MOScout Daily Update: Schmitt SuperPAC Raised $1.5M+ - FRA Passes - Gov Line-Items $115M - New Interim Senate Comm and more...
Breaking: Schmitt PAC Raises Over $1M
The SuperPAC allied with AG Eric Schmitt’s US Senate bid, Save Missouri Value, recorded over $1.5 million raised in their July quarter filing.
What It Means: Together with Team Schmitt’s preannouncement of his candidate committee raising over $1M, he looks to have catapulted himself into the lead on the fundraising front. This may put some pressure on the congressional fence-sitters to decide a little quicker whether to enter.
And: One observer says it’ll be interesting to see the full list of names of contributors when the filing becomes available online, and see who all Schmitt lassoed to support his campaign….
FRA Gets Done
The House approved the Senate’s FRA bill, and sent it to the governor’s desk. To the chagrin of some conservatives, the Senate adjourned without taking up HB 2, the pro-life bill sponsored by Rep. Nick Schroer.
One senate-side source explained, “Had [Senate conservatives] been willing to vote for an emergency clause on the FRA we would have had no need to end the special. If we didn’t need to adjourn, we could’ve come back for the abortion bill.”
Still, the expectation is that defunding Planned Parenthood is an issue that will get several more laps around the capitol in the coming year. Governor Mike Parson is said to be considering using his executive powers to curtail their funding, and the Senate has created an interim committee to study the issue as well (see below).
Senate To Study Medicaid Spending
Senate Pro Tem Dave Schatz formed the Senate Interim Committee on Medicaid Accountability and Taxpayer Protection. According to the Senate Journal, it will “conduct in-depth studies and make appropriate recommendations concerning the MoHealthNet Program, the protection of unborn human life, and ensuring Missouri tax dollars are spent in accordance with the values of Missourians.”
Sen. Bill White was named chair of the committee and Sen. Karla Eslinger is the vice-chair. Also on the committee: Sens. Mike Bernskoetter, Justin Brown, Mike Cierpiot, Bill Eigel, Elaine Gannon, Lauren Arthur, Karla May, and Jill Schupp.
“The Committee shall issue a report final report as to their findings and recommendations, as deemed necessary by a majority of the members of the committee, to the president pro tempore of the Missouri Senate no later than December 31, 2021, for legislative action.”
One lobbyist chortled at the make-up of the committee: “Check out the committee. Everyone [except Eigel] voted against Onder. Ha ha ha…”
Parson Vetoes $115M in New Budget
Missouri Independent reports on the governor’s line-item vetoes of the new budget. Read it here.
Missouri will enter the new budget year with a record budget surplus… The final numbers aren’t in, but by Tuesday, general revenue exceeded projections made in January by $972 million, adding to the $1.1 billion surplus Parson projected at the beginning of the year. And while he isn’t holding back any spending, Parson vetoed $115 million in spending from 26 appropriations, including $50 million to insulate hospitals from revenue losses under a new Medicaid payment system and $302,500 to hire two security officers each for the Missouri House and state Senate. Lawmakers will review the vetoes when they meet in September….
I couldn’t find a single complete list of the governor’s line-item vetoes on the budget. But if you go here, and look at specific budget bills, his veto letters are attached.
Of note…
In House Bill 2 (education) – Over $13 million cut. One lobbyist mused “One can only wonder if this is the Governor getting back at the Speaker for an ongoing feud between the two, as most of these were added in the House budget, albeit largely non-controversial and aligned with the Governor’s workforce development agenda with reasoning listed as ‘it wasn’t in the Governor’s recommendations.’”
Among the cuts…
· $5 million for charter schools deferred maintenance.
· $2M for a Workforce Diploma Program to help adults who dropped out of school and aged out of traditional K-12 earn a high school diploma (Championed by Sen. Jason Bean and Rep. Jon Patterson).
· $2.75M for School Turnaround Fund, funding to implement HB 604 passed by the legislature in 2019 by Rep. Mike Henderson and Sen. Denny Hoskins with overwhelming majorities.
· $3M for Rural Advising Fund to hire additional post-secondary advisors in rural high schools to help students with FAFSA, the college admissions process, etc. for community colleges, tech schools and traditional 4-year colleges/universities.
In House Bill 11 – The governor vetoed $50 million for the hospitals to transition to the new fee schedule. One MOScouter says, “Charlie Shields was a big proponent for that money, [but the] Governor not happy with the lawsuit filed by MHA opposing the new payment method.”
Kunce Continues Hot Fundraising
Lucas Kunce, running for the Democratic nomination for US Senate, continues his fundraising hot streak. Team Kunce says this quarter shows…
· Over $625K raised — more than double our Q1 haul
· Over 20K donations — more than 6x our Q1 count
· 99% of donations under $200
What it means: They’re within striking distance of $1M raised in a matter of months. They’ve been aggressive with the online fundraising. Scott Sifton is going to have to start putting up some numbers if he wants to be on the ballot in 2022.
Galloway Gives Fitz “Excellent” Rating
Press release: State Auditor Nicole Galloway today released an audit report on the Office of Missouri State Treasurer covering the year that ended June 30, 2020. As with other audits of the office issued since 2016, the most recent report had no findings and gave an overall performance rating of "excellent," the highest rating available… A complete copy of the audit of the State Treasurer's Office is available online here.
· Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick is often mentioned as a potential candidate for auditor next year.
Eastern Court of Appeals Panel
Press release: George W. Draper III, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri and chair of the Appellate Judicial Commission, announces the commission today submitted to Governor Michael L. Parson its panel of nominees to fill the vacancy on the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District. This vacancy exists due to the impending August 2021 retirement of Judge Mary Kathryn Hoff.
The commission unanimously supports the three nominees. After approximately five hours of public interviews, three hours of deliberations and nine rounds of balloting, the nominees are Ellen S. Levy, Jeffery T. McPherson, and John P. Torbitzky.
Groce Gets COGIC Award
Jason Groce, chief of staff to Karla May, was selected as a 2021 Church of God in Christ (COGIC) Achievers Award for COGIC leaders 20 under 40 Award.
The Church of God in Christ is the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States. The membership is predominantly African-American with millions of adherents. The Church has congregations in 112 countries around the world. He was selected to receive this award for his work outside of the church, working in politics.
Lobbyist Registrations
Alex Eaton and Rebecca Lohmann added KVC, and Apical Capital; and deleted Greater Kansas City Restaurant Association.
$5K+ Contributions
Invest in St. Louis Community College - $100,000 from Andrew Taylor.
MO Cattlemens Association PAC - $5,405 from Missouri Soybean Association.
XCaliber MOPAC - $10,000 from Bruce Taylor.
XCaliber MOPAC - $10,000 from Lee Levinson.
Lebanon-Laclede County Foundation Loves Our Library Campaign - $25,000 from Lebanon-Laclede Public Library Foundation.
General Motors Company PAC Missouri - Federal Committee - $30,000 from General Motors Company Political Action Committee (GM PAC).
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Maida Coleman, John Bowman, Cyndi Gamble, Charlie Norr, and Connie Johnson.
MOScout Schedule
Planning a nice 3-day weekend for the 4th of July weekend. I’ll be off Saturday, Sunday and next Monday.