MOScout Daily Update: Reuter In Senate 22 - Avery Works Building - Functioning Senate - Joint Ed Seeks ED - Gunn Wins Massive Med Mal and more…

Senate 22 Talk: Reuter In, Avery Works Building

Rep. Renee Reuter announced that she will be running for Senate 22, where Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman has decided not to seek re-election. Reuter amended her campaign committee as well.

From the announcement: Her campaign for State Senate will focus on key issues such as addressing new technologies that are not currently addressed in the current law, fighting human trafficking and increasing healthcare access. Renee is committed to transparency, accountability, and collaboration, aiming to move struggling people to a place of hope and action.

·       Meanwhile, Jim Avery – who is expected to formally announce his entry soon – was in the building yesterday.  He was seen huddling just off the rotunda with MATA (Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys) Executive Director Sara Schuett.  The guess is that Avery, a trial attorney, will have the backing of the powerful organization.

·       These two, together with Rep. David Casteel, this makes it an early field of three.  But there are other representatives from JeffCo who are presumably mulling the race as well. For example, Rep. Ken Waller considered a Senate bid before running for House.

·       Additionally, there are former reps who have run for this seat before. Jeff Roorda, and Dan Shaul, for example.

Opening Day in STL

It’s Opening Day of the St. Louis Cardinals season.  From media advisory…. Governor and First Lady Kehoe will also participate in St. Louis Cardinals Opening Day festivities, including joining Anheuser-Busch for special beer deliveries outside of Busch Stadium with the world-famous Budweiser Clydesdales and the introduction of the 2024 St. Louis Cardinals via Ford F-150 truck motorcade. 

The Functioning Senate

For as long as I’ve been in the capitol, the hallway has lamented the demise of the pre-term-limits “Old Senate.”   One lobbyist jokingly describes it as “a magical place where all babies can be split and filibusters (or the implied threat thereof) draw opposing parties to the table, where compromise is ultimately reached over bourbons.”

This week we got a glimpse of what those good old days might have been like as Sens. Ben Brown and Stephen Webber took a potentially divisive subject (foreign contributions to ballot measures) and found their way to a compromise.

Brown introduced SB 152, thanking Webber for his constructive negotiating posture, after which Webber responded with his own effusive praise of Brown. “On Monday I figured that I'd be killing this bill,” Webber said.  He then described how a simple gesture of kindness earlier in the week, when Brown accepted Webber’s amendment on a different bill, led Webber to approach Brown and outline his concerns with the bill.  That spawned a marathon 2-hour Monday night session, which continued throughout Tuesday.  It unraveled early Wednesday morning when progressive groups revealed a new last-minute concern. But instead of responding angrily, Brown took a deep breath and worked through the issue.  Webber noted that the bill went through 13 drafts, a testament to Brown’s patient determination.

·       Things may deteriorate by mid-May, but yesterday was a reminder of what a Senate that “works” can look like.

More Webber

MOIndy has a story up this morning about Sen. Stephen Webber saying on the floor yesterday that a sexual predator is working in the capitol.  Read it here.

“There are sexual predators who work in this building,” Webber said. “There are powerful people who know who those people are and are protecting them. That is happening right now.”

Webber said he could not reveal the identity of the person he was accusing nor could he reveal any details of where in the Capitol the person worked or the position of the person who told him of the problem. He had promised the victims confidentiality, he said.

Joint Committee on Education Seeks ED

The Joint Committee on Education is seeking a new executive director. See the job description here.

Some folks think this could be a hot spot in the coming years.  The governor and others are pushing for the legislature to rewrite the “foundation formula,” which determines how the state’s aid to schools is divvied up.

And

Senate Pro Tem Cindy O’Laughlin appointed Sens. Rusty Black and Travis Fitzwater to the Missouri School Funding Modernization Task Force.

Schatz Appt

Eyebrows were raised at the inclusion and then removal of former Senate Pro Tem Dave Schatz from the Gubernatorial Appointments Committee hearing yesterday.

Schatz has been appointed the Franklin County Commissioner by Governor Mike Kehoe.  Tim Baker also pursued the appointment.

Usually, the Senate accommodates the appointments of its former members quickly. But one hallway denizen wondered if there was a lingering grudge still held by some member against the former pro tem.

·       One source said the agenda change was about “some questions,” but also “timing,”

More Cupps Court Trouble

I’d previously covered Rep. Scott Cupps’ troubled farm finances.  Last year, Cupps Farm (half-owned by him) was sued for debts owed to MFA Incorporated, as well as Deere.

Now comes another suit (see it here)… The Godsey Family is asking for $24,000 for rent and damages.

Massive Malpractice Verdict

Post-Dispatch reports on the largest medical malpractice verdict in the history of Missouri –“$28.1 million in damages to account for the costs of the child’s care plus $20 million in punitive damages.”  See it here.

·       Gunn Slater, the law firm representing the plaintiff, is the new firm of Amy Gunn.  She’s the immediate past president of MATA, and wife of Kevin Gunn, who’s Evergy’s Vice President of State and Federal Regulatory Policy.

Dem Committee Moves

Rep. Anthony Ealy is back on his committees (Conservation and Natural Resources, Economic Development, Judiciary, and Transportation), while Rep. Adrian Plank has been relieved of his committee assignments.

$5K+ Contributions

WPG PAC - $8,000 from Winton Policy Group.

The Committee for Families with Sick Kids, Inc. - $115,000 from Ronald McDonald House Charities of Kansas City Inc.

Safety and Justice Alliance - $15,000 from Decarcerate KC.

Lobbyist Registrations

Richard McIntosh and John Gaskin added City of St. Louis Sheriff's Department.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Mike Leara, Mike Kelley, Jake Silverman, and Dave Stokes.