MOScout Daily Update: Parson's Chance to Reshape PSC - Decentralized Budget Process in House? - The Ashcroft Agenda - Rex on Betting on Chess and more...

Silvey Resigning from PSC

Public Service Commission Chair Ryan Silvey announced at yesterday’s PSC meeting that he will be resigning next week. He did not say where he’s headed, though he said it was a non-Missouri company, and he expects to stay in Missouri.

What It Means

·       Most likely the gavel will head to Commissioner Scott Rupp, as the Republican with the most seniority.

·       But the bigger picture is that Silvey’s resignation offers Governor Mike Parson a unique situation in which he could totally reshape Commission.  In addition to appointing a successor to Silvey, both Rupp and Maida Coleman are serving on expired terms and could be replaced – if the governor chooses.

·       In other words, the governor could add three new members to the five-member board – a new majority.

New House Rules

HR11, filed yesterday by House Floor Leader Jon Patterson, is the proposed rules for operating the House this session.  See them here. Three changes that jump out…

First, it appears that there’s a concerted effort to vet the bills better.  That is, make sure that bills that come to the floor are truly ready, no more “one technical fix” amendments.

·       No member can file more than 20 bills.

·       There will be three Rules Committees. (It wasn’t long ago that there was just one).  This should reduce the load on each Rules Chair and allow them to give greater scrutiny to their assigned bills. Also, there aren’t tracks for bills to head to a specific Rules Committee. It’s up to the speaker on each bill.

·       All committee chairs are required to attend committee chair training.

·       Committee chairs can require that amendments be distributed twenty-four hours in advance of a committee hearing.

Second, it looks like the Appropriations process is get revamped.  And it will decentralize some of the power away from the Budget Chair – and probably require more work from lobbyists. “No bill or substitute, except appropriations bills, shall be taken up for consideration by any subcommittee.”  It appears that the Appropriation Subcommittees will now be doing the mark-ups on their portion of the budget.  Of course, the Budget Committee will presumably make changes as it ultimately passes the budget.  But this will likely push down a lot of decision items to those subcommittees.

Finally, the rules give us our first look at the new committee.  I thought there’d be some consolidation.  There is a little, but there’s also new committees added, resulting in an increase in House Committees.  Here are the changes…

·       Public Safety gets folded into Crime Prevention and Public Safety.

·       Downsizing Government becomes Government Efficiency and Downsizing.

·       Insurance becomes Insurance Policy

·       Workforce Development becomes Workforce and Infrastructure Development.

·       Transportation gets split into two: Transportation Accountability Committee and Transportation Infrastructure Committee.

·       New committee – Healthcare Reform

·       New committee – Rules - Regulatory Oversight

Happening Now…

Governor Mike Parson hosts annual Governor’s Prayer Breakfast this morning (7:30AM – 9:30AM) at the Capitol Plaza Hotel.

Opening Day Speeches

Press coverage of the opening speeches of Speaker Dean Plocher and Senate Pro Tem Caleb Rowden…

·       Post-Dispatch (see it here): Missouri lawmakers open annual session with focus on schools, crime and taxes…

·       Springfield News-Leader (see it here): Missouri legislature returns to the Capitol with eyes on schools, crime and state budget…

·       Missouri Independent (see it here): New Missouri House speaker says massive budget surplus should mean more tax cuts…

But…

The speech that raised eyebrows was that of Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft.  He set forth a legislative agenda that was wide-ranging and not confined to the purview of the SOS office.  It sounded like a gubernatorial candidate’s speech. See it here. The Ashcroft agenda…

·       Expanded ESAs: It is past time for all parents in this state to have the same opportunity to choose the educational environment best suited to fulfill the needs of their children.

·       Public Safety: Policies that promote rehabilitation combined with truth in sentencing and reforming our special prosecutor appointment statute will profoundly improve the safety of our citizens.

·       No New Taxes: I wholeheartedly encourage you to propose to Missourians a constitutional amendment that would ban general tax increases without a vote of the people.

Chess Involved in Sports Betting?

Forbes has an interesting piece, quoting chess-fanatic / political donor Rex Sinquefield.  Read it here.

·       Chess betting is scarce in the regulated U.S. sports gambling landscape, nearly five years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a federal prohibition on sports betting. The situation could be changing, as at least seven states have approved wagering on chess, and more could be on the horizon, including the potentially key market of Missouri.

·       Chess betting “is a good idea generally,” said prominent businessman and investor Rex Sinquefield, founder of the world-renowned St. Louis Chess Club. “It attracts people to sports. As long as people are careful and there are mechanisms to protect people who can’t protect themselves, it would certainly help the game of chess the way it has helped other sports. It would be exciting to be able to bet on chess.”

eMailbag: Class Clown?

The Missouri legislature's class clown is hands down Representative Adam Schwadron.  He is constantly making memes poking fun at legislators… 

eMailbag: Editing MOScout

A possible edit to today’s edition – “With hires like Ray….., Bailey’s office is looking more restrained [like an Attorney General’s office instead of a campaign HQ].”

Lobbyists Registrations

Tony Benz added The Britton Group LLC, Missouri Dairy, and The Benz Group LLC.

Casey Wasser added Missouri Dairy.

Nancy Giddens and Shannon Cooper added Missouri Credit Union Association.

Jeffrey Perry added General Motors.

Eapen Thampy added The HelpKC Reentry Program for Women.

Tony Dugger deleted Total Wine & More.

Sharon Geuea Jones and Connor Andrew Luebbert deleted Missouri Healthcare for All.

John DeStefano deleted Elevance Health and Its Affiliates dba Anthem, Inc.

$5K+ Contributions

American Dream PAC (pro-Kehoe) - $10,000 from Charles Scism.

Lathrop Gage Consulting Political Action Committee - $8,000 from Diamond Game Enterprises.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Reps. Joe Adams, and LaKeySha Bosley, Sara Lampe and Emilee Lakin.