MOScout Daily Update: COVID Hospitalizations Peak? - DoL Hearts Brown - Bruce Touts $100K Mark - Prison Fight! - Marijuana Fight! and more...

COVID Hospitalizations Starting to Ebb?

The good news this morning is that we may have seen the peak in COVID hospitalizations.   We’ll see…

Source: DHSS.

Defense of Liberty Hearts Brown

Defense of Liberty, a conservative advocacy organization run by former Rep. Paul Curtman, is hosting an event for Ben Brown, The Franklin County Freedom Dinner.  Former Speaker Tim Jones is also a host of the event.

See the Facebook event page here.

·         Brown is running for state senate in Franklin County where Sen. Dave Schatz is termed.  He and Schatz have sparred.  Rep. Aaron Griesheimer is also running for the seat; he’s expected to garner support from the establishment and business community.

·         Defense of Liberty has built a following among conservatives in Missouri – and could be a force mobilizing folks to get involved in primaries.  From Secretary of State filings, it appears to be a for-profit entity.

Bruce Touts $100K Mark

Press release: Kalena Bruce (R-Stockton), a conservative cattle rancher and CPA, joined the race for Congress in Missouri's 4th District on August 18. As of Friday August 27, she has raised more than $100,000. The impressive start demonstrates the level of support for Bruce, a conservative outsider who embodies the rural values of the 4th District….

What It Means

·         $100,000 is nothing to sneeze at.  I would note that we haven’t heard similar announcements yet from other candidates. Still, within the context of having to raise a couple million for a congressional race, there’s a long way to go.

·         Will these type of press releases push not-yet-declared candidates like Sen. Caleb Rowden or Rep. Mike Haffner to speed their decision?

Prison Health Contract Fight

Missouri Independent reports on a lawsuit over a state Department of Corrections contract to provide healthcare.

The dispute over the $1.4 billion contract to provide prisoner health care in Missouri is moving into the courts.

Corizon Health, which has held the Department of Corrections contract since 1992, filed a lawsuit Monday in Cole County alleging that unfair treatment and improper scoring gave the contract to Centurion Health, a Virginia subsidiary of St. Louis-based managed care company Centene.

The existing contract was set to expire July 1 but has been extended to Oct. 1. Corizon filed a protest June 14 over the contract, which was turned down on July 30.

The lawsuit names as defendants the state Office of Administration and the Division of Purchasing.

“Defendants have engaged in multiple unfair and unlawful practices that rendered the procurement process unfair, unlawful, unreasonable, arbitrary, and capricious, and denied Corizon a fair and equal chance to compete for a re-award of the contract,” the lawsuit alleges.

A hearing on a temporary restraining order to block the change to Centurion is set for Sept. 2 before Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green.

FYI

·         Corizon Health LLC’s Jeff City lobbyists: Heath Clarkston, David McCracken, Richard McIntosh, Doug Nelson, and Kurt Schaefer.

·         Centurion’s Jeff City lobbyists are: Jeffery Brooks, Cynthia Gamble, Jack Gamble, Kathryn Gamble, Bill Gamble, David Jackson, Jorgen Schlemeier, Sarah Schlemeier, Sarah Topp, and Olivia Wilson.

MJ Fight!

The Fair Access Missouri Coalition today released the following statement regarding petition 2022-059, filed by the Legal Missouri 2022 campaign…

"You don’t need 38 pages and 24,000 words unless you’re trying to pull a fast one on voters. Hidden in the fine print is another shady scheme from the people who gave us our current mess - except this time, they’re trying to give themselves a constitutionally-protected monopoly on a statewide adult-use cannabis market.

"We all know Missourians are ready to legalize marijuana. It’s common sense. The question is whether we will have an artificially-closed market that can’t be fixed, or whether we will have an open market that empowers consumers and encourages entrepreneurship.

"The Fair Access Missouri coalition is fighting for an open market based on freedom and fair play. Missourians deserve nothing less."

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.

Messenger on Foster Care Support

Post-Dispatch columnist Tony Messenger writes about Missouri, aging children and the extension of the foster care support.  Read it here.

·         In late 2020, in one of his last acts as president, Donald Trump signed a bill called the Supporting Foster Youth and Families through the Pandemic Act…

·         Most states, including Missouri, have a law that allows some children who are in foster care to gain access to extended services between the ages of 18 and 21. The pandemic law extended that to 22. The reason behind the program, funded by the federal government, is simple: It helps children who have had a difficult life transition into adulthood and ideally avoid pitfalls that might lead to incarceration, where they would cost taxpayers even more money.

·         Rebecca Woelfel, communications director for the Department of Social Services, says the state “is complying with state and federal law.” She pointed to a news release the department sent out in July announcing that some foster children were eligible for the enhanced federal aid, and she says the department mailed letters to youth who had aged out of the program between January 2020 and June 30, 2021, to let them know about the additional aid. Woelfel says 1,059 foster children or former foster children have applied for the assistance.

Lobbyists Registrations

Scott Swain added Advantage Capital Partners; and deleted Ygrene Energy Fund.

Matthew Panik deleted Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Philip Scaglia deleted Heartland Policy Advisors LLC.      

$5K+ Contributions

Citizens for Chris Lonsdale (running for Clay County Commissioner)- $7,202 from Christopher Lonsdale.

MBA River Heritage Region PAC - $10,000 from Southern Bank.

Mighty Missouri PAC (pro-Vescovo) - $12,500 from Roy Pfautch.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Chris Koster, and Chris Carter Sr.