MOScout Daily Update: Senate Nearly Had Prop A Deal - Pushback on Prater - House Plays House - Dems Eye CD-2 (Again) and more…
Senate Works, But Can’t Finish Prop A Change
After about 8 hours of floor debate, the Senate laid over HB 567 which would make changes to the voter-approved Proposition A minimum wage and sick leave mandates. Around 1:30AM the bill was unceremoniously laid over. (Listen to the end here: Sen. Stephen Webber had just told the world that the first cassette tape he ever bought Kris Kross.)
One Dem source says that a deal was tantalizingly close to being reached, and blamed Pro Tem Cindy O’Laughlin for the break down – though that’s just one side of the story and I’m sure there’s finger-pointing on both sides (especially at 1:30AM)… A deal was reached. A sub was drafted. The sub did not line up completely with the deal. Rather than fix it, the President Pro Tem (who was not part of the negotiations) blew the deal up. The bill was laid over and the Senate adjourned.
If it was that close, the Senate could take another whack at it today. There’s only three weeks left after today, so it’s kind of important to the body to knock off something big if possible.
Why a Deal is Hard…
· Earlier in the day, one hallway denizen involved in the issue told me the challenge was that there wasn’t one big sticking point, but rather a lot of separate pieces.
· That jives with another hallway source who grumbled that the Hospital Association’s push for a carve-out was causing trouble.
· “Business interests” isn’t monolithic; they’re a diverse bunch with their own issues and agendas, creating a lot of moving pieces.
Contours of the Deal
The latest Senate Substitute made substantial changes to Prop A…
· Delayed implementation… Doesn’t take effect until July.
· Who’s covered… Firms under 25 employees were exempted. And there’s a bunch of carve-outs: on-call hospital staff, barge crews, out-of-state workers, and spouses, for example.
· Less sick leave… Slight easing of how fast sick time accrues (1 hour per 32 hours worked instead of per 30 hours worked), with a cap of using no more than 56 hours per year.
According to senators on the floor, the two sides were working through..
· “Safe-harbor” language… Shielding businesses that try to comply in good faith.
· Small business exemption… whether 25 employees was the right number for the exemption.
· Carve-outs… Who should be allowed to be exempt.
· Penalties for violations… Sen. Doug Beck’s placeholder amendment raised the penalty from a Class C misdemeanor to a Class A misdemeanor.
House Being the House, Doing House Bills
Meanwhile, the House spent yesterday afternoon perfecting House bills. It’s either an exercise of great faith or pretend make-work, depending on your view.
· The odds are very, very long against a House bill coming to the Senate with three weeks left ultimately finding it’s way to the governor’s desk.
Pushback on Prater
An email is circulating from the American Accountability Foundation takes aim at one of Governor Mike Kehoe’s appointments to the State Board of Education.
From: Thomas Jones <tom@americanaccountabilityfoundation.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2025 2:57 PM
Subject: Tom Prater is a Liberal's Dream Nomination for State Board of Ed
If you want liberal Democrats to have a strong voice on the Board of Education, then Tom Prater is your man. This nominee for the State Board of Education is miles and away the worst pick of the nominees sent to the Senate. Put simply, if you care about education in Missouri you have to care about the threat Tom Prater’s nomination poses.
In May of 2024, when conservatives were trying to retake America, Prater was busy donating to ActBlue, the Democrat fundraising machine that supported Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and liberals across the country…
Prater was a donor to leftist Democrat Minority Leader Crystal Quade who led the fight against HB 2287 last year. Do you really want Crystal Quade having a friend at the State Board of Education?...
Just a few months ago he donated to Betsy Fogle who was busy just last week offering an amendment to kill the MOScholars program…
He’s a donor to Francine Pratt. Ms. Pratt is former Chair of the left-wing Springfield NAACP and in her spare time was working to push divisive Diversity Equity and Inclusion policies in Springfield and personally conducted the wasteful and divisive DEI training at Springfield Police that President Trump is working to ban…
In 2016 Prater was funding Chris Koster’s race when Koster was attacking President Trump as an “extremist” and “a modern-day P.T. Barnum’’ who embraces the philosophy of “a sucker born every minute.” By the way, that same year he maxed out to NeverTrumper RINO John Kasich in the primary…
· One MOScouter thinks this could be trouble: I believe that the Freedom Caucus and several of their Senate allies are adamantly opposed…
· But… The State Board of Education by law must have four Republicans and four Democrats. Wouldn’t you expect the Dem nominee to be a donor to Dem candidates?
Dems Early Target CD-2
Press release: This Friday, April 25, the Missouri Democratic Party will host a People’s Town Hall in Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District featuring U.S. Senator Chris Murphy. The event is a direct response to Congresswoman Ann Wagner (MO-02) and other Republicans who have refused to face constituents after voting to jeopardize health care access for over 1.2 million Missourians. Senator Murphy will join local Democrats in calling out Missouri Republicans for refusing to stand up for the health and economic security of working people.
· I’m a few years away from finishing my second decade writing MOScout. And I feel like this is a re-run which pops up every two years. Dems start talking about how they might be able to make a good run at CD-2. Several times they’ve raised serious oodles of money. And yet it’s never really ever been close.
DHSS Seeks Immunization Champion
Press release: The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Bureau of Immunizations, have opened the nomination period for the 2025 Immunization Champion Award! We look forward to receiving your nomination of a 2025 Immunization Champion for Missouri by Friday, May 23, 2025 at 5 p.m.
· DHSS stands firm against the anti-vax sentiment.
Goldman: No Recession
Maybe I’m being too pessimistic about the protectionist (labor, capital and goods) policies of the Trump Administration. Goldman Sachs says no recession coming…
$5K+ Contributions
GOPAC Election Fund - Federal PAC - $51,000 from GoPAC Election Fund.
Lobbyist Registrations
Michael Lodewegen added Pemiscot Memorial Health Systems.
Birthdays
Happy birthday to Brian Munzlinger.