The post This Week in Missouri Politics – May 11, 2025 appeared first on The Missouri Times.

Then Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe promised the people of this state that if they elected him Governor he would take control of the St. Louis Police Department as part of a plan to bring crime in St. Louis under control.

It was a decision that I assume had to be born out of political courage and an honest desire to tackle this problem because for the life of me I can’t see a political upside to diving into this mess.

In that election our Starbucks drinking purple haired friends in St. Louis who voted for Bill Eigel. While the entire rest of state including southeast Missouri, central Missouri, Hannibal, Springfield, St. Joseph, Joplin, and Kansas City media markets that all voted for Kehoe last summer.

Now Governor Kehoe has made good on that promise.

So why would a Kehoe voter in Dexter care about what happens on Delmar? Well I’ll give you two simple hillbilly reasons:

#1 It is not particularly fun to admit, but if the St. Louis area’s economic output increases just a smidge it equates to a larger increase in our state’s economy than if a dozen counties in southern or northern Missouri increase 20%.

As a hick I don’t like to admit it, but it’s just a fact that if a road is built, or a school is funded (for now at least), or state service is rendered in rural Missourah our friends in St. Louis pay a little of the freight on that.

Further, as some of our city slicker friends don’t like to admit, it’s very hard to see St. Louis ending their decline without addressing the crime problem. For that reason alone it’s in the rest of the state’s own self interest to start to pull for St. Louis.

#2 Governor Kehoe now owns the St. Louis police department and the issue of crime in St. Louis.

It’s one of the most complicated problems facing our state. It’s going to be very difficult, some would say impossible to solve.

However, if you believe in Mike Kehoe, if you believe in his judgment then the rest of the state is going to have to choose to trust him and to get behind his efforts that will ultimately, if successful, benefit the rest of the state. Even if that means finding something to like about St. Louis.

I think there are two sides to tackling this problem. One, there is no way around that fact that Governor Kehoe’s police department is going to have to bring down the number of murders in St. Louis. If he does then I think it’s only fair for the rest of the state to compliment and highlight his and the St. Louis community’s success.

Then I think there is another, maybe the more important part of changing the impression of St. Louis to one of a safe place that is ready for investment: the public relations portion.

Outside of the murder count I simply no longer believe the statistics that are produced, and I don’t think I’m alone there. The car break ins, the muggings that are frankly too common in St. Louis for people to feel safe visiting or investing there. There has to be a full public relations campaign to show that Missourians feel St. Louis is safe before we are going to convince anyone else to move their company’s jobs there. 

I think it’s going to be crucial to see images in the media of the Governor and the First Lady having dinner downtown, maybe walking around downtown without security in the photo. No, this isn’t just an idea to see David Wasinger become Governor this summer, I think the leader has to show he has confidence that St. Louis is safe before anyone else is going to buy in. 

One benchmark that makes sense to me isn’t just reducing the murders. It will make people feel safe walking around downtown similar to how I and others feel safe walking around downtown Kansas City. If you go to a Cardinals game and after you have a few beers at Paddy O’s would you walk to the Magnolia Hotel up on Washington Avenue or would you get an Uber?

If folks are being honest, I think right now they would take an Uber because they just don’t feel safe walking those 9 blocks. Until they do, I think there is still work to be done…not just by the Governor elected by rural Missourah over the objections of St. Louisans, but by rural Missourahians too.  

With that in mind I’ve decided to take the first step put together a list of 10 things for a person from rural Missourah about St. Louis that don’t suck.

#1 The St. Louis Cardinals. The greatest franchise in the history of organized sport. Yes they are terrible right now, but by next summer hope springs eternal that they will return to form. 

#2 The Anheuser Busch Brewery. The German-American Disneyland it’s really a celebration of German culture for the entire family, complete with some of the freshest beer this side of Bavaria. Take a tour of what the height of civilization was like, you will leave a changed man. 

#3 The Chase Park Plaza Hotel. Whatever you feel about St. Louis, the former home of Chris Koster is just an incredible hotel. If you haven’t been, you’re missing out. 

#4 Stan’s Bar. Located at 5007 Macklind Ave. in south city its a damn near perfect bar. You would think you are in Sedalia, or Taos, but nope it’s a jewel right there in St. Louis.

#5 The office at the Kelley Group. It’s a great place for a meeting, or a party, or just to sit and bullshit with folks. Might be the best office space in St. Louis. 

#6 Gregg Keller’s hair. A Ladue institution, the slicked back timeless look of the silver tongued devil is a must see on your trip to St. Louis. 

#7 Frontier Park. Located at 500 S Riverside Drive in St Charles its one of the best parks in the state complete with the top Oktoberfest in Missouri. I know what the folks in St. Charles are saying…we aren’t in St. Louis. While that’s cute, you can think whatever you would like but to the rest of civilization everywhere from Arnold to Wentzville is St. Louis. 

#8 Missouri History Museum. Located in Forest Park (which ain’t bad either) is a terrific, if not a little St. Louis focused, museum on the history of the greatest state in the union. 

#9 Grant’s Farm. Another gift to the people of the world from the Busch family, Grant’s Farm is a family friendly triumph of German culture that to this day is still free to the public. 

#10 Walnut Park. Located in North City, it is where Governor Kehoe was raised. I took my son Gussie there once while on the F150 tour visiting Senator May. It will make you proud to be a Missourian when you see that a kid from Walnut Park could become Governor of the Great State of Missouri. 

