MOScout Daily Update: Pro-Greitens PAC Hits Schmitt - Senate Walks On Eggshells - Mexico MO's EcoDevo - House Dem Primaries and more...

Another Stab At the Map?

An eyewitness source says that the Senate’s Conservative Caucus trooped across the building and was seen entering Speaker Rob Vescovo’s office on Thursday.

Apparently, the meeting was to see if they could hammer out some agreement on congressional redistricting.

There are three pieces of the puzzle which haven’t been able to fit: Jefferson County (Vescovo), St. Charles (Bill Eigel and Bob Onder), and St. Louis County (Dean Plocher).

There was no breakthrough as evidenced by the fact we haven’t seen any new movement, either with the House bringing forth a new bill or the Senate accepting a conference committee.

·         It probably doesn’t help matters that there’s the typical end-of-term tensions growing between the speaker and the speaker-elect.

Landmines Are Everywhere

We’re getting to that point in session.  Three weeks left.  Time is critical. Yesterday, Sen. Bob Onder reminded the Senate of that fact when he warned that a point of order ruling might trigger a filibuster.

Sen. Bill White’s SB 671 was being debated.  It dealt with visitation of folks in hospice or long-term care.  Its title was “protection of vulnerable persons.”  Sen. Rick Brattin offered an amendment dealing with preventing minors from accessing online porn.  Sen. Doug Beck raised a point of order that it beyond the scope of the bill.

While White and Beck argued it was clearly not related to the nursing home visits, Onder and Brattin retorted that it clearly fit under the title of the bill.  Both arguments made sense.

But Onder said it was so obviously appropriate to the bill that if the point of order was ruled well-taken, it could impact the rest of session.  Most immediately, “We might need to have a discussion whether he [Pro Tem Dave Schatz] got it right.”

The situation was defused when Schatz took the question “under advisement,” putting off a ruling until later.

·         But it shows how easily the Senate could blow-up or lose a day in these critical final weeks.  Landmines are everywhere folks.

Dem House Incumbents Challenged

There are 12 incumbent House Dems running for re-election who have a primary challenger.  Like their Republican counterparts, most of these are not serious challenges.  Their opponents in some cases haven’t even formed candidate committees yet, much less have begun to raise the money necessary for an upset.

The ones to keep an eye on…

·         Obviously, House 73 is the real deal.  Two incumbents, Reps. Raychel Proudie and Mike Person have been drawn together in a Ferguson district.

·         But also, I’m watching to see the race between former Rep. Sylvester Taylor II and Rep. Alan Gray in House 75.  Taylor has stayed involved in politics.  He’s on the Hazelwood School Board.  It’s hard to beat an incumbent, but this could be interesting.  

·         In House 81 I expect Rep. Steve Butz to easily win re-election, but he’s being challenged by an alderman running to his left, so it’s worth keeping one eye on.

·         Finally, I’m curious about Delbert Taylor running in House 84 against Wiley Price.  Price has strong name ID, but Taylor has raised some money, so I’m going to follow that race as well.

Pro-Greitens PAC Hits Schmitt on China Again

The pro-Eric Greitens TEAM PAC has sent another mailer.  This one attacks Attorney General Eric Schmitt on his “China Hub” legislation.  See it here.

·         According to the FEC TEAM PAC has spent $372,779 opposing Schmitt, and also $308,924 opposing Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler.

Meanwhile

US Senator Josh Hawley will be the special guest at a June 2 Vicky Hartzler fundraiser in Cape Girardeau.  It will be at the home of Anissa and Andy Patel.  See the invite here.

Daily Yonder on Mexico MO

The Daily Yonder has an interesting think-piece about how rural areas can find economic growth by catering to remote workers.  It focuses on Mexico Missouri.  See it here.

With the changing shape of remote and hybrid workplaces, and the continuing spread of high-speed internet access in rural areas, new options are opening up for bringing small-scale jobs and companies to towns all over the map. More specifically, with $65 billion for improvements to rural high-speed internet access in President Biden’s infrastructure plan, the potential for a renaissance and reinvention of small towns looms large…

In Mexico, the local Chamber of Commerce, led by Executive Director Dana Keller, is considering a number of proactive strategies to tap into this new opportunity.

One possibility is using a newly renovated office building, just off the square, to create a co-working space. This could be used for smaller operations looking to possibly relocate to Mexico, while saving on the costs of developing its own offices, or it could be used to house new businesses in the start-up phase—much like incubator and accelerator facilities in larger urban areas…

Candidate Withdrawals

Jim Wentworth (Republican) withdrew from the House 34race.

$5K+ Contributions

Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council Missouri-Kansas Area Political Action Committee - $10,808 from SHOWMEJEFFCO PAC (pro-Becky Ruth).

Lobbyists Registrations

Richard McIntosh added Tate Inc., and Salke Advisory Group.      

Salvatore Panettiere added VanTrust Real Estate LLC.     

Irl Scissors added OTGEXP; and deleted National Strategies Inc. OBO Securus Technologies, National Strategies OBO Orange Barrel Media, Vantage Airport Group, and Ginkgo Bioworks.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Dana Rademan Miller and Gary Romine.