MOScout Daily Update: Kehoe Starts Signing Bills - “Changes” Sought at MTC - Harassment Suit at Republic - Job Market Chaos and more…
Legislature Seeks MTC “Changes”
Last week, the St. Louis Business Journal reported on the Missouri Technology Corporation getting zeroed out in the budget this year.
Gov. Mike Kehoe recommended that the MTC get $8.5 million from the state in January. In mid-March, the Missouri House's budget recommended a $10.5 million appropriation for MTC. By early April, the Missouri Senate released its version of the budget that did not recommend any funds for the organization. Both chambers approved the state budget on May 9, with no funds set aside for MTC.
MTC gets dinged by some rural legislators that it only funds start-ups in the urban areas. And MTC Executive Director Jack Scatizzi is not particularly adept in defending the organization against these charges. See this exchange with Rep. Louis Riggs at a House Budget Committee hearing this session…
But it was really on the Senate side where MTC had troubles. Senate Appropriations Chair Lincoln Hough said he’d heard from organizations complaining about “the cumbersome nature of what used to be a fairly streamlined process with MTC.” As a result, they decided to fund those organizations directly, cutting out MTC.
House Budget Chair Dirk Deaton, in the budget conference committee, explained that “MTC in the future, that if they’re to make some changes, they could find a way in which this committee and this legislature would probably look at it in a more favorable light, as has been the past. They probably have some things they need to look at internally.”
Bill Signings Ahead!
Governor Mike Kehoe will sign a flurry of bills this week…
HB 121 – (Jim Murphy) – Establishes the "Safe Place for Newborns Fund" for the installation of newborn safety incubators.
HB 147 – (Barry Hovis) – Relating to retirement.
HB 199 – (Bill Falkner) – Modifies provisions relating to political subdivisions.
HB 225 – (Jeff Myers) – Allows the chief law enforcement executive in any jurisdiction to request assistance from another jurisdiction, including a jurisdiction outside the state of Missouri.
HB 262 – (Chris Brown) – Creates provisions relating to alternative therapies for veterans with PTSD and traumatic brain injuries.
HB 296 – (Jim Kalberloh) – Modifies provisions relating to school bus endorsements.
HB 419 – (Don Mayhew) – Relating to education.
HB 516 – (Mark Matthiesen) – Modifies criteria of hazardous waste investigations and increases the hazardous waste fund appropriations.
HB 567 – (Sherri Gallick) – Modifies provisions relating to employee compensation.
HB 594 – Chad Perkins) – Relating to taxation.
HB 595 – (Chris Brown) – Modifies provisions relating to real estate transactions.
HB 596 – (Chris Brown) – Modifies a provision relating to brokerage services.
HB 737 – (Melissa Schmidt) – Modifies provisions relating to the protection of children.
HB 754 – (Phil Oehlerking) – Modifies standards for certain financial organizations.
HB 1041 – (Dane Diehl) – Modifies inspection and gauging fees imposed on barrels of malt liquor.
SB 2 – (Sandy Crawford) – Modifies provisions relating to financial statements of certain local governments.
SB 3 – (Sandy Crawford) – Modifies or enacts provisions relating to Department of Revenue fee offices.
SB 43 – (Travis Fitzwater) – Modifies provisions relating to protection of vulnerable persons.
SB 49 – (Rusty Black) – Authorizes school districts and charter schools to employ or accept chaplains as volunteers.
SB 63 – (Ben Brown) – Creates and modifies provisions relating to the participation of certain students in nontraditional educational settings.
SB 68 – (Mike Henderson) – Creates, repeals, and modifies provisions relating to elementary and secondary education.
SB 71 – (David Gregory) – Creates the "Public Safety Recruitment and Retention Act" to provide free college tuition for public safety personnel and their legal dependents.
SB 79 – (Kurtis Gregory) – Modifies provisions relating to health care.
SB 82 – (Jamie Burger) – Creates provisions relating to water preservation in the state.
SB 98 – (Sandy Crawford) – Modifies various provisions relating to financial institutions.
SB 105 – (Mike Bernskoetter) – Modifies provisions relating to invasive plants.
SB 133 – (Travis Fitzwater) – Modifies and creates new provisions relating to underground facilities.
