MOScout Daily Update: Veit Kicks Off - Special Session Spending and Line-item Vetoes - Supremes on Trans Bathroom Issue and more…

Veit Kicks Off

Rep. Rudy Veit kicked off his Senate campaign last night.  One MOScouter reports the “packed place” included some notable pols: incumbent Sen. Mike Bernskoetter, Reps. Dave Griffith, Willard Haley, and Jeff Vernetti, as well as former Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer. “After decades of supporting every school club, sports team, ham breakfast, quilt auction and charitable event, many showed up tonight to support Rudy. His diversity of support was on display with both the Chamber of Commerce and MATA in attendance.”

·       But the big news came earlier in the day, with a Missouri Ethics Commission filing: a $250,000 check that Veit wrote to seed his campaign.  That’s a big opening ante.  Will his opponents call?

Senate 6 is expected to be one of several hot Republican Senate primaries next year.  Other names mentioned for this seat: former Jefferson City Councilman Derrick Spicer, former Rep. Lisa Thomas, and Wasinger chief of staff Katie Ashcroft.

 

House To Wrap Up Special Session

There’s a House Fiscal Review Committee this morning, and then the House is set to convene at 10AM to debate and pass the special session bills.

·       No hiccups expected.

 

Special Session Spending May Impact Budget Vetoes

In the House Budget Committee yesterday, Ranking Minority Member Betsy Fogle asked Budget Director Dan Haug if the extra spending of this special session would lead to more line-item vetoes from the governor.  Haug could not offer any assurance that the hundreds of millions of dollars in these special session bills wouldn’t lead to cutbacks in the operating budget.

Fogle:“Do you feel that the decisions we make today in this room regarding the appropriations bill or decisions we make tomorrow on the floor regarding some of the other bills will impact what you choose to fund in the operating budget?”

Haug: I mean I think we have to take everything into consideration… that’s what our charge is.  I mean this is all going to be part of the budget… and the money that we’re going to spend in FY 26 and beyond, so yeah we will take into account all of this.

And

This is also a rumor/fear going around that, beyond line-item vetoes, it’s possible that the governor’s office could simply wait a couple weeks into the new fiscal year (which starts July 1) and do budget withholds. 

·       Folks articulating this fear say that the obvious target would be the $300 million that was put into the foundation formula that the governor didn’t request…

 

DED Wants STL to Be Able to Qualify for Stadium Subsidies

In the House Economic Development Committee yesterday, Missouri Department of Economic Development Director Michelle Hataway spoke about what qualifies as the “significant local contribution” to unlock the stadium subsidies.  It sounds like the threshold will depend on a case-by-case basis.

Hataway: One thing we did not want to limit was, as we knew that in all honesty we wanted the Cardinals to be able to qualify for this if they chose to, we did not want a sales tax to be a mandatory… I can tell you for in Jackson County, we would consider that a vote that is currently in place, but an extension of that vote. So that gives you an example of what is significant contribution.

 

Supremes Rule on Trans Bathroom Issue

Yesterday the Missouri Supreme Court ruled on the appeal of a transgender student who claimed discrimination for being denied use of a restroom appropriate for his gender.  The Supremes rejected the discrimination claim, noting that the legislature has not extended the Missouri Human Rights Act to include gender discrimination.  Read the ruling here.

The School District claims, and the circuit court agreed, the only evidence adduced demonstrated the School District denied R.M.A. use of the male restrooms because of R.M.A.’s female sex, rather than male sex and, therefore, R.M.A. failed to make a submissible case of discrimination on the basis of male sex. This Court agrees…

R.M.A. argues, and the dissenting opinions agree, it is unlawful sex discrimination for a public school district to prohibit R.M.A., a student with female genitalia, from using restrooms and locker rooms reserved for male students. This novel argument finds no support in the text or legislative history of the public accommodation provisions under the MHRA…

This understanding of unlawful sex discrimination in public accommodations based on biological sex, as the plain meaning from the dictionary directs, is reinforced by many subsequent unsuccessful efforts to amend the MHRA to extend its antidiscriminatory provisions to cover public accommodation discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In each legislative session since 2019, the General Assembly has considered and rejected proposed amendments to extend section 213.065 to specifically prohibit discrimination in public accommodations on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation.

 

Burlison, Onder Play Hard Ball

Missouri Congressmen Eric Burlison and Bob Onder signed onto a letter from 34 fiscal hawk Republicans warning the Senate not to spend too much as they make changes to the reconciliation bill.  Read the letter here.

America’s fiscal path is unsustainable and worsening. The national debt has exceeded $36 trillion and is growing by nearly $2 trillion each year. Annual interest costs are on track to surpass $1 trillion, overtaking what we spend on Medicare or national defense. Federal outlays remain at record highs, and the recent strain in Treasury markets makes it clear that we can no longer count on historically low interest rates. We must move decisively to restore market confidence and put the budget on a sustainable path. Under the House’s framework, the reconciliation bill must not add to the deficit….

 

Lobbyist Registrations

Shaun ‘Ellie Bledsoe’ O'Hara deleted Planned Parenthood Great Rivers Action.

 

$5K+ Contributions

Rudy Veit For State Senate - $250,000 from Rudy Veit.

Liberty and Justice PAC (pro-Bailey) - $10,000 from Viralkumar Patel.

Missouri American Water Company Employees Political Action Committee - $15,000 from Plattan Creek Excavating, LLC DBA PCX Construction.

 

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Steven Tilley, Gretchen Bangert, Chuck Basye, and Darrell Curls.

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