MOScout Daily Update: FRA Special Begins Today - MedEx Ruling Coming - LIHTC Reform Report - Brattin Wants Agents Sent to TX and more...

FRA Special

It’s been easy to get whipsawed during the past week.  At various times, there’s been language supposedly agreed to, then suddenly no special session, then more talks, then a list of restrictions, and now we’re back to a special session.

See the governor’s call here.

The contours of the deal: pass the FRA with some prohibitions against abortifacient drugs (a nod to Sen. Paul Wieland), and some cuts to reimbursing Planned Parenthood (a nod to Sen. Bob Onder).

With a billion dollars on the line, one must assume that legislators returning to Jefferson City will manage to get this passed.  But there does seem to be plenty of tension in the air…

·         Rumors of a very testy call between Governor Mike Parson and legislative leaders yesterday just before the call.

·         Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo tweeting that Senate Dems don’t plan to help pass anything but a “clean FRA.” 

·         Sen. Bob Onder publicly talking down the deal: tweeting that a 3-year renewal would be “ill-advised;” telling Missouri Times the language doesn’t go far enough; telling Post-Dispatch that the “call has a lot of problems.”  And running Facebook ads about the issue making some wonder if he’s working for compromise or working for headlines.

·         More moderate Republicans, like Rep. Shamed Dogan, wondering if being against birth control is really the direction the party should be headed.

Could there be a problem here?  If you have Dems (plus a moderate GOPer or two) striking on the left for a clean FRA, and the Conservative Caucus voting No because it doesn’t go far enough, then you could run into a problem passing the FRA regardless of getting everyone to sit down. 

But again, it’s easy to get whipsawed in the emotions.  The most likely course of action is a loud and messy special session with the fiscal cliff narrowly avoided.

ESAs Were Safe

I mistakenly wrote yesterday that the governor’s restrictions on education transportation would impact ESAs.  But I was corrected that the “ESA trigger is met when the money is APPROPRIATED. Not when it’s expended.”

Driving the Day: MedEx Ruling

The expectation is that Judge Jon Beetem will issue his ruling on the Medicaid Expansion lawsuit.

·         The assumption is the ruling – regardless of its outcome – will be appealed by the losing side.   

LIHTC Reform Recommended

Press release: Missouri State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick today announced that the Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC) Accelerated Redemption Study Committee will recommend accelerated redemption be made available for up to 50% of state low-income housing tax credits, an increase from 20% of total projects in the pilot program. The Study Committee was formed in 2020 to evaluate the impact of accelerated redemption on pricing for low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC).

In their report, the Study Committee found accelerated redemption increased the pricing of state LIHTC over $0.10 per tax credit dollar from the 2017 standard pricing, representing an increase of 18%. This increase means up to 86 additional units of low-income housing could be built with no increase in spending.

See the report from the pilot program here.

Brattin in CD-4?

In his latest press release Sen. Rick Brattin sounds like a congressional candidate. Or maybe it’s just Rick Brattin sounding like Rick Brattin. You make the call…

Republican State Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, submitted a letter to Governor Parson today encouraging him to join other Republican governors in sending law enforcement agents to assist with border security efforts in Texas and Arizona.

 “President Biden has shown that he has no intention of securing our border with Mexico,” Sen. Brattin said. ”Instead of taking this issue seriously, he has put the woefully-unprepared vice president in charge, and she has made it clear that she will not do anything to curb illicit cross-border travel. Interstate 35 is a common route for drug smugglers and human traffickers, providing a direct road into Missouri for fentanyl producers and those who smuggle people across the border. Any border security effort has a direct impact on Missouri, and this is why I am encouraging Governor Parson to help bolster state-level efforts in Arizona and Texas.”

$5K+ Contributions

Missouri Alliance PAC - $10,000 from Ozark Anesthesia Association.

UAW Region 5 Midwest States Political Action Committee (PAC) (MO) - $6,000 from UAW Region 4 Exchange Account.

Lobbyists Registrations

Antonio 'Indigenous Xi' Dewan Smith added The Revolutionary Black Panther Party-KCMO Chapter.

Gamble & Schlemeier deleted Paul Callicoat, Sarcoxie Nursery, and Wave Taco.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Kevin Engler, Nick King, Rachel Hassani, and Steve Harmon.