MOScout Daily Update: Session Thoughts - O'Donnell Hands in Gavel - Richey for Senate 21 - Myers PAC - Fox Send-Off and more...
Scooplette: O’Donnell Resigns Chairmanship
Rep. Michael O’Donnell sent a letter to Speaker Dean Plocher resigning as chair of the House Financial Institutions Committee.
Dear Mr. Speaker,
I hereby resign my position as Chairman and Member of your House Committee on Financial Institutions effective today at 11:59 PM. My manager, at the investment brokerage firm I have worked at for over 32 years, has instructed me that I have to resign or be subject to termination…
· O’Donnell works at Wells Fargo.
First in MOScout: Richey Amends PAC
Doug for Freedom PAC, the political action committee supporting Rep. Doug Richey, amended its filing to indicate that Richey is revving up to run for Senate 21 where Sen. Denny Hoskins is term-limited. See the paperwork here.
· Rep. Kurtis Gregory will be running in that Republican primary.
Fox Send Off
House Communications Trevor Fox was bid goodbye by the House, and presented with a proclamation by Speaker Dean Plocher. See it here. As Rep. Jay Mosely said, “There will truly be a hole in the heart of the House, and one that will be felt for many years to come.”
Thoughts on Session
The clear consensus is that the legislative session was a dud for the majority party. They whiffed on what were gimmes, priorities which were teed up for passage in the final week but sat untouched.
Goalposts: There’s a natural tendency for our perspective to change over time. I went back to Senate Pro Tem Caleb Rowden’s December interview with Missournet to see what the priorities were entering session. Most failed.
· Education reform (NO)
· Initiative Petition reform (NO)
· Transgender athletes (YES)
· Sports betting (NO)
· Tort reform (NO)
· Personal property tax reform (NO)
Success: That’s not to say there weren’t successes. In fact, the budget showed that the legislature can do big things. The coming years will see…
· Billions to widen I-70 and other road arteries around the state.
· Hundreds of millions to early childhood education.
These big expenditures are legacy investments; they will bear fruit for the Missouri economy for decades into the future. And it would be a mistake to understate their importance amid the groaning and grumbling.
Blame: There’s plenty of blame to go around. The mighty Jason Rosenbaum has a video up of Sen. Nick Schroer saying that House members went back on agreements, and Speaker Dean Plocher calling senators terrorists. See it here. You know what would be novel? Someone accepting some responsibility.
· How about Plocher saying he should have had more a plan?
· How about Sen. Bill Eigel saying in retrospect grandstanding on the final day wasn’t in the citizens’ best interest?
· There should be a lot of Republicans looking in the mirror and considering how their actions contributed to the session’s failures.
$$ Fallout?: Money talks. Will we see any fallout from this session’s failures?
· One lobbyist: “I don’t think leadership understands how the dysfunction makes it difficult for lobbyists to justify clients make donations to leadership, respective Caucasus or to certain members.”
Rules Fallout: I won’t be surprised if there’s some serious proposals to amend the Senate Rules to curtail the filibuster. It will be a real lost for the institution. Unfettered debate has consistently improved the often-haphazard legislation passed by the House. But the abuse of the filibuster is real. The frustration is justified. And the consequences are only a matter of time. One lobbyist offered these ideas…
· Limit speaking on any items that are not motions or debate on bills to 1 minute each and must be germane to the order of the Senate. This would force filibustering on issues where there are motions which could be PQ’ed. This bullshit about not letting the body get to the order of business is an abuse of rules and they should shut it down.
· 26 Senators signing a petition automatically acts as a PQ when given to the Secretary of the Senate and does not require a vote. That way they could end frivolity without endangering the sanctity of the filibuster.
Pro-Myers PAC
964 PAC was formed. It’s allied with Rep. Jeff Myers. See the paperwork here. I call these Independent Expenditure PACs. They’re not subject to campaign contribution limits, but the candidates can’t direct their expenditures. Often politicians who are considering leadership positions, or higher office will use them to raise substantial money.
$5K+ Contributions
Ameren Missouri Political Action Committee - $7,579 from Ameren FEDPAC (Washington DC).
Northland Strong PAC - $10,000 from Paul Guastello Jr.
MSCEW PAC Federal Cmte - $14,575 from IBEW PAC VOLUNTARY FUND (Washington DC).
Lobbyists Registrations
John Bardgett, Jacqueline Bardgett, and Chris Roepe deleted Guard911, Moreable LLC, and ModivCare Solutions.
Mark Habbas deleted Guard911, and Moreable LLC.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Angie Schulte and John Wiemann.