will define a lot of budget debate ahead.  In the face of what seems like plenty of money, conservatives will still look for places to cut, and they will be focus on the impact to future budgets as much as the current one.

KCStar on Bedell Tenure

Kansas City Star editorial cheers the tenure of Kansas City Public Schools superintendent Mark Bedell who is amazingly on the cusp of being the “district’s longest-serving superintendent in more than 50 years.” Read it here.

·         In the preceding time, KCPS had seen 28 interim or permanent superintendents come with fanfare, start some half-baked initiative, then exit after two or three years Remember the middle school plans? In the two years that Anthony Amato led the district, he closed middle schools and created K-8 elementary schools. John Covington came in and moved middle schoolers into high schools. Two years later, Steven Green reopened middle schools.

eMailbag : More MOSen GOP Back and Forth

The biggest difference is Republican leadership called for the meeting. The senate moderates would be calling for heads to roll if Schatz and Rowden scheduled a secret meeting with the CC to talk about how to screw over the Republican moderates.

New Committees

Bob Jones formed a candidate committee (Bob Jones for Senate) to run for Senate 26 as a Republican.  See the paperwork here.

Lobbyists Registrations

Tamitha Rene’ Ague added Missouri Psychological Association.

John CE Gaskin and David McCracken added Paychex Inc, and Aramark Correctional Services LLC.

Randy Scherr and Brian Bernskoetter deleted American Chemistry Council.

$5K+ Contributions

House Democratic Campaign Committee - $19,000 from Keep Government Accountable.

Old Drum Conservative PAC (pro-Hoskins) - $10,000 from MO Coalition for Video Lottery PAC.

Dirk Deaton For Missouri - $5,001 from Dirk Deaton.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Shannon Cooper, and Casey Burns.

Thursday: Mike Revis.

Friday: Sen. Paul Wieland, Lindell Shumake, Caitlin Whaley, and Joe Palm.

Christmas: David Christian.

Sunday: Rep. Tracy McCreery, Todd Richardson, Jacob Scott, Allison Onder, and Stanley Cox.

MOScout Schedule

No update tomorrow or Friday, and no weekend editions. Merry Christmas, be back Monday.