MOScout Daily Update: Hartzler Hires Hawley Consultant - More Cannon Chatter - Parson to Rollout New Vax Incentives - Hough on MSNBC and more...

Hartzler Hires Hawley Consultant

Washington Examiner reports that “Rep. Vicky Hartzler has tapped On Message Inc. to advise her Missouri Senate bid, hiring the GOP firm that guided Sen. Josh Hawley to victory in 2018… Hartzler, 60, has not previously worked with On Message, whose top operatives are taking over general consulting, media strategy, and polling… On Message partners Wes Anderson (polling), Timmy Teepell (general consulting), and Brad Todd (media) are leading the firm’s effort on behalf of Hartzler…”

CD-7: More Cannon Chatter

If Joelle Cannon decides to run, she wins.  While the Blunt connection is important, the real reason it matters is she knows how to raise money for a federal election… Joelle has is great DC connections and an assured parade of big names National Republicans visiting SW Missouri to support of her during the primary.

Driving the Day: Parson Announcements

Governor Mike Parson will hold a 3PM press conference to “announce a statewide vaccine incentive program, and announce the new Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) Director.”

The rollout comes as COVID resurgence in Southwest Missouri has garnered national attention and raised concerns among public health officials that the rest of the state should be preparing for a 3rd wave of virus.

Missouri faces some challenges.

·         First, we’re behind the curve.  The rollout comes as the delta variant is on our doorstep.  This should have happened months ago.

·         Second, polling suggests that the unvaccinated are going to be hard to move. 

·         Finally, Parson has been incapable of rising to the moment rhetorically. He’s comfortable talking about “personal responsibility” and everyone just figuring out what works for themselves.  He needs to be talking about civic duty. It’s not about you.  It’s about protecting your family and your community.  Doing the right thing for others.

GOP Legislators Get Vocal About Vaxxing

I’ve written about Republican electeds who have subtly, or not-so-subtly, contributed to vaccination hostility or hesitancy.  But some are getting more vocal encouraging vaccination.

·         Sen. Lincoln Hough on MSNBC explains what Springfield is going through with spiking hospitalizations.  See it here.  Hough decried the “misinformation” that been circulated.

·         And Reps. Jim Murphy and Michael O’Donnell are sponsoring a “Back to School COVID Vaccine Opportunity” in their community for students 12 and up.

Back-to-School Vax Front

Wall Street Journal reports on the legal battle over whether public universities can require a vaccination for their student body.  See it here.

·         A federal judge has ruled that Indiana University may require its students to submit proof of Covid-19 vaccination before returning to campus this fall, dealing a setback to a brewing legal effort against vaccination requirements in higher education.

·         In a 101-page decision handed down Sunday, U.S. District Judge Damon R. Leichty said the university system acted reasonably to protect public health when it required all of its students, faculty and staff to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 by July 1, with limited medical and religious exceptions.

·         Hundreds of private and public colleges and universities have adopted vaccine policies like Indiana University’s—in schools mostly clustered on the East and West coasts. Antivaccine activists have focused on public institutions, which are bound by constitutional restraints as government entities, and have brought lawsuits under the 14th Amendment and its protection of fundamental liberties.

·         Federal courts have consistently upheld vaccination requirements at K-12 schools and workplaces, according to James G. Hodge, a professor of public health law at Arizona State University.

·         An attorney representing the students, conservative activist James Bopp Jr., said he would appeal. “We think the court made a fundamental error,” he said.

Neidorff Holds Forth

St. Louis Business Journal publishes a “wide-ranging” interview with Centene CEO Michael Neidorff.  See it here.  He comes off like the old man who’s got all the answers and why won’t people just do what he says!?

·         Neidorff, 78 as of March, said he wants continue leading Centene "until I find something better," though the company is "doing some serious succession planning right now."

·         Neidorff criticized failed efforts last year to privatize, or lease, the airport's operations. The city owns and operates the airport. The privatization attempts, Neidorff said, reminded him of Sears' 2017 sale of its Craftsman brand to Stanley Black & Decker, a valuable asset whose divestment he said signaled that the end was near. "I knew it was over," he said. Sears filed bankruptcy the next year.

·         Neidorff said St. Louis' elected officials now need to focus more on "policy, not just politics." Such an emphasis could have prevented the NFL's Rams from leaving for Los Angeles in 2016, he said.  "We screwed around with arbitration and all this other stuff," Neidorff said. "If we had (earlier) said here's what we're going to do, I know (Rams owner Stan) Kroenke wouldn't have moved the team. It would have eliminated the excuse."

·         Neidorff said he'd like to see leaders utilize the expertise of the consultant implementing recommendations at the police departments. The effort, led by New York-based consulting firm Teneo, includes "a very diverse group of police chiefs that are very sensitive to the community."   "Why not sit down with them and understand what they're doing?" he said, adding he's "frustrated" to instead see St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones and U.S. Rep. Cori Bush visiting Denver to learn about a program there that redirects some 911 calls to mental health care professionals and social workers.

eMailbag on Fitz Suit

Fitz suit is so like him. Write the ballot initiative fairly, and quit inserting politically weighted terms. That is why everyone trusts Fitz…

$5K+ Contributions

National Democratic Redistricting Missouri PAC - Federal Committee - $18,600 from National Democratic Redistricting PAC.

Electrical Workers Voluntary Political Education & Legislative Funds – Missouri - $22,101 from IBEW Local One.

Great Outdoors PAC - $9,000 from Seven Points LLC.

Lobbyists Registrations

Christopher Schoeman added Strategic Capitol Consulting LLC.

Michael Winter deleted Independent Colleges & Universities of Missouri.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Sally Faith, and Christian Morgan.