MOScout Daily Update: February Revenues Slide - Dems Eye Senate 8 - Stuck with MOVERS - Beck Dings Treasurer’s Office and more…
February Revenues Slide
State tax receipts dipped in February, falling 2.5% compared to February 2025. That brings the fiscal-year-to-date number to about 1% (which of course is below the 3-ish% inflation rate).
· Why It Matters: Budget concerns continue to dominate Jefferson City talk. This number is in line with current expectations – which is for flat revenue.
Exclusive: Dems Smell Blood in Senate 8
A new polling memo circulating among Democrats says that Rep. Keri Ingle starts the Senate 8 campaign with a small lead – and that Speaker Jon Patterson’s support for Governor Mike Kehoe’s income tax plan hurts him with voters.
Jon Patterson starts in a vulnerable position in his bid for State Senate District 8 and his sponsorship of this bill hurts him. The race starts out within the margin of error (43% Keri Ingle-40% Jon Patterson). After hearing about his sponsorship of the tax plan, he falls to 21 points behind his opponent (51% Ingle-30% Patterson).
What It Means
· This is a purple swing district. And given President Donald Trump’s unpopularity, it’s not surprising that the race starts within the margin of error.
· This is the latest sign that Republicans face a challenging environment in suburban districts.
And
The Commerce Committee is scheduled to vote out JP’s resolution advancing Kehoe’s plan on Wednesday.
Stuck With MOVERS
Yesterday the House Budget Committee took testimony from Director Anna Hui about the status of the controversial MOVERS software upgrade. Chair Dirk Deaton introduced the questioning by referencing Sen. Lincoln Hough’s proposal that the state just give up on the transition.
Hui was emphatic that the state is past the point of no return. The road ahead is costly, but there’s no way to turn back.
· Paula Peters, MOVERS program director, explained: “The SAM II and the BRASS systems that we were currently using, those are twenty-five year old mainframe systems… We are having trouble being able to update them to meet the needs of our business today. And what happens if you can’t add to those core systems is people start to build ancillary systems. And so then we start to have a lot of what we call shadow IT all over the place. Everybody’s doing the best they can to try to run the core business of state government with a variety of systems, with a variety of technologies, and then at its heart, a core mainframe system that is very difficult to operate, very difficult to update, and basically makes it ripe for failure.”
Beck Dings Treasurer’s Office
The Senate stumbled while on Sen. Rick Brattin’s SB 1029 yesterday after Sen. Doug Beck was rebuffed in efforts to address his concern about transparency in the state voucher program.
Beck’s criticisms…
· No Sunshine response: “We’ve sunshined the Treasurer’s Office to ask him where the money’s going. We started broad, then we went down narrow. And we got no response on anything of where the taxpayer dollars are going.”
· Failure to promulgate rules: “The treasurer was supposed to promulgate some rules in July. That was his own doing. And he didn’t even do them. And he still continued on with the program. It’s been frustrating dealing with him…”
Hartzler for Burks
Taylor Burks, running for CD-5, announced his second endorsement from a former Missouri congressperson. Former Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler: "The new conflict in Iran shows that we need tested leadership. I firmly believe that Taylor has the judgment and experience we need to keep America strong, safe, and secure."
· Burks previously received the backing of former Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer.
Spencer Testifies
St. Louis City Mayor Cara Spencer testified before the Senate Transportation Committee yesterday about SB 1657. The bill is an effort by the police union to keep lawsuits settled by the department outside of the police budget.
Spencer, meanwhile, tried to stay constructive while warning that the constant meddling was making the city ungovernable: “This legislation… introduces significant additional financial burden for the City of St. Louis, and it also severely compromises transparency and accountability… not only of the police department’s budget, but the city as a whole… To continue to strip away the authority of the City of St. Louis through this is not going to help us get to the collaborative goal that we need to be at… I want to work with you all to ensure that it doesn’t do harm to our city but moves us forward.”
· Spencer was fortunate to have Sen. Barbara Washington cutting straight to the bone of the issue: “Any entity in America, your misdeeds and legal costs are included in your budget.”
Trump Softens on Solar?
Making the rounds are a couple of articles arguing that MAGA-world is coming around to solar…
· PoliticoPro reports that “the Interior Department could be softening its hard-line stance on solar energy. Interior is reviewing at least 20 commercial-scale projects that have languished in the permitting pipeline since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, according to three agency career officials familiar with the process. That includes a package of six utility-scale projects given the green light Friday by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum… This marks a significant turn by the Trump administration.”
· And ConservAmerica posted, “Trump voters overwhelmingly support solar as a key to meeting energy demand, according to recent polling shared by President Trump’s former advisor KellyAnne Conway. In five key red states, more than 8 in 10 voters support using solar to strengthen America’s energy supply, including a striking 75% of Trump voters.”
Why It Matters
Senate President Pro Tem Cindy O’Laughin is pursuing a ban on installing solar projects until a regulatory framework is in place.
Candidate Filing
· House 122 – Rep. Tara J Peters (R) filed for re-election.
· House 135 (Fogle for Senate) - Michael Hasty (R).
$5K+ Contributions
Committee To Elect Steve Ehlmann - $10,000 from Doug Albrecht.
House Republican Campaign Committee, Inc - $12,000 from Mark Alford for Congress, Inc.
House Republican Campaign Committee, Inc - $7,000 from Committee to Elect Bill Lucas.
House Republican Campaign Committee, Inc - $5,250 from Committee to Elect Phelps.
UAW Region 4 Midwest States PAC (MO) - $6,723 from Midwest State Cap Exchange (Ottawa, IL).
Citizens for a Safer Hannibal Region - $35,000 from Hannibal Regional Economic Development Council.
Citizens for a Safer Hannibal Region - $10,000 from Hannibal Regional Economic Development Council.
Lobbyist Registrations
Aubrey Krcmar added Union Electric Co. DBA Amerenue, Ameren Services, Ameren Corp.
Mike Gibbons and Tricia Workman added Union Pacific Railroad.
Brent Hemphill and Megan Howerton deleted Kaleo Pharmaceuticals.
Quinn Gorman and Hannah Pawelczyk added Invenergy LLC.
Jay Reichard and Olivia Wilson added Advanced Power Alliance.
Jay Reichard added RHA Health Services; and deleted Bloom Medicinals, and Commure, Inc
Todd Richardson added Missouri Health Plan Association.
Jeff Rainford deleted Kiel Center Partners.
Mark Rhoads deleted JLC Services, Inc.
Randy Scherr deleted Missouri/Kansas Concrete Pipe Association, and Jefferson City Area Board of Realtors.
Noah Reandeau deleted FFF Enterprises, Inc.
Happy Birthday
Happy birthdays to John Hancock, Heath Clarkston, Jason Groce, and Maria Walden.