MOScout Daily Update: EcoDevo Stalls in Senate - VLTs Debate Not Over - ‘Is That A Rep?’ and more…
Quick Friday update…
Big EcoDevo Bill Stalls in Senate
After hours of debate yesterday, the session’s big economic development bill HB 3231 was laid over.
There were a couple of lines of resistance: the fiscal note, Sen. Mike Moon raised a constitutional concern (as usual), and Sen. Lincoln Hough wanted an additional business facilities tax credit provision added to the bill.
With a full week remaining though, it doesn’t seem insurmountable.
One reader’s take: “Big bills are hard. Big eco devo bills are harder. Credit to sponsors Rep. Brad Christ and the Senate Gregorys for navigating a complex thicket of very conservative House budget hawks and urban/suburban Senate Dems skeptical of rural carveouts - and getting a genuinely meaningful package thisclose to the finish line. This is usually the point where lobbyist influence fades, and the deal is brokered member to member. Given these two sponsors and this set of chamber leaders, I’m betting they get it done.”
VLTs Re-emerge
Also during the HB 3231 debate, VLTs made a return to the Senate floor. Although Sen. Jason Bean didn’t offer an amendment to add his legalization language to the bill, several senators took to the floor to voice support, including Sens. Justin Brown, Nick Schroer, and Curtis Trent.
Their central argument is that with the state facing a tougher budget crunch next year, adding potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue could save critical services.
What It Means
Despite President Pro Tem Cindy O’Laughlin attempting to bury the issue in a special committee, in the Senate anything can potentially re-emerge on the floor if there’s an appropriate vehicle.
Overstating Impact
In yesterday’s House debate, a couple of folks repeated a new slogan that tourism is Missouri’s #2 most impactful industry.
Every industry tends to overstate their impact. If you took their numbers collectively, we’d have a GDP twice as big as it actually is.
But even if you take tourism’s numbers at face value – a $20 billion impact. It’s not “#2.” (Just like agriculture isn’t “#1).
‘Is That A Rep?’
Amid the hours-long debate on the Senate floor yesterday was a funny exchange about how it’s hard for senators to keep up with Missouri’s 163 state representatives.
Stephen Webber: Let’s be honest. You’re your eighth year in the Senate. You’re not recognizing reps. I understand that.
Lincoln Hough: It’s been a longtime tradition of mine. So I used to live with a guy here who is now a United States senator… I was a freshman rep. And I was the only rep that lived in this house, and there were three senators… And we would play this game over fellowship coffee on Thursday mornings… We would play a game called, “Is That a Rep?” And because I was in the House, it was my job to give these guys three names. Two of which were actual representatives, and one of which was a fictional character.
$5K+ Contributions
International Brotherhood of Teamsters Missouri PAC - Federal Committee - $56,571 from IBT Drive Committee (Washington, DC).
Missouri Right to Life PAC - $25,003 from Tim Sullivan.
Integrity First PAC - $10,000 from Paul Vogel.
We Are Missouri - $13,125 from Missouri AFL-CIO.
Lobbyist Registrations
Brock Phillips added United Surgical Partners International.
Happy Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Tom Dempsey, Lisa Clancy, and Jeanie Lauer.