MOScout Daily Update: Super Bowl Win = Short Week? - Eigel Hits Ashcroft - Shull to Treas? - Curtis Registers - Anti-TikTok Bill and more...

BREAKING: Chiefs’ Super Bowl win will likely shuffle the legislative week. Mayor Quinton Lucas announced that the victory parade will take place at Noon on Wednesday. 

·       We could have a short legislative week as delegates from the western part of the state depart early to be a part of the celebration.

AND: Early estimates say 100 million bets were made on the Super Bowl yesterday…

Eigel Hits Ashcroft on Farm Land

Sen. Bill Eigel is running Facebook ads dinging Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft for comments he made regarding foreign ownership of Missouri land.

What It Means

·       First, in terms of the 2024 gubernatorial race, this is Mike Kehoe’s ultimate dream: a feisty Eigel nipping at Ashcroft.

·       But it’s a reminder of the obvious: Ashcroft is the front-runner in this race.

·       And it demonstrates how this issue of foreign ownership of Missouri land has become a hot-button for Republican primary voters.

Scooplette: Shull to Treasurer’s Office

Word is that Doug Shull is headed to the State Treasurer’s Office to be the new general counsel.  Shull has been serving as general counsel for the Department of Corrections. 

Treasurer Vivek Malek has been hiring top posts after Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick took several senior staff with him.

Driving the Day: Senate Hears IP Reform Bills

The Senate Elections Committee (1PM, SCR2) will hear several resolutions to change the initiative petition process.  This is a major Republican priority for this legislative session.

Among the resolutions scheduled for the hearing…

·       The House proposal: Rep. Mike Henderson’s HB 43 – it moves the threshold for passage for constitutional amendments to 60%. 

·       Pro Tem Caleb Rowden’s SJR 5 which is the same as the House proposal.

·       Sen. Andrew Koenig’s SJR 2 would change the threshold from a simple majority to a majority of all registered voters.  In other words, folks who don’t vote would be counted as a No.

·       Sen. Rick Brattin’s SJR 17 would take the threshold to two-thirds.

·       Sen. Jill Carter’s SJR 28 would require that the constitutional amendments garner a majority vote in a majority of the state’s House districts, in effect creating a “rural veto” on any proposal.

·       Also, Sen. Sandy Crawford’s SB 102 would require signature gatherers to be Missouri registered voters.  Right now, anecdotally, there are lots of folks who make a living going state to state working IPs.  This would cut Missouri out of that circuit.

Curtis Registers to Lobby

Former Rep. Courtney Curtis has registered to be a lobbyist.  It represents something of a comeback for the former legislator who served 21 months in jail for using campaign funds for personal use.

Curtis registered for 100 Black Men of Metropolitan St. Louis.

1 Big Thing: GOP Navigates LE-Liberty Tradeoff

Republicans pride themselves in their normally unwavering support for law enforcement.

·       Recent Gallup polling shows a partisan gap in views of the police.  62% of GOPers say that police have very high or high ethical standards while only 38% of Democrats have that opinion.  (The whole poll is kind of fascinating.  For example, the reverse is true of high school teacher: 73% of Dems say they have high ethical standards, but only 37% of Republicans.)

However we’re seeing case after case where Missouri Republicans are breaking with law enforcement. 

·       Most recently was last week when they rejected the proposal from Rep. Donna Baringer (see below), supported by St. Louis police, to prohibit unaccompanied minors on public property from carrying a firearm.

·       Similarly, law enforcement has criticized SAPA, and they worked last year to defeat the presumption of self-defense (which is back again this year).

In those cases, Republicans have been to the right of law enforcement.  But this week we may see a case where Republicans are to the left of law enforcement…

House Special Committee on Government Accountability (Monday, Noon) will hear Rep. Ben Baker’s HB 762 which would prohibit “reverse keyword” and “reverse location” searches, a practice which some police use gather evidence and determine suspects.

Baringer Gets National Press

Rep. Donna Baringer was showered in national press after her effort to place some small restriction on gun rights in Missouri.  See her interview on MSNBC here.

And she was featured in a hodge-podge of national media including…

·       Washington Post: Missouri Republicans block proposed ban on kids carrying guns in public

·       Rolling Stone: Missouri GOP on Kids Carrying Guns: Yes, Please

·       The Hill: Missouri lawmakers vote against banning children from carrying guns in public

·       Vanity Fair: Missouri Republicans Vote to Affirm Toddlers’ Rights to Carry Firearms in the Streets

Anti-TikTok Bill

House Special Committee on Homeland Security (Monday, Noon) will hear Chair Adam Schnelting’s HB 919 which states, “No elected or appointed member or employee of any state entity may use, operate, or download on a state-owned device any social media application that is owned, in whole or in part, by the Chinese government or any company that shares its user’s data with the Chinese Communist Party.”

eMailbag on 2024

Cody Smith is too smart to throw his name in the ring this early, especially when he will have to negotiate with Gov’s office on the budget. He’s savvy, and will run a disciplined campaign if and when the time comes.

Lobbyists Registrations

Courtney A. Curtis added 100 Black Men of Metropolitan St. Louis.

Michael Christopher Kelley added BikewalkKC.

Ginger Steinmetz added Steinmetz Consulting, LLC.        

$5K+ Contributions

NOCO United Professional FF PAC - $6,111 from Florissant Professional Firefighters.

Venetia Powell for Mayor - $6,269 from Venetia Powell.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Sen. Steven Roberts, and Jay Nixon.