Shaul to Chair House Redistricting Committee

Speaker Rob Vescovo announced the establishment of the Special Committee on Redistricting.This committee will draft legislation to redraw the congressional districts in Missouri according to the new census data.

Hoskins: Give the Legislature Seats At the Table

In Tuesday’s Senate Small Business Committee, Chair Denny Hoskins will present two bills to give the legislature some voice in influential government bodies.

1. COVID hospitalizations plummet.

2. E-commerce pulling back?

3. What did Americans do during COVID? Started businesses!

4. Incarceration rates fall.

5. When will GenX finally take over?

6. Budget-friendly cities for dating.

7. Family trees.

Survey conducted by Remington Research Group on February 24 - 25. 1,051 likely 2022 General Election voters participated in the survey. MOE +/-3%.

Q3: In your opinion how would you rate the job that state government has done in distributing COVID vaccines across the state?

Excellent: 11%

Good: 25%

Average: 32%

Poor: 32%

House Passes ESA Legislation

In a contentious issue in which the Republican supermajority was divided, House leadership was able to cobble together the needed votes to pass Rep. Phil Christofanelli’s HB 349 creating “Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program.”

Buzz About Limbaugh

There’s some buzz around Chris Limbaugh.

Limbaugh was Prosecuting Attorney in Cape Girardeau before becoming Governor Mike Parson’s general counsel. He was recently appointed Associate Circuit Judge in Cole County. But the judgeship might just be a way station for Limbaugh.

Senate Pursues Big Education Bill

In the early morning, after hours of work, the Senate laid over their big education bill, leaving it on the Informal Calendar for another day.

House Tees Up ESA

Rep. Phil Christofanelli’s HB 349 has been placed on the House Perfection Calendar, signaling that the education bill could come up for debate this week on the House floor.

House to Tackle Unemployment Overpayments

In the House, it looks like bills relating to unemployment overpayments is on tap.They rolled up all their bills from committee (both Republican and Democrat alike) into Rep. J Eggleston’s HB 1083.

1. MO COVID map

2. Americans eyeing the end of COVID crisis. One place where there’s no partisan divide.

3. KC leads in reopening.

4. Crystal Ball starts MO Senate 2022 race with “Safe Republican” rating.

5. There’s some good reason for that…

6. WSJ reports on immigration policy leaving jobs unfilled.

7. Free market solution to expand the labor pool.

8. Credit card debt curing COVID.

9. Crazy Texas temps

10. Most hated business buzzwords.

Overloaded Pub Defs

Post-Dispatch reports: A judge on Thursday said it was unconstitutional for Missouri to fail to provide lawyers for criminal defendants who can't afford them, leaving them on waiting lists for months or years. The waiting lists started in 2017, when overloaded public defenders couldn't take on any more clients. By November 2019, there were more than 5,800 felony defendants on the lists with cases pending in 29 counties

R Rate Below 1

The COVID crisis is waning.Among the many great indicators that the worst is behind us, Dr. Randall Williams mentioned briefing that the statewide rate of transmission (the R rate) is now below 1.

Casas and Jackson Repping Sinquefield

Nexus Group’s Kate Casas and Gamble and Schlemeier’s David Jackson have been tapped to lobby for Rex Sinquefield in the capitol.

Hinkle Says 51’s OK

Don Hinkle, influential religious conservative, wrote on Facebook that he will not oppose the bill.

Another Snow Day

The snow storm hits the legislature’s calendar. The House is off again today, but might try to salvage their week with Wednesday and Thursday sessions. We’ll see. The Senate has thrown in the towel for the week.

Good morning. It’s Presidents’ Day. State offices are closed. And although the legislature usually works this day, the prospect of a big snowfall with sub-zero windchills has both the House and Senate calling it a snow day. Committee hearings will be rescheduled for later in the week.

Carpenters Back Reed

In the large contributions, the Carpenters’ union PAC (CHIPP) sends $100K to the pro-Lewis Reed committee One St. Louis PAC.

Onder Rolls Out Emergency Limits Bill

The Senate started debate on SB 12 yesterday.This bill includes portions of seven different Senate bills heard in the Sen. Bob Onder’s Health and Pensions Committee. They’re all aimed at limiting the ability of local jurisdictions to use emergency powers to shut down various activities

Framework for New Economy

Sen. Lincoln Hough and Rep. Travis Fitzwater had hearings for their bills to create a regulatory framework for “tiny delivery machines.”

Testifying in favor of the bill were two lobbyists representing companies that are interested in using the robotic delivery in the future…

Declining COVID Deaths

Missouri’s death rate from COVID is declining. Because of the reporting lag between deaths and when they show up on the state’s dashboard, it’s impossible to quantify the rate of decline. However, by following the numbers each day, it’s clear that fewer Missourians are now dying from COVID. Hopefully, as more high-risk Missourians are vaccinated, this trend will continue.