MOScout Daily Update: Greitens Forms New PACs - Lefties Eye Paid Sick Leave IP - COVID Liability Games - MDC RFP and more....

Greitens Forms PACs

Eric Greitens has formed two new PACs in his quest to become a US Senator.

·         Missouri First (see the paperwork here) is a leadership PAC.  OpenSecrets: “Leadership PACs are used to fund expenses that are ineligible to be paid by campaign committees… Individuals can contribute up to $5,000 per year to a member's leadership PAC, even if they have already donated the maximum to that member's campaign.”

·         The G Team (see the paperwork here) is a joint fundraising committee.  OpenSecrets: “Joint fundraising committees can be created by two or more candidates, PACs or party committees to share the costs of fundraising, and split the proceeds.”

Both PACs have the same treasurer, Jack Neyens, as Greitens’ candidate committee, Greitens for US Senate.

What It Means

After his anemic first fundraising report, these new PACs will offer Greitens new routes and higher limits for him to raise money.

And More Greitens Rumors

·         Former Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder, on Twitter, writes of another misfired Greitens interview: I hear there’s a real DOOZY of an interview about to be published w @EricGreitens where he HUNG UP THE PHONE!

·         Former Greiten-ite tells me: The real interview that could take down Greitens isn't Sheena-- it's his first wife. Most folks don't realize that he was married before.  The marriage was very short and he has always refused to speak about it.  We were warned to never even bring it up to him…

Paid Sick Leave IP Coming?

It appears that progressive forces are preparing a new initiative petition which would put the issue of paid sick leave before Missouri voters in November 2022.

A campaign committee, Healthy Missouri Families, was formed.  See the paperwork here.  Its treasurer is Lisa D’Souza with legal services of Eastern Missouri, and its deputy treasurer is Jimmy Lappe with Jobs with Justice.

The committee was formed to support a November 2022 vote “relating to paid sick days.”

What It Means

·         Left-leaning interest groups have previously been successful (raising the minimum wage, expanding Medicaid) using the initiative petition process to pursue economic policies that the state legislature has been loathe to tackle. 

·         This pattern has fueled an effort among some conservative lawmakers to amend the initiative petition process to make it more difficult to use.

·         Some Democrats see economic populism as their best hope to regain their footing in Missouri.  They point to these victories as proof that their party suffers from an image problem and messaging problems.  And that their policies are not terribly out-of-step with Missourians.

Another Tough Night in the Senate

As the Senate begins its budget debate today, it’s coming off another tough night.  Lots of time was spent on a few bills which didn’t come to resolution.

Sen. Eric Burlison’s SB 39 “Second Amendment Preservation Act,” and Sen. Denny Hoskins’ SB 98 gambling bill were both set aside after significant time investments.

Hoskins’ bill, in part because the subject matter defies easy ideological categorization, had the “frogs leaping out of wheelbarrow” feel.

·         One observer: After tonight it’s pretty clear that the only person that has a large voting bloc in the senate is Rizzo…

COVID Liability Games

MOIndy reports on a House Rules Committee rejecting Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer’s SB 51, the COVID liability bill.  Read their account here.

Inside the building this move was seen as Speaker Rob Vescovo sending a message to the Senate that he wanted to see action on House bills.  It probably didn’t hurt that he was dunking the governor’s top priority at the same time.

Observers were split in their opinion of the move…

·         Some view it as another sign of a dysfunctional Republican ruling party. 

·         Others are more sanguine noting it’s not uncommon this time of year to need a jolt to break logjams.

With regard to the particular legislative item…

·         It’s not necessarily dead.  The language can be attached to other bills still in the mix. 

·         And one Republican shrugged that despite it being one of the governor’s top priorities, its time has passed.  With COVID crisis past its peak, it’s unclear how important this legislation is.

MDC Seeks Help Changing

The Missouri Department of Conservation has issued an RFP (see it here) “change management consulting services.”

·         Natural resource conditions are changing with climate; connection to nature is changing with technological revolutions; public expectations around customer service are changing with demographic shifts; and workforce expectations are changing with shifting social norms around work life balance, accommodations, and more. 

·         In response to these changes, MDC is committed to altering how MDC operates… To further MDC’s commitment, on July 1, 2020, MDC made a historic organizational change.  Due to MDC’s organizational change, a large amount of effort is essential to improve workplace culture, processes and principles…

·         The contractor shall provide change management consulting services for the Missouri Department of Conservation

·         The contractor shall assist the state agency with the following to advance the state agency’s workplace culture, processes and principles, which include: Delivering on one set of shared MDC-wide priorities achieved… Recruiting and retaining staff with competitive compensation and career advancement opportunities; Empowering staff through more effective decision-making, driven at the regional level; Building a culture of organization-wide collaboration, accountability, communication, and customer service for all internal and external customers; and enhancing relevancy, by virtue of having deeper relationship with the full diversity of MDC’s external customers.

KSinque for Criminal Justice Reofrm

Press release: In the US District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Eric McCauley of Columbia, Missouri, a first time marijuana offender serving 23 years in federal prison, filed a motion for compassionate release under the First Step Act. Eric is represented by Barry Grissom, former US Attorney for the District of Kansas.

In March 2011, a federal jury convicted Eric of four counts of marijuana trafficking and 26 counts of money laundering connected with marijuana trafficking. In 2020, advocates with the nonprofit Weldon Project included Eric's name on a list of 25 marijuana offenders sent to the Trump White House as part of a clemency campaign supported by Republicans, Democrats, law enforcement, and various celebrities. Although President Trump granted 9 of the requested pardons, Eric's request was not granted…

Katie Sinquefield of Columbia, Missouri, said, “In 2003 Columbia voters rejected marijuana prohibition by passing ordinances protecting medical marijuana users and making marijuana possession the lowest law enforcement priority. Three years ago, more than 72% of Boone County voters approved legalizing medical marijuana commerce. Our community does not believe that marijuana use or distribution should be a crime and that those incarcerated for something that is now seen as legitimate entrepreneurship should be released.” Sinquefield is a criminal justice reform advocate and board member of the Weldon Project…

$5K+ Contributions

Uniting Missouri PAC - $10,000 from Bommarito West County.

Lobbyists Registrations

Sarah Wood Martin added Gateway Government Relations, Simmons Hanly Conroy, Recovery Lighthouse Inc., and Electrify Missouri; and deleted Express Medical Transporters Inc.

Phillip Scaglia deleted Payne & Jones Chartered.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Rep. Adam Schnelting, Tina Shannon, and Brian Yates.