It’s possible that there has never been more surrounding something so unlikely to actually be enacted.
However, after weeks of drama and complaints, Senator Cierpiot crafted a compromise to end an over 20-hour filibuster and move IP reform to a vote tomorrow.
It was interesting to see democrats railing against “ballot candy” when it was Democrats who supported the greatest use of “ballot candy” in Missouri history in the Clean Missouri IP.
Senator Coleman’s SJR included IP reform with concurrent majorities and several other random proposals most of them actually accomplishing little to nothing but would probably make for good distractions toward passing IP reform that will be an uphill fight on its own.
However, the longer this debate went on cooler heads prevailed and Senator Cierpiot took over and offered an amendment that actually just does IP reform and nothing else.
He basically took a page from Senator Moon’s playbook and made it a true single-subject bill.
The rest was a foregone conclusion.
However, the 18-12 vote was an interesting one.
Republican Senators Bernskoetter, Black, Justin Brown, Cierpiot, Crawford, Eslinger, Gannon, Hoskins and Rowden voted yes.
9 Democrats also voted yes to get to 18.
Voting no was 6 of the opposition senators Brattin, Carter, Eigel, Hoskins, Koenig, and Schroer.
Joined by Senators Ben Brown, Fitzwater, Luetkemeyer, O’Laughlin, Trent, and Senator Coleman voted no as this amendment essentially completely rewrote her bill.
Senator Bean and Senator Rehder were asleep as they had been up all night taking their shifts.
Most interestingly enough not voting was Senator Moon.
He has advocated for single-subject bills ever since he has been in politics, and he has pretty much been right about it.
However, he says he took a walk because he had been up for several hours and while he was gone the amendment went on and the bill was perfected.
His comments during the third-read debate would lead you to believe that he was against the amendment to streamline and de-Clean Missouri the bill.
Hard to understand why the Senator who has consistently fought to vote on single-subject bills in the Senate would want this hodgepodge of nonsense in an SJR.
You assume as long as Senator Coleman is willing to allow the SJR she handled that was completely redone to move forward they will third read the SJR tomorrow and you assume it’s a party-line vote.
There will instantly be pressure on the house to add a big batch of the “ballot candy” to it and send it back over. Then you will start hearing some of the Senators who are closet representatives start their PQ drum beat.
My white trash skepticism has me wondering if anyone really wants to pass IP reform this year.
If I were more of a skeptical hillbilly I might think that the supporters of the SJR wanted to keep the concurrent majorities in the bill because they want the courts to kick it out.
The Democrats could feel ok with that constitutionally questionable part in with the hope that the court boots it, and if it’s a clean Mike Moon-style SJR they think they can beat it at the ballot box.
I interviewed Senator Beck after the vote and asked why his signature on the IP petitions was worth more than mine. Currently you only need signatures in 6 of the 8 congressional districts and the signature gathers never go to SEMO or north Missourah.
Doug is the best but he said they want ballot candy in Clean Missouri (he was wrong) and he said his signature wasn’t worth more than mine under the current system (he was also wrong about that).
Watch the interview here
And the minority of the majority just delights in seeing nothing done so they can blame Caleb.
But maybe I’m too skeptical of a hillbilly.
Big kickoff for Burger in SD27
Since Rep. Jamie Burger announced for SD27 he has been on a fundraising tear.
As of this afternoon he has banked over $210,000 and has put together a hell of a list of supporters in Cape including:
Peter Kinder
Jim Limbaugh
Pete Frazier
Diane Drury
Sheriff Dickerson
Scott Blank
Charlie Herbst
Paul Keeper
Jim Riley
John Thompson
Mark Welker
Jackie Grifft
Dwain Hahs
Brian Gerau
Bob Fox
John Voss
Andrew Moore
Neil Glass
Leslie Herbst
Barbara Gholson
Bob Adams
Mike Kohfield
James Ralph
Sunday on TWMP
Our guest will be Senator Lincoln Hough, and I bet you can guess what we will be discussing.
Scott Faughn is the publisher of The Missouri Times, owner of the Clayton Times in Clayton; SEMO Times in Poplar Bluff; and host of the only statewide political television show, This Week in Missouri Politics.
