MOScout Daily Update: Eyes on SBOE Today - Chappell on New A4 & A5 and What It Means- Conservative Justice PAC Adds $$$ and more…
Eyes on SBOE
The State Board of Education meets today. There’s plenty on the agenda…
DESE is reducing required subject coursework for teacher certification. Grades 5–9 fall from 24 to 21 hours; grades 9–12 and K–12 move from varying requirements as high as 53 hours to a common 30-hour minimum.
School-funding overhaul is nearing its deadline. The task force’s October 19 full meeting was canceled, its next listed full meeting is November 16, and its final report is due December 1.
A–F school grading and Bellwether’s strategic plan are agenda items.
But the real question is whether the persistent rumors (I wrote about this last week) are true that the Board is considering short-cutting the national search and simply naming Senate Pro Tem Cindy O’Laughlin to be the next commissioner of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Several education advocates are gnashing their teeth at the idea. They’re not against O’Laughlin so much as horrified that the Board would make a tragic process mistake: you have a chance to do a search, interview experts in the field, and hire an education leader of national stature, and instead you make what is essentially a political appointment.
· One MOScouter: “The DESE board might vote to hire O’Laughlin tomorrow. And it might be a unanimous vote.”
Chappell on Redoing A4 and A5
Rep. Darin Chappell doesn’t sound chastened at all after Amendments 4 and 5 both got decimated by Missouri voters. Speaking to KSMU, he’s ready to bring the issues back up…
· On Amendment 4: “We've been asked multiple years now to bring forth IP reform. A format was brought forth that I was not terribly in favor of, but the voters said no. We will try again and try to find the mix where they are comfortable with it.”
· On Amendment 5: “I have filed the Missouri Fair Tax, which would do away with the income tax and replace it with a sales tax but only on new items, not used, and at a very specific 5.11% rate… I'll be filing that again.”
What It Means
These comments from Chappell, in a 30+ district, demonstrate that the House Republican Caucus might not feel any particular rebuke from voters if they loses 7 or 8 seats to Democrats. It’s possible that such a scenario will make the Caucus more conservative as it thins the ranks of moderate Republicans representing swing districts.
Conservative Justice PAC Preps for Court Fight
In the large contributions (below), Conservative Justice PAC received three hefty checks…
· $200,000 from Ketchmark & McCreight, P.C (Leawood, KS).
· $100,000 from Strategic Capitol Consulting.
· $100,000 from Thomas R. Burcham III LLC.
This is in preparation for a possible fight over the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan.
· One MOScouter: “Ketchmark and Burcham are two highly respected, long-time Republicans putting their own resources and influence into this fight. That's a broader coalition than this issue usually sees. Add SCC's firepower in the Capitol, and the effort to upend the Missouri Plan is in for a serious fight.”
Senate 30: New Stinnett Ad
Rep. Melanie Stinnett’s new ad is the definition of moderate. See it here. Rising costs, safer neighborhoods and affordable healthcare aren’t Democratic or Republican issues, they’re Springfield issues. That’s why I backed our first responders with more funding, cut $1.5 billion in government waste and voted for property tax relief for working families. I’ve stood up to both parties, voting against taxpayer subsidies for billionaire sports owners because with me your family always comes first.
House Races Update
· House 12 – HRCC’s Missourians for Justice has an opposition website up, TracySteeleForMissouri. It restates their attacks against the Democrat. See the website here.
· House 96 – Same thing against Democrat Matt Vitale. See the website here.
· House 110 – The mayor of Wildwood endorsed Democrat Claire Heinrich. See it here. If anyone had any doubt about the differences between these two candidates, all they needed to do was watch last night’s Wildwood City Council meeting and listen to both of them speak. I’ve heard them both before, but Claire absolutely blew her opponent away last night. The contrast couldn’t have been clearer.
· House 133 – A mail piece hitting mailboxes on Rep. Jeremy Dean comes from Rep. Jeff Vernetti’s PAC. See the hit here. One MOScouter: “This is either personal payback from a friend of Cecelie [Williams] or Jeff is wanting to be the new caucus enforcer. Maybe both.”
