https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/government-politics/missouri-lawmakers-consider-billions-in-incentives-for-megaprojects/article_1df3d3d4-f817-11ee-8ad4-d39e577418f0.html#tracking-source=home-top-storyState lawmakers, with the backing of St. Louis business groups, are hoping to join an expensive rush of states trying to lure multibillion-dollar megaprojects to Missouri.
Legislation pending in the House would create what could become a $1 billion incentive program aimed at bringing microchip, electric vehicle and battery projects to the state.
The move mirrors plans in place in Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas that have committed to spending big dollars to attract the new projects.
Under the plan sponsored by Rep. Brad Christ, a St. Louis County Republican, the payouts to qualifying companies would be capped at $200 million per year over five years. Companies would have to plan to spend $1 billion on developing the factory with a minimum of 500 new jobs. Of those jobs, 150 must go to full-time residents of Missouri. “Missouri is being outpaced by peer states in the recruitment of advanced manufacturing megaprojects,” said Greater St. Louis Inc., one of the organizations lobbying for the plan.
While other states have made billion-dollar pledges for microchip plants and other newer industries, Greater St. Louis puts Missouri’s incentives for manufacturers at $63 million in 2020, the most recent year available.
The measure needs one more vote in the House before it moves to the Senate for further deliberation. It is not clear if the proposal will make it through the often fractious upper chamber this year with just a month left in the Legislature’s annual session.
In arguing for its passage, Christ said the Missouri plan could help bring companies operating overseas back to the United States. Pandemic-related supply chain issues have also pushed companies to look at relocating to the states.
I hope a lot of Republicans vote for him in November.While Young acknowledged his long odds in the race, he dismissed the idea that he was just in it to play spoiler for Hawley. “What is there to spoil at this point?” Young said. “The parties are destroying our country. And so whether a Republican goes in or a Democrat goes in, even though I voted Republican most of my life at this point, I’m so disgusted with what both parties are doing that it doesn’t matter to me which one of those guys goes in if it’s not me.”
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/government-politics/missouri-state-senator-berates-secretary-of-state-calls-him-coward-and-worse/article_f1a01694-00ae-11ef-9b3d-6f10020227af.html#tracking-source=home-top-storyA state senator berated Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft at a Republican event on Friday in a video that was circulated widely over the weekend.
In the clip, which lasted less than a minute, state Sen. Denny Hoskins, a Warrensburg Republican who is seeking Ashcroft’s job as secretary of state, called Ashcroft “chicken (expletive)” six times and also a “(expletive) coward.”
Ashcroft remained calm throughout the interaction.
Hoskins, in a subsequent social media post, said Ashcroft had “barked off” and pointed his finger in his wife Michelle’s face after Ashcroft finished his speech at the Perry County Lincoln Days.
At the beginning of the video, Hoskins asked, “You have something to say to me?” Ashcroft responded, “I just said, ‘the truth hurts.’” “Yeah, to my wife,” Hoskins said. Ashcroft is heard saying “she was looking at me” and that “I just responded to her.”
Hoskins said, “whatever ... she was looking at you when you walked by? You’re a chicken (expletive).” “If you got something to say, be man enough to say it to me,” Hoskins said.
Ashcroft then said he had told Hoskins the secretary of state “doesn’t control” libraries, in an aside that isn’t elaborated on in the video.
“I will always honor and defend my wife, and I won’t tolerate another man putting his finger in my wife’s face and barking off to her,” Hoskins said afterward on social media.
He said state Rep. Adam Schwadron, a St. Charles Republican who is also running for secretary of state, recorded the encounter on his cellphone. Schwadron on Monday provided a copy of the recording to the Post-Dispatch.
Ashcroft’s campaign on Monday denied the secretary of state “barked off” and pointed at Hoskins’ wife.
Jason Cabel Roe, a spokesman for Ashcroft’s campaign, said Monday “none of that” happened and that Hoskins “just flew off the handle for no reason.
“Campaigns can get stressful and Jay understands, and he’s willing to say bygones are bygones,” Roe said in a text message.
