MOScout Daily Update: FRA Special Starts - Watching Greitens PAC - Waiting on Dem Auditors? - Where's the Beef $$$? - Judge Rules Against MedEx - Schroer for Senate and more...
FRA Special Kicks Off
It wasn’t a particularly auspicious start to the special session. Senators were not in a conciliatory mood on the floor.
One potentially vexing problem is that the provisions in the “deal” meant to appease Sens. Bob Onder and Paul Wieland seemed to lose some value. This was chronicled by the Missouri Independent here…
· First, the “provision that would bar Planned Parenthood from being a provider for the uninsured women’s health program” seemed inconsequential as a PP representative said that they don’t currently receive reimbursements under that program.
· Second, Onder discounted the language to prohibit paying for IUDs. “In all honestly, IUDs aren’t used for abortion …That language, that’s still being discussed and written as we speak, is not going to ban IUDs for birth control or really for anything else, ” Onder told KCUR, later adding: “As the language stands right now there’s probably no reason to include them at all.”
Today, the FRA vehicles will have a hearing (1:15 PM) as they make their way through the process.
Shady Pro-Greitens PAC is Back
Axios reports that a “super PAC that funneled millions in untraceable cash to Eric Greitens' 2016 Missouri gubernatorial campaign has resurfaced as he mounts a bid for U.S. Senate, records show… In late May, two days after Greitens officially entered the Senate race, SEALs for Truth filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission signaling it was kicking back into gear. The super PAC had been largely inactive since Greitens' election in 2016. It tried four times last year to terminate its FEC registration but the commission rejected each effort. A source familiar with the situation told Axios the termination was denied because of an ongoing FEC review of allegations it illegally hid the sources of $2 million in contributions to Greitens' gubernatorial campaign... The $2 million that SEALs for Truth donated to Greitens' 2016 campaign came entirely from a nonprofit that, in turn, had links to Greitens' staffers and consultants…”
Still No Dems Stepping Up For Auditor
It’s been 15 days (and 7 hours, anyone?) since Auditor Nicole Galloway announced that she wouldn’t seek re-election. And still no chatter about a possible Democratic candidate…
MO COVID Spike Becoming A National Story?
Politico writes about the Missouri leading the country in new COVID cases. See it here.
· Missouri is leading the country in new Covid cases, a sign that the pandemic’s recovery is fleeting and fragile in the face of widespread vaccine resistance. After an explosion in Covid cases and hospitalizations this month in Southwest Missouri, Freeman Health System in Joplin, Mo., announced today it was reopening its Covid ward, which it had closed in March.
· Nearly 30 percent of new Covid infections in Missouri are caused by the potent Delta variant, first identified in India — by far the highest rate in the country, according to the most recent CDC data.
· About 17 percent of Newton County’s 58,000 residents are fully vaccinated, compared with more than 45 percent nationally and more than 38 percent statewide in Missouri…
· The problem isn’t supply, and it isn’t access... The problem is demand.
Why It Matters
A set of articles about how Missouri can’t get COVID under control undermines every other aspect of economic development and business recruitment you have going on as a state.
Schroer Announces for Senate
Rep. Nick Schroer announced he’ll seek Sen. Bob Onder’s senate seat. Onder is termed.
From his announcement…
· “We have Republican supermajorities in both the House and Senate, and we have to start using them to rein in out-of-control government, stand up for law and order, and ensure our state’s continued prosperity.”
· “Liberals in Washington, D.C., want to bring our nation to its knees by defunding the police, undermining our Second Amendment rights, moving our nation closer to socialism, and teaching children in our public schools that America is racist and flawed. In the Missouri Senate, I will fight against this radicalism and be a tireless voice for conservative values.”
While the lines may impact exactly who runs where, and what base of support they have, Reps. John Wiemann and Justin Hill are expected to seek this seat as well.
MedEx Ruling
Post-Dispatch reports that “Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem said the August 2020 referendum seeking to make Medicaid available to an additional 275,000 low-income adults required a funding source and therefore wasn’t legal.”
This was the argument conservatives have made throughout the process.
It’s expected the ruling will be appealed.
Where’s the Dough for Beef Producers?
New York Times reports on the discrepancy between the price cattlemen are paid and price retail outlets are charged. Some blame the middlemen. Read it here.
· Michael Buhagiar, its chef and owner, said he was now paying 30 to 40 percent more for that steak than he did a year ago. Raising his prices makes up only some of that difference, he said, “but we’re not trying to scare away customers.”
· About 1,700 miles to the east, Brad Kooima scans the 3,000 cattle in his feedlot in Rock Valley, Iowa, on the South Dakota border. These days, he’s losing $84 a head.
· In the U.S. cattle industry, that [supply] chain is dominated by just four meatpacking conglomerates, and their profits are raising tensions. While diners at restaurants and shoppers in grocery stores experience sticker shock from sharply higher prices for ground beef and prime steaks, ranchers say they are barely breaking even or, in some cases, losing money.
· They point a finger at the Big Four companies, which account for more than 80 percent of the processed beef sold in the United States: Cargill, JBS, Tyson Foods and National Beef.
· These are heady times for the beef packing industry. Processors like JBS and Cargill are making as much as $1,000 in profit per head of cattle they slaughter and package into ground beef and steaks — well above the norm of $50 with occasional spikes to $150, according to analysts at RaboResearch.
· The beef processors deny they are manipulating the market and note that the four-company concentration has existed for 25 years. Further, none of the participants in the market — the cow breeders, the feedlot operators or the meatpackers — achieve profits every year, said Sarah Little, a spokeswoman for the North American Meat Institute, the meatpackers’ lobbying group.
· Rising costs meant Brookside Beef Company in Kansas City, Mo., was going to have to double the price of its 12-ounce Kansas City strip steak to $50. Instead, Charles d’Ablaing, the owner a nd chef, decided to pull it from the menu. He occasionally offers beef at his primary restaurant, Brookside Poultry Company.
New Committees
Amy Ryan formed a candidate committee (Amy Ryan for Missouri) to run for Senate 26 as a Democrat. See the paperwork here. Ryan makes an appearance in this article about a “community conversation” in the Rockwood School District.
$5K+ Contributions
MO Republican Party - $10,000 from Uniting Missouri PAC.
Lobbyists Registrations
Angie Postal added Advocates of Planned Parenthood of The St Louis Region & Southwest Missouri, and Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Alex Curchin, Shelley Kenney, Jim Krieder, Kevin Austin and Dani Moore.