MOScout Daily Update: Casas and Jackson Tapped to Lobby for Sinquefield - Limbaugh Passes - Icet for Greene Collector? and more...

Casas and Jackson Repping Sinquefield

Nexus Group’s Kate Casas and Gamble and Schlemeier’s David Jackson have been tapped to lobby for Rex Sinquefield in the capitol.

In the lobbyists’ registrations (below), they – and their respective firms – registered for Missouri Future LLC, a new Sinquefield vehicle to advance his agenda.

Here’s my initial read of this development…

First, both Casas and Jackson worked with Team Rex years ago. 

·         Sinquefield knows what he’s getting. 

·         Maybe as important, both left the team – presumably not satisfied with the way things we’re going. 

·         Maybe most importantly, neither “trashed” the team or Sinquefield when they made their exit.  They showed their character.  These are two “work-the-problem” kind of people.  No spotlight grabbing.  The story is never about them.

Second, the agenda will presumably remain the same. 

·         Sinquefield’s long enduring interests have been improving the educational system, and lowering the income tax.  There’s no indication this has changed.

·         But the agenda was sometimes obscured by various side projects that Travis Brown’s Pelopidas was pursuing.  For example, I remember people asking, “Was Rex invested in Hyperloop?”  

Third, these hires likely signal a major shift in the lobbying method.

·         Brown often led with money: a new organization, with a big rollout.  That’s not the Casas or Jackson way.

·         I’m sure some will characterize the Casas-Jackson approach as “anti-Travis.”   

·         Look for more collaboration, more behind the scenes, more traditional relationship-based, policy-soaked lobbying.

·         It wouldn’t surprise me if we don’t hear a lot from Missouri Future for a while. They might start with something unassuming like a listening tour, eschewing positions on controversial bills until any lingering ill will associated with the Sinquefields’ previous efforts has dissipated.

Finally, this is not Rex 2.0, but could represent a deeper change.  

·         In the building one source says that they’ve heard the new incarnation won’t be Rex, Rex, Rex.  Instead, it will be less Rex, more Sinquefield.  That is, look for greater involvement of Jeanne Sinquefield and daughter Katie Sinquefield.

Limbaugh Passes

WSJ: Rush Limbaugh, conservative talk-radio icon and pioneer of a thriving right-wing media industry, died Wednesday of complications from lung cancer, his wife, Kathryn Rogers, announced on his show. He was 70 years old.

Limbaugh’s transformative impact:

·         He appears now as the forerunner to the splintering of news delivery, from the big monolithic The Media, into today’s collection of targeted and niche news outlets.  Technology was a driver for sure, but Limbaugh proved there were lucrative markets to be mined.

·         And anecdotally, he was a pre-internet connector for conservatives, giving folks a tribe to belong to, and the affirmation that they were not alone in their political thinking.

The mighty Jason Rosenbaum tweeted an old interview with then-Speaker Steven Tilley talking about the decision to add Limbaugh’s bust to the Hall of Famous Missourians in the rotunda.  It was controversial when it happened, so much so that a security camera was installed, presumably to watch against vandalism.

·         Limbaugh’s conservative-shock-jock routine meant that he regularly bumped up against, and sometimes expanded, what was considered acceptable at the time.  Prior to Tilley’s decision, Limbaugh had taken heat for referring to a college student as a “slut.”

And

KSDK’s Casey Nolen cleverly points out the difference between Missouri’s two senators by putting their statements on Limbaugh’s death side by side. See it here.

·         To which communications genius Richard Callow succinctly replied that one statement was aimed at a Missouri audience while the other was speaking to a national audience.

Icet for Greene County Collector?

Tipster tells me that “the Greene County GOP central committee voted to nominate former Rep. Allen Icet as Collector. The current collector resigned effective at the end of this month.”  The nomination will go to Governor Mike Parson who ultimately will decide the appointment. 

Icet, a House Budget Chair, during his time of service actually represented St. Louis County in the legislature.  He later relocated, moving to Greene County to be close to his daughter.

Making Sense of the Rolling Blackouts

Politico’s Nightly offers their take on the big picture of the weather/energy crisis.  Read it here.

·         The right wants to blame the blackouts in Texas on renewable energy, as if the Republicans who run the state had accidentally adopted a Green New Deal that eliminated fossil fuels and destroyed the reliability of the grid. In fact, Texas is still fossil-fueled, and most of its generation problems this week stemmed from frozen fossil plants and pipelines.

·         Meanwhile, some progressives have pointed fingers at the deregulation of Texas electricity markets, but that seems mostly irrelevant to the current crisis. They’ve also blasted conservative Republicans for failing to make long-term investments that could have made Texas more resilient to extreme weather, which is a fairer critique, except that liberal Democratic states have neglected to invest in resilient infrastructure as well.

·         The real problem in Texas is the freaky weather, and unfortunately, climate change is delivering a lot more freaky weather… Today, only a fool expects a hundred-year drought or flood or snowfall event to happen once every hundred years.

·         Admittedly, that’s a political talking point. Climate science, and to some extent all science, has gotten drafted into America’s never-ending political culture wars; taking it seriously has become yet another partisan identifier.

eMailbag

The situation this week reinforces the need for the Grain Belt Express line, contrary to HB 527…

·         You note about long term planning, 'more transmission, more reliable grid' is spot on. I wonder if this could change the perception of Clean Line? The more robust and connected the grid, the better, and Clean Line does solve a problem. Having the main trunk of that line running through Missouri is a net positive from a system perspective.

Help Wanted

St. Louis Development Corporation seeks Executive Director.  “Founded in 1988, SLDC is an umbrella, not-for-profit corporation with the mission of fostering economic development and growth in the City of St. Louis by stimulating the market for private investment in City real estate and business development and improving the quality of life for everyone who lives in, works in, and visits the City.  This ED position is responsible for the staff support of ten separate economic development authorities… As a proven community leader and collaborator, this dynamic and charismatic ED will be the collective face of economic development for the organization and the City of St. Louis.” See the ad here.

New Committees

Shawn Hayden formed a candidate committee (Committee to Elect Shawn Hayden) to run for House 136 as a Democrat.  Republican Rep. Craig Fishel is the incumbent.

Lobbyists Registrations

Gamble and Schlemeier, and Nexus Group added Missouri Future LLC.

Jacqueline Bardgett, John Bardgett, Mark Habbas, Erika Leonard, and Chris Roepe added Missouri Association of County Clerks & Election Authorities.

Jean Evans added Script.

$5K+ Contributions

One St Louis PAC (pro-Lewis Reed) - $10,000 from Jeff Tegethoff.

Ready by Five STL City - $6,038 from WEPOWER (10/28/2020).

Ready by Five STL City - $51,200 from American Heart Association (10/28/2020).

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Jeffery Justus, and Rose Marie Hopkins.

Congratulations

To Jodi and Mike Lodewegen on the birth of their daughter, Harper Elizabeth Lodewegen, 8lbs 1oz, 19 1/2 inches.