MOScout Daily Update: Silencer Freedom - Kehoe Cabinet Status - Lucas PAC Funny Business and more…
The Freedom to Shoot Quietly
Rep-elect Mike Costlow (House 108, the old Justin Hicks district) pre-filed HB 548 to ensure that firearm silencers are legal.
The offense of knowingly possessing, manufacturing, transporting, repairing, or selling a firearm silencer, as it existed immediately before August 28, 2025, shall not be prosecuted on or after August 28, 2025.
Silencers were in the news recently with the killing of the United Healthcare CEO in New York City. Silencers are viewed by gun-rights advocates are essential hearing-safety tools; and viewed by gun-control advocates are accessories to criminal activity.
· In what may be viewed as a companion bill, Costlow also pre-filed HB 549 which requires schools to upgrade their security features including “bullet-resistant security laminate [that]… cannot be easily breached to allow an intruder to open or otherwise proceed through.”
Kehoe Cabinet Status
News on Friday that Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance (DCI) Director Chlora Lindley-Myers plans to retire at the end of the year yields another slot to watch.
It appears that Governor-elect Mike Kehoe has announced the folks he’s definitely keeping in his new administration. Capitol folks are assuming that there will be a few more holdovers, but mostly now we’ll be hearing new names for the remaining positions.
Here are the cabinet spots…
Missouri Office of Administration – Kenneth J. Zellers – staying on.
Missouri Department of Agriculture – Chris Chinn – staying on.
Missouri Department of Conservation - Jason Sumners - appointed by the Conservation Commission.
Missouri Department of Corrections - Trevor Foley staying on.
Missouri Department of Economic Development – Michelle Hataway – staying on.
Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education – Karla Eslinger – appointed by State Board of Education.
Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services - ?? – currently Paula Nickelson.
Missouri Department of Higher Education - Bennett Boggs – appointed by the Coordinating Board for Higher Education.
Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance - ?? – Chlora Lindley-Myers retiring.
Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations - Anna Hui – staying on.
Missouri Department of Mental Health - Valerie Huhn - appointed by Mental Health Commission.
Missouri Department of Natural Resources - ?? – currently Dru Buntin.
Missouri Department of Public Safety – Mark James – new Kehoe appointment.
Missouri Department of Revenue - ?? – currently Wayne Wallingford.
Missouri Department of Social Services - ?? – currently Robert Knodell.
Missouri Department of Transportation – Ed Hassinger – appointed by Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission.
Novo Adds Lobbyist
Interesting to see Novo Nordisk Inc.add another name to their lobbying team here. Novo produces the well-known weight loss drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy. The latest addition, Julie Dohm, is regulatory attorney out of DC.
· Jeffrey Altmann is their in-state contract lobbyist.
Securing Missouri’s Future
The Mike Kehoe inaugural committee, Securing Missouri’s Future, appears to be using the same corporate entity that Governor Mike Parson used for his inauguration, Moving Missouri Forward.
According to the Secretary of State, Securing Missouri’s Future is a fictitious name for Moving Missouri Forward.
It another sign of the continuity between the Parson and Kehoe administrations. In fact, John Hancock is the spokesperson for Securing Missouri’s Future. He part of the team which ran Parson’s PAC, and then ran Kehoe’s PAC.
Schroer Side Hustle
Looking for a last minute Christmas gift. Sen. Nick Schroer is one of the entrepreneurs behind “13 Roots Apparel,” which sells MAGA/Patriot/Right-wing tee-shirts. “While this nation is truly in a battle of good and evil, we must inspire and educate fellow Americans to see the light… Oh and also wearing badass patriotic apparel that is nearly guaranteed to piss off the whacko lefties!”
Can’t Quit the Biz
Here are some formers Reps and their next campaigns…
· Former Rep. Derek Grier is holding his kick-off for Chesterfield mayor tonight. On the host committee: Treasurer Vivek Malek, Sen. Andrew Koenig, and Reps. Ben Keathley and Philip Oehlering, and former Speaker Rob Vescovo.
· Soon-to-be former Rep. Donna Baringer’s kick-off for St. Louis Comptroller on January 9.
· Former Rep. Rochelle Gray has formed a committee to run for Black Jack City Council next Spring.
Lucas PAC Funny Business
Missouri Independent reported on Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas’ campaign directing expenditure from a third-party political action committee, despite law prohibiting coordination.
· [Lucas] initially denied knowing who paid for a poll seemingly designed to sink North Kansas City’s chances of landing a new Royals baseball stadium. But newly obtained documents show the poll was commissioned by Lucas’ own re-election campaign…
· The Independent revealed last week that the poll was paid for by United We Stand PAC, an independent spending committee formed to support Lucas. To ensure the PAC’s involvement remained unknown, Lucas’ then-chief of staff, Morgan Said, requested the PAC change its disclosure of the expense from “polling” to “research.”
· Lucas, a Democrat and attorney who was elected mayor in 2019, insisted in an interview last week that he would not have known how United We Stand spent its money because Missouri law prohibits him from coordinating with the PAC on spending. Records show, however, that a staffer using a Lucas campaign email address requested United We Stand pay for the poll…
Punchbowl: Wagner and White Men
Punchbowl reports on Congresswoman Ann Wagner’s attempt to be House Foreign Affairs Committee chair. Read it here.
Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) — who ran for House Foreign Affairs Committee chair — lost to Mast, robbing Republicans of a woman as a full committee chair. And Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah) lost to Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) for chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, which means there will be no Black men leading GOP panels either. In fact, Republicans have never had a Black lawmaker chairing a major House committee, as far as we can tell.
Speaker Mike Johnson has said that Republicans have an “embarrassment of riches” in choosing members to lead committees. But those riches apparently don’t include any women or people of color.
Lobbyist Registrations
Michael Grote added Missouri Private Sector Individual Self-Insurers Guaranty Corporation.
Chris Pieper added Missouri Wine & Spirits Association, Inc.
Julie Dohm added Novo Nordisk Inc.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Jon Carpenter, and Lillian Williams.