MOScout Daily Update: Kehoe Targets Junk Food - Schroer Raises $$$ - MDA Cheers DOR Win - Trib Sued Over Paper Delivery and more…
Kehoe Issues EO on Junk Food
Press release: Governor Mike Kehoe signed Executive Order 25-30, ordering the Director of DSS to prepare and submit a waiver to [the United States Department of Agriculture] to alter Missouri's SNAP program in a manner that prioritizes healthy foods and nutritional value, discourages foods that are high in added sugar and ultra processed, and supports Missouri agriculture.
According to the waiver, among the foods which would no longer be available for purchase using SNAP benefits…
· “Candy” means a product that involves the preparation of sugar or artificial sweeteners in combination with chocolate, fruits, nuts, caramels, gummies, and hard candies or other ingredients or flavorings in the form of bars, drops, or pieces.
· “Prepared Desserts” means a processed, shelf-stable, ready-to-eat, pre-packaged sweet food intended for immediate consumption without any further preparation. This would include foods mostly made out of “chemically” modified substances extracted from foods, along with additives to enhance taste, texture, appearance, and durability, with minimal whole foods.
· Carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks, including but not limited to colas, ginger ale, near-beer, root beer, lemonade, orangeade
This EO is in line with a couple of proposals that failed to get traction in the legislature last year.
· SB 662 (Sen. Rick Brattin sponsor)
· HB 1222 (Rep. Jamie Gragg)
According to the Senate witness list, no one spoke in favor of the bill, while it was opposed by a variety of business interests…
· Jared Henderson - Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry
· Dan Shaul - Missouri Grocers Assoc.
· Katie Gamble - Missouri Beverage Assoc.
· Sally Hargis - Ozarks Coca-Cola Bottling Co.
· Greggory Pfister
· Sharon James - MO NAACP
· Christine Woody - Empower Missouri
· Kim Buckman - Feeding Missouri
· Jacque Bardgett - Missouri Petroleum and Convenience Association
· Matthew Smith - Associated Industries of Missouri
Meanwhile HB 1222 died in committee when it failed a do-pass vote. It also had a long list of opposition. The lone supportive voices were: James Harris, representing FGA Action, and Timothy Faber of the Missouri Baptists’ Pathway.
And
Interesting that the House bill’s fiscal note said that “the current EBT vendor estimates the necessary programming changes to support these purchase restrictions would require significant development efforts and will cost approximately $30 million.”
· I believe the current vendor is FIS (Fidelity National Information Services).
Pro-Schroer PAC Adds $$$
The pro-Nick Schroer PAC, 1776 PAC, recorded over $100,000 yesterday in large contributions. Among them:
· $56K from Missouri Law Enforcement for Good Government PAC (a pro-law enforcement PAC funded in part with large contributions from Michael Rayner).
· $50K from the Carpenters’ union.
· $10K from Rex Sinquefield
They come on the heels of Schroer’s recent golf fundraiser, and just before today’s quarterly fundraising deadline.
This should put the 1776 PAC with $300,000+ COH when it files in the coming weeks. Team Schroer hopes to have $500,000 in the bank by the year’s end. They’re keeping an eye out for a potential primary challenge and hope a healthy warchest would dissuade that.
Webb-Mosley Fight Update
The latest from Joe Holleman…
Two area politicians — accused of physically attacking St. Louis County Councilwoman Shalonda Webb last week…
· [Sen. Angela Mosley of Florissant; and her sister, former county councilwoman Rochelle Walton Gray of Black Jack] claim in the suit they “were not acting in a threatening or provocative manner” and that Mosley “maintained the dignity of her office” of state senator.
· Mosley alleges injury in the suit, including “visible bruising and swelling to her face, scratches on her hand, a broken finger, sprains to her wrist, neck, shoulder and back.”
· Also named as plaintiffs are the sister’s husbands, former state Reps. Jermond “Jay” Mosley and Alan Gray. The suit claims they have been harmed by “loss of companionship, society, affection and emotional support resulting from the injuries to their respective spouses.”
Carter Widhalm Joins Nicola Staff
According to the Senate website, it looks like Carter Widhalm has joined his mother, Jodi Widhalm, on staff for Sen. Joe Nicola.
· Carter was previously a legislative assistant on the House side.
MDA Cheers DOR Victory
In their fall update, the Missouri Dental Association cheers a regulatory tax win.
Because of MDA advocacy, one dentist avoided a tax consequence and another recovered a five-figure refund from the Missouri Department of Revenue. But the real victory? A permanent change to the tax matrix that protects every active dentist in the state.
In mid-July the MDA was informed that the Missouri Department of Revenue (DOR) was making updates to the tax matrices which would reflect the following items are tax exempt when sold by a dentist or orthodontist and when purchased by a dentist or orthodontist:
· Wires, retainers, dental straighteners and aligners
· Custom fitted trays designed for the delivery of prescribed medication
· Prescribed mouth guards
· Occlusal splints
We are grateful for the positive interaction with the DOR and their responsiveness to our concerns. These commonsense results come after more than a year of advocacy on behalf of dentists, including several meetings with DOR and advisement from the MDA lobby and legal teams.
· MDA is represented in Jefferson City by Gamble & Schlemeier.
News Tribune Sued
Jerome Sanning v. Central Missouri Newspapers was filed yesterday. An elderly man is seeking damages after falling in a ditch trying to retrieve his newspaper. See the suit here.
Beginning about three years before June 30, 2024, Defendant News Tribune’s delivery service became erratic: [they] sometimes wouldn’t deliver the newspaper at all or wouldn’t adequately bag it in wet weather, but a majority of the deliveries resulted in Plaintiff’s paper winding up in a
large, deep ditch next to the road between the two entrances to his driveway which, being a ditch, has rocks and weeds in it… so as to endanger the 88-years-old Plaintiff’s safety by requiring him to walk 200 feet to get the paper…
New Committees
Independence Families for a 4 Day School Week was formed. See the filing here. It’s a campaign committee to support a question on the Independence ballot in November: Shall the school board of Independence 30 School District adopt the provisions of Section 171.028, RSMo, establishing a fourday school week for the next ten years in the district of Independence?
Lobbyist Registrations
Steve Kratz added Retail Energy Advancement League.
Steven Tilley deleted Blue Pearl Aviation.
$5K+ Contributions
NextGen North PAC (pro-Willett) - $10,000 from William Mann.
NextGen North PAC - $5,042 from Taxpayers Unlimited, Inc.
Missouri Alliance PAC (pro-Patterson) - $7,500 from MOCS Action.
Law and Order PAC (pro-Jason Law) - $6,000 from Missouri Law Enforcement for Good Government.
Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $10,000 from Cheyenne International LLC (Grover, NC).
Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $10,000 from RAI Services Company (Winston-Salem, NC).
Nexus PAC - $10,000 from OHM KCI JA, LLC.
MoCannTrade PAC - $10,000 from BD Health Ventures, LLC.
1776 PAC (pro-Schroer) - $56,000 from Missouri Law Enforcement for Good Government PAC.
1776 PAC - $50,000 from Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council Missouri-Kansas Area PAC.
1776 PAC - $10,000 from Rex Sinquefield.
1776 PAC - $7,000 from MO Republican Attorneys for Civil Justice PAC.
1776 PAC - $6,000 from Charter Communications.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Chris Benjamin and Dave Muntzel.