MOScout Daily Update: MO Lotto To Go Mobile? - New PowerRankings - O'Laughlin for DESE? - Schroer $$$ - $3.5M to Anti-A3 and much more...
MO Lotto To Go Mobile?
Missouri Lottery appears to be moving toward direct online ticket and instant-game sales. Three proposed rules – 12 CSR 40-96.010, .020 and .030 – would let the Lottery sell every Missouri game online, including multistate draw games and new digital instant-win products. Players would use state-administered wallets and geolocation.
· It cites §313.220, the commission’s general lottery rulemaking authority, rather than a statute specifically authorizing internet sales.
Breaking… O’Laughlin Eyes DESE Job
In this morning’s Post-Dispatch, Kurt Erickson scoops that Senate Pro Tem Cindy O’Laughlin“wants to be the next state commissioner of education.”
Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin, a Shelbina Republican who is leaving office in January due to term limits, told the Post-Dispatch she has expressed her interest in the job, which opened earlier this year following the resignation of Commissioner Karla Eslinger.
· Senate Minority Leader Doug Beck, D-Affton, said he does not believe O’Laughlin meets the qualifications for the post set forth in statute, which say the commissioner “shall possess an educational attainment and breadth of experience in the administration of public education.”
Another $3.5M for Stop the Ban
Over the weekend another $3,500,000 came into the campaign to defeat Amendment 3, Stop the Ban.
· $2,000,000 from The Fairness Project (Washington, DC).
· $1,500,000 from Lynn Schusterman (Tulsa, OK).
This comes just two weeks after $4.5M in checks came into its campaign coffers.
What It Means
The anti-A3 campaign appears to be outraising the pro-A3 campaign about 10:1 right now.
Schroer Fundy Draws Big Donors
Sen. Nick Schroer’s golf fundraiser last week at Boone Valley Golf Club reportedly raised nearly $200,000 in checks and commitments.
Most interesting, in person sightings of some of biggest funders / bundlers in Missouri politics right now…
· Mike Rayner – His MCR PAC clocked in with $1.4 million cash on-hand in July.
· Matt Hortenstine – General Counsel for J & J Ventures which has been spreading political contributions far and wide.
· Steven Tilley – The so-called “Tilley PACs” are half-dozen committee funded by the clients of Strategic Capitol Consulting.
PowerRankings Update
I updated my House Districts Most Likely to Flip “PowerRankings.” Find it here.
· House 12 retains its top spot. That’s where Rep. Mike Jones has vacated to run for Senate 34.
· 11 of the 15 races listed are Dem pick-up opportunities, reflecting the tough year Republicans have ahead.
Nuggets from the SCOTUS Filing
Late last week, Attorney General Catherine Hanaway filed an emergency application for a stay of the Missouri Supreme Court decision rebuking Secretary of State Denny Hoskins’ handling of the redistricting referendum. Read the application here.
A couple of nuggets from the filing…
· Hoskins now conceding you can referendum a redistricting law.“Regardless of this Court’s decision, Respondent will get a statewide vote on the HB 1 congressional map” is quite different from the rejection which maintained that “the Missouri Constitution does not authorize a referendum on congressional redistricting plans passed by the General Assembly.”
· SCOMO Took Hoskins’ Actions Personally? The brief calls the Court’s holding “bizarre and profoundly anti-democratic.” But the most pointed passage questions SCOMO’s motivations: “Reading between the lines, what seems to have driven the Missouri Supreme Court’s disinterest in federal law was its displeasure with the Secretary’s processing of Respondent’s referendum petition.”
· Collecting 106,000 signatures is “easy.” “Just consider how redistricting will play out going forward in Missouri. Every time Missouri redistricts in a way that favors the majority political party, the minority political party will obviously be incentivized to submit a referendum petition freezing the new map. Such a step is easy; a campaign merely needs to gather around 106,000 signatures in Missouri.”
