MOScout Daily Update: Big Bill Pile-Up Coming - MATA's GOP Picks? - Kunce Strides Toward Nomination and more...

1 Big Thing: The Coming Pile-Up…

Take a look at the House calendar right now and you won’t see many Senate bills.  Speaker Dean Plocher seems to be making good on his decision to slow walk Senate bills until he sees action on his priority issue: initiative petition reform.

On the Senate side, folks have been saying that Plocher has to trust Senate leadership.  It’s a priority for them too, but the Senate works differently.  You can’t jam things through on a conveyor belt schedule.  That’s not how the body works.

Right now, there’s only four Senate bills on the Third Read Calendar.  None of them are high-profile items…

·       SB 20 – Bernskoetter – dealing with MODoT retirement system.

·       SB 28 – Justin Brown – dealing with fees for Highway Patrol records requests.

·       SB 127 – Rehder – highway namings.

·       SB 139 – Bean – Establishing the "Stars and Stripes Historic Region of Missouri"

There’s only 14 days left in session.  Some of them certainly lost to hammering out and passing the final budget.  Even the best case scenario looks like a huge pile-up of bills in the final week.

Time limits the capacity of the legislature to deal with large numbers of bills quickly. 

·       First, there’s the time needs for necessary legislative mechanics like the need to go to conference committee when there are differences between bills. 

·       But additionally, the Senate doesn’t operate with speed.  Its tradition of unrestrained debate means any senator to stand up and ask to “walk through” any bill, making sure they understand it. 

·       And when time runs low and Senate Floor Leader wants to use time productively, any senator’s concern over a bill and the corresponding decision to “talk it over” with another senator can become akin to a de facto veto – unless it’s a high priority bill worth the floor time.

What It Means

I asked lobbyists last weekend which relationship was most fraught to create troubles in these final weeks. (They’re mostly worried about the internal relationships in the Senate Republican Caucus). 

But upon reflection, it’s the confluence of relationships that becomes problematic. 

The House – Senate relationship is one element.  It wouldn’t be a big deal on its own.  But when put together with dissent within the Senate Republican Caucus, and natural opposition between Republicans and Democrats, it makes the final weeks a minefield for folks trying to pass legislation.

Another Big Thing: Lawyers Pick Sides in GOP Statewides

One MOScouter, scrolling through Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s quarterly report, was amazed by the support he showed from trial attorneys. They’ve previously been big Democratic donors, but now seem to be strategically playing in Republican primaries.

Among those on the report, many of whom are involves in the powerful MATA (Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys):  Scott Bethune, Neil Chanter, Grant Davis, Mark Gaertner, Chandler Gregg, Thomas Jones, Wes Shumate, and Michael Sudekum.

They counted “53 individual contributions, totaling over $80,000 from trial lawyers or their immediate family members… Additionally, a PAC supporting Bailey’s candidacy, with which he is coordinating fundraising, received $125,000 from Ketchmark & McCreight, P.C.”

·       A similar dynamic has occurred in the gubernatorial race where Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft seems to be the preferred candidate for attorneys. Last year law firms contributed over $850K to his PAC, Committee for Liberty.

Kunce Nailing Down Dem Nomination?

Lucas Kunce has been running hard for the Democratic nomination to take on Josh Hawley in 2024.

Last cycle Kunce got big-footed by Trudy Valentine Busch and her personal wealth.  And there’s still a chance that happens to Kunce again.  But I think the odds of that are slimming.  Kunce has been building his moat to a competitor…

·       Endorsements from labors unions: Iron Workers Local 10, Insulators Local 1, Sprinkler Fitters Local 268, Bricklayers Local 1, Tilesetters Local 18, Insulators Local 63, and Roofers Local 2.

·       Kunce’s Q1 report showed $1.1M raised which the campaign touted as “record-breaking for a challenger in Q1,” and nearly double Hawley’s report of $600K. Even Hawley used it in a fundraising appeal: “My Democrat opponent is hauling in MASSIVE amounts of cash from far-Left socialists across the country.”

Lucas on Yarl Shooting

On Face the Nation, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said the shooting of Ralph Yarl was the result of a “culture of fear and paranoia.”  See it here.

“This is sort of thing that happens when you have this culture of paranoia and fear that’s being drummed up by politicians and some in the media and of course this fetishization, I’ve said before, of guns…”

NYTimes on IP Reform

New York Times reports on Republican efforts around the country to change initiative petition processes, particularly as they eye potential ballot efforts on reproductive health.  Read it here.

Missouri gets a mention…

In Missouri, the Republican-led legislature is on the verge of putting a constitutional amendment on the November ballot raising the approval threshold for proposed constitutional amendments to 60 percent, from 50 percent…

eMailbag: House’s Ethics Moves

Regarding your comment about Rob Vescovo and Trish Derges (in Who Won the Week).  Vescovo did blackball Derges, but no House ethics complaint was filed against Derges because it was decided to let the FBI do their work without interference.  

Vescovo was big on ethics (Derges and Rick Rehber), but so was Elijah Haahr (Rockey Miller, DaRon McGee, and Wiley Price) and Todd Richardson (Eric Greitens, John Deihl and couple of quiet resignations). 

However the real work on ethics was done by the chairs: Jay Barnes (Greitens), Travis Fitzwater (Rehber), and J Eggleston (Miller, McGee, and Price).  Ethics handles the stickiest issues and is the only committee with an equal number of Republicans and Democrats.  Getting unanimous decisions on tough matters in that committee was no small feat.  The Speakers deserve credit, but the chairs deserve more credit. 

Help Wanted

St. Louis Community Foundation seeks CEO. “The ideal candidate will be a visible community leader able to engage effectively with the multiple and varied constituents across the Greater St. Louis region, from community and nonprofit leaders to financial specialists, along with high-wealth individuals and business leaders. The search committee is open to a variety of professional backgrounds. The candidate does not need to be from the St. Louis metro area; however, an understanding of the region and its challenges would be additive.”  See the ad here.

Lobbyists Registrations

David Barklage added yes. every kid., Inc.  

Courtney Mueller added TKFC LC dba St. Louis CITY SC.

Birthdays

Happy birthday to Brian Munzlinger.