MOScout Daily Update: The Season of Hope - More on Pro-Life ‘Deal’ - MSHSAA Takeover - Burger Can’t Drive 70? and more…

Next Session Hopes Versus Realism

Scanning through the bills that have already been filed, there’s no shortage of controversial issues and big ideas.  It’s the season of hope!

·       Governor Mike Kehoe has promised a plan to phase out the state’s income tax.

·       Senate Pro Tem Cindy O’Laughlin is seeking a pause on all solar projects in the state.  She’s joined by Sen. Sandy Crawford, who filed a similar bill.

·       Speaker Jon Patterson has been talking about property tax reform for months.

·       Treasurer Vivek Malek is seeking an additional $50 million for the next budget to double the state’s funding of its school voucher program.

·       Old fighting issues of gray machines, hemp products legality, open enrollment, and prescription benefit managers regulations are all resurfacing.

·       New fighting issues like asserting control over MSHSAA (see below) and the Missouri Department of Transportation are percolating.

And yet everyone acknowledges the headwinds this session faces…

·       Senate Democrats angry about the PQs at the end of last session and the ramming of special session items.

·       Senate Republicans seemingly always ready to splinter.

·       O’Laughlin and Patterson with less power this session as lame ducks.

·       An election year making legislators eager to grandstand and gun-shy to take “tough” votes.

·       The uncertain budget outlook.  (We should get the Consensus Revenue Estimate in the coming weeks).

More on ‘Greedy’ Prolifers

Last weekend I wrote pro-lifer negotiators “missed a pretty good deal in the final week of session” with ballot language better than what the court recently ordered.

A couple of pro-lifer advocates took issue with the analysis, saying the language was going to end up in the courts regardless.  Here’s one MOScouter…

“I found it laugh out loud hilarious that you actually think that if Republicans had cut some sort of deal with the Democrats as to the ballot language for the 2026 Amendment 3 that the deal would have included a promise to NOT drag the new A3 through the Courts. The new A3 was going to head to the Courts no matter if a deal was struck or not as to ballot language. And deals as to ballot language would never be binding on all the Democrat super lawyers who have made ballot initiative litigation a very lucrative McMansion industry.”

GOPers Want Gov Takeover of High School Sports

Following Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick asking Attorney General Catherine Hanaway to investigate discrimination at the Missouri State High School Athletic Association, several legislators have filed bills to make MSHSAA’s board appointed by the governor…

·       Sen. Jason Bean’s SB 863.

·       Sen. Nick Schroer’s SB 1364.  (Schroer’s bill has an emergency clause.)

Watching: DESE’s Open Enrollment ‘Best Practices’

When the State Board of Education meets tomorrow, the agenda has them considering adoption of their 2026 legislative priorities.

Among the priorities… The State Board of Education supports legislation on voluntary public school open enrollment that is based on best practices as determined by DESE and stakeholders.

Sens. David Gregory (SB 906), and Curtis Trent (SB 971) have bills for open enrollment.

·       The details here may matter a great deal.  As SBOE notes it supports open enrollment based on “best practices as determined by DESE and stakeholders.”

The Need for Speed

Sen. Jamie Burger’s SB 1408 ups the maximum speed limit on rural interstates and freeways from 70 miles per hour to 75MPH.

·       Apparently some parts of Texas have an 85 MPH limit.

Collateral Damage of Stand-Your-Ground: Bystanders

The Wall Street Journal reports that the rise of stand-your-ground laws are increasing the number of innocent victims caught in vigilantes’ crossfire.

·       “When untrained or panicked shooters miss their target, it’s children, neighbors and bystanders who pay the price,” said Nick Suplina of Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit focused on gun-violence prevention.

·       “In general, when someone is viewed to have a valid self-defense claim, the idea is that they are justified in taking the action that they did because of an emergency situation,” said Rachel Barkow, a criminal-law professor at New York University: “So, if in the process, they accidentally kill someone else, that is not deemed to be criminal.”  Barkow said the doctrine predates the stand-your-ground laws enacted in recent decades in 30 states.

Leonard To Exit School Board

The News Tribune reports that Erika Leonard will resign as Jefferson City School Board president. 

Leonard said she decided to resign because she is stretched too thin between family, work and school board commitments. Leonard said the resignation will be made official at the December meeting.

MO AFL-CIO $$$

The latest non-committee expenditure report shows Missouri AFL-CIO spending another $28,837 in member education around the referendum of House Bill 1 (redistricting map).

$5K+ Contributions

Committee to Elect Ingrid Burnett - $10,000 from Ingrid Burnett.

Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $25,000 from Kansas City Chiefs Football Club.

Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $10,000 from Missouri Health Plan Association PAC.

Lobbyist Registrations

Jewell Patek added Slidesoft Technologies, and PEAK Sport and Spine; and deleted Advantage Business Development, Central Missouri Foster Care and Adoption Association, Maverick Consulting Group, Francis EV Charging, and Rosen Law Firm.

Tyler Travers added National Alliance on Mental Illness – Missouri.

Dennis Ganahl added Dennis J. Ganahl, PhD.

Jeff Roorda added Great State Strategies, LLC.

Ron Hicks deleted Pinnacle Distribution, Midwest Psychedelic Training, Vapor Maven MO, Fire Palace, and Great State Strategies, LLC.

Happy Birthday

Happy birthdays to Sarah Topp, Peter Herschend, John Brunner, Linda Rallo, Patrick Bonnot, and Don Soffer.