MOScout Daily Update: Plocher's Pitch - McCloskey to Jump In? - 2022 GOP Primaries? - Readers Offer Session Winners and more...

Plocher Formally Announces for Speaker

In a letter to his Republican House colleagues, House Floor Leader Dean Plocher announced that he’s running for Speaker.  This is not a surprise.  A bigger surprise will be if he gets a serious challenge.  Three takeaways from his letter…

·         Why he’s running: “To build a stronger, more prosperous economy for every Missourian, and defeat the liberal extremist agenda.”

·         Reminder that he’s been a big fundraiser for the caucus: “I will continue to campaign and work to support our House Republican Campaign Committee. Protecting our caucus is a main responsibility of leadership, and with redistricting upon us next election cycle it is incumbent upon leadership to raise the necessary resources to protect every member’s seats.”

·         Unlike his critics, he has the right temperament for leadership: “Serving the State of Missouri is a privilege. I will always represent our caucus and the House in a professional, honorable, and thoughtful manner.”

McCloskey for Senate Getting Real?

Politico reporter Alex Isenstadt tweets that Mark McCloskey “is poised to enter the Missouri Senate race as early as this week.”

What It Means

·         McCloskey with his outsider, outsized rhetoric would seem to appeal to the same voters as Eric Greitens.

·         A third St. Louisan entering the race would seem to sweeten the race’s appeal for outstate candidates.

·         However, with the field so fluid, it’s hard to make a definitive assessment of this impact on the race.

·         This could signal the beginning of “announcement season” which generally should end by Labor Day.  One possible trigger date for would-be candidates: June 11 Lincoln Days.

Another Contentious Cycle Ahead for GOP Senate?

MOIndy reports on the turmoil and tension in the Senate.  Read it here.

The key line: “[The Conservative Caucus] has its eyes on the 2022 elections. Not to choose a member to promote to federal office, but to win primaries in districts where sitting members lack the ideological purity they feel they bring to the chamber.”

Even Senate districts will be up in 2022.  Of course, we’ll have new lines drawn in these districts, but here’s the rundown to make your starter list for potential Republican primaries.

Possible Hot Primaries

Senate 2 – Open seat (Onder termed).

Senate 8 – Sen. Mike Cierpiot.

Senate 10 – Open seat (Riddle termed).

Senate 12 – Open seat (Hegeman termed).

Senate 16 – Sen. Justin Brown.  Brown name probably hard to overcome.

Senate 22 – Open seat (Wieland termed).

Senate 26 – Open seat (Schatz termed), Ben Brown likely to have CC backing.

Senate 30 – Sen. Lincoln Hough.  District might be too moderate for a right-side challenge.

Senate 32 – Sen. Bill White.

Senate 34 – Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer.  Won tough primary in 2018.

Others

Senate 6 – Sen. Mike Bernskoetter – likely safe.

Senate 18 – Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin.

Senate 20 – Sen. Eric Burlison (CC member).

Senate 28 – Sen. Sandy Crawford.

Should Parson Wait on Special?

One MOScouter says that Governor Mike Parson shouldn’t get trigger-happy on calling the expected FRA special session.  “The FRA sunset doesn’t expire until the end of the federal fiscal year (September 30th).  If I were Parson, a governor who likes to call special sessions, I would wait a while before calling one for this issue and see if he can knock out two or three subjects with one stone (near veto session). This issue can wait a couple of months.”

AFP Files Gas Tax Referendum

Jeremy Cady of Americans for Prosperity Missouri filed paperwork to put the recently passed gas tax to a referendum vote.

While this is something to keep an eye on, it’s unclear whether AFP will devote the resources necessary to gather enough signatures to make it happen. MOIndy reports that you need “about 110,000 signatures in 90 days” to make it happen.  AFP, unlike the labor groups which mounted a referendum on right to work, doesn’t have tens of thousands of members.

What to watch for…

·         Establishment of a campaign committee.

·         Large checks coming in, soon.

Who Won the Session – Reader Feedback

·         Becky Ruth was left out of your list of who won the session. No one worked both sides of the aisle harder. Too much credit given to labor, the House Democratic Labor Caucus didn’t meet once during session. A decade ago, there were Labor supporters on both sides, the fractures in both parties are prime for a full fledge earthquake.