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-courts/missouri-supreme-court-strikes-down-2022-vote-on-kc-police-funding/article_51f26240-0799-11ef-aee1-576955495c25.htmlThe Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday took the unusual step of striking down a 2022 voter-approved constitutional amendment that required Kansas City to spend a larger percentage of its money on the police department and ordered that the issue go back before voters in November.
The ruling overturns a ballot measure approved by 63% of voters in November 2022. It required the city to spend 25% of general revenue on police, up from the previous 20% requirement.
Democratic Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas filed suit in 2023, alleging that voters were misled because the ballot language used false financial estimates in the fiscal note summary.
The lawsuit stated that Kansas City leaders had informed state officials prior to the November 2022 election that the ballot measure would cost the city nearly $39 million and require cuts in other services. But the fiscal note summary stated that “local governmental entities estimate no additional costs or savings related to this proposal.” State Supreme Court Judge Paul C. Wilson wrote that the ruling wasn’t about whether Kansas City adequately funds its police. “Instead, the only issue in this case is whether the auditor’s fiscal note summary — the very last thing each and every voter saw before voting ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on Amendment No. 4 — fairly and accurately summarized the auditor’s fiscal note ...,” Wilson wrote. “This Court concludes it did not and, therefore, orders a new election on this question to be conducted as part of the statewide general election on November 5, 2024.”
Lucas responded on X by stating that the court “sided with what is fair and just: the people of Kansas City’s voices should not be ignored in conversations about our own safety. This is an important decision standing up for the rights of cities and their people.”
Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, who is running for governor, wrote on X that while Lucas “went to Court to defund the police, I will never stop fighting to ensure the KC police are funded.”
Former Missouri Supreme Court Judge Michael Wolff said the ruling was unusual. But Wolff said that state statutes have no provisions allowing interested parties to see the wording of the fiscal note summary prior to an election.
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/government-politics/sports-betting-gambling-missouri-ballot-petition-vote/article_6b0f3e2a-08b0-11ef-bfd1-17092da89222.html#tracking-source=home-top-storyA coalition backing legal sports betting in Missouri said Thursday it turned in roughly twice the number of signatures needed to put the question on the November general election ballot.
The submission of more than 340,000 signatures represents the first major step toward Missouri becoming the 39th state to legalize sports betting, said Jack Cardetti, spokesman for Winning for Missouri Education, the coalition spearheading the sports wagering ballot initiative.
“Quite frankly, getting those signatures was easier than we ever anticipated,” he said at a news conference near the Missouri Capitol.
The coalition is led by the state’s six professional sports teams — St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Blues, St. Louis City SC, Kansas City Chiefs, Kansas City Royals and the Kansas City Current — and backed by sports betting giants FanDuel and DraftKings. “We get feedback from our fans all the time,” said Mike Whittle, St. Louis Cardinals senior vice president and general counsel. “One of the big issues we get feedback on is this particular issue: When is sports wagering gonna be legal in Missouri?’” e added: “Our fans get it. They see this revenue’s going outside of Missouri, and they ask the question, ‘Why can’t we keep it in Missouri?’”
With the 2026 World Cup games ahead in Kansas City, “We know that now is the time to provide safe, legal and regulated sports betting (in) Missouri,” said St. Louis City SC spokesperson Courtney Mueller.
The ballot measure would set the sports betting tax rate at 10% and allow Missouri’s professional sports franchises and the state’s 13 casinos to operate retail and online sports betting.
Part of the wagering tax would go to “institutions of elementary, secondary and higher education” and a $5 million “compulsive gambling prevention fund.”
Before an official determination that the ballot question will be put to voters in fall, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft must certify that enough valid signatures were submitted. The determination must be made mid-August at the latest, though it could occur earlier.
