MOScout Daily Update: High-Priority Bills Moving - Villa Passes - STL Earning Tax Ruling - Shippy to PollPad and more...

The Week Ahead

The House and Senate hearing schedule is full of high-priority issues…

Education

·       Tuesday, the Senate Education Committee will hear open enrollment bills. And also likely vote out the Parents’ Bill of Rights bills.

·       Wednesday, the House Elementary and Secondary Education will hear Chair Brad Pollitt’s bill on open enrollment as well.

IP Reform

·       Tuesday, The House Elections Committee will hear the plethora of bills to change the initiative petition process.

Foreign Ownership of Farm Land

·       Tuesday, the Senate Agriculture Committee will hear bills to limit the foreign ownership of Missouri farmland

1 Big Thing: Clockwork Session – So Far

Democrats have been spoiled the last couple of years.  They’ve been able to grab some popcorn and watch the Republican supermajority tear themselves apart, preventing the passage of significant legislation.

This year looks different.

·       No obvious tension within either leadership team in either chamber.

·       Priority legislation is being front-loaded into committees (see above).

·       The Senate has been a quiet place.  Granted we’ve yet to debate a bill.  But the rules were passed with little fanfare and (so far) everyone is playing nicely.

·       In a strategic move the Senate appears to be plotting a course of tackling the most divisive issues first (CRT, transgender athletics).

STL Earnings Tax

St. Louis City’s earning tax is facing a serious challenge.  St. Louis Business Journal reports on a lawsuit stemming from remote work during the pandemic.  But with remote work become a staple of employment now, it could have an ongoing impact.

·       A Circuit Court decision could make “tens of thousands" of workers who didn't live in the city of St. Louis eligible for a refund from the city’s earnings tax if they worked from home during the pandemic for a city-based employer, a plaintiff’s attorney said Friday.

·       On Thursday, Circuit Court Judge Jason Sengheiser ordered the city’s Collector of Revenue, Gregory Daly, to refund $8,361 plus interest to six employees who lived outside the city but were working remotely for employers within the city limits in 2020. Their wages were taxed under the city’s 1% earnings tax.

·       Attorney Mark Milton, who represents the six plaintiffs with co-counsel W. Bevis Schock, said they are evaluating whether to seek class-action status for nonresident taxpayers. Circuit Court Judge Christopher McGraugh in January 2022 denied the case class-action status because state law already allows taxpayers to obtain a refund of earnings tax paid under protest. Milton, however, said he's considering asking the state Court of Appeals to reverse that ruling.

·       If a class-action lawsuit prevailed, that could blow a massive hole in the city’s budget. The earnings tax generates more than $150 million per year and the lawsuit estimated that nonresidents pay about 75% of the total.

GOP State Committee Re-elects Myers

The Missouri Republican Party State Committee met on Saturday in Jefferson City.  Nick Myers withstood a challenge from Pat Thomas to win re-election as Party Chair. 

I’m told the vote was: Myers 38, Thomas 20, and Jason Soseman 9.

Others elected were: Leann Green (Vice Chair); Jamey Murphy (Secretary), and Jennifer Finch (Treasurer).

Villa Passes

One of the greats of St Louis politics died over the weekend.  Tom Villa served at both the state and local level over many decades.

Read the Post-Dispatch article here.

Villa started in politics in 1974, when he was elected as state representative. He served in the state House for 10 years, including the last four years as House Majority Leader.

After losing the 1984 race for state treasurer, Villa returned to St. Louis government and, in 1985, became the city’s public safety director.

In 1987, Villa won the election for aldermanic president; he was reelected in 1991.

After finishing out his aldermanic president term in 1995, he decided not to seek reelection to city office. He then worked as governmental relations director for Mayor Clarence Harmon.

But the call to politics proved too hard to resist. He successfully ran for the Missouri House in 2000 and was reelected three times.

He left the state House for a second time in 2008, then returned to the Board of Alderman in 2011 when he was elected as the 11th Ward alderman…

·       Sarah Martin Wood, neighbor to Villa, succeeded him as alderman of that ward. Martin’s husband and Missouri AFL-CIO President Jake Hummel tweeted: I can’t express how much I’m going to miss my dear friend. He took a chance on me and I owe him my entire career. I miss seeing you next door and can’t imagine not hearing another joke from you. Godspeed my friend.

Francis Amends Committee

Rep. Rick Francis amended his campaign committee to run for statewide office.  See it here.

Francis is term-limited in his current position.

Shippy To PollPad

Steele Shippy, veteran of several Missouri campaign, announced on Twitter that he was headed to KnowInk.  They make PollPad, a product used at polling sites across the nation.

Shippy will be their Chief Growth Officer.

Lobbyists Registrations

Steven Carroll added Missouri Retired Teacher Association and Public School Personnel.

Richard McIntosh, Elizabeth Lauber, and Jerry Hobbs added Nola Education, LLC.

Andy Arnold deleted Barkley Inc, and Iowa 80 Group Inc.            

$5K+ Contributions

American Dream PAC (pro-Kehoe) - $25,000 from G Scott Englebrecht.

Missouri Alliance PAC (pro-Patterson) - $10,000 from Missouri Soybean Assoc.

Catalyst PAC - $7,000 from Quality Schools Coalition.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Kyle Aubuchon, Steve Walker, Ken Jacob, and Jordan Overstreet.

Condolences

To Robin Stone (Sen. Lincoln Hough’s office) on the passing of her husband Tom Stone.  Visitation will be held at Freeman Mortuary from 12:00 p.m. until 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, January 24, 2023.