MOScout Daily Update: House Tees Up ESA Legislation - Senate Approves Police Bill - STL Mayoral $$$ and more...
House Tees Up ESA
Rep. Phil Christofanelli’s HB 349 has been placed on the House Perfection Calendar, signaling that the education bill could come up for debate this week on the House floor.
HB 349 creates the “Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program.” Proponents think it will help families find better schools for their children, while detractors see it as undermining traditional public schools.
The debate – which will likely come Wednesday – could be one of the most spirited of the session.
· Speaker Rob Vescovo has championed education reform as one of his top priorities. But the votes don’t always follow party lines on this issue.
· Some rural Republican legislators have heartburn with the issue because their local superintendents are usually skeptical. In some rural areas, the school district may be the largest employer. They listen to the superintendent.
· And many suburban legislators are careful around this issue as well. Many folks are buying into a school district when they buy a home. Any move to upset their schools is a political third rail.
And
The House’s “unemployment overpayment” bill (HB 1083) is also on the Perfection Calendar. That however will probably garner overwhelming support.
Senate Approves SB 26
The Senate worked into the early morning to perfect Sen. Bill Eigel’s SB 26. It reworks penalties for protesting while enacting an “officers’ bill of rights.”
· I did not expect the Senate to commit to working through the night on this, but it feels like Floor Leader Caleb Rowden wants to make up for the lost week.
· And it continues his pattern of pushing issues toward a compromise by simply not abandoning the bill after a few hours debate.
And
From the Senate Journal…
Dear Ms. Crouse,
Due to my recent illness, I ask that I be temporarily recognized from my chair, pursuant to Rule 76.
Sincerely,
Cindy O’Laughlin
Why It Matters
If the Senate debates the big education bill (SB 55) of O’Laughlin’s later this week, it will be less taxing on her recovering body if she doesn’t have to stand for hours answering inquiries.
PubDef Crisis
Mary Fox, the State Public Defender Director, testified before the House Budget Committee yesterday.
· The Post-Dispatch has a nice rundown of the underfunded public defenders. See it here. “In her budget proposal, Fox is seeking $820,000 to hire 12 additional attorneys. That could help head off additional court action in connection with the lawsuit, which was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the MacArthur Justice Center.”
· Additionally, Fox mentioned that a federal court ruling means that some Missouri inmates are required to have attorneys at their “Gagnon” parole hearings. They expect it to impact about 440 hearings a year, and rather than the Department of Corrections creating a new legal division to handle it, that job will likely also fall to the public defenders.
STL Mayoral Campaign Filings
The St. Louis City mayoral election is a week from today. Yesterday, candidates and allied PACs, filed their 8-Day Reports.
· Tishaura Jones’ candidate committee outraised the other candidate committees, while the pro-Lewis Reed PAC led the field overall. Andrew Jones raised only nominal amounts.
· But no one blew the field away. All three candidates raised over $100K. But no one raised enough to swamp the city and saturate their message.
· This would seem to help Tishaura Jones and Reed, who have already run and won citywide elections, and came into the race with higher name ID.
Andrew Jones raised $7K, spent $9K, and has $9K on-hand.
Tishaura Jones raised $177K, spent $192K and has $69K on-hand. The pro-Jones PAC 314 Forward $38K, spent $13K, and has $107K on-hand.
Lewis Reed raised $104K, spent $133K, and has $37K on-hand. The pro-Reed PAC One St. Louis PAC raised $222K, spent $196K and has $26K on-hand. And the other pro-Reed PAC Leadership Counts raised $35K, spent $7K and has $29K on-hand.
Cara Spencer raised $103K, spent $228K, and has $29K on-hand The pro-Spencer PAC Gateway to Progress raised $77K, spent $60K, and has $16K on-hand.
Appts
· Speaker Rob Vescovo removed Rep. Travis Fitzwater and added Rep. Derek Grier to the Missouri Technology Corporation Board.
· Minority Leader Crystal Quade appointed Reps. Donna Baringer, Ian Mackey, and Raychel Proudie to the Joint Committee on Government Accountability.
New Committees
Missouri "Bootheel Dems" Democrats was formed. It’s a PAC. Its treasurer is Elijah Green.
Community Voices for Center was formed. This is a PAC to support Julie Kramschuster and Kathleen Ramel. They are candidates for the Center School District Board of Education. The treasurer is Danielle Quinn, a current member of the Center School District School Board.
Lobbyists Registrations
Jay Hahn added BreathableBaby LLC.
Tom Dempsey and Dave Berry added Missouri Charter Public Schools Association.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Rep. Paula Brown and Rick Stream.