MOScout Daily Update: Special Session Starts - O’Laughlin Tweaks FO Committee - Avery Files for Senate - Kehoe Primary Recipe? and more…

Special Session Timeline

This morning the Senate will convene at 10AM, and the special session bills will be referred to committee.

The Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled for 10:30AM, and the Senate Fiscal Oversight Committee is scheduled for 11AM.

Assuming the bills are heard and passed out today, the bills would then be ready for debate.

The many other bills which were introduced yesterday by various senators (that won’t be referred) give a glimpse of the various pockets of opposition…

·       Freedom Caucus members introduced a variety of tax relief bills.  They’ve said they want something in that vein included.

·       Sen. Stephen Webber introduced a bill increasing the funding for MURR above the original “deal” level of $50M.

·       Sen. Brad Hudson introduced a resolution on raising the threshold for initiative petitions.

·       Sen. Doug Beck introduced a rules change raising the threshold for a Senate PQ.

O’Laughlin Tweaks Fiscal Oversight Committee

In what appears to be a tacit acknowledgement that the stadium plan faces headwinds among her Senate colleagues, Senate Pro Tem Cindy O’Laughlin removed Sen. Travis Fitzwater from the Fiscal Oversight Committee yesterday, replacing him with Sen. Kurtis Gregory.  Gregory is the sponsor of the stadium subsidy bill (SB 3); Fitzwater, a fiscal conservative, was a potential No vote.

·       This sort of shuffling a committee membership ahead of a key vote is much more common in the House than the Senate where senators are more powerful and generally take offense at being for removed for a policy stance.  

Recipe for Kehoe Primary?

It’s a long way off, and maybe the absence of activity in a special session increases the speculation, but… there was talk yesterday about how all this fits into Kehoe’s gubernatorial 2028 re-election.

The conventional wisdom is that anything occurring now will be supplanted by five other big events or crises by the time Kehoe’s back before voters.

But… the minority opinion is that this could propel Bill Eigel to make the a second gubernatorial bid – or perhaps LG Dave Wasinger.

Don’t Count Labor Out

One MOScouter thinks I shouldn’t discount labor’s potential influence behind the scenes… Labor won't be much out front, except perhaps the St. Louis side advocating for more storm relief funds.  But behind the scenes they will be pushing: While it’s true there will be construction jobs on either the Missouri or Kansas side, Missouri has prevailing wage and Kansas does not so there is a definite preference.  And the ability to move a few votes can also be helpful in relationships with the customers (the teams).

Avery Forms Committee

Former Rep. Jim Avery formally filed a campaign committee yesterday.  He’ll be running in Senate 22 to replace Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman who has announced she won’t seek re-election. See Avery’s paperwork here.

This is not a surprise as Avery had been spotted months ago working the halls of Jefferson City.  He’s expected to be the leading fundraiser in this race as a trial attorney with some personal resources as well as a network to tap into. 

·       He joins Reps. David Casteel and Reneee Reuter seeking the seat.

May Revenue Solid

With a lot spending being proposed in this special session, the state tax receipts showed a nice number in May.

Tax revenue was 4.8% high than May 2024, adding an extra $72 million to state coffers.  It’s not a huge bump, but the positive number is a relief amid concerns of a weakening economy.

·       Fiscal year-to-date, state revenue is essentially flat (-.1%).

Treat Profile

News Tribune profiles Curtis Treat, the Administrative Rules Division within the Missouri Secretary of State's Office.  Read it here.

·       The Code of State Regulations is more than 10,000 pages.

·       The volume of rules the division reviews varies by day. Some days, there are one or two rules to review, on others there are more than 100.

·       His division offers rule-making classes for state employees whose jobs may involve the process.

·       Treat moved to Jefferson City in 1983 after marrying his wife, who is from here. He began working for the Secretary of State's Office about six years later, first as a records clerk. Treat has served under nine secretaries.

Lobbyist Registrations

Robert Todd Haenisch added Redox Signaling, LLC.

Claudia Alley deleted Promontory 150 LLC c/o Platform Ventures, LLC.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Ward Franz, Abe Rakov, Ray Weter, and Lynda Brotherton.

Bosley Service

The funeral service for Freeman Bosley Sr. will be held at 11AM June 7 at New Horizons United Methodist Church, 4234 Washington Avenue. Visitation will be at the church from 9 to 11AM.