MOScout Daily Update: COVID Hospitalizations Spike - Senate Rule Change Debate - Supplemental Budget Bill Hearing and more...

Senate Tees Up Rules Debate

The first big debate in the Senate will be about process.  Two changes to the Senate rules have been proposed and will give senators another chance to list their grievances from past sessions.

·         Pro Tem Dave Schatz introduced a rules change which would codify that understanding that a senator’s legislation can’t be advanced without their consent.  While this has been a long-standing tradition, it has never been in the rules and was the subject of great outrage during the special session.

·         Minority Leader John Rizzo has proposed a change to the threshold to close debate.  The motion to move to the previous question (“PQ”) eds debate and forces a vote on the issue at hand.  Currently that motion must be made in writing by five senators; Rizzo would bump that up to ten senators.  But the bigger change is that the vote to end debate would require a two-thirds majority instead of the current majority. 

Sen. Bob Onder warns that the “proposed a rule change on the ‘previous question’ motion. Though a somewhat arcane topic, it would effectively make it impossible to pass prolife, 2A, election integrity, religious liberty, or labor reform bills.”

New High in COVID Hospitalizations

According to the state’s dashboard, COVID hospitalizations continue their spike, hitting 2,933 which by my estimation is an all-time high.  (I have the all-time high marked at 2,862 back on December 22, 2020.

Missourians in the ICU are also on the rise.  We’re at 625 ICU (still below the state’s all-time of 692).

KCStar reports that Kansas – where hospitalizations are rising too – are renewing their emergency declaration. 

Gov. Laura Kelly issued a new disaster declaration on Thursday, suspending a series of rules and regulations to help health care facilities respond more rapidly to the rising demand for care. Kelly said she would work with the Legislature when it returned next week to pass legislation extending the executive orders through March. The state of emergency will expire after 15 days without approval from the Legislature.

Kelly is a Democrat.  I know that shouldn’t matter when facing a public health crisis, but in the world we live in, it probably does.  I would guess that Governor Mike Parson returning to a state of emergency is a non-starter.

Budget Supplemental Hearing

The supplemental budget bill (HB3014) will have its hearing on Monday (11AM, HR3).  The bill includes the governor’s pay raise plan for state employees, federal dollars from ARPA’s “Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund,” and money for Medicaid expansion. 

Budget watcher, Jim Moody, offers in his newsletter that these various pieces could be decoupled.  And if the MedEx component is shuffled off to another bill it doesn’t necessary “mean that it is completely dead, but rather that it was not viewed as a ‘fast-track’ issue.”

And

The congressional map will have its hearing on Monday as well.  (Noon, HR6).  So plenty of action right from the start of the week.

Money News

There’s often a few interesting nuggets in the large contributions…

·         Rep. John Simmons loaned himself $60K.  We’re still away from a final map, but Simmons faces a primary challenge from Bob Oreskovic.  Oreskovic loaned himself $20K, so Simmons upped the ante a bit.

·         Gaming looks to be one of the hot spots this session, but also going forward if nothing happens this year.  We’ve seen various PACs pop up for operators and vendors to use as vehicles to contribute to legislators that share their point of view on the issue.  Today it’s Curo Group putting $20K in to Fair Play Missouri.  Curo Group’s lobbyist is Steven Carroll.

MEC on the Air

Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman will be a guest today on “St. Louis On The Air,” talking about her anti-abortion bill.

KC Accreditation Moves Forward

KSHB reports that “next Tuesday, @MOEducation [DESE]  will present a slate of data behind its reasoning to recommend full accreditation for @kcpublicschools  for the first time since 2000.”  That’s when the State Board of Education meets.

MOScout Schedule

The Weekender returns tomorrow… The Weekly Poll, Who Won the Week and the Hallway Index.

Lobbyists Registrations

Michael Harrold added Cigna Corporation Services LLC.

Carol Mitchell added Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Susan Henderson Moore added The Missouri Society of Pathologists.

Jim Moody and Chris Moody deleted American Society For The Prevention of Cruelty To Animals (ASPCA).

Jim Moody deleted Molina Healthcare Inc, and University of Missouri Healthcare.

$5K+ Contributions

Fair Play Missouri PAC - $20,000 from CURO Group, LLC.

Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $12,500 from Charter Communications.

Citizens For Simmons - $60,000 from John Simmons.

Birthdays

Happy birthday to Chris Moreland and Gentry Trotter.