MOScout Daily Update: Suit Alleges Pot ‘Cartel’ - Nicola Vents - GOP To Target CD-1 Next? - AFP for Lewis and more…
Suit Alleges Marijuana ‘Cartel’
The latest controversy regarding Missouri’s cannabis market comes from a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Jackson County alleging that a cartel “designed to dominate Missouri's cannabis market and exploit Missouri’s licensing structure to suppress competition for wholesale cannabis purchases, extract anticompetitive illegal profits from the Missouri economy, and wield a collective level of market power that cannot be maintained by a single company under the Missouri Constitution.”
“To circumvent the Missouri Constitution’s limits on common ownership, control, or management of cannabis facility licenses and evade regulatory oversight, Good Day Farm and its co-conspirators have built the GDF Cartel by arranging for third parties to invest in limited liability companies—which Good Day Farm refers to as “verticals”—that then acquire additional dispensary and cultivation and processing facilities… Currently, the Cartel consists of four different verticals—consisting of a total of at least sixty-one (61) dispensaries that operate under at least five (5) different brand names: Good Day Farm, CODES, Greenlight, Fresh Karma, and 3Fifteen Primo -- through which Defendants have colluded…”
Why It Matters
This comes on the heels of State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick’s audit which pointed to flaws in the administration of the state’s marijuana program.
Nicola Vents
Yesterday’s Senate session began with Sen. Joe Nicola venting that the Senate’s property tax bill doesn’t do anything to actually lower bills or protect the homeowners in his district. He said property tax reform was supposed to be the Senate GOP caucus’ number one priority, especially after the Jackson County assessment mess, but he believes the chamber instead prioritized the income tax cut and produced a weak property-tax package.
“My concern once again is we’re gonna pass something out of here and say, look what we did. Look at this property tax reform bill. Look what we did for you. And it not really have any real effect in the pocketbooks of our citizens… Property owners of District 11, I apologize to you… for not getting you any property tax reform on a state level because this bill is gonna do very little to almost nothing to help you.”
Why It Matters
This is an indication of pent-up frustration which can erupt and significantly slow down Senate business in these final weeks.
GOP Senators on Final Weeks
Republican senators were asked to describe the final weeks of session with one word…
Mike Bernskoetter: Chaotic
Rusty Black: Budget
Rick Brattin: Frenzy
Ben Brown: Frenetic
Justin Brown: Resilience
Jamie Burger: Pivotal
Jill Carter: Productive
Sandy Crawford: Productive
Travis Fitzwater: Promising
Kurtis Gregory: Exciting
Mike Henderson: Controlled Chaos
Brad Hudson: Winning
Tony Luetkemeyer: Chaotic
Mike Moon: Kafkaesque
Joe Nicola: Bittersweet
Adam Schnelting: Fruitful
Nick Schroer: Monumental
Trent Adds 340B Language
Yesterday, in the Senate General Laws Committee, Chair Curtis Trent added language regarding 340B drugs to HB 2146 before voting it out. The language he added appears to be from his SB 1340. According to the summary, it prohibits a health carrier or pharmacy benefits manager from “discriminating against a covered entity by reimbursing the covered entity for a quantity of a 340B drug in an amount less than it would pay similarly situated non-covered entities for such drugs, imposing different terms and conditions as compared to similarly situated entities, refusing to cover 340B drugs or discriminating in reimbursement for 340B drugs, and other situations described under this act.”
Why It Matters
The last major 340B bill in the legislature – Sen. Justin Brown’s SB 751 in 2024 – was a hard-fought proposition.
And
One reader pinged me yesterday: You know there is a lot of abuse and cost to the Federal Govt when Chairman Smith is using Ways and Means to look into Big Hospitals. Wait until you hear what 340B is costing Medicaid and Missouri Consolidated in Jeff City…
Senate 18: AFP Picks Lewis
Press release: Americans for Prosperity Missouri (AFP-MO) is proudly endorsing State Rep. Ed Lewis for the 18th State Senatorial District. Since serving in the State House since 2020, Lewis has shown himself to be a champion of small government, common sense education reform, and strong on harnessing Missouri’s energy to keep a strong, affordable economy thriving in the Show-Me state.
Why It Matters
AFP will send door-knockers into the districts of their endorsed candidates, giving them additional field and ground support.
CD-1: Next GOP Target?
Yesterday’s Supreme Court case has folks wondering if the next redistricting in Missouri will see Republicans attempt to dismantle CD-1 – the sole remaining Democratic seat in Missouri’s congressional delegation.
The mighty Jason Rosenbaumwrites that there’s not enough time for Missouri to try to do that right now and give President Donald Trump another seat.
And then there’s the question of whether, mathematically, you can disperse those concentrated Democratic voters among the neighboring districts in a way that doesn’t make those incumbents vulnerable.
Feds Indict Springfield ‘Gambling Ring’
In a sign that the Feds are taking the video gambling violations seriously, they announced the indictment of nine individuals.
Rahulkumar Patel admitted that he and his co-conspirators obtained approximately $7,696,085 in gross proceeds from their wire fraud scheme and illegal gambling businesses and then conducted various financial transactions for the purpose of laundering the proceeds... he and his co-conspirators ran illegal gambling businesses under the guise of internet amusement arcade games, skill game arcades, and adult arcades. Patel and his co-conspirators hired local employees to work in their businesses, which operated contests of chance, gambling devices, and slot machines in violation of Missouri and Federal law.
eMailbag on PA
Prior authorization isn’t just a financial issue. Insurers routinely use it to deny care that is the best course of treatment as determined by a patient’s physician. It’s time we give corporations and private equity the boot so they can’t meddle in the physician-patient relationship. Like a number of other states, Missouri needs a strong prohibition on the corporate practice of medicine.
$5K+ Contributions
We Are Missouri - $100,000 from MO State Conference IBEW.
We Are Missouri - $50,000 from MSCEW PAC Federal Cmte.
Cut the Bull PAC (pro-Deering) - $7,500 from Kingdom Leadership PAC (pro-Fitzwater).
House Republican Campaign Committee, Inc - $10,000 from Jim Schulte for Missouri.
UAW Region 4 Midwest States PAC (MO) - $18,526 from UAW Midwest States Exchange (Ottawa, IL).
AGC of MO PAC - $7,500 from Sean Thouvenot.
Lobbyist Registrations
Sherry Doctorian added Tyco Fire Products LP.
Gabrielle Jorgensen terminated her lobbyist registration.
Happy Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Andy Blunt, Dave Evans, and Julie Murphy Finn.