MOFC’s Copy-And-Paste $$$ Ask
Aaron Dorr’s Missouri Firearms Coalition is asking donors to finance a $164,550 general-election campaign, saying it still needs $100,550 for digital advertising, texts, radio, television, and email.
Coincidentally, the same day, Dorr’s Georgia Gun Owners posted a nearly identical plan. It uses the exact same four budget figures, the same $164,550 total, the same claim that $64,000 has already been raised and the same $100,550 shortfall. Only the state and races were changed.
Meta reports MOFC has spent between $1,000 and $1,500 running seven versions of one anti-Amendment 6 ad. But there is no public evidence of anything approaching the promised six-figure campaign.
What It Means
The identical Missouri and Georgia budgets strongly suggest this is a copy-and-paste fundraising pitch, not a Missouri-specific campaign plan.
Vote Yes on 3 Ad
The Post-Dispatch reports on a new ad from Vote Yes on Amendment 3. The late activity — less than a week before no-excuse absentee voting is set to begin Tuesday — reflects the high stakes in the Nov. 3 election, both for conservatives opposed to abortion and abortion-rights supporters defending access to the procedure in Missouri. The ads aim to counter heavy spending by opponents of Amendment 3, led by Stop the Ban, which by the end of September had burned through $10 million to defeat the proposed constitutional amendment placed on the ballot by the GOP-dominant Missouri Legislature.
Meanwhile
Recent Stop the Ban ads are adding a slight pivot to their message, addressing the transgender care issue, saying it’s already illegal and not to be fooled by the issue.
Power Is How You Get The Project Now
CREDaily reports that “electricity has overtaken land, labor and incentives as the single biggest factor deciding where America's most capital-intensive projects get built, from data centers to advanced manufacturing, according to a new site-selectors survey.”
· By the numbers: Among the 72 members of the 2026 Site Selectors Guild, 79% ranked power access a top influence this year, Bisnow reported, with labor and geopolitics each at 50%. More than half said inadequate supply alone is now enough to strike a location off the list.
Garrison Recalled to DOW
On Twitter, Tim Garrison says he’s “wrapped up my latest USMCR assignment as National Security Law Advisor at NORAD/USNORTHCOM and been recalled to the Department of War Office of General Counsel (International Affairs).”
· This is just his Marine Corps Reserve assignment. He’s not leaving MOPS/MAPA.
$5K+ Contributions
Legio XIII PAC - $250,000 from J&J Ventures Gaming of Missouri LLC (Effingham, IL).
Conservative Justice PAC - $200,000 from Ketchmark & McCreight, P.C (Leawood, KS).
Conservative Justice PAC - $100,000 from Thomas R. Burcham III LLC.
Conservative Justice PAC - $100,000 from Strategic Capitol Consulting.
Stop the Ban - $15,000 from Caleb Hearon (Beverly Hills, CA).
Senate Democratic Campaign Committee - $50,000 from Homefront PAC.
MO Protect PAC (anti-6) - $10,000 from Conservative Leadership for SO.
MO Protect PAC - $10,000 from BB Freedom Fund.
Beverly PAC (pro-Mike Jones) - $9,500 from Hunt Midwest Enterprises Inc.
KERI PAC (pro-Ingle) - $15,000 from Serve Missouri PAC.
KERI PAC - $10,000 from Northland Forward PAC.
Make Jefferson County Great Again PAC (pro-Avery) - $10,000 from Brad PAC.
MALO PAC - $25,000 from Paul J Wrabec Co, Inc.
Spire Political Action Committee - $10,000 from Moaz Paving.
MoCannTrade PAC - $10,000 from Nico Pento.
Missouri Voter Project - State PAC - $10,000 from Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council Missouri-Kansas Area PAC.
Cement Masons Local Union #518 – PAC - $10,000 from Plasterers' & Cement Masons' & Shop Hands PAC (Columbia, MD).
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Kevin Gunn and Ben Harris.