MOScout Daily Update: Pro-Owen PAC Formed - Smith Kicks Off - AVs Political Needs and more…

Quick Friday update before I’m off for Memorial Day weekend…

Pro-Owen PAC Formed

White River Leadership PAC was formed.  It’s in support of Rep. Bill Owen.  See the paperwork here.

One lobbyist tells me that Republican consultant Casey Burns is now helping Owen with fundraising, and she’s been pitching him as potentially the next House Budget Chair.

Rep. Bishop Davidson, the current vice-chair of the Budget Committee, is among the names mentioned for the position.  As well as Reps. Darin Chappell and John Voss.

·       Speaker-designate Alex Riley hasn’t announced who he will appoint to the powerful spot.

Smith Kicks Off

Former Rep. Travis Smith kicked off his comeback campaign to a large crowd in West Plains. He’s running in House 154, trying to unseat Rep. Lisa Durnell.

·       One reader surveys the race: While Smith didn’t represent Howell County when he was first elected, West Plains is where he grew up and where his family has deep ties. In his State Senate race, he won Howell County 65% to 35% against Brad Hudson, while Durnell only managed to get 49% of the vote in Howell County. Look for Travis Smith to return in 2027.

AVs Need Supportive Infrastructure

A working paper from William Riggs, Department of Engineering, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, and Public Administration at the University of San Francisco proposes that

“autonomous vehicle scaling is not primarily a technological problem. It is a systems integration problem embedded within a broader political economy of infrastructure, capital, and governance.”

We generally think of technological adoption happening as advances are made or prices decrease, but Riggs says that Avs’ future depends on a hospitable political environment. AVs need curb space, charging, dispatch systems, maintenance, insurance, public trust, transit coordination, city rules, and long-term infrastructure-style capital.

·       It reminded me of this Axios piece arguing similarly that “Robotaxis are hitting a very analog bottleneck: real estate. The next phase of autonomy isn't about better AI — it's about land, electricity and logistics to keep fleets on the road.”

What It Means

The Missouri legislature punted on starting an AV framework this last session.  This paper argues that the emerging industry needs an active government effort in order to thrive.

Bosley Charged With DWS

Rep. LaKeysha Bosley was charged with running a red light and driving with a suspended license earlier this month in Jefferson City.

·       According to court documents, those are Class C and Class D misdemeanors, respectively.

eMailbag: Praise for Wasser

Since you called out the Soybean Association as a winner, I want to make sure that Casey Wasser is getting the credit he deserves. I don’t work for them, I just think the guy is doing a tremendous job in his first year at the helm.

• He has strategically built a formidable team to aggressively pursue policy goals for Missouri farm families (Ben Travlos in-building lead)

• Transitioned to CEO from COO in mid-session 2025, and still oversaw successful passage of the Mo Water Preservation Act

• Was instrumental in pushing other commodity orgs to support passage of Farm Bureau Health Plans

• He and team stopped multiple items and issues from ever seeing light over the past year and he has successfully kept his association from getting pulled into multiple fights that aren’t theirs.

• His early days beginning at DOR provide a robust knowledge of tax policy that was the driver behind Rep. Dane Diehl’s beginning farmer legislation

• Aside from policy wins for the Association, he has overseen tremendous wins on the Checkoff side of MoSoy like forming a partnership with Beck’s Hybrids to commercially scale SOYLEIC soybean technology to create value-added markets for producers

• Recently hired, Carley Esser McLean, a Mo native and top DC staffer that worked directly for the US Senate Ag Chairman, Sen. John Boozman.

• Also serves on Gov. Kehoe’s School Modernization Task Force on top of serving locally as Board Member on the California Mo School District

eMailbag on St. Charles Poll

I don’t think Steve Ehlmann’s flex is as big as he thinks it is. Not good numbers for a 40-year office holder in the county.

$5K+ Contributions

American Dream PAC (pro-Kehoe) - $10,000 from SRC Holdings Corporation.

Conservative Leadership for Southeast Missouri (pro-Bean) - $10,000 from INFRA PAC.

Best Start for Kids STL - $31,712 from WEPOWER.

Seniors Count STL - $15,000 from Bethesda Health Group.

Put Missouri First - $13,787 from Republican National Committee (Washington, DC).

Lobbyist Registrations

Trent Watson deleted Missouri Credentialing Board.

Doug Stone added HB Resort LLC; and deleted WSHI LLC, Summit Homes, Richard Keller Trust, Creekmoor Property Owners' Association Inc., SDG Union Hill Partners LLC, 165 Cabin Development LLC, and Cooper Communities Inc.         

Birthdays

Happy birthday to former Sen. Travis Fitzwater.

Saturday: Zach Monroe, Taisir Yanis, Meredith Shadwick, and Paul Wilson.

Sunday: Jake Hummel, Sam Page, Byron DeLear, and Heather Navarro.

Monday: Tim Jones, Amy Blouin, Gus Wagner, and Jason Hall.

MOScout Schedule

I’m off for Memorial Day weekend.  Back in your inbox on Tuesday!