MOScout Daily Update: Pregnancy Registry Flops - Lakin Leaves Politics - JP Backs Dirk - Rollins to Poultry Fed - Clay County Stadium Move? and more…
GOPers Back Off Expectant Mom Registry
Post-Dispatch’s Jack Suntrup writes about Rep. Phil Amato’s HB 807 drawing fire. The bill would create and “maintain central registry of each expectant mother” who is at risk for seeking an abortion and make the same available to a prospective adoptive parent. The idea drew bipartisan antipathy. See the article here.
· After the kerfuffle, two Republican representatives who had filed similar bills – Rep. Bill Allen (HB 887) and Phil Oehlerking (HB 1022) – quickly withdrew them.
House Advances Big Bills
Yesterday the House gave first-round approval to the St. Louis police takeover bill, the pesticide labeling bill, and the statute of limitations bill. Perfection is a voice vote, so we’ll have to wait until “Third-Read Thursday” to see an actual vote count.
· All three seem safe bets to pass, however I don’t think any of them have an easy path in the Senate.
Gregory, Nurrenbern Files Stadium Bill
Tuesday, Sens. Maggie Nurrenbern and Kurtis Gregory and filed SB 710 and SB 713. The identical bills would authorize Clay County to establish a Sport Authority, setting up a governance structure to administer funding and oversee a new stadium. It appears a bipartisan move to make a play for the new Royals stadium.
The general assembly may annually appropriate up to three million dollars from the state general revenue fund to the convention and sports complex fund created pursuant to this subsection, provided that the county or authority has entered into a contract or lease with a professional sports team affiliated with or franchised by the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, or the American League or the National League of Major League Baseball on or after January 1, 2026. The convention and sports complex fund shall be administered by the county and shall be used to carry out the provisions of this section.
Where Webber Gets His Fight
Lost amid Monday’s long debate on Sen. Lincoln Hough’s sunset omnibus was Sen. Stephen Webber’s articulation, during the first couple hours of debate, of his own political philosophy.
Speaking in defense of trans kids, the ex-Marine linked his own childhood narrative of abuse (at the hands of a father known to many as a community pillar) to his animating principle – to fight for the bullied, the outmatched, the voiceless. And he tied it to his view of modern right-wing politics as infused with gratuitous harassment of the vulnerable – trans or non-binary kids, immigrants, etc.
It was a poignant reflection – and a window into how Webber sees the world and what issues might elicit his passion.
JP & Co Back Budget Committee on PubDef Demand
Press release: House Speaker Jon Patterson, Speaker Pro Tem Chad Perkins, Majority Floor Leader Alex Riley, Assistant Majority Floor Leader Lane Roberts, Majority Whip Hardy Billington, Majority Caucus Chair Bennie Cook, and Majority Caucus Secretary Ann Kelley issued the following joint statement regarding a recent House Budget Committee hearing and testimony from the Office of Public Defenders – particularly concerning the employment of an individual convicted in connection with the 2007 murder of 9-year-old Rowan Ford: “The continued employment of David Spears within the Missouri State Public Defender’s Office is a serious lapse in judgment that undermines public trust in our institutions… We fully support Representative Dirk Deaton and the members of the House Budget Committee… We stand with our colleagues in calling for the Public Defender’s Office to rectify this situation immediately. If they fail to do so, we support any and all measures, including the rejection of their budget request, to hold them accountable….”
What It Means
The show of unity from Republican leadership makes the message unmistakable to the Public Defender’s Office. Last week’s budget hearing wasn’t just some members venting; it’s a serious threat to their funding request.
Behind Cupps Canceling Committee
I’m told that Rep. Scott Cupps cancellation of his Rules Committee hearings was so that he could return to his farm in the face of the artic blast and safeguard his young calves from the cold.
Bailey Enters Tyson Battle
Attorney General Andrew Bailey, in a filing yesterday, sought to intervene in the lawsuit being brought by Dexter chicken farmers against Tyson Foods. See the filing here.
Alarmingly, Plaintiffs allegations show that to minimize scrutiny, Defendants mislead Missouri’s elected officials (including Attorney General Andrew Bailey, Senator Joshua Hawley, and Congressman Jason Smith) about the Dexter plant’s closure and Tyson’s willingness to sell the Dexter plant to a competitor that would continue operating the Dexter plant to service the local broiler chicken market.
Contrary to Tysons’ representations to these elected officials, Plaintiffs allege that it was Tyson’s policy to not sell facilities to competitors and had no intention to do so. Instead, Defendants were negotiating the sale of the Dexter Plaint, along with a secretive Property Use Agreement, to ensure that the Dexter plant would never be used to compete against Tyson in the broiler chicken market.
Riggs on Higher Ed’s Demographic Headwinds
In yesterday’s Budget hearing for the Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development, Rep. Louis Riggs raised alarms about widespread forecasts of declining enrollment: What percentage of our taxpayer supported dormitories are 100% full and which are less than 50% full? We are looking at the demographic cliff, we have declining birth rates, we're going to have fewer students, And we're talking about all this like it's 1985, and it's not.
MEC, Senate Grammarian
Last night Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman – during the debate on a hazing bill – revealed her inner grammarian.
One of my pet peeves is grammar… when I came to the House and was first elected and I had my first bill drafted I received my language back and in the chapter that we had opened up, most of the chapter said the masculine singular for the pronoun usage, but my proposed new language included the masculine and the feminine. So we had inconsistent pronoun usage within each chapter, and it has been long my intention to try to fix this frustrating problem of inconsistent pronouns within our chapters, and since the masculine singular is inclusive of the feminine and because most of the chapters have have the singular masculine… I'd like us to be consistent.
Lakin Leaves Politics
Joe Lakin announced that he’s done running political campaigns… Almost 17 years ago today, during an internship at the Missouri State Capitol, I got offered my first job in politics. On my very first day on the job, I met David Hageman at a campaign school, which led to me joining and ultimately becoming a partner at Victory Enterprises.
Then five years ago, our team launched Objective Media to expand our services into brand advertising. Ever since, my energy has been split between the two companies. The timing of the launch of Objective, frankly, couldn’t have been worse — literally months before COVID began. While it impacted us, it hit many of our clients even harder. But we leaned into it, made great hires and helped our clients navigate some major obstacles…
Today, I will be departing my role with VE to focus my energy on helping our Objective clients…
Rollins to Poultry Fed
Press release: The Poultry Federation is thrilled to announce that Blake Rollins is joining the organization as Executive Vice President. Rollins’ leadership will be invaluable to the Federation’s ongoing mission to promote and protect the poultry and egg industry in Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma.
Rollins most recently served as the Chief Administrative Officer at the Missouri Farm Bureau (MOFB), where he directed advocacy, public affairs, leadership development, political engagement, and other activities…
Nonnemaker to CPKC
Ryan Nonnemaker, on social media, announced that he’s “starting a new position as Director of U.S. Government Affairs at CPKC!”
· Nonnemaker previously was District Director for Congressman Mark Alford.
Lobbyist Registrations
Claudia Alley and BNSF Railway Company.
Caitlin Sutherland added Americans for Public Trust.
Boaz Dillon added Freedom Foundation.
Noel Torpey added J & J Ventures.
$5K+ Contributions
St. Charles Realtors PAC - $5,508 from National Association of Realtors (Washington, DC).
Murphy for Mayor - $10,000 from Richard Miller (Pittsburg, KS).
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Alex Eaton, Lynne Schlosser, Ron Gladney, Rodney Schad, and Jay Kanzler.