MOScout Daily Update: Steelman Exits Senate 16 - House Perfects Budget - Labor Funds War-chest - Nexus Reps RAC and more…

Rumorville: Willett for Congress?

Nathan Willett, currently running for Senate 34, may be considering a move… One MOScouter says he’s “telling people he will pivot to run for Congress.”

This seems to be in response to the increasingly hot rumors that Congressman Sam Graves will ultimately not run for re-election.

We’ll see…

Steelman Exits Senate 16

On social media, Joe Steelman said he’s exiting the Senate 16 race…

Kids’ Day

It’s Child Advocacy Day Rally today…  

Rally in the Rotunda - Being Champions of Children

9:15 - 10:00 AM

State Capitol Rotunda

Emcee: Rev Casey Wray

·       Deidre Anderson-Barbee, Office of Childhood

·       Senator Maggie Nurrenbern

·       Representative Holly Jones

Nexus Group Adds RAC

Nexus Group (Rodney Boyd, Kate Casas, Brian Grace, and Kelvin Simmons) has added the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis.

·       RAC has been under pressure over allegations of inappropriate spending.  Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick is investigating.

House Budget Perfected

The House spent yesterday perfecting the budget.  Just one more vote before it heads to the Senate.  Three big clashes – all of which will be subject to Senate scrutiny…

House Budget Chair Dirk Deaton’s new Higher Ed funding model

·       The case for House position. Budget Vice-chair Bishop Davidson: “I heard it said that we're accountable to institutions, but that's not the truth. We're accountable to these students, first and foremost. And the reality is these institutions aren't serving the interest of those students as told by the fact that their enrollments are going down.”

·       The dissent. Rep. Ed Lewis: “There’s a… 40% reduction to Harris-Stowe funding, 38% cut to Lincoln University, a whopping 53% reduction to state funding for Truman State University. I don’t believe any of these institutions could survive that type of a funding in one year.”

Childcare payments: enrollment (Kehoe recommendation) versus attendance (status quo)

·       The case for House position. Deaton: “If we go to paying on enrollment we are going to have to either cut rates or kick kids off the program and I just do not think that is probably what we want to do right now either one of those things.”

·       The dissent. Fogle: “Paying our childcare providers based on enrollment and not attendance is something that has been very important to me… but most importantly very important to working families across the state who are looking for stability and are looking for places of high quality for them to leave their children during the day as they work.”

Fogle’s amendment to delete attendance language only garnered 53 votes, but Dems were joined by 6 Republicans: Bill Allen, Tara Peters, Melissa Schmidt, Melanie Stinnett, Terry Thompson, and Dale Wright.

Expansion of school voucher program from $50M to $60M

·       The case for House position. Deaton: “I think parents and kids ought to have choice where they go to school. In the twenty-first century I think things have changed and I think more options is better. I do not think it is mutually exclusive with a strong and vibrant public school system.”

·       The dissent. Fogle: “I am fearful that in every other state that’s implemented vouchers what you end up seeing is a cost of tuition increase, and what happens when the cost of that private school exceeds the voucher amount and families are asked to pay the difference.”

Senate Chugs On

In a remarkably productive day yesterday, the Senate rolled through many bills.  They started with the easy consent calendar.  During that time, it was fun to see Sen. Angela Mosley, a Democrat, presiding on the dais for a while.

Sen. Tracy McCreery did some truth bombin’ during the session…

·       On landfills: “And, you know, the state of Missouri is in—we’re already in a crisis, quite honestly, where we soon will not have the capacity to deal with all of the trash that we are generating. And what does that mean? What that means is we are going to have to start hauling our trash to other states that have landfills… the main reason people’s bills for trash collection keep going up, it’s because of the transportation costs that are built into there.”

·       And a rebuke of St. Louis County politics when talking with Sen. Lincoln Hough about negotiating land bank legislation: This is what’s wrong with St. Louis County — everything has turned political and ugly, and people are not doing what’s right for their actual constituents. And that’s where this change came from.

