MOScout Daily Update: Senate Passes Special Session Bills - Avery Antes $100K - Riley Declare for Speaker and more…
Senate Passes Special Session Bills
Yesterday was a long day in the Senate, but the body ultimately passed the special session bills utilizing the principle I wrote about here a few weeks ago…
May 22 MOScout: “If you want to pass something expensive, make it more expensive.” That formula, one lobbyist quipped, is the key to passing the stadium subsidies.
That was the grease that eased the long torturous path. Governor Mike Kehoe changed the call for the special session…
· Upping the storm relief tax credit for insurance deductibles, to $135 million
· Upping the Disaster Relief Fund, to $100 million.
· Upping the funds earmarked to MURR, to $50 million
· Upping the capital projects from HB19 (which includes MURR) to $360 million.
The call also included Sen. Joe Nicola’s proposal to allow counties to give a tax credit for increases in property tax – though that ran into opposition.
The stadium vote (19-13) was pretty interesting as none of the Senate factions stayed united. 2 Freedom Caucus members were Yeas and 2 were Nays. 7 Dems were Yeas and 3 were Nays.
YEAS: Jason Bean, Doug Beck, Mike Bernskoetter, Rusty Black, Rick Brattin, Jamie Burger, Jill Carter, Mike Cierpiot, Sandy Crawford, Kurtis Gregory, Lincoln Hough, Brad Hudson, Patty Lewis, Karla May, Angela Mosley, Maggie Nurrenbern, Cindy O’Laughlin, Steven Roberts, and Barbara Washington.
NAYS: Ben Brown, Mary Elizabeth Coleman, Travis Fitzwater, David Gregory, Mike Henderson, Tracy McCreery Mike Moon, Joe Nicola, Adam Schnelting, Nick Schroer, Curtis Trent, Stephen Webber, and Brian Williams.
· Sen. Justin Brown was absent, and Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer recused himself (folks said his employer, a law firm, had some entanglement).
First Impressions…
· This was a huge win for Kehoe to push these bills through without getting slogged down in the Senate. The House should be relatively easy now.
· Folks will question whether Dems should have caused more pain to leadership. It’s tough because a number of them did benefit from the boosted storm aid and project funding.
· The Senate Freedom Caucus only has four members. They issued a press release taking a stand, and then two of the four end up voting for the stadium?!
Avery Plunks Down $100K
Jim Avery added $100,000 to his recently established campaign committee for Senate 22. I’m guessing that MATA will also be coming in to help Avery as the campaign continues.
· Avery’s consultant is Sophia Shore. Her other clients this cycle: Rep. Bill Hardwick (Senate 16), Dusty Blue (Senate 18) and Sam Alexander (Senate 28).
Riley Formally Announces Speaker Bid
No surprise here…
Press release: State Representative Alex Riley (R-Springfield) is running to serve as the next Speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives, a position elected by fellow House members. Riley currently serves as House Majority Floor Leader, the second most influential leadership position in the chamber. He was the first Majority Leader elected from Springfield in 100 years and ultimately won without opposition.
· I’ll be surprised if he has any opposition.
Difference Between Stadium and Storm Relief
Stadium bill had lots of lobbyists working it; the storm relief, not so many…
$5K+ Contributions
964 PAC (pro-Myers) - $10,000 from J&J Ventures Gaming of Missouri LLC (Effingham, IL).
Avery for Senate - $100,000 from James Avery.
Lobbyist Registrations
Noel Torpey and Gunnar See deleted Winning for Missouri Education.
Birthdays
Happy birthday to Colleen Coble.
MOScout Schedule
I’ll be off this weekend on a pre-planned trip.