MOScout Daily Update: O’Laughlin Complains of Dem Taking Outside Directions - Hough Contra Kehoe - Wright Banished? - Still No MEC Quorum - Johnson Running as a GOPer and more…

Senate Debates Prop A Change

The Senate spent about 10 hours yesterday on Rep. Sherri Gallick’s HB 567 which would rollback part of the Proposition A.  Prop A was passed by voters last year, increasing the minimum wage and adding a sick leave benefit.

Dems successfully stalled the bill by filibustering until about 1AM.

On Facebook Senate Pro Tem Cindy O’Laughlin complained that Dems were being directed by outside interests.  She vowed to return to the issue, promising to get it passed before session’s end.  The implicit threat is to PQ the item if necessary.

From O’Laughlin’s post:  For the Democrats tonight the issue seemed to be suiting interests that are not even in the Missouri senate. So instead of negotiating with people in good faith and reaching a conclusion tonight’s experience was held up with continual phone calls to an outside interest to see if an agreement could be made. To say this is not the norm is an understatement. Democrats had to continually get on the phone to consult with entities who are not elected representatives before they could agree with the solution crafted over several hours.

The evening ended when a compromise which was good for Missourians and supported by Republicans couldn’t be decided by the group communicating by phone with Democrats. It is safe to say we considered asking to be connected with whoever is in charge on the phone. It’s quite difficult to get to agreement when you aren’t dealing with your colleagues but a nameless, faceless person on the phone. This is not the ending we were looking for and leaves us much less likely to engage the next time around.

We are committed to relieving Missourians of this burden imposed by out of state interests who bankrolled this economic bomb that will affect us all. We will set this aside for the moment but we are committed to getting it done before session ends. This is a basic economic issue that we cannot let become permanently ensconced in our state. We will return to this in the next couple weeks. Stay tuned.

What It Means

Without a compromise, this might get added to the final week PQ list (along with abortion). We’ll see….

Hough Contra Kehoe

Post-Dispatch reports on Senate Appropriations cutting out Governor Mike Kehoe’s proposal to fund the ESA scholarships with $50 million in general revenue.  This is a top Kehoe priority.  Read it here.

In a preliminary review of the spending plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1, the Senate Appropriations Committee stripped out $50 million that the Republican governor is seeking for the MOScholars program.  The move sets up a showdown in the final month of the legislative session with the Republican-controlled House, which previously sided with Kehoe on the issue.

·       But Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, said he doesn’t believe private schools should be financed with public dollars.  “I want to make sure we’re fully funding our obligation to public schools before we start spending tens of millions of general revenue dollars on private schools,” Hough said.

Johnson for House 60… As a GOPer?

Kyerra Johnson, staffer to Sen. Angela Mosley, announced that she’s running for House 60.  This is a Jeff City seat, where Rep. Dave Griffith is termed.

But it’s remarkable that a staffer for a Democratic Senator is running as a Republican.  One Dem is incredulous, “How does that work for Dem caucus information now?!?! The ops working for the Dems…”

Wright Banished?

I’m told that there’s some fallout from the House’s push to add an emergency clause to SB 22 on Monday night.

Rep. Dale Wright voted for the measure, but then refused to vote for the emergency clause which would allow it to go into effect immediately upon the governor’s signature.  The EC was important to Republicans because it could impact the abortion issue they’re hoping to put before voters.

The rumor is that Wright asked for a floor seat change in exchange for his vote for the EC.  Now, I’m told that Wrigth is suffering the consequences of his self-interested disloyalty to the caucus. 

·       One MOScouter reports: Dale Wright got moved down to a first floor mezzanine with Dems, I believe, as a response to his failed attempt to negotiate in exchange for his PQ vote.

No Action on Nicola Complaint

The Missouri Ethics Commission said that it was unable to act on a complaint against Sen. Joe Nicola because of a lack of a quorum on that body. 

The Missouri Ethics Commission received a complaint filed against Senator Joe Nicola and New

Covenant Ministries. Missouri statutes require that an investigation be completed within 90 days

of receipt and presented to the Commission for a determination of whether there are reasonable

grounds of a violation or whether it should be dismissed. Section 105.957, RSMo. Missouri statute, Section 105.955.6, RSMo., requires at least four commission members are

necessary for a quorum, and at least four affirmative votes shall be required for any action or

recommendation of the Commission.

·       Because there were not four Commissioners able to consider the investigation within the statutory timeframe, the Commission could take no action on this complaint.

$5K+ Contributions

Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $12,000 from The 1821.

Missouri Democratic State Committee - $8,653 from Mark Heising (Atherton, CA).

MO Republican Party - $5,500 from Liberty and Justice PAC (pro-Bailey).

Lobbyist Registrations

Shawn Rhoads added Clarkston Nelson LLC.

Angie Schulte added Total Court Services.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Joe Pierle, Tom Rackers, Ryan Silvey, Gregg Hartley, Patrick Shami, and Sarah Fenske.

MOScout Schedule

I’ll be off this weekend and Monday too.  No legislative session Monday (after Easter) by the way.