MOScout Daily Update: Dems Dream Session - Razer on LGBT Exhibit - Herzog Foundation Files Brief - AT Adds Staff and more...
Dems’ Dream Session
The Senate session yesterday was the fulfillment of Democratic hopes and dreams for next session. The super-minority must play defense. Lacking votes, they have to use every other means available to slow down or obstruct the supermajority’s progress.
Their best hope is for Republicans to sabotage themselves with in-fighting. That’s what happened yesterday. Sen. Mike Moon attempted to make a motion to override the governor’s line-item veto on a budget bill. In the Senate, only the handler can make the motion. But Moon – and the Conservative Caucus – argued that this isn’t written explicitly into the rules, and so a protracted spat ensued.
There two big factors fueling discord among Senate Republicans. Both are heightened with the approach of 2022 primaries…
· The insurgent Conservative Caucus which sees the regular Republicans as too beholden to the establish.
· Folks eying higher office and engaging in a higher level of theatrics than usual – even for politics.
On building denizen notes that this is “the third time in a row (end of regular session, special session, and now veto session), the Missouri Senate can’t even do easy tasks without big drama,” blaming “[Dave] Schatz and [Caleb] Rowden taking harder line against conservatives (ruling against points of order, voting them down, etc) but the situation isn’t improving.”
But most folks I spoke to place the blame squarely on the Conservative Caucus for pursuing a bogus procedural move.
One lobbyist: I'm trying to understand why Moon and [Sen. Bill] Eigel were so outraged today. They kept referring to [Lieutenant Governor Mike] Kehoe's ruling against Moon's motion as "unprecedented." And I guess on some level they were right: the ruling was indeed unprecedented, because no senator I'm aware of has ever attempted to be recognized for an override motion -- or any other motion -- on a different senator's bill. It would be like my son furiously referring to my "unprecedented" denial of his right to eat ice cream for every meal this month. The audacity lies in the request, not the refusal.
What’s Next
Dems need to strategize how to keep this fire burning through next May at least….
And
Why Rowden will run for congress: to escape this madness.
Razer on LGBT Exhibit
Sen. Greg Razer delivered a poignant point of personal privilege during yesterday’s session, decrying the moving of the LGBT history exhibit.
He predicted that someday there would be a LGBT history exhibit back in the capitol – and that this episode would be memorialized in it. It’s not an unlikely scenario, and I wonder if it gives anyone on Team Parson pause where they positioned their boss on this issue when history is written.
Herzog Foundation Files Amicus Brief
The St. Joseph News-Press reports on the activities of the Herzog Foundation.
· The nonprofit effort founded by the late Stanley M. Herzog mostly concerns itself with investing his legacy for the benefit of Christian schools, but it also is wading into political and legal interests on their behalf. The Herzog Foundation filed an amicus brief Sept. 10 in Carson v. Makin, a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Therein, plaintiffs and allies speak to a section of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution known as the free exercise clause.
· The big idea is, states should be required to fund public dollars to private academies and make no bones about whether or not those campuses are dedicated to a Christian or other religious background. Opponents stand on the notion that public dollars need to be reserved for public educators, or at least secular programs that have to follow the same rules as any school district....
Todd Graves is the chairman of the Herzog Foundation. The Foundation’s efforts came up during Senate filibustering on Graves’ controversial nomination to the Curators by Governor Mike Parson.
AT Government Strategies Hires Grewing and Weber-Haynes
Press release: AT Government Strategies, a subsidiary of Armstrong Teasdale LLP, proudly announces that Cassandra Grewing has joined as Director of Government Affairs and Elizabeth Weber-Haynes has joined as Director of Legislative Services. They join a team of nearly a dozen professionals across the country with deep experience in public affairs, lobbying and consulting.
Grewing has enjoyed a long career in public service, primarily as a self-employed lobbyist consulting on strategy and monitoring. She brings nearly two decades of experience in the legal field to her role as director of government affairs for AT Government Strategies…
Weber-Haynes brings more than a decade of experience to her work advancing the legislative portfolio at AT Government Strategies and offering a well-rounded service for corporate clients…
Grewing and Weber-Haynes are both based in Jefferson City, Missouri.
eMailbag on Test Scores
It was interesting to read that the education officials warned against using this year's test scores as a real indication of how kids are doing in school. They say that we shouldn't compare the 2019-2020 test scores to the 2018-2019 test scores. Fine. Let's just look at the 2018-2019 test scores. Those weren't so good either. Barely 50% of the kids were reading at the basic level. Forget about math.
$5K+ Contributions
Ford Motor Company Civic Action Fund - MO - $60,000 from Ford Motor Company Civic Action Fund.
American Dream PAC - $10,000 from Ameren Missouri.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Sarah Schlemeier Henke, Paul Mouton, Joan Bray, Karen Mohan Day, Nicole Brown, and Jim Kottmeyer.
Condolences
To David Barklage on the passing of his mother, Barbara Barklage