MOScout Daily Update: Kehoe Adds New SBOE Appts - Fringe Ag Groups and Trump - Review of Kehoe Tax Vote and more…
Kehoe Makes New SBOE Appts
Governor Mike Kehoe appointed two new board members to the State Board of Education.
· Jordan Bradberry, of Kansas City, will fill the vacant 4th Congressional District seat.
· Robbie Myers, of Poplar Bluff, will take the place of Mary Schrag, who recently resigned.
What It Means
Education has been one of Kehoe’s top priorities. The board is now almost entirely in the hands of his appointments; it’ll be led by Brooks Miller, who has articulated an urgency about their business; and they’re poised to handpick the next leader of DESE. The Kehoe agenda should face less organizational resistance in the coming years.
Kehoe Tax Vote
With millions (potentially tens of millions?) of dollars of ads headed to the airwaves over the next nine weeks to persuade Missouri voters to take the first step of eliminating the state income tax, I thought it’d be helpful to do a quick reminder how folks in Senate primaries voted on the measure…
Senate 4: Steve Butz – No.
Senate 6 - Rudy Veit - No.
Senate 8 – JP – Yes.
Senate 10: Tricia Byrnes – Yes.
Senate 14: Raychel Proudie – No.
Senate 16: Don Mayhew – Yes; Bill Hardwick – Absent.
Senate 18: Ed Lewis – Yes; Greg Sharpe – No.
Senate 20: Curtis Trent – Yes.
Senate 28: Brad Pollitt – Yes.
Senate 32: Jill Carter – Absent.
Senate 34: Mike Jones – Yes; Sean Pouche – Yes.
New Ag Groups Gain Sway
The Wall Street Journal notes that the Trump Administration has close ties with “fringe” agriculture groups.
When top Trump administration officials last month decried the market power of America’s top meatpacking companies, they were joined by Shad Sullivan, a Colorado rancher and host of a niche podcast for cattlemen… Sullivan has found a friendly ear in cabinet members including Rollins, who have at times shown a willingness to buck the powerful agriculture lobby that has helped sway public policy for decades.
Ranchers such as Sullivan are pushing ideas that might seem simple to the average meat-case shopper: breaking up meatpacking companies, mandating country-of-origin labels on beef and loosening certain regulations on ranchers while tightening restrictions on beef imports and exports…
Sullivan is part of the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America. It is a smaller, lesser-known trade group that has rising influence with the administration.
· R-CALF’s Missouri affiliate is the Independent Cattlemen of Missouri. See their website here.
· The mainline Cattlemen association in Missouri is the Missouri Cattlemens Association. Their head, Mike Deering, is running for Senate in District 10. They’re represented in the capitol by The Giddens Group. The Independent Cattlemen of Missouri, meanwhile, has no registered lobbyists.
What It Means
Governor Mike Kehoe has strong ties with the Missouri Cattlemens Association. I don’t see a usurping of that relationship during his tenure.
VLTs and the Constitution
Well, I got plenty of feedback about gambling and the state constitution. There’s a bit of a debate about it.
· One veteran suggested that the question be put to Attorney General Catherine Hanaway… 27.040. Opinions to be given, when. — When required, he shall give his opinion, in writing, without fee, to the general assembly, or to either house, and to the governor, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, commissioner of education, grain warehouse commissioner, director of the department of commerce and insurance, the director of the division of finance, and the head of any state department, or any circuit or prosecuting attorney upon any question of law relative to their respective offices or the discharge of their duties.
Ameren Rejoins Fortune 500
St. Louis Business Journal reports that “eight St. Louis-area companies are ranked on this year's Fortune 500 list.”
· No. 19: Centene Corp. (up from No. 23);
· No. 193: Reinsurance Group of America (up from No. 196);
· No. 245: Emerson Electric (up from No. 260);
· No. 249: Edward Jones, listed as Jones Financial (up from No. 303);
· No. 342: Graybar Electric (up from No. 365);
· No. 466: Ameren Corp. (up from No. 505 on the Fortune 1000 last year);
· No. 479: Post Holdings (down from No. 477);
· No. 495: Core & Main (up from No. 497).
There’s only one Missouri Fortune 500 company located outside of the St. Louis region. That’s O’Reilly Automotive (#251) in Springfield.
Skidmore to the Stage
New York Times recounts the 1981 murder in Skidmore, Missouri because a play based on it, “Kenrex,” is now playing Off Broadway.
The dead man in the truck was Kenneth Rex McElroy, 47, known as a brutal local bully accused of everything from sexual assault to hog rustling. His slaying at the hands of an unknown assailant — or assailants — has echoed through this small town, and various threads of popular culture, for 45 years. The reason for the lasting fascination is simple: The shooting occurred in midmorning sun, on Skidmore’s main drag, with all manner of witnesses near McElroy’s truck… And no one, it seems, saw who did it.
· Skidmore, population 189, is in Nodaway County, currently represented by Sen. Rusty Black and Rep. Jeff Farnan.
New PACs
Strong and Courageous PAC was formed. It’s in support of Jerry Angelo who is running House 133. That’s Rep. Melanie Stinnett’s district. Angelo is running as a Republican against Democrat Katelyn Zach. See the filing here.
Lobbyist Registrations
Emily Gibellina added AbbVie Inc.
Randy Scherr deleted Missouri Economic Development Financing Association.
Lara Dailey added Waymo LLC.
Maria Goellner deleted Families Against Mandatory Minimums.
Holly Rehder deleted DSL Consulting Group, Partnership for Innovative Action, and Midwest Sterilization Corporation.
$5K+ Contributions
Protect Majority Rule Missouri - $300,000 from Health Forward Foundation.
Stop the Ban - $25,000 from Laura Cohen.
MBA Pony Express Region PAC - $7,590 from BTC Bank.
Access MO - $10,010 from Brent Sandweiss (Tucson, AZ).
Missouri Right to Life PAC - $10,000 from Michael Ross.
Merck & Co., Inc. Employees Missouri PAC Federal Committee - $17,285 from Merck & Co., Inc. Employees Missouri PAC Federal Committee (Washington, DC).
Union Pacific Corp FFEG MO Federal Committee - $14,000 from Union Pacific Corp. Fund for Effective Government (Washington, DC).
Baird For Jackson County - $15,000 from Pipe Fitters Local Union 533 Volunteer Political Fund.
Birthdays
Happy birthday to Ryan Johnson.
MOScout Schedule
No MOScout this weekend.