Abortion Battle Widens

The abortion war ignited by HB 126 is no longer a Republican-Democratic battle, or a liberal-conservative battle.  This morning Missouri’s healthcare power-players are entering the fray…

• Healthcare is Missouri’s biggest industry. 

• These voices, together with Republican donor David Humphreys, are constructing a narrative the law that’s beyond simply conservative, and anti-medicine.

Brower Promoted

Erin Brower was promoted to Hallmark’s Government & Community Affairs Director.  She’s now responsible for developing and implementing the vision and strategy for Hallmark’s external touch points, including:  federal, state and local government relations; community relations and involvement; corporate philanthropy; and management of the company’s attractions – Hallmark Visitors Center and Kaleidoscope.

Senate’s Interim Committees

Senate Pro Tem Dave Schatz established three interim committees. 

·         These committees will hold hearings, collect testimony and act as working groups for issues potentially facing legislative action next session.  It gives the Senate a running start at issues of complexity.

·         Interesting to note the heavy representation from the Conservative Caucus.  They snagged the chair and vice-chair positions of the retirement system study committee; and comprise four of the eight members of the tax credit study committee.

Humphreys Forms Committee

Committee To Protect The Rights Of Victims Of Rape & Incest was formed. This is the Humphreys’ committee to support a referendum on HB 126, the abortion bill.  Humphreys issued a statement: I support the Committee’s referendum petition to overturn HB126. Abortion is very personal subject with complicated moral issues for all involved. With no consideration given to victims of rape and incest, this legislation’s impact reflects bad public policy with negative consequences for Missourians. As such, I support the Committee’s effort to protect women in the case of rape or incest.  

I invite other like-minded people to join in the Committee’s efforts and with financial and personal support of its signature gathering and campaign.

The Missouri Telecommunications Industry Association has released an RFP for association management services – see it here. 

Ric Telthorst, MTIA president & CEO since 2000, is retiring at the end of the year.The association is looking for someone to manage external relations and government affairs, and provide other management services using existing staff.

Darryl Gray announced on Facebook that he’d be seeking the Roberts’ seat, House 77.  Gray ran unsuccessfully for 18th Ward alderman earlier this year.

St. Louis IS my home, and I am totally committed to improving the State that we are in. We must ensure that our rights are protected; our communities are safe; our families are heathy; our schools are adequately funded; our justice system is fair; our environment is protected; our elected officials represent people, not special interests; and that workers receive livable wages. I will be posting our platform soon…

Joe Ortwerth, Executive Director of the Missouri Family Policy Council, bids farewell. “It has been my lifelong passion to fight for the sanctity of human life, the integrity of marriage and the family, and the principles of religious freedom. But after more than 45 years of service in public office and Christian advocacy, I will be retiring from public life here in Missouri.  God has given me a joyous new calling to advance His Kingdom.

My wife Wendy and I have an exciting new assignment in this season of our marriage and family life.We are headed to the mission field in East Africa.

Lavender in Senate 15

Tipster says that Rep. “Deb Lavender will be announcing her run for Missouri State Senate District 15 against Sen. Andrew Koenig.”

Previously Democrat Mark Osmack announced he’d be running, so there may be a primary.

Survey conducted May 22 through May 23, 2019. 1,042 likely 2020 General Election voters participated in the survey. Survey weighted to match expected turnout demographics for the 2020 General Election. Margin of Error is +/-3%.

Q1: Do you consider yourself generally pro-life or generally pro-choice?

Pro-life: 57%

Pro-choice: 43%

Q5: Do you think Roe v Wade should be overturned?

Yes: 40%

No: 47%

Not sure: 13%

STL Approves

In the large contributions there’s $75K going to STL Approves.  That’s a campaign committee (treasurer: Matt Vianello; deputy treasurer: Mike Pridmore) supporting Prop D in St. Louis City to “establish an open, non-partisan system for municipal elections.”  It would make St. Louis like Kansas City with a non-partisan primary and a general election between the top two candidates.

Tornado Hits Jefferson City

Politico Jonathon Ratliff on Twitter around 1:30AM…We are safe but w/o power. The tornado seemed to have just missed us. By flashlight I can see debris from downtown in our yard (at least 3 miles away).The damage downtown is immense. Many buildings are completely destroyed. Our thoughts & prayers are w/ everyone in our community.