·         Jamey Murphy had a breakout year. As you said he has the trust of both parties as an honest broker on behalf of his boss. BUT…there is one more thing and that is having his father in the House. He has built trusted relationships in that chamber as well. Weiland’s priorities always seem to go smoothly when he wants them to and can get thorny when he wants them to. None of this is happenstance, its due to a now veteran chief of staff who can see the entire field of play and accomplish his work accordingly. 

·         Jessica Seitz led the effort to address the child abuse and neglect and sexual abuse at faith-based residential youth facilities. Her coalition worked to TAFP a bill that will require unlicensed youth residential facilities to register with the state and undergo background checks for its employees. She also earned the respect of her board and was named interim director of Missouri KidsFirst.

·         Jeff Brooks was a huge part of getting Wayfair across the finish line. He’s worked on that for Walmart, City of St. Charles, City of chesterfield and Greater St. Louis (biz community) for 7-8 years.

·         Sen. Holly Rehder had another major victory this Session. She was the champion to update Missouri's outdated, medically inaccurate, and cruel HIV-specific criminal codes for several years and had a victory on that in SBs 53 & 60. She had a lot of support over the past five years from Rep. Tracy McCreery and later from Rep. Phil Christofanelli and Sen. Greg Razer who added an additional HIV policy modernization around access to pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis… Jeff Brooks and Jorgen Schlemeier were the contract lobbyists working the issue.

·         Missouri Chamber’s big three priorities – COVID liability, gas tax and Wayfair – all got passed.

·         You definitely forgot kids in your who won the session. With the Speaker and his advocacy and substantial increases for foster care supports and the Governor and the Office of Childhood and Rep.Veit/Rep.Engle/Sen.White/Rep. Coleman/Rep. Kelly and their work on finally addressing the loop holes and abuse in unlicensed religious facilities, kids won. All without big money driving the work!

Escalating Cyberattacks

Axios reports on escalating cyberattacks.  Kansas City gets a cameo.  Read it here.

·         If you run a hospital, a bank, a utility or a city, chances are you'll be hit with a ransomware attack. Given the choice between losing your precious data or paying up, chances are you'll pay… Paying the hackers is the clear short-term answer for most organizations hit with these devastating attacks, but it's a long-term societal disaster, encouraging hackers to continue their lucrative extortion schemes.

·         A hospital near Kansas City, Mo., fell victim to an attack, paid the ransom, and then had to ask the city's government for help making payroll, Mayor Quinton Lucas told Axios. "It's odd how under-discussed [cybersecurity] is when we talk about infrastructure," Lucas said.

·         "The challenge is not necessarily City Hall getting attacked, it's all the institutions that make up a city — the police department, banks, health systems — that all have different security companies working for them."

And

Bloomberg reports that Biden’s Infrastructure Plan includes “$20 billion for state, local and tribal governments to modernize their energy systems contingent upon meeting cybersecurity standards, as well as $2 billion for grid resilience in high-risk areas that will be contingent on meeting cybersecurity targets.”

Biden Community College Plan

Wall Street Journal reports on the Biden Administration community college plan which has the potential to reshape higher education.  Read it here.

·         His proposal—unveiled in April as part of his $1.8 trillion American Families Plan—would waive tuition for two years of public community college…

·         The White House says spending more on community college will lead to more Americans enrolling, gaining skills and landing well-paying jobs—in turn boosting incomes and the U.S.’s economic competitiveness. By shifting education costs to taxpayers, supporters say, the plan would ease reliance on student debt, which has soared in recent years.

·         Republicans and some academics on both the left and right say that community college is already inexpensive and making it free wouldn’t sufficiently address deep-seated problems with the system: high dropout rates and entering students being unprepared for college-level work.

·         The Biden plan as introduced also relies on states contributing funds—about $1 for every $3 from the federal government—raising the question of whether states will go along.

·         The largest portion [of the plan], an estimated $109 billion, would go to states that waive community-college tuition, with the federal government replacing three-quarters of the lost revenue as long as the state covers the rest.

Lobbyists Registrations

Aaron Baker and Hannah Beers Sutton added Continental Cement.

Heath Clarkston, Doug Nelson, and Kurt Schaefer added Tria Health.

Francis G Slay deleted SirenGPS Inc, and S. I. Warehousing Co., Inc. dba Archway Fleeting & Harbor.

David Sweeney deleted Community Support Program.

Trent Watson, Jeff Kipping, and Richard AuBuchon deleted Emerest.

$5K+ Contributions

Operating Engineers Local 101 Political Fund - $100,000 from Operating Engineers Local 101 PAC.