CWIP Funding Coming
Evergy filed Aug. 31 for permission to build…
· A 710-megawatt natural-gas plant in Buchanan County, expected online in 2032.
· A 109-megawatt battery facility in Jasper County, expected online in 2028.
Evergy explicitly ties the projects to signed data-center and other large-load agreements. Its Missouri West territory has five prospective large customers totaling approximately 800 megawatts, and three have signed electric-service agreements.
· Customers aren’t being charged yet. Evergy would need subsequent rate cases. But this is the first step.
Curbside Cannabis Regulations Proposed
Proposed 19 CSR 100-1.180 would establish statewide curbside-pickup rules for dispensaries, including advance phone or Internet orders and pickup spaces within 50 feet of the principal entrance.
Mathews Hangs Out a Shingle
Kirk Mathews, on LinkedIn, announces his new firm… “I left my role as Chief Transformation Officer at Missouri Medicaid at the end of May… And now I am excited about launching Five Stones Strategies, a government relations practice helping clients, some of them small, not-for-profit organizations, as they navigate government. In the Old Testament account of David and Goliath, we are told David chose "five stones" for his sling when he took on Goliath. Five Stones Strategies is small, but unafraid to take on giant issues…”
Secker New House 161 Nominee
Four States reports that Louise Secker will be the new Republican candidate in House 161 – after Thomas Ross’ stunning arrest and subsequent withdrawal.
· [The Secretary of State’s office] looked over that rule, and it’s called, and this is the actual name of it, it’s called the ‘sore loser rule,’ and they looked over that rule to see if it would preclude Louise from becoming the nominee, and it does not,” said MO Republican Party Executive Director Miles Ross.
Farm Bureau Announces ‘Friends of Ag’
Missouri Farm Bureau (MOFB) has awarded its 2026 Friends of Agriculture award to 87 members of the Missouri House of Representatives. The award has been presented to Missouri state representatives every two years since 1996.
To receive the award, legislators must be nominated by their county Farm Bureau board and demonstrate a supportive voting record during the previous two legislative sessions. The combination recognizes legislators who have supported agriculture and the issues important to Missouri farmers and ranchers, both in their communities and at the Capitol.
See the list of legislators making the grade here.
MEC Updates
The Missouri Ethics Commission offers an explainer of how the new laws affect campaign finance. Read it here. Among the changes…
· Use of campaign contributions.House Bill 1871 expanded the list of acceptable uses of campaign contributions under § 130.034, RSMo, to include any expenses associated with the personal security of an elected officeholder and any childcare expenses that result directly from campaigning for or holding elected office. No childcare expenses may be made to a member of the candidate or officeholder’s household.
· Lobbyists running for office. House Bill 1871 added § 105.465.2, RSMo, which allows registered lobbyists who are candidates for county, municipal, or school board office to maintain a candidate committee supporting their candidacy…
Rumorville: Davis Returning to the Building
Word is that Rep. Michael Davis, recently defeated in a primary election, will be back in the building next session – as a legislative assistant. We’ll see…
Lobbyist Registrations
Irl Scissors added National Strategies, LLC OBO COMPASS Pathways, National Strategies, Inc. obo Just Appraised, and S and A Equipment & Builders.
$5K+ Contributions
Stop the Ban - $2,000,000 from The Fairness Project (Washington, DC).
Stop the Ban - $1,500,000 from Lynn Schusterman (Tulsa, OK).
Stop the Ban - $25,000 from Garrett and Cecilia Boone (Addison, TX).
KERI PAC (pro-Ingle) - $15,000 from Operating Engineers Local 101 Political Fund.
Paladin PAC - $25,000 from J&J Ventures Missouri Gaming, LLC (Effingham, IL).
Missouri River PAC - $10,000 from Kevin O’Brien.
Jason Maki for Platte County - $25,000 from Mainline Services LLC.
Heartland Action PAC - $25,000 from McBride & Son Properties LLC.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Megan Price, John Quinn, and Ryan Hawkins.