MOScout Daily Update: Gun Play on High Street? - Pro-Steelman PAC - GOP Sputters On Non-Core Issues - Spencer’s Transition Sprint and more…
Gun Play on High Street?
House legislative assistant Christian Chenet was arrested in Jefferson City after a spat with Taisir Yanis nearly escalated into tragic territory. KOMU reports that Chenet claimed he was trying to retrieve his boss’ purse at Izzy’s Burgers when the confrontation erupted… The business owner opened the purse to identify the owner, at which Chenet became enraged. The business owner didn't give Chenet the purse as he felt obligated to give it directly to the owner… Chenet then allegedly proceeded to verbally assault the business owner, including calling the owner a racist, and was asked to leave. After being asked to leave, Chenet stated “Stay here, I'm going to get my gun.”
· Chenet is LA for Rep. Kem Smith.
· Read the probable cause statement here.
And
Governor Mike Kehoe had planned to be at Yanis Coffee Zone tomorrow. But now that’s been rescheduled for Friday. It’s unclear if the change was related to the incident.
Friday, April 11, 2025
Governor Kehoe to present "Soy Foods Month" proclamation with Missouri Soybeans
When: 8:00 a.m.
Where: Yanis Coffee Zone - 130 E High St., Jefferson City, MO 65101
Pro-Steelman PAC
Joe Steelman – one of five Republicans vying to replace Sen. Justin Brown – has formed a PAC to aid his efforts. See the filing for Steel Resolve PAC here.
· These “Independent Expenditure PACs” allow candidates to raise money in unlimited sums, unrestricted by the caps imposed on their candidate committees. They cannot, however, direct how the money is spent.
GOP Struggles Beyond Core Priorities
Yesterday was an indication that the final weeks of session could get bumpy. The Republican supermajority cruised smoothly during the first half of session as it made great progress fulfilling Governor Mike Kehoe’s agenda. Now, with the police takeover done, a tax cut nearly in the bag, and some wrestling ahead on school choice funding, it’s turning its attention to other topics. And yesterday showed that there’s much less consensus within their caucuses on these non-core issues.
· The House engaged in a long arm-twisting to barely pass a bill on VLTs.
· The Senate spent hours on a bill regulating hemp products without much progress.
The Senate’s debate on Sen. Nick Schroer’s SB 54 showed how diverse the GOP’s spectrum of opinions can be once you leave core issues. Although the initial resistance was from Democratic Sens. Karla May and Angela Mosley took aim at what they dubbed the “marijuana monopoly,” Republican regulars soon joined in. Sens. Curtis Trent and Mike Cierpiot wondered why federally legal businesses “hemp shops” would be forced to have to buy licenses from federally illegal ones “pot dispensaries.” Then Sen. Mike Moon worried the bill would deprive Missourians of gun rights since they would be swept under state cannabis regulations which, when combined with federal gun laws, would keep hemp consumers from legally purchasing guns. And Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman lamented that the government was picking winners and losers again.
Meanwhile the House, after a substantial debate on Rep. Bill Hardwick’s HB 970 to regulate VLTs, had to hold the voting “board” open for 15 minutes as the Republican supermajority relied heavily on Democratic help to get to 82 votes, and some Dems waffled between voting “present” and voting in favor.
· One lobbyist: “Several of us can’t remember the last time the board stayed open so long and votes that changed that number of times.”
Spencer Sprint Transition
Mayor-elect Cara Spencer won’t be mayor-elect for long. She gets sworn in next week. The lightning-fast transition comes courtesy of St. Louis City’s change to non-partisan elections. In years past, the winner of the Democratic primary would be assured of winning the general election and therefore had the month in between the two elections to prepare for office. The new approval voting, followed by run-off general election, means that time has been greatly shortened.
But I’m told that team Spencer had been working on assembling their cabinet in anticipation of a victory.
Some gossip (nothing confirmed)…
· Mindy Mazur (firm website) is said to be helping with the transition.
· Attorney Nancy Hawes (LinkedIn) is expected to become Spencer’s chief of staff.
· Cherokee Streeter Emily Thenhaus (LinkedIn) may have a spot in the administration.
· One source thinks it’s possible that Tishaura Jones’ Policy Director Casey Millburg could stay on.
In the Spencer inner circle… Jason Deem (LinkedIn) and Vince Schoemehl (needs no bio).
And
Folks see Comptroller-elect Donna Baringer leaning on former deputy comptroller Jim Garavaglia.
More on Medicaid Cuts
One MOScouter thinks that the odds of Medicaid cuts coming from the Trump Administration is less likely than people think. That’s because Medicaid is popular with Trump voters. Backing up this view is this article from Politico.
Voters oppose cutting Medicaid by a 69% - 23% margin. Trump voters oppose Medicaid cuts by 10-points, while Swing voters oppose by a sizable 48-point margin. There is also widespread opposition to cutting specific aspects of the Medicaid program with 71% of voters opposed to cutting CHIP, 69% opposed to cutting funding for long-term support and services/nursing home care, 68% opposed to cutting funding that helps low-income seniors afford Medicare premiums, and 64% opposed to cutting funding for low-income mothers. Trump voters are opposed to each individual cut, as are large majorities of Swing voters.
Bonacker to School Board
Former Rep. Gary Bonacker won re-election to the Northwest R-1 School District.
Don Bickowski… 11.42%
Dianna Adams… 14.38%
Andy Williams… 25.45%
Gary Bonacker… 26.45%
Lobbyist Registrations
Gamble & Schlemeier added Plift.
Liz Henderson added J&J Ventures Gaming LLC.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Judy Baker, and Eric Greitens.
Condolences
To Scott and Carissa Rupp on the passing of their daughter.
It is with tremendous sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved girl, Hayley Mattern, who was taken after a short battle with brain cancer on April 7, 2025, at the age of 23 years old… Hayley was pure joy and brought so much light into our world. We are beyond blessed to have had the gift of Hayley and heartbroken that she was taken from us so soon…