MOScout Daily Update: Watching Texas - Panettiere to DCI - Big Weather Costs - Flat July Revenue and more...

Watching Texas

As the momentum seems to build among Republicans to do a quickie redistricting and deliver one more GOP seat to President Donald Trump’s all-out effort to retain control of Congress, some eyes are watching Texas.

That where potentially 5 seats could flip to the Republicans is their redistricting plans are implemented.

Democratic lawmakers left the state in an attempt to deny the legislature a quorum and prevent the plan from advancing.  (In Texas, two-thirds quorum is required to conduct business; In Missouri, it’s a simple majority).

If Texas is able to pass its redistricting plan, Republicans here will feel absolutely compelled to “do their part.” 

But doing the quickie redistricting in Missouri isn’t cost-free.  Besides being a terrible precedent and damaging the institution of the Senate by making the PQ more routine, it will complicate the next legislative session.  So, if Texas Republicans fail in their endeavor, there will some Republicans who balk at Missouri moving forward.

Panettiere to DCI

Melissa Panettiere is heading back to the Department of Commerce and Insurance as a Health Policy Advisor.  She previously served as their Legislative Director, and now returns after over a decade working on federal and state health policy with Anthem and Blue KC.

And

Department of Commerce and Insurance Director Angela Nelson notes that insured losses from catastrophic weather events in Missouri could approach $2 billion this year.

2025 Year-to-Date Catastrophic Weather Impact

In total, as of July 16, 2025, insurers have:

·       Received over 173,000 claims on residential property, renters and condo owners and auto insurance policies.

·       Paid out $1.6 billion for catastrophic weather-related claims statewide.

·       Of that amount, $1.3 billion (approximately 81%) was paid for residential property policies.

July Revenue Flat

The state’s new fiscal year started off with a basically flat revenue report.  The first month, July, tax receipts came in up .66%.  That’s about what the expectations are for the immediate future as higher tariffs and the chaotic trade policies continue for the foreseeable future.

·       As Jeff Pinkerton, the Department of Economic Development’s Director of Economic Research, noted in his recent update: The economy seems to be moving ahead at a pace that's as fast as the current level of uncertainty will allow.

What It Means

Now to beat a dead horse – I’ve been mentioning this repeatedly over the past year of anemic state tax revenue – but this is below the rate of inflation (2.5%-ish). That means real tax revenues are decreasing.  And that means we’ll be looking at real cuts to the state budget in the future.

STL Seeks Corrections Commish

City of St. Louis seeks Commissioner of Corrections.  Incumbent in this position reports to the Director of Public Safety and is responsible for planning, organizing, supervising and controlling the operations/programs of the Division of Corrections for the City of St. Louis Department of Public Safety… Salary:  $104,078 - $163,332.

See the posting here.

Gubby Appts

Governor Mike Kehoe announced new appointments…

·       John Schicker was appointed to the 22nd Circuit Judicial Commission.

·       Jay Moore was appointed as the Cole County Auditor.

·       Nancy Hoeman, Jamie Kondis, and Amy Robins were reappointed, and Brian Adelsberger, Rinnie Reed, and Shannon Stephens were appointed, to the Child Abuse and Neglect Review Board.

·       James Bagley and Doug Krtek were appointed to the Missouri Health Facilities Review Committee.

·       Chrislynn Price was appointed as the Cedar County Clerk.

·       Brad Frazier was appointed to the America 250 Missouri Commission.

eMailbag on DESE Pilot

Big win for Karla Eslinger and the state. The previous commissioner couldn’t get this done for years when Missouri had the Senator overseeing the US Department of Education’s budget. Karla gets it done on her own in just a few months.

eMailbag on Trump-Hawley Spat

Trump called Rubio “Little Marco” on Twitter and now he is Secretary of State. This too shall pass.

Lobbyist Registrations

Casey Allen Wasser added Missouri Soybean Association; and deleted Wasser and Associates LLC, and Missouri Soybean Association.

Dan Mehan added GreenMet.

Zach Pollock added ATR Towing & Recovery, Broadway Wrecker Service LLC, and Economy Towing, LLC.

Tom Dempsey and Dave Berry deleted SirenGPS Inc, and Intralot USA.

Jeffrey Altmann deleted MO Hemp Trade Association.

$5K+ Contributions

955 PAC - $9,000 from Missouri and Kansas Laborers' PAC.

St. Charles Realtors PAC - $10,210 from St. Charles County Association of Realtors.

Net PAC Missouri - $25,000 from Bipartisan Network PAC (Washington, DC).

MPS PAC - $25,000 from Mike Ketchmark (Leawood, KS).

MPS PAC - $256,000 from Christopher Seeger (New York, NY).

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Robin Carnahan, Don Soph, and Dick Wiles.