MOScout Daily Update: Parson SCOMO Pick Coming? - MOChamber Endorsement Coming - Updated Veto Fundy Schedule - Populist Hawley and more...
Veto Schedule Updated
Here’s the latest updated Veto Session fundraisers schedule, in an easy to print format. The first ones start at 8AM; the last ones start at 8PM!
SCOMO Rumor
Rumor is that Governor Mike Parson will announce his Supreme Court appointment. And I’m told that it’s going to be… Judge Michael Gardner.
One MOScouter says: “Friendly with the plaintiff bar, but that is not as important as having an ideological conservative.”
Meanwhile another observer thinks that we’ll see Judge Ginger Gooch make the next panel.
Speaking of which…
The Appellate Judicial Commission is accepting applications for judge of the Supreme Court of Missouri to fill the vacancy to be created by the October 13, 2023, retirement of Judge Patricia Breckenridge after more than four decades of judicial service.
Driving the Day: MOChamber To Announce Gov Endorsement
Alisa Nelson reports that the Missouri Chamber of Commerce PAC will announce its endorsement for governor at 9AM at the Chamber’s office in Jefferson City. The guess would be… another feather Mike Kehoe’s endorsement cap.
· It won’t be Sen. Bill Eigel. Eigel punched the Chamber on Twitter… @MissouriChamber supports raising taxes, expanding Obamacare Medicaid, picking winners and losers through special tax treatments, and declared nearly every member of MO Senate Dems a “Business Champion” They want a uni-party champion. It will be @MikeLKehoe
· It won’t be Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft. He, like Eigel, has taken oodles of trial attorney money. Tort reform is a major Chamber priority.
Team Cody: Lots of Lege Love
Most House Republicans are on Budget Chair Cody Smith’s host committee for today’s fundraiser…
Team Gregory: Knock’em Doors
Lots of eyes on fundraising numbers, but David Gregory, in Senate 15, is banging out his ground game numbers. “Team David Gregory just hit their 15,000th door.”
Hawley Leads GOP Toward Populist Platform
Real Clear Politics reports on Senator Josh Hawley’s latest proposal to cap credit card interest rates at 18%.
· On the question of credit, the senior Republican senator from Missouri finds himself well to the left of the White House, only slightly less progressive than democratic socialists like Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and very much out of step with the business-friendly old guard of his party.
· Sen. Josh Hawley will introduce legislation to cap the annual percentage rate of credit cards at 18%, RealClearPolitics is first to report. The average APR, by most estimates, now hovers near the 24% mark.
What It Means
Donald Trump has steered the Republican Party away from free market principles and toward populist economics. The free trade, and pro-immigration policies of Ronald Reagan were replaced under Trump’s administration by higher tariffs, and fewer work visas.
· Unlike Hawley, Missouri Republicans have been slow to make this shift. They’ve continued to cede the working class economic issues to Democrats, grudgingly watching policies like higher minimum wage and Medicaid Expansion advanced through the IP process.
WashU Clinic Stops Controversial Treatments
· Citing “unacceptable” legal liability, Washington University officials announced Monday the school’s physicians will stop providing gender-affirming medications to minors who are technically eligible for those treatments under a new Missouri law…
· The announcement closes a chapter in a monthslong fight by conservative Republicans in Jefferson City to end puberty blockers and hormone treatment, which health providers describe as a component of gender-affirming care, at the Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital…
· “We are disheartened to have to take this step. However, Missouri’s newly enacted law regarding transgender care has created a new legal claim for patients who received these medications as minors,” Washington University said…
What It Means
I had expected – in an election year – we’d see transgender care be a hot topic in the legislature next session. But this may reduce the urgency of the issue.
Additionally, this action, together with others, raises the concern of a potential exodus of medical expertise in Missouri as state government continues to restrict their profession.
eMailbag on Contraceptive Polling
Those “yes” numbers are too low. I don’t think Hawley, Schmitt, Kehoe, Trump and Pence are bucking MRL and endorsing exceptions for rape/incest/life of the mother if their polling is telling them only ~45% of Missourians support them.
New Committees
Missouri Education Alliance was formed. Amber Watson is the treasurer. See the paperwork.
Lobbyists Registrations
Brianna Pollitt added University Health Truman Medical Centers.
Michael Bond added Michael Bond .
$5K+ Contributions
Southern Drawl PAC (pro-Thompson Rehder) - $10,000 from Thomas McFall.
Lincoln PAC (pro-Hough) - $10,000 from Health Systems Inc.
Bayer US LLC Missouri PAC - $15,000 from Bayer US LLC Employee Political Action Committee.
HealthPAC - $9,500 from Midamerica Division Office (Nashville, TN).
Missourians for Healthy Families & Fair Wages - $29,634 from Missouri Jobs With Justice Voter Action.
Missourians for Healthy Families & Fair Wages - $7,335 from Missouri Organizing and Voter Engagement Collaborative.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Drew Dampf, Steve Helms, and Sam Brownback.