MOScout Daily Update: MO COVID ICU Higher Than A Year Ago - Rowden in DC - ESA Day - "Cold" MO Supreme Bench and more...
COVID 3rd Wave
This 3rd wave was 100% avoidable. It is a true Missouri failure. We have safe, effective, and accessible vaccines. And yet here we are…
· More Missourians hospitalized and in ICU because of COVID than a year ago…
· Springfield cancels its Route 66 Festival “amid COVID-19 surge.”
· Governor Mike Parson’s message remains incoherent.
· MOScouter laughs: The big question is whether Parson is gonna make a renewed vaccine push? Is that satire?
Rowden in DC
National Journal’s Hotline reports that Sen. Caleb Rowden was in DC recently meeting with the National Republican Congressional Committee about his potential 4-CD bid….
“Cold” Supreme Court
Medicaid Expansion was argued before the Missouri Supreme Court yesterday. Read the Missouri Independent’s coverage here.
I found this twitter thread fascinating, talking about the questions and lack of them from the justices.
David Roland: I'm listening to the oral arguments in the Medicaid Expansion case that the Missouri Supreme Court is hearing today. For the first part of his argument @chuckhatfield
had the coldest bench I have EVER heard from this court. He got one question.
Adam Bohn: Cold meaning they weren’t engaging with him, that they weren’t buying the arguments being made?
David Roland: When attorneys refer to a "cold bench," it means the judges are not asking questions, making it VERY difficult to assess whether or not they are finding your arguments to be persuasive. For me, anyway, that's very disconcerting. I like the give-and-take with judges.
Chuck Hatfield: I really noticed the absence of Judge Stith. Been a long time since I’ve gone that long without a question. Might be a product of the expedited schedule.
David Roland: Or maybe just very clear, thorough briefing?
Jim Layton: And judges who don’t want the attentive press to suggest—or flat out say—that their votes will go one way or the other, based on their questions?
David Roland: To be clear, reading tea leaves based on the questions judges ask is a fraught task. But most attorneys prefer to have *some* sense of where the judges are leaning than to have no sense at all.
Driving the Day…
Education reformers will dance in the streets as their ESA bill, HB 349, will be signed by Governor Mike Parson.
Wayfair’s TIF Provision
Dave Stokes, Director of Municipal Policy at the Show-Me Institute, writes about the TIF provisions in the Wayfair bill, recently signed by Governor Mike Parson. Stokes was previously worked with Great Rivers Habitat Alliance. Read it here.
· Prior to this bill, the use of TIF was outlawed in the floodplain only in St. Charles County. Now, the use of TIF is banned in the floodplain statewide except for the exemptions in the bill. While those exemptions are admittedly large, it is still a major step toward saner policy.
· It is a very good thing that the baseline law now is that TIF is not to be used in the floodplain where it inevitably becomes a circle of subsidized absurdity: 1) Subsidize the floodplain developments 2) Subsidize the new operations with subsidized flood insurance 3) Increase emergency costs by moving the floodwaters out of that floodplain into someplace new, and, finally 4) Spend a fortune on emergency and rebuilding funds when the next flood inevitably comes and is now even worse than it would have been without additional levees and development.
· What are the exemptions? Well, a number of cities and counties appear to have decided that subsidizing floodplain development with TIF is a sacred right, so Kansas City, Hannibal, Jefferson City, and a few more got themselves exempted from the rule. Also, port authorities and levee districts are exempted…
· There’s still work to be done, but this bill represents progress. Hopefully we can continue to move forward on this issue.
Page Subpoena
· The St. Louis County Council voted Tuesday to subpoena County Executive Sam Page’s work schedule at a medical practice, escalating an inquiry led by a council majority hostile to Page that says his side job at a hospital violates the county charter. The move had been expected since the council’s ethics committee — made up of Page administration critics — in May voted to demand Page’s work records from Mercy Hospital and Western Anesthesiology Associates in Creve Coeur. The measure seeks to compel representatives of both companies to appear for a council ethics hearing on Aug. 3 and to bring documents and records related to Page’s work at the hospital.
· Page, an anesthesiologist who has served as county executive since 2019, has said his medical work is conducted during his “free time” and does not interfere with his duties as county executive. Page has said maintaining his medical licensing and credentialing requires “continued medical activities in my free time, including a minimum presence taking care of patients.”
· The county charter does say “the county executive’s entire time shall be devoted to the duties of the office.
What It Means
St. Louis County politics has become more rough-and-tumble that St. Louis City politics. There’s going to be non-stop action for the next year ahead of the 2022 County Executive race.
Legal MJ IP
A petition approved for circulation for the 2022 ballot would legalize marijuana. It would “permit the safe and legal use of cannabis by adults over the age of twenty-one and to reasonably regulate the cultivation, processing, manufacturing and distribution of cannabis” with a 7.5% tax. See the petition here.
Press release from Fair Access Missouri: Missouri voters strongly approved medical marijuana at the ballot box in 2018, and voters are ready to fully legalize the adult use of cannabis. However, the rollout and implementation of the voter-approved medical marijuana market has been plagued by mismanagement, allegations of corruption, and secrecy. Patients are frustrated, the public is disgusted, and small businesses are sidelined. The Fair Access Missouri coalition is committed to establishing an open market with smart regulations that avoids those errors, and puts consumers and patients first.
eMailbag
Re: Business relationship database, is the Jefferson City housing market so hot that Rep. Adam Schwadron couldn’t find a non-lobbyist landlord?...
On the NY Times energy piece, there’s nothing illegitimate about it. One of the very few actually rational perspectives presented. If storage technology develops, (if and that’s a big IF) that’s the game changer. Then grid (power line) disconnection by the average consumer becomes feasible. Energy use and supply will be turned upside down. Additional transmission build in the current US market, needs to be heavily scrutinized for need. Who does it help…..customers or the utilities?
New Committees
Colin Lovett formed a candidate committee (Colin Lovett for Missouri) to run for House 100 as a Democrat. This seat is currently represented by Republican Rep. Derek Grier.
Defense of Liberty PAC was formed. Its treasurer is Zach Curtman.
$5K+ Contributions
Protect Missouri Workers PAC - $10,000 from Simmons Hanly Conroy.
Teamsters Local Union No 688 Political Action Committee - $9,066 from DRIVE Committee.
Birthdays
Happy birthday to David Winton.