Right. I am largely indifferent. It will benefit some people a lot, it will hurt some people ALOT, and the vast majority will only feel it in very small ways near negligible ways. More convenient to place bets for personal entertainment, increased tax revenues from gambling which is offset largely by less spending elsewhere and slightly increased demand for social services (and associated funding needs) to support those devastated people who couldn't handle the temptation. That said if you are addicted to gambling its not like you can't ALREADY gamble your way into poverty.symphonicpoet wrote: ↑May 03, 2024^I'm a bit suspicious of the sports betting thing myself. The fact that there's so much money lined up behind it gives it a certain unsavory smell. I've seen some reporting that makes me think it's probably not the best thing economically for the working and middle classes, and that the net impact could be pretty far to the negative. (Even if it will make the casinos and team ownership richer.) It's not like Bally has been especially good for us. (Note the disastrous Fox Sports purchase and ensuing mess.) I don't know the issue remotely as well as I should, but . . . I have a feeling there's a lot of information out there that the money people gathering signatures on that one aren't circulating with their petitions.
won't MOLeg just overturn the referendum vote like they do whenever they don't like the results of a referendum vote?GoHarvOrGoHome wrote: ↑May 03, 2024My sister has been working with org gathering signatures to put abortion on the ballet and they believe they have gathered enough to move forward, with a nice cushion.
Huge news for Missouri
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/government-politics/survival-of-missouri-constitutional-amendment-plan-in-doubt-after-democrats-block-vote/article_34c243e2-1398-11ef-8e3e-e7202179c657.html#tracking-source=home-top-storyAn effort aimed at restricting citizen-led initiative petitions was on life support Thursday amid rancor and disagreement in the Missouri Senate.
The discord Thursday came a day after a coalition of Senate Republicans and Democrats voted to negotiate with the House. But the House Thursday rejected the offer, sending the issue back to the paralyzed Senate.
The measure, if approved by voters, would limit future constitutional amendments by requiring them to win in five of Missouri’s eight congressional districts to take effect.
The disagreement between the Senate and House is on the addition of so-called “ballot candy” to the question, which is designed to increase voter support. A coalition of Senate Democrats and Republicans previously voted in February to strip the extra provisions from the question. But House Republicans, prodded by Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, R-Arnold, added extra provisions to the plan, including a requirement that only U.S. citizens can vote on constitutional amendments, and a provision barring foreign interference in amendment campaigns.
U.S. citizenship is already a voter registration qualification in Missouri, and federal law already bars election spending by foreign nationals.
Senate Republicans brought the House plan to the floor for final action Monday. But Democrats blocked a vote for 50 hours, and a bipartisan coalition voted for the negotiations with the House. The move drew condemnation from the Missouri Freedom Caucus, which counts five state senators as members.
Republicans want voters to approve the higher threshold in the Aug. 6 primary, before a likely Nov. 5 vote to overturn the state’s near-total abortion ban.
When the Senate convened Thursday, Sen. Bill Eigel, a member of the hard-right faction, stalled traffic by offering an amendment to the Senate Journal that would’ve said a herd of rhinoceroses — an homage to the term “Republicans In Name Only” — had stampeded through the Senate on Wednesday.
To be fair, he was taking night classes while serving in the military. That doesn’t sound so easy to me. Plus, I don’t think a college degree indicates a whole lot in terms of intelligence. Hell, I was able to get one…JaneJacobsGhost wrote:Our idiot governor (who couldn’t even eke out a college degree - please allow that to sink in. The chief executive of a state larger in population and GDP than Finland does not have anything beyond a HS degree) nixed $1B from the upcoming budget with many cuts to the St. Louis region despite huge surpluses.
Many of the cuts were called “pet projects” but he notably did not cut $150 million for US 67 expansion around Poplar Bluff or $40 million for US 65 expansion from Buffalo to Warsaw.
It’s apparently critical for the rednecks of our state to access the Casey’s General Store two counties over on a 4 lane divided highway.
Plain and simple its not a requirement to hold office and your assertions are blatantly elitist. A person gets a college degree so they can get their first job. Job performance gets you your next job. Plenty of very intelligent people don't go to college and these days its often a smarter and smarter value proposition.JaneJacobsGhost wrote: ↑Jul 03, 2024The lack of a college degree indicates plenty. It’s a pre requisite for even low level employment, let alone being the chief executive of a $50 billion business.
He’s the only governor in the country that doesn’t have a college degree. He’s a joke and so is Jeff City.
