MOScout Daily Update: Union to Run STL Police? - JP on ESA $$$ - House Poo-Poos Bounty Hunter - Crouse Retires and more…

Quick Friday update…

Union to Run STL Police Board?

Governor Mike Kehoe’s plan to take over the St. Louis police force has moved steadily through the process, voted out of committee this week in both the House and the Senate.

So far opponents have focused their questioning on the lack of logical rationale for the proposal. 

·       St. Louis crime figures have been dropping in recent years, not rising.

·       Kansas City, where there is state control, hasn’t seen any real positive impact from the policy.

But as the bills move to the floor for debate in the coming weeks, there may be more questions as lawmakers “look under the hood.” 

One strange feature of the current proposal is to give the police unions a strong hand to potentially run the police department themselves. 

The bill’s process for determining the composition of the board gives the unions extremely lopsided input into the choosing of board.

Of the five board members, one would be the mayor, a second would be appointed at the sole discretion of the governor.  The other three – a majority of the board – would be chosen by governor from panels provided to him.  Those panels would have one name from the mayor and four from police unions, heavily skewing the process of picking board members.

·       It’s hard to imagine anything farther from a “best practice” in terms of governance.

eMailbag: Drebes Conflates 727 $$ With AT $$

The money the Governor did not include has nothing to do with SB727. In fact, all the 727 increases were funded in his proposal (including the supplemental).  The 727 money wasn’t just cash on the barrel head. It was specific money for specific things. Like, doubling the investment in early childhood education. More money for poor kids. Etc. All of that is still there.

There’s a false impression out there that the people who negotiated those increases got duped or whatever because the 727 money is gone. That’s not true. It’s still there.

·       In fact, the ones most impacted by an across-the-board formula shortfall are the rural districts. An argument could be made that because of those 727 additions, Dem districts will be well insulated from the Governor’s actions.

House Dismisses Senate’s Bounty Hunter Plan

Usually, it’s the House that’s known for putting up wacky bills that the Senate won’t stoop to consider.  But the roles are reversed with Sen. David Gregory’s Missouri Illegal Alien Certified Bounty Hunter Program which would pay Missourians for tips on finding and apprehending illegal immigrants. 

·       House Crime and Public Safety Committee Chair Jeff Myers wrote on Facebook: “I’m not sure how feasible the concept is. At times pieces of legislation get filed that generate headlines and with it a lot of attention. However, the chances of it becoming law are at best a long shot. Should it make it out of the Senate with the bounty provision included, I’ll revisit this post with an update of my thoughts. Until then, I’ll be focused on the work we are doing in the House.”

·       And JP, at his presser, was more succinct: “I haven’t seen any enthusiasm for bounty hunters over here.” 

JP: $50M for ESA Too Low

Speaker Jon Patterson gave an encouraging assessment of House Republican sentiment toward Governor Mike Kehoe’s proposal to inject general revenue into the ESA program.  At his press conference yesterday, he said the “vast majority” of his caucus supported the idea. 

·       As for himself, JP, rejecting the notion that they might lower the number in a compromise, said: “I like to see that higher actually”

And

Patterson reiterated the governor’s call to modernize the educational funding formula.

Crouse Retiring

Sen. Mike Bernskoetter gave a nice tribute to Adriane Crouse yesterday on the Senate floor on the occasion of her retirement.

Public servants like you are the reason this body is so functional… staying up and pulling all nighters with us. We really appreciate that. And so we're grateful for your service to the body, but also the service to the state. And so the whole Senate, the Senate staff, everybody wants to congratulate you and wish you best wishes to your husband…

$5K+ Contributions

YES for KC Kids - $30,000 from Blaque IRR Trust.

Lobbyist Registrations

Aaron Baker and Freddy Barnes added Shelton Fireworks.

Tom Dempsey and Dave Berry added Missouri Association of Career Fire Protection Districts.

Daris Davis deleted the clients of The Thelemaque Group.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Robin Wright-Jones, and Zach Dunn.