MOScout Daily Update: Three Weeks Left - 2/3 MO Not Yet Vaxxed - MedEx in Senate Guess - TeleMed and more...

Three Weeks Left

The clock is ticking.  There’s three weeks left in session.

·         Senate Floor Leader Caleb Rowden, in a press availability, said there’ll be long days and nights ahead.  We’re entering the crunch period.

·         The Senate referred House bills yesterday; this might be the last batch with any chance to cross the finish line given the time constraints.

·         Fingers are crossed that the Medicaid expansion debate doesn’t cause a big blow-up next week…

MedEx in Senate

I back-of-enveloped (literally) a rough vote of Medicaid expansion in the Senate.  It looks to me like 15 in favor, 19 against, though I could also see a 16-18 vote.

It’s closer than I thought.  And maybe, if I’m off on one or two votes, it could happen.  But it seems like a real long-shot to insert the funding back in the budget on the floor. 

The only scenario where it could happen is if leadership decides to buck their Appropriations Chair, Dan Hegeman, who voted against it in committee.  And that’s not happening.

Finishing the Vaccination Job

Yesterday Governor Mike Parson confirmed that COVID vaccinations are becoming a tougher sell in Missouri.  “In the last week or two the demand for the vaccine has gone down… I’m telling you the demand has dropped off drastically.”

As of this morning, according to the state dashboard a little over a third of Missourians (35.2%) have received at least one shot, and a quarter of Missourians (24.6%) are fully vaccinated.

With two-thirds of Missourians still unvaccinated, it’s time to re-inject some urgency in this process so we can close the chapter on this episode.

More data points…

·         Morning Consult reports that 24% of Missourians are flat-out “unwilling” to get the vaccination.

·         Axios reports that across the nation, and in Missouri, cases have stopped dropping.

And

Coming to a ballpark – and maybe other venues – near you… “fully vaccinated sections.”  It’s one way the market will adapt to vaxxed and vaxxed-not populations.

LATimes reports: For Saturday’s game, the Dodgers are opening what they’re calling a “fully vaccinated fan section.” The seats for fully vaccinated fans are in the loge level, in the two sections closest to the visiting bullpen… Fans 16 and older will be required to provide documentation showing that at least two weeks have passed since a final vaccination dose. Children from 2 to 15 years of age will be required to show proof they have tested negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of admission to Dodger Stadium.  Such sections are in accordance with state public health guidelines. The Padres and San Francisco Giants previously announced such sections.

Wright Announces House Run

On Twitter Kendall Martinez-Wright announced she’s going to run for House 5.  Hello! I am Kendall Martinez-Wright, I go by she her pronouns and I am the first Trans woman to run for the Missouri House of Representatives for 2022. I stand for all individuals and I will specifically stand for Trans folks here in Missouri.

Republican Rep. Louis Riggs is the incumbent in House 5 (Hannibal).

Supreme Court Shovels Dirt on Special Laws Casket

In an opinion on Tuesday, the Missouri Supreme Court reiterated its ruling from last year that “special laws” in the Missouri legislature were kosher as long as there was a rational basis for them.

In City of Crestwood v Affton Fire Protection (see the opinion here) Judge Patricia Breckenridge writes, “Because a rational basis supports the classification scheme challenged by the plaintiffs… their special-law challenges fail.”

Telehealth in MO

Kaiser Health network reports on a virtual “hospital without beds” in Missouri.

Mercy, the St. Louis-based Roman Catholic health care organization that became a pioneer in telehealth in 2015 when it opened Mercy Virtual Care Center in the suburb of Chesterfield. Officials described the $54 million stand-alone facility as the world’s first “hospital without beds.” And after the covid-19 pandemic hit, Mercy became a model for ramping up telehealth throughout a health system.  The virtual care center, whose staff includes doctors, nurses and technology professionals, is not siloed from traditional care; it’s a hub from which some care is provided and new approaches to telehealth are introduced.

There are several bills dealing with telemedicine, but Rep. Becky Ruth’s HB 495 seems to be the one moving the most right now.

Meet Replica

KC Business Journal reports: “Overland Park-based Replica experienced explosive revenue growth last year, and now it’s generating another win: raising $41 million in Series B funding.  Replica, a tech startup that spun out of Google parent Alphabet Inc. in 2019, describes itself as a data platform for the built environment that breaks down information silos. It aims to provide crucial insights about what's happening inside a city, such as mobility, land use, consumer spending and employment numbers. Its customer base includes states, cities, counties and regional planning agencies throughout the U.S., such as the Kansas Department of Transportation and the cities of Kansas City and Olathe.  Replica uses data, its own as well as that from private vendors and its customers, to generate insights and visual dashboards that lead to more informed decisions…”

Replica is repped in Jefferson City by Matthew Alsager.

Lobbyists Registrations

Tracy King, Brittany Robbins, Tom Robbins, Steven Tilley and Garrett Webb added Native Agtech Inc.

Jeffrey Altmann added Progressive Resources LLC.

Don Lee added Stride Inc.

James Harris deleted 4Tellus, LLC.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Gina Walsh and Jeff Pogue (4-0).