MOScout Daily Update: New Senate 10 GOP Poll - Moody OK With 3021 - House Perfects Parents' BOR - CC Works Amendment Process and more...

New Senate 10 Poll

After we bungled the lines last time, here’s a fresh Senate 10 Republican primary poll…

Survey conducted April 9 through April 11, 2022. 301 likely 2022 Republican Primary voters participated in the survey. Survey weighted to match expected turnout demographics for the 2022 Republican Primary Election. Margin of Error is +/-5.3% with a 95% level of confidence. Totals do not always equal 100% due to rounding. Survey conducted by Remington Research Group on behalf of the Missouri Scout. See the full results here.

Q1: What is your opinion of Donald Trump?

Favorable: 77%

Unfavorable: 16%

No opinion: 7%

Q2: What is your opinion of Jeanie Riddle?

Favorable: 30%

Unfavorable: 12%

No opinion: 58%

Q3: The candidates in the 2022 Republican Primary for Missouri Senate District 10 are: 

Joshua Price, Bryan Spencer, Travis Fitzwater, Jeff Porter, Mike (Michael) Carter, and Randy Pietzman. If the election were held today, for whom would you vote?

Joshua Price: 3%

Bryan Spencer: 7%           

Travis Fitzwater: 17%         

Jeff Porter: 8%       

Mike (Michael) Carter: 10%           

Randy Pietzman: 15%

Undecided: 40%       

Q4: What do you think is the most pressing concern for our state government?

Reducing violent crime: 14%

Creating more jobs: 5%

Stopping illegal immigration: 50%

Making healthcare more affordable: 10%

Improving education: 5%

Not sure: 16%

A few thoughts…

·         I find it interesting that of the issues I ask about, this is the second Republican Senate primary where illegal immigration is far ana way the top concern.

·         Trump’s high standing among Republican primary voters remains.  His +61 favorability means we’ll probably see a lot of pro-Trump rhetoric in campaign literature.

Moody OK With 3021

Former budget director Jim Moody, in a note to clients, blessed the general idea of Rep. Cody Smith’s HB 3021, which would give Missourians a $500 tax credit.

“Readers will know that The Moody Report is normally pretty cool to tax cuts.  That is not our initial reaction to this idea.  The State at the end of March 2022 has a General Revenue fund balance of almost $3 billion, and we believe that the GR cash balance is going to grow. That one-time cash balance should be utilized for one-time purposes, and this credit would be one of those one-time purposes.”

·         Dems note the bill is similar to their own proposal last week… “It’s astounding to how quickly House Republicans flip-flopped on this idea,” said House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield. “However, unlike the Democratic version that was targeted toward Missourians who would most benefit, the GOP plan primarily benefits the wealthy. While we are pleased Republicans are following the lead of House Democrats on this issue, their proposal needs improvement.”   During debate over the FY 2023 state operating budget on April 5, state Rep. Kevin Windham, D-St. Louis, offered an amendment to House Bill 3020 that sought to provide cash assistance to low- or moderate-income Missourians of up to $1,000 per household. The Republican-controlled House defeated the amendment on a largely party-line vote of 41-85.

House Perfects Parents’ Bill of Rights

Amid some heated debate, the House perfected Rep. Ben Baker’s HB 1858.  Missouri Independent reports on it here.

An amendment added to the bill by Rep. Shamed Dogan, R-Ballwin, would prohibit teachers or students from being forced to adopt ideas in violation of sections of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, such as concepts that individuals are inherently superior or inferior based on their race, ethnicity, color or national origin or “bear collective guilt” for the actions their ancestors may have committed in the past.  “We should not have collective racial guilt…” Dogan said. “But we should not have collective racial amnesia. What I think we ought to do is, we ought to have collective pride.”

·         Republicans believe CRT is a potent election year issue.

Conservative Caucus Works Amendments

The Senate’s Conservative Caucus continues to work the amendment process to advance their agenda – with varying degrees of success.

Sen. Rick Brattin was able to add a provision to HB 2149 saying that the “act of lawfully dispensing, prescribing, administering, or otherwise distributing ivermectin tablets or hydroxychloroquine sulfate tablets for human use shall not be grounds for denial, suspension, revocation, or other disciplinary action by the board.”

Sen. Bill Eigel’s anti-personal property tax amendment (“no county or other political subdivision shall be authorized to levy or collect a tax on tangible personal property.) was defeated when he tried to put it on SJR 39.

Morse Book Signing

Former legislative assistant Stacy Morse will be signing her book, Roscoe to the Rescue, this afternoon on High Street…

New Committees

Kyle Marquart, running in a 3-way Republican primary in House 109 (Washington), filed an exemption committee.  That means he won’t be raising or spending more than $500 in his campaign.

Lobbyists Registrations

Elizabeth Olds added Elizabeth Olds.

Jake Silverman added Steven Millikan and Family.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Rep. Craig Fishel, Clem Smith, and Mark Reardon.

MOScout Schedule

I’ll be taking a long weekend ahead.  I’m planning to be off Friday, Saturday and Sunday.