MOScout Daily Update: Treece, Erdman to Floor - 60% = No Hancock or Right to Farm - Stouffer Retires? - Cottom Back and more...

Morning Drama: Highway Commissioners to Floor

Governor Mike Parson’s appointees to the State Highways and Transportation Commission (Brian Treece, a Democrat, and Warren Erdman, a Republican) were voted out of the Gubernatorial Appointments Committee yesterday after receiving bipartisan praise.

Their confirmation will come to the Senate floor today. 

In recent days, there’s been talk that Floor Leader Cindy O’Laughlin would lead a group of senators – upset with the leadership at MODoT – to sink their nominations.  According to the rumors, they’ve been seeking assurance that the Commission would fire MODoT Director Patrick McKenna.  Meanwhile the governor’s office has stood by their appointees, leading to a possible confrontation.  If the Senate doesn’t approve Treece and Erdman, they will be banned from future gubernatorial appointments. 

These impasses are rare, but not unprecedented. 

I don’t know how dug in O’Laughlin is.  But if she is set in her position, she would likely let the 2nd floor know she’s going to block their approval; the governor could withdraw the nominees to avoid the “lifetime ban.”  Or they could play chicken and see if O’Laughlin blinks.

We’ll see…

Senate Debate Gets Testy

Sen. Lincoln Hough’s bill was perfected after Sens. Rick Bratton and Greg Razer both fired warning shots across the bow – introducing and then withdrawing amendments which could have bogged down the bill. 

·       It demonstrated a willingness to avoid an early trainwreck on a bill which may pass 34-0 today.  But it also hinted that senators have priorities and their patience may run thin if they feel they’re not being addressed.

The Senate then moved on to Sen. Andrew Koenig’s Parents Bill of Rights bill.  Democrats stood in opposition.  Missouri Independent describes the debate here.  The more contentious part of the debate came between Sen. Barbara Washington and Brattin.

·       The bill was set aside after hours of debate.  I think they’ll eventually find language that will be acceptable for everyone, but we’re not there yet.

What Would 60% Have Meant?  No CLEANER, No Right To Farm

A reader mentioned this to me: Interesting thought…  In 1980, the Hancock Amendment only passed with 55% of the vote.  Therefore, it would have failed under the so called [60%] "reform".

The implication here is that there was once a time when the initiative petition process was championed by conservatives – and there may be a time in the future when they wish they hadn’t messed with it.

I went back through the last ten years. Here are the constitutional amendments which passed but would have failed under the 60% threshold.

·       2022 – Legalizing marijuana (53.1%). The original Medical Marijuana passed with 65% in 2018.

·       2020 – CLEANER (51.0%). The original CLEAN passed with 62% in 2018.

·       2020 – Medicaid Expansion (53.3%).

·       2018 – Bingo laws (52.4%).

·       2016 – Prohibition against new state sales or use taxes (57%).

·       2014 – Limits to governor’s budget powers (56.8%).

·       2014 – Right to Farm (50.1%).

IP Ballot Candy

One MOScouter offers thoughts on yesterday House perfection (by a 106-50 vote) of HCS-HJR43 – a proposed constitutional amendment making multiple changes to the initiative petition and referendum process…

In common political usage, “ballot candy” is a popular provision of a proposed ballot measure, presumed to draw big voter support. Ballot candy also helps carry into passage other provisions in the same proposal that are less popular, obscure and even contrary to voters’ best interests (if they looked into it more deeply).

In the case of HJR43, the ballot candy is this clause: “For purposes of this article, only citizens of the United States of America who are residents of the State of Missouri and who are properly registered to vote in the State of Missouri shall be considered legal voters.”

It’s easy to see how that’s ballot candy for deep-red rural Missouri – who could be against ONLY citizens being able to vote?

But as several critics of the proposal noted during debate, the Missouri Constitution – Article VIII, Section 2 – already says (emphasis added): “ALL citizens of the United States, including occupants of soldiers' and sailors' homes, over the age of eighteen who are residents of this state and of the political subdivision in which they offer to vote are entitled to vote at all elections by the people…”  So the Constitution presumes already that a voter, by definition, will be a citizen.

Questioned about this, HJR43’s handler, GOP Rep. Mike Henderson, repeatedly told critics it’s a “clarification,” but he declined to clarify whom he was trying to further exclude from voting. Informed of the existing constitutional provision, Henderson got chuckles when he dismissed it as “that one little blurb.” Democratic Rep. Joe Adams countered that the redundant language was a ballot candy dog whistle to gain conservative support: “It’s like a crowbar sticking in my eyeball.” Adams and other critics said the “citizen” language is intended to become the popular campaign focus to pass the measure at the polls, when in fact its separate provision to raise the threshold for passage from a simple majority to 60 percent of the vote actually makes it harder for the people to change the Constitution.

Adams and fellow Democrat David Tyson Smith suggested that if the clarification is so important, Henderson should file a separate stand-alone measure to send to voters. “I want to keep it where it is,” Henderson replied, and everyone (call us jaded, cynical or just realists) knows exactly why that is the case: It’s a superficial redundancy but it’ll make a fine red-meat conservative ad in times of shaky trust in election integrity.

An old hand’s free suggestion to Henderson: Call the critics’ bluff and file a separate stand-alone HJR with just the citizenship language. If it gains no steam, and the GOP majority will see that it doesn’t, supporters of HJR43 can say they tried the stand-alone route but the broader measure had greater support, deflecting critics.

Cottom Back?

Did I see Mary Cottom on the first floor? I’m told that Cottom, who retired last year after her latest stint with Sen. Jeanie Riddle, is back. She’s listed on Sen. Rick Brattin’s staff.

Old staffers never die, they just change offices…

Lobbyists Registrations

Mark Dalton added Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council.

Scott Penman, Kaycee Nail, Tom Dempsey, and Dave Berry added Empower Missouri (formerly Mo Association For Social Welfare).

Scott Penman and Kaycee Nail added Missouri Budget Project.

Timothy Faber added Missouri Baptist Convention.

Jay Hahn and Ryan DeBoef added Codefi LLC.

Merit Iles added Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP.

Paul Mouton added Missouri Broadband Providers.

Jim Gwinner deleted ALC Schools, LLC.

Bill Stouffer terminated his registration.

$5K+ Contributions

POL PAC - $50,000 from Polsinelli.

H-PAC (pro-Houx) - $10,000 from Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council Missouri-Kansas Area PAC.

Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $25,000 from AT&T.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Sen. Elaine Gannon, Otto Fajen, Jim Foley, Steve Hodges, David Gregory, Diane Franklin, and Judy Moriarty.