MOScout Daily Update: House Forms Stimulus Committee - Jones Transition Team - Candidates Circle Derges Seat - Johnson Hires Siettmann and more...
US Senate Watch
It feels like it’s going to be a long and wacky road to August 2022…
And
President Joe Biden is expected to release “a flurry” of executive orders on gun control today. Look for US Senate candidate, and MO AG Eric Schmitt to announce lawsuits soon after…
House Forms Stimulus Subcommittee
Speaker Rob Vescoco formed the Subcommittee on Federal Stimulus Spending. He appointed Rep. Doug Richey the chair of the new committee. Also on the committee Republican Reps. Don Mayhew, Alex Riley and Hannah Kelly; and Democratic Reps. Ingrid Burnett, and Kevin Windham.
I’m told that the second floor is only looking at “ideas of one-time spending” right now for the funds. They don’t want to commit to something that can’t be funded down the road. The best guess is that they will propose to “spend it on infrastructure and the mother of all capital improvement bills.”
The Brookings Institute looked at the federal program. See it here.
[T]he funding for state and local governments appears to be incredibly flexible…That is not to say the funds are totally without restrictions. For example, ARP rightly bars the use of recovery funds to offset tax cuts. It also flatly prohibits depositing recovery funds into pension accounts.
[T]he funds… are available for use until 2024 and encumbered with minimal restrictions—a big departure from the norm of federal grants. Major provisions of the package are permissive and make clear that ARP money can be used to backfill revenue declines; respond to COVID-19’s public health and recessionary impacts; or invest in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure.
Funds can also be given to nonprofits or public benefit corporations to address the law’s broad purposes.
[L]ocalities are not subservient to their states—they receive their own funding, with the inflows relatively broad and distinct.
Jones Transition Team
Mayor-elect Tishaura Jones announced her transition team. She takes office on April 20. See the transition team here. It includes some names that will be familiar to Jeff City folks…
· Nexus’ Rodney Boyd
· Burns and McDonnell’s Mike Talboy
· Former SIEUer Nancy Cross
· Ameren’s Patrick Brown
· Advantage Capital’s Sandra Moore
And
There was some talk yesterday in Jefferson City about potential appointments from Jones. One source telling me they expect that Rep. Rasheen Aldridge could go to work in the Jones administration, as well as former Sen. Jamilah Nasheed.
How to Spend $500M
The Jones Team also has a transition website up and running. It includes a page for feedback on how the city should use its $500M coming from the Biden Administration.
Working the Teacher Shortage
Earlier this week, Axios reported on teach shortages exacerbated by the pandemic.
· 73% of districts said their need for substitute teachers was more dire in 2020 than in 2019, per a recent Education Week survey of principals and school administrators. And 74% said the number of applicants for sub positions dropped.
The Senate Education Committee heard SB 448 on Tuesday which aims to address the shortages by allowing subject-matter experts to receive temporary teaching certificates and renew them up to four times for hard-to-staff schools or hard-to-fill subject areas.
With witness testifying in favor of the bill from several big education groups (Mike Wood, Missouri State Teachers Association; Mike Reid, Missouri School Boards Association; and Scott Kimble, Missouri Association of School Administrators) the bill would appear to have bipartisan support.
Senate Decorates Then Rejects Xmas Tree
The Senate played an old House game yesterday loading up a local government bill into a “Christmas tree.” After hours of debate and over a dozen amendments, which seemingly put enough things into the bills that a majority of senators didn’t like, the perfection motion failed. The original underlying bill, SB 5, was then perfected.
Candidate Circle Derges Seat
It would appear that folks are assuming that Rep. Tricia Derges will resign as part of a plea bargain.
I’m told that Jason Shaffer, one of the candidates in the last primary, is seeking to replace her, having called for her resignation in the local newspaper and actively campaigning for the seat. Shaffer is a former alderman in Ozark.
But also “many Republican legislators in the area believe Jeff Parnell is the front-runner to replace Derges, as he came in as a close-second to her in last August’s primary.”
Cass Hires Siettmann
Commissioner Ryan Johnson and the Cass County Commission hired Mark Siettmann, former MO Dept. of Revenue Legislative Liaison, as a communications consultant. Before that, Siettmann served as chief of staff to Sen. Will Kraus, as well as communications director for KC Mayor Mark Funkhouser and Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders. He has also managed several successful congressional campaigns for Axiom Strategies.
Taylor Wins School Board Race
I missed from Tuesday night: former Rep. Sylvester Taylor won a spot on the Hazelwood School Board.
Lobbyists Registrations
Aaron Baker and Hannah Beer Sutton added Magnitude 7 Metals, LLC.
Lena Baker added Foster Care & Adoptive Care Coalition.
Rodney Hubbard added Missouri Cattlemens Association.
Paul Mouton added Ehawk Inc.
Brian Yates added Steady Platform, Inc.
$5K+ Contributions
American Property Casualty Insurance Association Political Account - $5,380 from American Property Casualty Insurance Association.
Missouri Realtors PAC - $10,000 from Missouri REALTORS.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Ron Leone, Mike Sutherland, Mike Thomson, and PJ White.