SCOMO

MOIndy’s Rudy Keller explains a batch of rulings from the Missouri Supreme Court yesterday: The Missouri Supreme Court handed down three rulings Tuesday that could shape the 2026 election, saying lawmakers had the authority to pass a new congressional map last year, leaving intact the state’s photo-ID requirement for voters and striking down limits on voter-registration and absentee-ballot outreach.  The decisions gave Missouri Republicans a major win in the fight over congressional redistricting…

·       See the Voter ID ruling here.

·       See the redistricting ruling here.

·       See the League of Women Voters ruling here.

What It Means

The redistricting ruling leaves just one big case left.  Jake Maggard v State of Missouri asks that the “old” map remain in place until the referendum vote later this year.

Meanwhile

Two huge checks came into We Are Missouri committee…

·       $500,000 from the Carpenters.

·       $225,000 from IUOE (Operating Engineers).

We Are Missouri was the campaign vehicle which worked to reverse the legislature’s ‘right to work’ legislation.  They appear to be prepping for an active 2026.

O’Donnell on Prediction Markets

Michael O’Donnell weighs in on prediction markets: As Missouri’s Securities Commissioner, I believe the prediction market industry is at an inflection point that demands attention from regulators focused on protecting investors. These platforms could become a useful hedging tool, or they could create new risks if left unchecked. As they start to look more like traditional investment platforms, the line between betting on events and investing real savings is blurring. This creates a real danger that people could put their retirement or life savings at risk without fully understanding the consequences. At the same time, these platforms must take responsibility for making sure no one is “trading” on insider or non-public information. If they fail to do this, trust in the entire system will erode. With real money on the line, it is no longer enough for these companies to police themselves. They should welcome clear federal rules and oversight to protect consumers and keep markets fair. Without strong safeguards, the benefits of innovation could be outweighed by avoidable harm.

Bell Nabs Endorsement

In CD-1, Congressman Wesley Bell touted an endorsement from Planned Parenthood Action Fund… 

Meanwhile

The Post-Dispatch reports that Cori “Bush spokesperson Benjamin Cook said their campaign is in process of filling out a Planned Parenthood to also gain an endorsement from the group.”

MEC Fines Griswold

The Missouri Ethics Commission fined Gail Griswold $1,000 for having a candidate committee while also being registered as a lobbyist.  See the consent order here.

Help Wanted

Spire seeks Governmental Affairs Manager in the KC region.  The Governmental Affairs Manager is responsible for managing Spire Energy’s relationships with local and state officials, business leaders, and community organizations throughout Missouri. This role works independently to influence policy outcomes, support business objectives, and protects the Company’s image and reputation within the communities it serves.  See the posting here.

New Candidate Filing

House 6 – Robert Johnson (D)

House 101 – Paul Lentz (D)

House 101 – Richard Smreker (D)

House 137 – Bryce Lockwood (D)

House 152 – Ken Davis (R)

House 154 – Jojo Stewart (D)

House 160 – Cheryle Perkins (R)

$5K+ Contributions

Missouri Senate Campaign Committee - $15,000 from Dealers Interested In Government.

NWMO Central Labor Council COPE - $5,350 from Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council MO-KS Area PAC.

NWMO Central Labor Council COPE - $13,000 from Missouri and Kansas Laborers' PAC.

Respect MO Voters Campaign - $225,000 from The Fairness Project (Washington, DC).

We Are Missouri - $500,000 from Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council MO-KS Area PAC

MO Beverage PAC - $5,223 from Pepsi Beverages Company of St. Louis.

We Are Missouri - $225,000 from International Union of Operating Engineers Local.

Lobbyist Registrations

Nexus Group added Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis.

Fred Barnes added Missouri Association of Councils of Government.

Rodney Hubbard added Missouri Automobile Dealers Association.

Derek Armer added Derek Armer.

Happy Birthday

Happy birthdays to Rep. Mark Matthiesen (the big 5-0), Erica Choinka, Jason Holsman (also the big -50), Doug Libla, Robert Cornejo, Chris Sander, and Saundra McDowell.