MOScout Daily Update: Brattin To Announce for CD-5 - Hough Offer Alternative Budget - Bromley Promises Solar Omnibus - Hal Plays Hardball and more…

Situational awareness: today is the last day to file bills in the Senate.

Driving the Day: Brattin Announcement

The announcement will surely be that Brattin is entering the CD-5 race.  He’ll be the fifth Republican.  The others are, in order of their appearance on the ballot: Sean Smith, Brad Patty, Brett Hueffmeier, and Taylor Burks.

·       Brattin ran for Congress in 2022, placing second in the seven-way Republican primary in CD-4.

·       This is a “free shot” for Brattin as he’s in the middle of his final term in the Senate.

·       Based on the media advisory, Brattin’s consultant is James Harris. 

Hough Proposes Alternative Budget

Yesterday, in a surprise move, Sen. Lincoln Hough introduced 16 budget bills on the floor of the Senate.

The filings were largely symbolic because:

·       Hough is no longer chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.  He was sidelined by Pro Tem Cindy O’Laughlin.  In fact, he’s not even on the Appropriations Committee.

·       Budget bills are not offered by senators. They traditionally begin in the House.

Why It Matters

Hough’s stunt immediately injects some of his thought leadership into the bloodstream.  And I’ll be surprised if legislators working on the budget don’t take a closer look at a couple of his ideas.

Among them…

·       Use the $400 million reserved for improvements to the capitol building.  Hough’s budget used these funds to cover shortfalls for critical services, and fully fund the foundation formula. The downside: these is a one-time well to draw from.  Using it to paper over ongoing expenses won’t help the essential imbalance in the budget.

·       Tap bonding authority to keep some Higher Education capital projects.  Hough estimates issuing $85 million would add a $6 million line item in debt service.

·       Keep Missouri Technology Corporation zeroed out.  This is a tough one because everyone likes Sen. Travis Fitzwater.  But in tough budget times, you do wonder if placing bets on start-ups is a core function of government.

·       Restores transit assistance.  It’s not a huge line item but it serves a needy population, and getting people to work can be justified as a workforce expenditure.

·       Cut MOVERS loose.  The software implementation has been the ire of lawmakers. And Hough says it’s time to cut bait rather than keep fishing in a sunk cost fallacy.  This would free up $56 million, according to Hough.

·       Keeps voucher program steady.  Hough claims that the current demand for the educational voucher program doesn’t warrant adding additional funds. “We haven’t hit $40 million yet… I don’t know why we would put anything more than what’s been used in it.”

Meanwhile

Senate Appropriations Chair Rusty Black issued a statement agreeing with House budgeteers on disability funding for 2027. “Missouri’s most vulnerable citizens and the families who care for them deserve our full support. Day Habilitation Services and Self-Directed Support aren’t just budget line items, they are lifelines that allow Missourians with developmental disabilities to live with dignity in their own communities. As chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, my intention is to work with my colleagues to restore these cuts as the Senate builds its budget.”

Why It Matters

This shows how a quick and powerful organized response can meaningfully change budget priorities.

Bromley Promises Omnibus Solar Bill

In the House Utilities Committee yesterday, Chair Bob Bromley promised a big beautiful solar substitute bill…

·       This is my eighth year on the committee, two years of vice chair, my fourth year as chairman. We've been kicking, you know, we're very good up here in Jefferson City about kicking the can down the road on a lot of these issues.

·       On solar, I don't want these people coming back next year and the following year and the next year and the next year debating the same stuff…

·       I am committed, and I said this before, to getting a sub put together that addresses all of the items that we've talked about on solar. We have a lot of different issues whether it's taxation, whether it's setbacks, whether it's environmental concerns on runoff… And every year we just kind of keep kicking them around. So I am committed to looking at all these bills together coming up with some of the main components of that…

Why It Matters

Omnibus bills aren’t easy to pass. There’s usually something for everyone to love – and hate.  But giving all parties some clarity, rather than continuing uncertainty, can result in a big policy windfall for all involved.

Hal Plays Hardball

Missouri Independent reports on the most recent filing in former Speaker John Diehl’s criminal case.  Read it here. 

Assistant United States Attorney Hal Goldsmith asked the judge to throw the book at Diehl.  Read his sentencing memo here.

Through his education and public office, Defendant had every privilege and opportunity, and to put it bluntly, he knew better than to engage in the charged fraud scheme… Defendant has an advisory guideline sentence range under the United States Sentencing Commission Guidelines of 21 – 27 months in prison. It is the government’s position that justice and fairness require such a sentence in this case.

What It Means

For some armchair analysts – aka capitol denizens – this looks like Goldsmith warning Diehl he could go to the pokie unless he starts singing.

Eye Stalemate Continues

Rep. Jeff Farnan’s HB 2897 had a hearing yesterday in the House Professional Registration Committee.  It’s a continuing stalemate between optometrists and ophthalmologists.  As Chair Jeff Knight acknowledged relatively early in the long hearing: we’re at the same stalemate. We’ve probably been at it for the last six years.

From the bill summary: “This bill modifies the practice of optometry by including the use of injectable agents for the purpose of treatment of the eye and adnexa and surgical procedures…”

·       Missouri Optometric Association lobbyists: Heath Clarkston, Jay Hahn, Michael Henderson, and Doug Nelson.

·       Missouri Society of Eye Physicians & Surgeons lobbyists: Jonathan Dalton, Shanon Hawk, Jon Hensley, Scott Penman, Zach Pollock, and Ginger Steinmetz.

$5K+ Contributions

Together KC - $25,000 from Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council MO-KS Area PAC.

Together KC - $10,000 from Bill Gautreaux.

Together KC - $25,000 from Polsinelli.

MFR PAC (pro-Gregory) - $15,000 from EDKH LLC.

Missouri Cattlemens Association PAC - $5,500 from Bill McLaren.

Lobbyist Registrations

John Collins-Muhammad added The Opportunity Trust, and Coalition with STL Kids.

John Gaskin added Animal Legal Defense Fund.

Irl Scissors added Nexus Group, and American Association of Public Insurance Adjusters.

Amy Schoppman added Trajector Medical.

Samantha Vick added Heartland Impact.

Happy Birthday

Happy birthdays to Rep. Louis Riggs, Brad Thielemier, and Brad Green.