MOScout Weekender: Burlison Pursues UFO Videos - WSJ on 340B ‘Grift’ - Hallway on Final Week of Session and more…
Burlison as “Mr. UFO”
Fox News reports that Congressman Eric Burlison “warns Trump Administration if certain UFO videos are not declassified, he will use Speech or Debate Clause to release them. ‘I’m telling the Administration through you at this moment that if they don’t release those, then I have the capabilities of getting those videos and releasing them.’”
· MOScouter: It’s hard to stand out in a legislative body of 435 members. Burlison is finding a way. Kudos to him.
Rumorville
One tipster says that President Donald Trump’s new Homeland Security chief Markwayne Mullin, who apparently was once enrolled at Missouri Valley College in Marshall, is scheduled to be a "surprise" speaker at the school’s 11AM commencement today…
WSJ on 340B ‘Grift’
The Wall Street Journal ran an editorial on Friday entitled, The Great 340B Healthcare Grift.
· An Empire Center for Public Policy report this spring found that 340B revenue for New York’s well-endowed hospital systems has ballooned—846% for Mount Sinai between 2019 and 2024. This has driven “up drug costs for employer-sponsored health plans, including taxpayer-funded plans offered by state and local governments,” the report says.
· If Republicans in Congress want to reduce healthcare costs, they’ll use their next budget reconciliation bill to curb this 340B abuse—say, by requiring hospitals and pharmacies to pass along the discount money to patients. This is government grift at its worst.
One hallway denizen hints that the fight in Missouri between ‘Big Pharma’ and ‘Big Hospital’ may not be over: Although Big Hospital tried to cut it out entirely, there is language to look into 340B and its costs to the state in HB 2011. Pass the popcorn.
MOScout’s Hallway Index: Final Week
I asked lobbyists, “What's your prognosis for the final week of session?” 24 replies…
RESULTS
1. Something somewhere will cause a blow up… 16.7%
2. Productive sprint for the finish… 16.7%
3. Somewhere in between… 66.7%
Sample of Comments
· Both sides rationally trading will continue the theme of the session to its end.
· Things are tense, anyway, and the recent questionable move by the house budget chair will not make things any smoother.
· Doesn’t seem like anyone’s excited or upset about too much of anything.
· Some things will pass. Some things will fail. The sun will rise again tomorrow.
· Mild with short days and light work, especially in the Senate.
· Never a smooth sprint but in comparison to the last 10 years of last weeks of session it will be a breeze.
· More apathy than upset driving this year’s unremarkable session.
Who Won the Week?
No “Who Won the Week” today. I’m not going to jinx anyone before the final week of session.
eMailbag on 2.2 Gigawatts Coming Online
A megawatt is like a super Target store. 2.2 GW would be 2,200 Target stores!
$5K+ Contributions
American Dream PAC - $10,000 from Missouri Walnut, LLC.
American Dream PAC - $10,000 from Warren Davis.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to John Ashcroft, Scott Penman, Gregg Keller, and Brett Dinkins.
Sunday: Ron Hicks.