MOScout Daily Update: Gas Tax Faces House Resistance - Lawsuit Alleges Villianization - Antsy Legislators - Kunce $$$ and more....
Gas Tax Faces House Resistance
After Senate Pro Tem Dave Schatz’ herculean effort to pass the gas tax through the Senate before Spring Break, it’s not clear that there’s enough muscle on the House side to push it to the governor’s desk.
· Speaker Rob Vescovo, energized by the Senate’s work on education reform, will do what’s necessary to keep the bill moving. It won’t get stuck in committee or die along the route.
· But the question is: where will the floor votes come from? Vescovo, himself, is assumed to be a No vote on the tax increase. But he’s not alone. Speaker Pro Tem John Wiedmann is looking at a senate run, he’s probably a No vote. Fiscal hawk Budget Chair Cody Smith is probably a No vote. Floor Leader Dean Plocher and Assistant Floor Leader Hannah Kelly? They could very well be Nos also. If you have leadership all voting No, and Reps. Justin Hill and Jared Taylor ripping the idea in debate, where will the GOP votes come from?
· The answer: you need a big lobbying effort from the governor’s office. Infrastructure is one of the cornerstones of his administration. His team needs to work it if they want it.
Lawsuit Filed Alleging Villianization
Yesterday, St. Louis Business Journal’s Jacob Kirn broke the story of a follow-on lawsuit from the 2018 Jefferson City battle to change Title IX. Read it here.
· The lawsuit was filed last month in St. Louis Circuit Court by a former WashU student, identified in the lawsuit as "John Doe," who was accused and subsequently expelled in 2018 for allegedly harassing another student in violation of the school's Title IX policies, which relate to the federal law barring sexual discrimination in education.
· According to the lawsuit, the student's father in 2018 lobbied the Missouri legislature to pass two bills that would allowed students accused of Title IX violations to hire attorneys and cross-examine witnesses, including their accusers.
· Though the bills never passed, the lawsuit claims it sparked enough concern at WashU that the university, along with the help of media consultant Connie Farrow and lobbyist Bill Gamble, sought to "villainize, shame and discredit" John Doe to prevent passage of the bills. Listed as defendants are the university, Farrow and her firm, plus Gamble and his Gamble & Schlemeier Ltd.
· While the plaintiff is not named in the lawsuit, the Star in April 2019 reported that Richard McIntosh, a Jefferson City lobbyist, had pushed lawmakers to pass the bills, which would have also allowed his son to appeal his WashU expulsion to a panel known as the Administrative Hearing Commission, which includes McIntosh's wife and the mother of his son.
Reaction
· MOIndy’s Jason Hancock, who was at the KCStar when they broke that story, reminds readers that the source for the story was a legislator who heard it from McIntosh.
· Staffer: How many lawmakers get deposed in this lawsuit?...
Antsy Legislators
Between the talk of nearly every member of the Republican congressional delegation eying the Senate race, and the delays in the redistricting process, lots of state legislators are full of uncertainty as they look at the next cycle or two.
One building denizen says, “There has to be at least 15 (give or take) current General Assembly members that would have thoughts of jumping into an open congressional primary [if their Rep jumps into the Senate race].”
We’ve seen preemptive announcements even without new lines drawn, like Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman running for a Jefferson County senate seat, and Rep. Bill Kidd forming a senate committee for 2024.
The House will likely hold special session in November or December when the census data is available. That will determine the congressional lines. But the state House and Senate districts will head through the commission process. That process should be able to be completed by the opening of filing in February.
But I think we’ll see more legislators stake out their claims even ahead of the official lines being drawn, and starting fundraising to get a head start.
Remember: you don’t have to be a resident of the congressional districts to run. And you don’t have to be a resident of the state legislative districts either – in a redistricting cycle.
Kunce Releases Video
Lucas Kunce, a Democrat running for US Senate, released an introductory video. See it here. The campaign says they’ve raised $150,000 since launched their campaign a week ago.
Sen. and Rep. Kidd?
With Bill Kidd having formed a candidate committee to run for state senate, and his wife Jamie Kidd forming a committee to run for state representative, they’d join Sen. Angela Mosley and Rep. Jay Mosley as a husband-wife duo serving concurrently – if they’re both successful.
Goodbye Capital Bowl
News Tribune reports that Capital Bowl, site of the annual Senate Bowling event, is being torn down.
· Five local business owners have bought the former Capital Bowl property and plan to turn it into a family entertainment center with an arcade, bowling lanes, and a full restaurant and sports bar. Scot Drinkard, one of the new property owners, said it will be like a "mini Dave & Buster's."
· There will be 12 bowling lanes and a VIP room with four more bowling lanes. The VIP room will be available for parties or team-building for businesses. "It's got a little bit different LED lighting, and it's just a little bit fancier," Drinkard said.
eMailbag on Blunt
I imagine Roy Blunt will want to have a hand in picking his successor...hard for me to think a man who navigated DC as a power broker would not care who Mitch McConnell could be stuck with from Missouri.
New Committees
Former state representative Delus Johnson is the treasurer of a newly formed federal Super PAC, Conservative PAC of America. See the paperwork here.
Lobbyists Registrations
Steven Tilley and Thomas Robbins added Public Consulting Group c/o MultiState Associates Inc., Georgia-Pacific LLC, Flint Hills Resources, and SRG Global.
Richard AuBuchon added Emerest.
Greg Smith added Missouri Coalition of Recovery Support Providers (MCRSP).
Trent Watson added Appriss Inc., and Zoll Services LLC.
$5K+ Contributions
Citizens for Wagner - $8,550 from Tamarah Wagner.
Committee to Elect Gail Griswold - $5,700 from Gail Griswold.
Yes on Prop E - Earnings Tax STL - $25,000 from The Krewson Committee.
Yes on Prop E - Earnings Tax STL - $25,000 from Friends of Gregory FX Daly.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Francis Slay, Tod Martin, and Kelsey Robinson.
MOScout Schedule
It’s happening again… another weekend off. I’ll do an update tomorrow (Friday) then be off until Monday when we return from Spring Break. And it’ll be non-stop until May 14...