SB145 – (Mary Elizabeth Coleman) – Modifies provisions relating to the taxation of certain businesses.
SB 150 – (Jill Carter) – Creates, repeals, and modifies provisions relating to workforce development initiatives.
SB 152 – (Ben Brown) – Creates new provisions relating to foreign spending in state ballot measure elections.
SB 160 – (Brad Hudson) – Establishes provisions relating to educational institutions.
SB 218 – (Rusty Black) – Modifies provisions relating to court operations.
SB 221 – (Nick Schroer) – Modifies the standard of review for agency interpretation of statutes, rules, regulations, and subregulatory documents.
SB 271 – (Rusty Black) – Modifies provisions relating to emergency services.
SCR 3 – (Jill Carter) – Modifies the statewide mission of Missouri Southern State University.
1 Big Thing: Job Market Chaos Coming?
I found this article in the Wall Street Journal last week pretty fascinating… The automation of Amazon facilities is approaching a new milestone: There will soon be as many robots as humans.
The e-commerce giant, which has spent years automating tasks previously done by humans in its facilities, has deployed more than one million robots in those workplaces… In other corners, automated systems help sort the items, which other robots assist in packaging for shipment. One of Amazon’s newer robots, called Vulcan, has a sense of touch that enables it to pick items from numerous shelves.
Now some 75% of Amazon’s global deliveries are assisted in some way by robotics, the company said.
Under the Parson Administration we spent a lot of time talking about workforce development. But it’s so hard to forecast what sort of workforce will be needed ten, fifteen years out. ChatGPT is eating white-collar entry level positions. And, as this article shows, automation and robotics continue to erode demand for blue-collar jobs.
I worry that our educational system can’t prepare our children for the incredible changes coming to our economy. My default bias has been that young people should consider the much-derided liberal-arts education, and “learn to learn” rather than get trapped in a narrow specialty. But I’m really not sure.
· Sales (and lobbying) or other professions relying on people skills and relationship building seem like the safest bets for the future.
VLT Wars Continue?
In the large contributions (below) J&J Ventures plowed $100,000 into one of their PACs. J & J operates video lottery terminals in other states and wants to enter the Missouri market – once it’s legal. The contribution shows that there may be yet another push this year.
Lawsuit Alleges Racial Harassment in Republic School
A lawsuit was filed on behalf of a student against Republic Middle School and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education alleging discrimination and “relentless racial harassment that was severe, pervasive, and deeply dehumanizing.”
See the suit here. Page 4 of the 22-page suit…
· Republic High School was sued last year amid similar allegations from a student athlete.
· Republic is represented by Sen. Curtis Trent and Rep. Bishop Davidson.
More “No Actions” From the MEC
Still waiting on Governor Mike Kehoe to appoint commissioners to the Missouri Ethics Commission, and every week that passes there are complaints which end in “no action.” The latest…
· St. Louis County Executive Sam Page.
· Progress PAC.
Lobbyist Registrations
Catalyst added HopSkipDrive, and Healthy Together; and deleted Swedish Match North America Inc, NGW II, LLC, Curador Holdings Inc., Stash House MO, and Passport Labs Inc.
Derek Coats added Legacy Consulting.
Jay Hahn added Quaker Windows & Doors.
David Willis deleted DraftKings Inc, BetMGM LLC, Secure Elections Project, Heart of Missouri CASA, FanDuel Group Inc, Sports Betting Alliance, Lexia Learning Systems, Center for the Rights of Abused Children, and MyLand Inc.
$5K+ Contributions
Paladin PAC - $100,000 from J&J Ventures Missouri, LLC (Effingham, IL).
Conservative Leadership for Southeast Missouri (pro-Bean) - $10,000 from J & J Ventures Gaming of Missouri LLC (Effingham, IL).
Heart of SGF PAC (pro-Stinnett) - $7,600 from New Day Healthcare.
House Republican Campaign Committee, Inc - $10,000 from RAI Services Company (Winston-Salem, NC).
House Republican Campaign Committee, Inc - $15,000 from Drury Development Corporation.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Richard Martin, Jeff Aboussie, Marsha Haefner, and Nick Robinson.