MOScout Daily Update: Senate Advances Crime Bill - Perkins Back Riley for Speaker - Hough To Fund All of SB 727 - Gregory Grabs National Press and more…
Senate Debates Crime Bill
The Senate advanced Rep. Brad Christ’s omnibus crime bill after many hours of debate yesterday. The Democratic filibuster, led by Sen. Karla May, gave way to a compromise embodied in Senate Substitute #2. You can read the summary and text of that version here.
Some changes from the original proposal…
· The new board, which will govern the St. Louis police force, will have 6 members. One will be the mayor, and the five others will be appointed by the governor. One of those five will be a non-voting citizen. The governor will no longer be given a panel from the police unions. Rather they will be straight appointments – subject to Senate confirmation.
· Additionally, the House version had set thresholds of the number of officers – and their specific ranks – to make up the police force. That language was dropped; it’s now at the discretion of the board. But… there’s a phase-in that the city must, by 2028, devoted 25% of its general revenue to public safety.
· The problematic expansive rioting provision was eliminated.
· Sen. Angela Mosley’s Task Force on Missing and Murdered African American Women and Girls was added.
What It Means
· Another example – the huge utilities bill was the first – of a “functioning Senate.” After years when small things were sometimes insurmountable, now the upper chamber is tackling big things. It’s not fast or easy, but it’s not meant to be. There’s an acceptance that fighting over the big issues is fair game. And relief that we’re no longer filibustering over personality squabbles.
· Governor Mike Kehoe’s agenda chugs along. Obviously this proposal isn’t popular with everyone, but there’s a recognition that elections have consequences. May is allowed to fight for changes, but Kehoe ran on taking over the police force, and he won.
Alternative Universe Senate
Sen. Karla May had help during the long filibuster yesterday – which included her leaving the floor for a while as she received word of a grandchild being born. Dem Sens. Doug Beck, Patty Lewis, Angela Mosley, Steven Roberts and Barbara Washington all spent time standing.
But one building denizen imagines a more robust Democratic minority caucus – if recruiting had gone differently. In their “what if” version…
· Mike Hamra had run for Senate 30 in 2022 instead of governor in 2024.
· Trudy Busch Valentine had run for Senate 15 in 2024 instead of US Senate in 2022.
· Lucas Kunce had run for Senate 11 in 2024 instead of US Senate in 2024.
It’s hard for folks with personal wealth or great fundraising capacity to lower their ambitions and aim for a smaller office than they think they can achieve. It’s hard for consultants to choose a lesser race as well.
Still, those three would have been good fits for those districts. And if those millions of campaign dollars had been flooded into state senate ran races, Dems might have three extra sets of legs for filibustering nights.
First in MOScout: Perkins Backs Riley
There has been some scuttlebutt in the halls lately about Speaker Pro Tem Chad Perkins running for Speaker. Perkins is quashing the speculation early and endorsing Floor Leader Alex Riley for Speaker.
“Alex Riley has my complete and total endorsement to serve as the next Speaker of the House. He is doing a great job as floor leader and I am confident he will be a great Speaker, too.”
What It Means
Barring some unexpected screw-up from the very steady Riley, he is now likely on a glide path to the Speaker’s office in January 2027.
Hough Vows to Fully Fund SB 727
Senate Appropriations Chair Lincoln Hough arrived early to the hearing room yesterday morning for the budget review with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and so he just started early. So early that he was the only member of the committee there. They began as “a subcommittee of one.”
Significantly, Hough vowed to fully fund SB 727…
Pam Victor, DESE Chief Budget Officer: This [item] is for the elementary literacy program transfer and the program dollars related to that.
Hough: So we're not funding those?
Victor: No the governor did not recommend these two. This would be for the home reading program for kindergarten through fifth grade.
Hough: So we passed legislation last year we're just not gonna fund?
Victor: The associated costs I think there was a prioritization of sorts, because that was such a high dollar high ticket.
Hough: $5 million?
Victor: Well, the bill in total. Senate Bill 727 in total. $464 million of new [general revenue].
Hough: So, just for my, the rest of my committee here, and I think we've talked about this, I have a little bit of a problem with passing legislation and then not funding it. So, we'll see what the House does with your budget. I'm gonna be funding the requirements of a piece of legislation that we passed last year.
Meanwhile…
Wall Street Journal scoops that President Donald Trump is expected to issue an executive order as soon as Thursday aimed at abolishing the Education Department, according to people briefed on the matter. A draft of the order, viewed by The Wall Street Journal, directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Education Department” based on “the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.”
Gregory Grabs National Attention
Sen. David Gregory’s SB 72 – the so-called bounty hunter bill – which incentives citizens to tip off authorities about illegal immigrants hasn’t come out of committee yet. And Speaker Jon Patterson said he didn’t think the House was interested in pursuing the legislation. Still Gregory is grabbing a bunch of national attention for the proposal.
· Gregory’s interviews: CNN, NewsNation, NewsMax, One America News, and Real America's Voice with John Solomon.
· Press clippings: Washington Post, the New York Times, Fox News, MSN, Newsmax, and NewsNation, as well as internationally by Newsweek, Daily Mail, and the International Business Times - UK.
· And there’s even now a couple of copy-cat proposals in Mississippi and Arizona.
What It Means
Gregory is just two months into his senate career, so who knows what his next move is. But the national profile could open up opportunities down the road.
Potential Amputee Sues State
Jerald Crews, an inmate at the Fulton Reception and Diagnostic Center, has sued the state alleging that delayed medical care will cost him his finger. From the suit…
· On or about March 25, 2024, Mr. Crews fractured the index finger on his right hand while working in the Food Service Steam Room, racking food trays for the dishwasher.
· The Missouri Department of Corrections did not give Mr. Crews the X-ray until April 25, 2024 — 22 days after Mr. Neighbors ordered it and 31 days after the initial injury.
· His only options at this point were to permanently fuse it straight with screws and a metal plate or to amputate it. After months of struggling to receive medical treatment, Mr. Crews did not want to risk any complications with fusing his finger straight. He knew that metal would be painful in cold months for the rest of his life and fusing his finger involved a longer recovery period.
· Mr. Crews has a family with four children at home to provide for, but it is now going to be very difficult given than Mr. Crews cannot perform his former work of being a meat cutter. Mr. Crews is still in extreme pain; his finger is still swollen and bruised and will not bend.
· Plaintiff respectfully prays that this Court grant him the following relief, in an amount that is fair and reasonable and is believed to be in excess of $75,000…
$5K+ Contributions
Together KC - $25,000 from KC Chamber.
Missouri Democratic State Committee - $5,355 from John Levy (Naples, FL).
Lobbyist Registrations
Dustin Backes added Oracle America Inc, and Truv.
Erin Schrimpf added Empower Missouri (formerly Mo Association For Social Welfare).
Gamble & Schlemeier added St. Charles County Convention & Sports Facilities Authority.
Jim Manley added Pacific Legal Foundation.
Nexus Group added Husch Blackwell LLP; and deleted Talkiatry Management Services, LLC, and Missouri Beverage Association.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Kit Bond, Christine Page, and Aaron McMullen.