More Senate 3 Talk: Fitz Out, Henderson Locking It Down

Tipster says: “Paul Fitzwater is not running; he’s content serving on the Parole Board.”

And… “[Rep. Mike] Henderson will make an official announcement in July but has already secured endorsements from the 'Who's Who' of donors, activists, and elected officials throughout the district including all current Reps (Wright, Dinkins, Gannon, and McGirl) and former Reps Fitzwater, Black, and former Sen. Engler.”

Follow-Up On Henderson in Senate 3

After I wrote yesterday that Rep. Mike Henderson’s leadership on the “turnaround” education bill has folks talking up his future in Senate 3…

·         One lobbyist told me that Rep. Mike Henderson IS running in Senate 3, and “seems stronger than [Paul] Fitzwater to me.”

·         A second concurring that “Henderson has geographical advantage.”

Henderson in Senate 3?

Although the twin goals of “education reform” – charter expansion and Educational Savings Accounts – failed to gain traction this session, Rep. Mike Henderson’s HB 604, School Turnaround Act, passed.

One hallway source says it’s a feather in Henderson’s cap: It obviously evolved into an omnibus education package that included changes to school start date, school transfer policies for unaccredited districts, Schatz’s hardship transfer bill, and the charter school’s lottery protocol language. Henderson showed a lot of leadership and his name has been thrown out as a possible replacement for Sen. Gary Romine (Senate 3) in 2020.

Will Abortion Law Help Dems in Suburbs?

In the rotunda yesterday, one lobbyist told me that the passage of the heartbeat bill will exacerbate the Republicans’ problem with white educated women in the suburbs.  This demographic has been turned off by the president uncouth behavior.  But the stakes have been raised.  It’s no longer style: bringing “locker room talk” to the Oval Office.  Now it’s policy: a right they’ve had that their daughter won’t have.

The earliest test case will be the special election in House 99 in November…

Blues Lose in STL, Win in JCity

The legislature TAFP’d Freshman Rep. Jon Patterson’s stadium funding bill yesterday.  It provides revenue for the Enterprise Center, Truman Sports Complex, and Bartle Hall. Sen. Mike Cierpiot was the Senate handler. The lobbying effort was led by Brian Grace and Kate Casas at Nexus Group and Becky Lohmann and David Willis at Catalyst. This bill is one of the heaviest lifts accomplished this session that wasn’t a priority of the Republican caucuses.

Conservatives Sit

After 26 hours of filibustering the GM incentives bill, the Senate’s Conservative Caucus retreated.  Early yesterday morning word started to bubble that the filibuster threatened to crowd out other priorities, including the passage of the anti-abortion “heartbeat” bill.  Ultimately that threat – the time they were burning would reduce the chances of an anti-abortion bill passing – persuaded the Conservative Caucus to sit.

“Our desire to protect innocent human life was leveraged against us,” said Sen. Bob Onder on the Senate floor as the filibuster ended.

Happening Now….

Senate filibuster, started about 17 hours ago.  The Conservative Caucus is stopping Senate business from occurring. The first order of business – approving the Journal – has yet to be accomplished.  There is no end in sight right now. 

One Senate side observer made this prediction to me before session started yesterday: “I think it goes all night, we get nothing done, and the Gov calls us into special session next week.”

GM Day in the Senate?

It looks like a showdown.  On one side is the governor’s office pushing the incentive package for General Motors investment (along with some items from their economic development agenda).  On the other is the Senate’s Conservative Caucus which has resisted those items all session, namely the “closing fund,” and the FastTrack program.

Survey conducted May 8 through May 9, 2019. 984 likely 2020 General Election voters participated in the survey. Survey weighted to match expected turnout demographics for the 2020 General Election. Margin of Error is +/-3.3%.

Q1: Do you approve or disapprove of Donald Trump’s job performance as President?

Approve: 51%

Disapprove: 44%

Not sure: 5%

Q2: Do you approve or disapprove Mike Parson’s job performance as Governor?

Approve: 51%

Disapprove: 22%

Not sure: 27%

Q3: Do you approve or disapprove of Nicole Galloway’s job performance as State Auditor?

Approve: 41%

Disapprove: 15%

Not sure: 44%