MOScout Daily Update: Parson on Shooting - Schmitt Invisible - Mantovani Ad - Safety App Stalls - $$$ to Senate 24 and more...

Money Still Streaming into Senate 24

With less than two weeks to go, money is still moving into the two umbrella state senate campaign accounts.  Today in the large contributions, the Republicans’ Missouri Senate Campaign Committee showed another $170K recorded, and the Democrats’ Majority Forward had $45K.  I assume this money is headed to the top battleground fight in Senate 24 (St. Louis County) where Republican George Hruza is facing off against Democratic Rep. Tracy McCreery.

New Mantovani Ad

In the St. Louis County Executive race, Democrat-turned-Republican Mark Mantovani is up with a new ad on broadcast TV today. See it here.  It’s a simple talk-to-the-camera ad.

“The St. Louis Post-Dispatch calls Sam Page one of the biggest impediments to progress in St. Louis County.  During his term as county executive, the government has been chaotic and failed to even address our fundamental challenges like crime, economic opportunity, and education. Sam Page thinks everything is just fine. We have to do better than this…”

Parson on Shooting

In an interview with Emily Manley, Governor Mike Parson says any change in gun laws would be ineffective, and rather mental health services are the best bet to stop future school shootings.  See the interview here.

·       “The reality of it is, the most important thing is what triggered what that young man to do what he did, and I’m telling you, the mental health side of that, I guarantee you, will be a bigger factor in this than he how he became in possession of the gun,” Parson said.

·       “Mental health has got to be a part of stopping these things,” Parson said. “I would make a case that anybody that takes other people’s lives, there’s a mental health issue going on there because it’s not normal to do that.”

And

Parson added a trip to St. Louis to his public schedule.  Thursday he will “visit the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD) headquarters to recognize some of the heroes who responded to Central Visual Performing Arts High School in St. Louis, the scene of Monday morning's senseless shooting that took the lives of a teacher and student and injured several others.”

Safety App In Bureaucratic Limbo

Tipster says… Something else you may want to point to in tomorrow’s publication regarding the quiet response from Governor Mike Parson and his team on the school shooting is that there is currently $1.9 million approved in the current fiscal year’s budget for a school safety app.

The approved funding could have gone out to bid already and a company awarded the work, but so far it has been crickets.  It’s a remarkable app used all around our country to help cut down on response time as it geofences the campus/school building/courthouse/retail shop, etc. and alerts ALL on and off-duty local, state, and federal law enforcement officers of the situation at the push of a button through an app that is FBI certified… I am told there is a major growing backlog in OA of items that have been approved by the General Assembly/Governor but never get to the bid stage.  The Senate Approps staff has developed a spreadsheet just to keep track of them because there are so many.

Schmitt Shrugs

Attorney General Eric Schmitt has been conspicuously unempathetic to the St. Louis community, tweeting his “thoughts and prayers” seemingly as an afterthought to his tweet touting a Trump endorsement. 

Yesterday he quickly moved on, released a new ad attacking his opponent, Trudy Valentine.  It drew the condemnation of St. Louis Mayor Tishuara Jones: A day after a lone gunman killed 2 people and injured several others, the #SchmittShow puts this out instead of coming to STL to be in community with grieving students, staff and families. More proof that he doesn’t give a damn about us.

Republican Take on Shooting

From a Republican reader: The St. Louis establishment is rallying around the school shooting, top headlines, statements and press conferences. Yet every week more people die in the streets without so much as a comment. The hypocrisy proven by the calls for banning assault rifles, conceal and carry permits, background checks and barring those with mental illness from getting guns-----none of those have anything to do with this shooting. What is being shamelessly connected to this terrible shooting is the fall election.  I do not own a gun and never have. I support red flag laws and reasonable restrictions on guns. HOWEVER, this is one more instance that it is not Parson who needs a Richard Nixon moment but Mayor Jones and Democrats in this town standing up and taking responsibility for failing to address crime and St Louis as a decades long leader for murder.  As far as I see, Democrats have controlled the City and the county for the last several decades---they are the ones that should be concerned more about their conscience than the November election.

Luetkemeyer Plots Next Move

Politico reports that “Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer will forego a run as chair of the Small Business Committee if the GOP wins back the House and will instead seek a subcommittee gavel on Financial Services… Luetkemeyer is one of the most influential House Republicans on banking issues, having served as the top Republican on the financial institutions subcommittee for several years. House GOP rules generally limit conference members to one chairmanship, and so Luetkemeyer would have to seek a waiver to lead Small Business -- where he is currently ranking member -- and another subcommittee.”

Lobbyists Registrations

Patrick Caragher added Janus Henderson Investors US LLC.

Ross Lien added National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies.

$5K+ Contributions

Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $100,000 from Herzog Contracting Corporation.

Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $30,000 from Centene Management Company LLC.

Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $25,000 from Missourians for Olaughlin.

Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $10,000 from Missouri Health Plan Association PAC.

Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $17,500 from Brighter Days for Missouri PAC.

Majority Forward - $25,000 from Lauren Arthur.

Majority Forward - $10,000 from Rizzo for Missouri.

Majority Forward - $10,000 from Strong Garner Bauer.

Page PAC (pro-Page) - $12,500 from Chapman Ventures, LLC.

Protect Saint Louis Freedom - $175,000 from Page PAC.

Protect Saint Louis Freedom - $15,000 from Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council Missouri-Kansas Area PAC.

Protect Saint Louis Freedom - $12,500 from Affton Plaza JV LLC.

CWA-COPE Political Contributions Federal Committee - $50,000 from Communications Workers of America (Washington DC).

Missourians for Safer Streets (pro-A4) - $25,000 from KCMO FOP Lodge NO 99.

American Dream PAC (pro-Kehoe) - $25,000 from Midwest Cement Company Inc.

Missouri Gaming PAC - $30,000 from Penn Entertainment Inc.

Kingdom Leadership PAC - $25,000 from Rex Sinquefield.

House Democratic Campaign Committee - $10,000 from Advance.

Randolph County Republican Central Committee - $8,245 from James Bratcher Jr.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Ken Waller, Freddy Barnes, Lauren Hieger, and Jennifer Bukowsky.