MOScout Daily Update: Kansas Wooing Chiefs? - Hawley, Schmitt on Trump VP List? - Sports Betting IP Raises $6M - Pro-Porter PAC and more…

The House is off today. Its members will get a chance to enjoy the solar eclipse.  It’s likely several senators will be missing as well for the occasion.  I’m told the Senate won’t be engaged in any heavy lifting today as a result.

Sports Betting IP Hits $6M Mark

Over the weekend, BetFair Interactive sent $1,625,000 to Winning for Missouri Education, the campaign committee to put sport betting legalization before Missouri voters.  That brings the total amount raised for the effort to over $6 million.

The deadline to turn in signatures looms… just four weeks away now.

Here’s how much other campaigns have raised…

·       Reproductive rights IP: $4.5 million

·       Higher minimum wage: $2 million

·       Osage casino: $3 million

Kansas Wooing Chiefs??

On Twitter, there’s talk that “high level talks started Wednesday morning in the state of Kansas to try and make a move to get the Chiefs…”

This will likely dominate all other issues for Governor Mike Parson’s final nine months in office. 

·       Forget about widening I-70.  If the Chiefs left the state, that’d be Parson’s “legacy” for generations to come.

Cindy’s Voice

On Facebook this weekend, Senate Floor Leader Cindy O’Laughlin offered an update on her voice:  I am currently suffering with Laryngitis. My voice started going away on Wednesday and Thursday was pretty sporadic. And since then not one word has come out except through a whisper. This is causing me great angst as in my line of work talking is a prerequisite. So I am loading up on steroids and trying to “rest my voice box” as it says when I googled it. it also says don’t whisper as that causes further stress... Most of you know Drew who works for me. He’s the best but also a professional worrier. What will he say when I tell him he needs to know sign language by Monday?   Goodness. Let’s hope this resolves itself asap.

Trump on Abortion Restrictions

Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform embraces the common exceptions for abortion restrictions. Here’s an excerpt from his posting… “I, and most other Republican, believe in EXCEPTIONS for Rape, Incest, and Life of the Mother.  Great love and compassion must be shown when even thinking about the subject of LIFE, but at the same time we must use common sense in realizing that we have an obligation to the salvation of our Nation, which is in serious DECLINE, TO WIN ELECTIONS, without which we will have nothing other than failure, death and destruction…”

And

Trump advisor Stephen Miller put Missouri Senators Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt on the list of possible Trump vice-presidential candidates.  See it here.

Trump Endorses Kinne and Almond

Press release: Missouri’s RNC National Committeeman Gordon Kinne and Committeewoman Carrie Almond recently received President Donald Trump’s endorsement for their reelection to the RNC. The vote will take place at the State MOGOP Convention on May 4, in Springfield.

Pro-Porter PAC

Fighting for Missouri Families PAC was formed.  It’s to support the candidacy of tech executive Matthew Porter who jumped in on the last day of filing to run for lieutenant governor.  He’s a Republican.  See the filing here.

Johnson in House 56

I’m late to this tidbit.  Ryan Johnson is one of three Republicans vying for the House 56 Republican nomination.  See his committee filing here.

Johnson was, for several years, a lobbyist in the building representing Carl Bearden’s United for Missouri.  He’s currently a commissioner in Cass County.

·       He faces incumbent Rep. Michael Davis, and Todd Berck, who was a popular coach in that area for decades.  

eMailbag: Wasser on SB 1351

Casey Wasser, COO for the Missouri Soybean Association, attempts to clear up on SB 1351…

I feel compelled to clarify the 16-16 vote in the Senate on Thursday.  SB1351 seems to be confused with the exporting of water or concealment of information around wastewater, sludge, or manure. SB1351 (Section 256.410) clearly states “this subsection shall only apply to information obtained from major water users with respect to water withdrawn or diverted for use on agricultural land, as defined in section 350.010, within the state.” SB1351 cannot be construed to apply, for instance, to wastewater or other contaminants regulated under the clean water law in Chapter 644, or anyone exporting water.

The DNR confirmed this only applies to in-state irrigation used for ag production when they testified in the House Rural Community Development hearing on HB2669, same as SB1351. With additional education and clarification on this issue, we’re hopeful the Missouri General Assembly will support SB1351 and oppose the ability to release personal information, location of personal wells, and other personally identifiable information of Missouri’s farmers.

Dynamic Pricing Coming

While the Public Service Commission’s recent foray into “time-of-use” pricing was met with resistance, its implementation across a broad spectrum of industries seems inevitable.  New York Times reports here.

·       Dynamic pricing, by one name or another, has been around since the dawn of merchandising. Sometimes it’s a means of maximizing return on fixed expenses, such as labor: Happy hour is a way to boost bar traffic before the after-work rush, for example.

·       “Load balancing” is a similar concept in energy and transportation. Utilities charge less for power overnight, and transit agencies impose higher fares during rush hour to encourage users to shift toward off-peak times, when energy and trains are in less demand. Other times, it’s an effort to liquidate perishable or seasonal goods, like fresh produce at a grocery store or winter coats at Macy’s. Then there’s “surge pricing” on ride-hailing platforms, which is meant to quickly prod more drivers to start picking up passengers. Some commodity goods, like gasoline, fluctuate daily with international markets… Or take airlines: Lowering fares far in advance allows more price-sensitive, date-flexible leisure travelers to afford the trip, while business travelers pay much more for last-minute tickets.

·       Part of the concern comes from the idea that dynamic pricing is often enabled by algorithms, which are opaque to consumers and regulators, and can be tools of collusion…

·       Those decisions can be increasingly targeted, since companies have vast troves of data about their customers, and direct connections with them through smartphone apps.

·       If companies did this more often, they might end up charging wealthier people more, effectively creating a progressive cost structure for goods and services. For example, a 2017 economics paper found that grocery stores could make more money by offering lower prices in poor neighborhoods, which they currently tend not to do. It’s also clearly legal…

$5K+ Contributions

Winning for Missouri Education (pro-sports betting IP) - $1,625,000 from Betfair Interactive US, LLC (Jersey City, NJ).

Lobbyist Registrations

Tom Dempsey added Mercy Healthcare Systems.

George Oestreich added Seguridad, Inc; and deleted Logan & Seiler, Inc.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Ron Leone, Mike Sutherland, PJ White, and Mike Thomson.