MOScout Weekender: Jones Fundy - Hallway on Senate - Roe on Midterms - Tax Cut for Food? - WWTW and more...

Senate continues to spin wheels over redistricting map, will convene today again at 10AM.

MOScout Weekly Poll will return next week.  Here’s a quick Saturday morning rundown…

Senate 26 Heating Up

Tipster says Bob Jones’ initial fundraiser (Thursday) was tremendous.  Jones is running for state senate in Franklin County.

“The most successful fundraiser I have seen in Franklin County since Roy Blunt was running for US Senate the first time.  It’s been years since I’ve seen this kind of event in Franklin County… a ridiculous Who's Who of business people and community leaders… The capacity is supposed to 80 and there were about 125 people and it was a ridiculous Who’s Who.”

EM + MEC = Tax Cut?

Taxes on groceries is emerging as an issue with a left-right coalition making a possible bipartisan mover this session.

·         Republican Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman has filed HB 1992 which simply says, “There shall be no tax levied and imposed under this chapter any retail sales of food.”

·         It’s touted by the progressive Empower Missouri as a tax cut which helps folks at the bottom of the economic ladder.  See their write-up here.  “With the increase in food prices, so has the amount of taxes collected on the sale of food. Sales taxes increase income inequality because low-income individuals end up paying a higher share of their income on basic needs like food. According to the Consumer Expenditure Survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the lowest income quintile spends over 25% of their income on food, while the highest income spends only 5%.”

Moving MO Toward the New Economy

Rep. Phil Christofanelli filed HB 2672 defining the cryptocurrency industry within Missouri’s regulatory framework. “House Bill 2672 exempts cryptocurrencies from property taxes and securities regulation, defines digital assets in Missouri’s Uniform Commercial Code, and exempts the sale or use of cryptocurrency from money transmitter licensing requirements.”

Roe: Damage Done to Dem Coalition

Politico reports on the GOP licking their chops over the coming midterm elections…

·         Republican strategists have described the pandemic to Nightly as a godsend, with its effects on both inflation and education, two of voters’ top concerns, as well as on Biden’s dismal public approval ratings.

·         GOP strategists are vowing to run on unpopular Covid restrictions even if they’ve been taken away. They gleefully predict that Biden’s party will pay a price in the midterm elections for, in their view, waiting too long.

·         “They are waving the white freaking flag, after they’ve completely lost the war and have nothing else to do besides retreat,” said Jeff Roe, the Republican strategist who managed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign in 2016 and helped elect Glenn Youngkin governor of Virginia last year. “The female suburban independent, college educated voter? Good luck. Add people who are married with kids, and put them in the Republican camp. [Democrats] did more damage to that coalition in the last 14 months than any Republican has done in the last 14 years.”

MOScout’s Hallway Index: Redistricting Debate Impact

I asked lobbyists what they thought the impact of the congressional redistricting debate/filibuster would be? 19 replies…

RESULTS

1. Kills a few weeks, but nothing too significant… 10.5%

2. Irreparably poisons the Senate for this session… 68.4%

3. Something else… 21.1%

Sample of Comments

·         The Conservative Caucus is poison.

·         Every time that I think that the vitriol within the Senate can’t get any higher, they exceed my expectations.

·         It seems that the 6/7 R’s have waged war against the rest of their caucus and the interesting question is whether the rest of the Majority will understand this and act accordingly. This all started back several years ago when these members provided cell phone number of their colleagues during a debate on abortion and continues to get worse. 17 R’s plus 10 D’s seems to be a reasonable ruling coalition in the Senate.

·         Things will never be the same.

·         The longer it goes—the deeper the divide and hurt feelings—the less likely there’s a path to meaningfully reconcile the conservative caucus and mainstream Rs.

·         Nothing more significant than we already thought. It’s not more broken than it was before. This week taught people nothing - at least nobody that was paying attention. Killed a few weeks and now on to the next issue that will kill a few weeks.

·         Has a substantial impact on the session beyond a couple weeks but too soon to determine if it is irreparable.

·         Hard to say because it’s a big stunt. If leadership can’t get control of this, they won’t stand up to the conservatives on anything else.

·         It’s never as bad as it seems, but this is not nothing and will have lasting impact. The number of bills that will ultimately pass beyond the budget is shrinking dramatically each week.

·         I would have chosen #1 if things hadn’t gotten so personal.

·         A mix of both. Women pushing back helps!

·         Everything is always doom and gloom in Jefferson City until it isn’t.

Who Won the Week?

Senate women – A breath of fresh air after the droning redistricting filibuster.  You mean being a senator can be about building relationships?  It’s not just “standing in the gap?”  And the fate the Republic isn’t hanging by thread? To be determined by the shape of Missouri’s CD-2?

Josh Renaud – Despite the governor’s wishes, no charges were filed against the Post-Dispatch reporter who alerted state government that they had ineptly left teachers socials security numbers vulnerable on a public website. 

Better Elections – The effort to bring ranked choice voting to Missouri added $600K to its coffers (from sources unknown), has a group of bipartisan consultants on the job, and is watching the most likely source of their opposition (ultra-conservative Republicans) aggravate would-be allies in the fight.

Steven Roberts – The Democratic senator places himself in the mix of the redistricting battle.  And as he considers a congressional run, the incumbent reiterates her “defund police” position, possibly opening up a line of attack.

Find a downloadable version here.

Tomorrow’s Game

Wall Street Journal reports that “a record 31.4 million Americans plan to bet on Super Bowl LVI, a 35% increase from last year’s game, according to the American Gaming Association. Bettors are estimated to wager $7.61 billion on this year’s game, a 78% jump from last year’s. The growing legalization of sports betting across the U.S. is fueling the rapid growth.”

·         Rep. Dan Houx’s HB 2502 is one of the vehicles teed up to let Missouri join in the fun.

$5K+ Contributions

MO Cable PAC - $6,016 from Mediacom Communications.

MO Cable PAC - $5,436 from Comcast Financial.

Birthdays

Happy birthday to Louise Tonkovich.

Sunday: Jay Nixon, and Sen. Steven Roberts.