MOScout Daily Update: Bitter Senate Exchange - Hawley's Cheat Sheet - FBI Rumors - IE PACs and more...

Senate’s Bitter Divide

The atmosphere of the Senate is not improving.  Perhaps they’ll reconvene today and everyone will pretend things are normal, but yesterday another outburst exposed the deep rift within Republican ranks.

Sen. Denny Hoskins accused a Senate staffer who worked on the congressional redistricting of having a conflict of interest because they were also working for a political consulting firm.

That staffer, Matt Thompson, is now chief of staff for Senate Pro Tem Dave Schatz.  So it’s another point of contention between the Conservative Caucus and Senate leadership.

Floor Leader Caleb Rowden fired back, taking aim at Conservative Caucus advisor Jim Lembke.

Hoskins has proposed a rule change: “Rule 103. An employee of a senator shall notify the secretary of the senate in writing on the letterhead of the senator for whom the employee works if such employee is also employed by a lobbyist registered with the Missouri Ethics Commission or acts as a paid political consultant...”

What It Means

The immediate hot-take is that Republican infighting is good news for Dems.  In the superminority, they depend GOP division to prevent being steamrolled.

But also… this felt more personal than previous clashes.  The calling out of staffers is unusual.  And while politicians can let attacks roll of their ow back, they’ll circle the wagons and take up arms if you attack one of their own.

·         One long-time observer from the D-column thinks this rift has staying power: “Usually when [conflict] is this early there is make up sex and Ds get screwed…. But some things can’t be fixed. The interesting thing is a lot of this is not stoked but a genuine dislike.”

Senate Redistricting Today

The accusation by Hoskins that a Senate staffer had a conflict of interest could add fireworks to today’s initial Senate’s Redistricting Committee (Noon, SCR1).

Chair Mike Bernskoetter, a no-drama, unflappable senator, is the best possible person to be holding the gavel.  But the committee will not be cake-walk…

·         Aside from folks who may have problems with parts of the map, there are three vocal map critics – Hoskins, Bill Eigel and Bob Onder, who say the map is too kind to Democrats.  

·         Onder has been encouraging grassroots Republicans to come testify against the “5-3 Pelosi” map.

·         Also is a huge committee. 14 senators or more than 40% of the Senate is on this one committee.

Feeding the FBI Rumors

This tweet was making the rounds yesterday. It shows a slew of federal search warrants in the Eastern District of Missouri.  Then it was followed by this one… sealed indictments in the Western District of Missouri.

One reader texting this morning: I’m sure it is nothing.  But 18 sealed indictments in the western district will definitely create gossip in the Capitol today.

And… another reader says there’s a new grand jury being impaneled in Kansas City as well…

Help for Hawley

One MOScouter tips that Senator Josh Hawley’s briefing book shows “he needed a special primer on how to pronounce the names of nearly 1/3 of his party's senate caucus... that’s how disconnected he is from rank and file MO Republicans…”

“And House members he needed help with, including the Speaker elect…”

Driving the Day: House Budget Hears from MO Health Net

The House Budget Committee this morning (8:15AM, HR3) will hear from Department of Social Services’ MO HealthNet Division.  There may be some interesting exchanges from members of the committee who have been unenthusiastic about the initiative petition-passed Medicaid Expansion underway – and are floating the idea of new restrictions.

Schmitt The Fighter

Attorney General Eric Schmitt continued his crusade against what he sees as the scourge of mask mandate on students, suing nine more school districts yesterday.

The political calculation here is that Missouri Republican primary voters “want a fighter.”  As AG he’s not limited to speechifying, he can show them he’s a fighter by taking action.

·         House Minority Leader Crystal Quade says that the state should consider reimbursing school districts for their expenses of these lawsuits…

Greitens The Fighter

Former governor Eric Greitens, meanwhile, must do his “fighting” on Twitter.  His latest punch says that Rex Sinquefield is behind the Better Elections campaign. That effort would institute ranked choice voting.  Folks I’ve talked to think it would favor more moderate, less extreme candidates.  There are both Republican and Democratic consultants working on the campaign.

I haven’t seen evidence of Sinquefield’s involvement – though it’s a dark money non-profit, so it’s impossible to know.

One reader’s take on the tweet: That’s how you know he has no adults left around him. There is literally no upside to openly attacking a billionaire who already doesn’t like you very much.

Updated IE PAC List

I’ve updated the IE PAC list.  Find it here.

Added 3912 Leadership PAC – Michael O’Donnell.

Added BB Freedom Fund – Ben Brown.

Added Missouri Common Sense PAC – Brian Gelner.

Updated Shamed Dogan’s PAC to Reform St. Louis County Now.

IE PACs are political action committees which support a candidate.  The candidate can raise money for the PACs, and contributions are not capped by candidate committee limits.  However, the candidate cannot control the committee or direct its expenditures.  Most statewide candidates and state senate candidates have established PACs for this purpose, as well as House members who are contemplating higher office or running for leadership positions.

Vote 417 PAC

Springfield News Leader reports on a new PAC which is “attempting to combat a raft of election law changes across the country following the 2020 election.”  Read it here.

The committee’s January filing was “limited activity,” meaning they didn’t raise or spend more than $500.

Lobbyists Registrations

Catalyst added Stash House MO.

Mike Gibbons and Tricia Workman added Energy Policy Network.

Roy Bailey added Life Science Logistics, LLC.

Gamble & Schlemeier deleted Southern Jackson County Fire Protection District.

$5K+ Contributions

Vote Judge Joe Z. Satterfield - $50,000 from Cindy Satterfield.      

Mike Tsichlis for Missouri - $7,000 from Michael Tsichlis.

Mike Tsichlis for Missouri - $7,000 from Michael Tsichlis.

Legal Missouri 2022 - $125,000 from BD Health Ventures LLC.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Mark Rhoads, Jack Oliver, Gracia Backer, and Michael Corcoran.