MOScout Daily Update: Poll on Anti-ESA Proposal - Starner to Graduation Alliance - Right to Repair - Tucker Accusation and more...
Poll on Anti-ESA IP
A poll – paid for by school choice advocates – shows that a proposed initiative petition to end the legislature’s new Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program faces resistance from voters. See the full poll results here.
Missouri NEA Member Sherri Talbot filed Initiative Petition 2022-057 on August 25, 2021. See the petition here.
The heart of the proposal: “The state shall not appropriate or pay public funds for any program, nor authorize or implement vouchers or tax credits, with the purpose of effect of providing tuition subsidies or subsidizing other costs of student attendance or employment at non-public elementary or secondary schools, including implementing any program authorized by legislation previously enacted.”
It also contains a second provision: The board shall implement and supervise a uniform method of evaluation and accreditation that shall apply to all public elementary and secondary schools…
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft has not yet released ballot language for this proposal, so the poll couldn’t test the exact language which might come before voters.
Q1: Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:
• Require the State Board of Education to create a new system to regulate and evaluate
schools, placing new requirements on charter schools in addition to the current
requirements;
• Prohibit any program, voucher, or tax credit that would provide tuition assistance for
students to attend private and parochial schools or other costs associated with
student attendance at private or parochial schools; and
• Prohibit the implementation of the Education Savings Account/Scholarships program
passed by the General Assembly in 2021 and any other program that would support
private school scholarships.
If the election were held today, would you vote to support or oppose this initiative?
Support: 29%
Oppose: 51%
Undecided: 20%
Starner to GA
Kristian Starner is returning to her education lobbying roots. After 3+ years at Cerner, she’s headed to Graduation Alliance. GA worked on the workforce diploma program legislation last session.
Starner will be their vice president of government relations, and expects to be around the building again next session. GA’s contract lobbyist team is Gamble & Schlemeier.
Right to Repair
In the lobbyist registrations (below) Ryan Rowden has registered to represent the Repair Preservation Group Action Fund. I was unfamiliar with the movement, but it looks like an interesting issue. Watch a 60-second explainer here.
· From AppleInsider: New York repair store owner Louis Rossmann has started a crowdfunding campaign, and is trying to collect $6 million to bring a "Right to Repair" initiative direct to the voters, and skip state legislature… Rossman runs the non-profit Repair Preservation Group Action Fund… "If I do not reach my goal, we will conduct traditional lobbying efforts to support Right to Repair bills in states that have introduced legislation," he continues.
· From NYTimes: Imagine that you spent over a thousand dollars on your laptop just a few years ago, but now it barely holds a charge. Without a new battery, you’re tethered to an outlet, which is both wildly inconvenient and not the point of a laptop. But it turns out that a new battery is impossible to install anyway, so you feel forced to drop another grand on a new laptop, even though your old one works perfectly fine otherwise. This is actually a near-universal experience, whether it involves a laptop, a phone, or a car. As products get more difficult to repair, a growing right-to-repair movement has been pushing for legislation that requires access to repair tools.
Tucker Accusation
KMOV reports that “the St. Louis County Council has launched an investigation into allegations that former County Auditor Mark Tucker committed sexual harassment in the workplace.”
Tucker had worked in the building several years ago before becoming one of the flash points of St. Louis County’s political battles when he was hired as their auditor.
· “During the investigation into the continued employment the County Auditor, this Council, in closed session, was presented with evidence of pervasive sexual discrimination and harassment by the former County Auditor,” said Councilmember Mark Harder at Tuesday’s Council Meeting. Harder said the allegations were both verbal and physical in nature.
· Harder added there was fear of retaliation, resulting in some employees being too frightened to report the harassment. He called on the Council to launch an investigation and to implement better policies for reporting and investigating incidents of workplace harassment.
eMailbag on Lessons From the Road
· #5 [We place too much importance on our careers] is not only NOT tone deaf during COVID, it seems to be the most learned lesson by everyone everywhere, even if counterintuitively. Seems like work-life balance finally actually matters to Americans in just about every class and sector, and is understood and honored by more employers than ever. And that may be the very best thing that comes out of the disaster that has been this pandemic.
· The words [Amber Richardson] wrote are so true. Think of the possessions you had in the past. Do they seem relevant now? Think of the times spent with your family. Those definitely still seem worthwhile.
Lobbyists Registrations
Ryan Rowden added Repair Preservation Group Action Fund.
Roxsen Koch added PLTR-SSP @ KCI, LLC.
$5K+ Contributions
MO Republican Party - $15,000 from Uniting Missouri PAC.
Viceroy PAC - $10,000 from Golden Entertainment.