MOScout Daily Update: Prop A Hand-down Day? - Ads Pushing Bills - Hawley in NYT - WAR PAC - Recession Watch and more…
Hand-down Day?
The Missouri Chamber of Commerce tells members they’re hoping they hear from SCOMO today…
Will the Missouri Supreme Court overturn Prop A? In December, the Missouri Chamber joined several other business groups to file a legal challenge to Prop A. The Missouri Supreme Court heard oral arguments in March. We are awaiting a decision.
The Missouri Supreme Court reserves certain dates to issue decisions. The next decision date is Tuesday, April 29; however, we don't know whether they will rule on our petition.
Do Ads Move Legislators?
I’m skeptical of this play, but I feel like I’m seeing more of it in my social media feeds lately.
Legislation which seems stalled or facing an uphill climb will turn to a public awareness campaign. These are sometimes targeted in specific districts, but often also just strewn across social media. Most legislators in opposition will bristle at these attempts, but I do wonder how effective they are at creating some groundswell and pressure.
No Surrender on Roundup Bill
It’s been a month since HB 544 was voted out of Senate Agriculture Committee. It was a tough vote in the house, passing with 85 votes which foreshadows resistance in the Senate.
With the days dwindling, Senate leadership is presumably less likely to devote floor time to an issue which will have a hard time getting to a vote.
But, supporters are not giving up. The Center for Individual Freedom has published a letter showing support for the legislation from a variety of organizations. See it here.
We, the undersigned organizations, support efforts to protect Missouri farmers’ access to American-made crop protection tools. Trial attorneys, and activist allies, are litigating modern crop protection tools out of existence. Failure to act now could force American farmers to rely on hostile adversaries, like China, for critical inputs, creating uncertainty and increasing the cost of food for working families…
HB 595 Gets Conferees
House conferees to HB 595, which prohibits local governments from requiring private property owners to accept Section 8 vouchers, were named: Reps. Chris Brown (sponsor), Ben Keathley, Ben Baker, Raychel Proudie, and Marlene Terry.
Hawley in NYTimes
Senator Josh Hawley gets front-page placement in a profile in this morning’s New York Times…
· “His ultimate goal is to break the alliance the social conservatives have had with the corporate world since the Reagan era,” said Matt Stoller, a former Senate aide to Mr. Sanders…
· Mr. Hawley said his populism began to take shape in his 20s when he was writing a book, “Theodore Roosevelt: Preacher of Righteousness,” which included a focus on the economic inequities of the Gilded Age and was published by Yale University Press in 2008. “I came to realize that we’re living through a period like Roosevelt’s,” he said, “one where power has become increasingly concentrated among the very wealthy at the expense of normal Americans.”
· Mr. Hawley’s portfolio was soon overshadowed by his allegiance to Mr. [Donald] Trump, who after his first impeachment trial ended in February 2020 singled out Mr. Hawley as “one of the greatest supporters on the impeachment hoax.” Ten months later, Mr. Hawley was the first Republican senator to declare that he would object to the 2020 election results.
· But Mr. Hawley was also working with Mr. [Bernie] Sanders at the time to steer direct payments of $1,200 to Americans as part of a Covid relief bill…
· Still, Mr. Hawley is regarded as a loner who has not built coalitions in the Senate like Mr. [JD] Vance did during his two years there. “I’m not an arm-twister,” he told The New York Times five years ago.
· His aloofness has extended even to those who find common cause with him, like Representative Emanuel Cleaver II, a Democrat and fellow Missourian who took to social media to concur with Mr. Hawley’s support for improved rural mail delivery and for banning stock trading for members of Congress. But he said he had yet to hear back from Mr. Hawley. “He’s our state’s senior senator, but he’s not actively involved in our delegation,” Mr. Cleaver said…
Recession Watch
Latest market indicators average out to a 23% chance of a recession in next 12 months…
· But.. be smart: there’s a slow down coming. It will depress state tax revenue. A slow-growth economy can be quite painful for budgeteers.
New Committees
WAR PAC was formed. It’s a political action committee to support Rep. Chris Warwick. See the filing here.
$5K+ Contributions
Spirit of Missouri - $50,000 from Elevance Health, Inc. (Indianapolis,IN).
Union Pacific Corp FFEG MO Federal Committee - $14,000 from Union Pacific Corp. Fund for Effective Government (Omaha, NE).
Lobbyist Registrations
Jason Klump added Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Phillip Schnieders J & J Ventures.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Rep. Stephanie Hein, Brad Bates, and Belinda Harris.