MOScout Daily Update: Freedomers Help on Budget - Fitz Dings Jackson County Assessments - The Personal Senate and more…
Freedom Caucus Plays Nice on Budget
One important factor to the relatively easy Senate approval of the budget this week was the lack of fiscal conservatives voting No. I’d written weeks earlier that in previous years a clutch of 9 or so senators had balked at joining their Republican colleagues. That left Republicans dependent on Democratic votes.
This year, however, Republicans largely (Sens. Lincoln Hough and Mike Moon did vote against some bills) stayed united.
One reader credits Sen. Nick Schroer for the change, saying his “involvement behind the scenes, working with Cindy [O’Laughlin], Tony [Luetkemeyer], and Rusty [Black] over the past several months in creating an agreement whereby the [Freedom Caucus] and its allies would support the budget votes this year.”
Fitz Dings Jackson County Assessment Process with ‘Poor’ Rating
Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick released a report on the Jackson County Assessment Appeals Process, exposing a litany of flaws and failings. See the audit here.
· From the press release: "The bottom line is taxpayers in Jackson County got a raw deal and were in effect dealt a losing hand by the Assessment Department and the Board of Equalization. State law makes it abundantly clear that the burden of proof in the appeals process is on the Assessment Department and not the taxpayer. Despite this, the Board of Equalization set up a system in which county officials held all the cards and homeowners had to fight an uphill battle on an unlevel playing field," said Auditor Fitzpatrick.
Medicaid Work OKed on Party Line
Having gathered up their votes, Rep. Darin Chappell’s Medicaid work requirement resolution was passed on a party line vote, 3-2, in the Senate Families Committee.
The Personal Senate
The long days in the Senate are always sprinkled with interesting personal asides. Here are some from Wednesday’s budget day on the floor…
Sen. Stephen Webber has stopped watching NBA…“One of the things that I've lost this year is the ability to enjoy the NBA playoffs… I've just found that there's enough anxiety with all these bills, getting all these bills done that I can't add additional [anxiety] by watching a close NBA game and not knowing who's gonna win. It's just too much uncertainty in my life right now. So, I've unfortunately had to stop following the NBA playoffs in a meaningful way.”
Sen. Tracy McCreery grew up army-crawling in the family room… “The TV we had for years and years and years that sat on the floor. So it was like the size of our desks, but the TV was low to the ground. And anytime there was a sporting event on TV, we weren't allowed to walk in front of the TV. We had to do army crawls… it made you think twice about running to the kitchen for a snack because dad would make us do army crawls to get out of the family room because he didn't want us to block the TV. So now that we have this modern invention of TVs up on the walls, it's very liberating…”
Sen. Rick Brattin introduced his granddaughter, Avaley Taylor…“She is two and a half months old. She's born on February 6. So she's been a little ball of joy… I know this is probably against the rules, but I really don't care because this is a pretty special occasion.”
Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman confesses to being a poor driver...“I am a bad driver. I'm a terrible driver. I'm a horrid driver.”
Sen. Rusty Black’s teaching career began as a detour…“1983, I was gonna buy a NAPA store, had an escrow account… but the farm economy was so bad in that time… the guy that owned it walked down the steps, said, take your escrow money… and get out of here. And that's how God planted me in a classroom at Nodaway. I taught there five years and then taught twenty-eight years in Chillicothe.”
And
Yesterday, Sen. Kurtis Gregory recounted his football injuries and surgeries…“I’ve had a rather extensive injury history… I've had two shoulder surgeries… three on my right knee, two on my left, and ankle surgery, and I had stress fractures in my back… I've got a blown disc L-4, L-5. The one above it's getting ready to go. If you remember, a few weeks ago, I came hobbling off the dais. I got up to gavel the senator from Clay a little too quick I guess… I've come to find out my meniscus is torn in two spots again… As Coach [Gary] Pinkel said, no excuses. So I'm just gonna keep on playing…”
Follow-up on Seitz’s Tennis Shoes
I’m told that Rep. Brian Seitz had tennis shoes on because of an ankle injury suffered at the legislative softball game.
Dr. Leech
Getting passed around… this St. Louis Magazine article, a crazy tale with cameos from David Barklage, Sam Page and Steven Tilley.
$5K+ Contributions
Best Start for Kids STL - $25,000 from Children's Funding Accelerator (Washington, DC).
Conservative Justice for Missouri PAC (pro-Hanaway) - $10,000 from Robert Brinkman.
People Not Politicians - $246,342 from Health Forward Foundation.
Mosley PAC LLC (pro-Mosley) - $7,600 from Paladin PAC.
Lobbyist Registrations
Ilana Beller-Kernish added Public Citizen Inc.
Mary Staples added National Association of Chain Drug Stores Inc.
Eapen Thampy deleted Happy Rock Smoke Shop, The Hub Smoke Shop, Hemp Hill, KC Kush, TreatNOW, and Heritage Holistic Health Group LLC
Happy Birthday
Happy birthday to Brian Munzlinger (the big 7-0).