Capitol Calling
Missouri's irreverent and vital news source.
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The Associated Press’ Monday analysis focuses on Gov. Jay Nixon’s decision to stick to the political middle in this year’s bill signing process:
A year out from his re-election campaign, Nixon has just completed an annual bill signing season in which he managed to appeal to fellow Democrats by vetoing several politically charged bills while simultaneously appeasing Republicans by allowing legislation on several of their hot-button issues to become law.
“He’s positioned himself pretty well in the middle of the political spectrum,” said Peverill Squire, a political science professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
The Republican-led Legislature sent Nixon nearly 150 bills this year. He vetoed 14, allowed three to become law without his signature and signed the rest by last week’s deadline.
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The AP reports that a lawsuit has been filed attempting to squelch a ballot item authorizing voter identification legislation.
From the article:
Rather than protect voters, as the legislatively approved ballot title states, the measure actually would restrict the constitutionally granted right to vote in elections, Denise Lieberman, an attorney for a group backing the lawsuit, told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday and assigned Cole County Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce, online court records show. It asks the judge to bar the measure from the ballot or, alternatively, to rewrite the summary presented to voters.
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Associated Press reporter David Lieb writes this week on the enormous cost this spring’s disasters will have on Missouri.
Here’s a snippet from Lieb’s AP Monday analysis:
Thirty days of destruction in Missouri. Billions of dollars of damage. And it may not be done, as communities along the Missouri River from St. Joseph to St. Louis brace for a new round of flooding.
The economic aftershocks of Missouri’s spring of disasters may be felt for years, even by many who weren’t personally affected by the storms. Insurance premiums are likely to increase for home and vehicle owners. Restaurants and retail shops are likely to see lower sales in southeast Missouri. Utility rates are likely to rise in the southwestern part of the state. And Missouri’s budget — already out of balance — now is tens of millions of dollars deeper in the hole, which could lead to more cuts to government services and schools.
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The Associated Press is reporting that Gov. Jay Nixon withdrew his nomination of Jeff Schaeperkoetter to the State Tax Commission.And the wire service said that the nomination was derailed because of a ruling the former legislator made while he was a judge.
From the article:
The governor’s decision came after some Republican senators raised concerns about a sentence Schaeperkoetter imposed as a circuit judge in December 2000. Jurors convicted Matthew J. Wasiak of rape, sodomy and deviate sexual assault and recommended sentences of 10 years on each of the first two counts and seven years for the sexual assault charge. Schaeperkoetter suspended the prison sentences and instead ordered Wasiak to spend 120 days in jail, placed him on probation and directed him to pay $5,000 in restitution to the victim.
State Sen. Jane Cunningham was among those opposing Schaeperkoetter’s appointment to the Tax Commission.
“As a woman, I cannot possibly defend ratifying the nomination for someone who has made that kind of decision — I just cannot defend it,” said Cunningham, R-Chesterfield.