Well I feel as though I’ve done my part. Now it might be a nice move for the First Lady to trade that pink shirt in for a red one next year at opening day.

Scott Faughn

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.

The post TWMP Column: If you’re a Kehoe supporter, it’s time to find something to like about St. Louis  appeared first on The Missouri Times.

The debate is painful, and there is only a handful of smart people who really understand what is going on when it comes to this industry. Public Service Commission Chairwoman Kayla Hahn, Sen. Mike Cierpiot, Rep. Bob Bromley and a few others, but not many more have spent the time to understand how a light comes on.

Like all of you, my hillbilly brain is worried about more important matters… like when are the DeWitts going to end our state’s long-running tragedy and fire Bow Tie and send Marmol packing or why would anyone stay at the Capitol Plaza? These are the taxing issues that keep me up at night.

However, with session in full swing, it seems like the Missouri Senate is poised to subject us all to a little bit of pain as they wrestle with a wide-ranging utility bill.

When Sen. Mike Cierpiot brought up his 94-page bill for debate earlier this month, it was hard for me to get through the proposal’s summary let alone the entire thing (Kelton’s note: he hasn’t read it).

It’s confusing and full of concepts most people outside of the utility industry have never heard of. Thankfully, the Senate floor leader only forced us to listen to the issue for a handful of hours, but with it being so early in session, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was a sign of things to come. It feels like this is the year for a utility bill to move forward and make its way to the governor’s desk.

Now, being from West Butler County, I don’t ask for much when it comes to my utility companies: keep my lights and heat on and make sure my water is clean – it’s not nuclear science, except it kinda is.

In Missouri, our utility companies, co-ops and municipal utilities do a good job at this for the most part. So, what’s the big deal with this bill? Why are so many people fired up about it? The more I think about it, the more it started to make sense: more power.

Not Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor power, but more electricity. A big part of Senate Bill 4 is a provision designed to help utility companies like Ameren Missouri and Evergy build more natural gas power plants. As I understand it, these electric companies aren’t just building these plants because they want to, they need to because we are using more electricity than ever before.

Not because more people are charging their Priuses at Starbucks as they read pointless hit pieces from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s editorial board, they have the power to take care of those folks and the ones writing on Facebook too.

Businesses and manufacturers require more power today than ever before, including existing businesses and those looking to relocate.

From this hillbilly’s perspective, Missourah needs more power and a lot of it if the state wants to remain a place where manufacturers, tech industries and others want to come and operate. These opportunities represent the potential of billions of dollars of new investment and countless good-paying jobs. If you don’t have the available power, it doesn’t matter if you have a skilled workforce, the right political climate or a winning football team, these companies and manufacturers will cut you from their list quicker than I can pound a Busch Light.

These aren’t just data centers looking to come to Missourah, we are talking about operations the size of the old Noranda plant and bigger – stuff that can change a community for generations. While we’re on the subject, let’s talk about data centers for a bit.

Some may say we shouldn’t build power plants just to support these data centers, that we don’t want them here. To those, I say that’s the biggest piece of BS since the National League adopted the DH. As our everyday lives become more and more dependent on technology, we need these data centers for everything from business applications, entertainment, computing storage and more.

The tech companies that are considering relocating to Missourah need access to these data centers to support their operations. Data centers are a sign of growth, not a drain for our state’s electric companies. It’s also a national security issue, too. Wouldn’t you want your personal information, your pictures of your kids and those 1,000 unread emails on your phone to be housed in a secure data center in Missourah rather than thousands of miles away in China or Russia?

For this hillbilly, I want my stuff protected and stored right here in the Show-Me State, not by some commie on the other side of the world.

Finally, the groups opposing this issue have made me shake my head a bit. I expected the consumer groups and some of the industrials – they are almost always against any major piece of utility legislation – but there have been a couple “conservative” groups that have tried to equate this bill to a tax increase. Taxes are what the government collects, not what I pay my utility company every month.

The last time I checked, Uncle Sam and the power company are two different people. One controls the tax man, and the other can’t do most things without given the green light by the Missouri Public Service Commission. Now I am not going to mention any names, but if some of these groups are serious about eliminating the income tax and slashing personal property taxes, they should want to see more businesses and manufacturers move to Missourah. It’s simple… it you want to increase general revenue without raising taxes get more businesses to move here – even this hillbilly gets it.

While utility legislation is still boring in the eyes of this proud German, I get why it matters. If we want to see more jobs and opportunities come to our state, our utility companies must put steel in the ground and build new power plants to support these opportunities.

If we are serious about cutting taxes, we must find a way to generate more state revenue so we can afford those tax cuts and still provide basic services to those that need it. Let’s not be like Kansas, we can responsibly cut taxes the right way. Thankfully, there are smart people in the Capitol that I know are up to the challenge, but will there be others that listen to the lies and believe this bill is a solution in search of a problem? For the sake of our state’s future, I hope the smart folks win out.

After all, it’s not nuclear science – it’s common sense.

Scott Faughn

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.

The post TWMP Column: It’s boring, it’s complicated and it’s damn important  appeared first on The Missouri Times.

Senator-Elect Maggie Nurrenbern – The lone electoral bright spot for the Missouri Democratic Party she is a future star and on the bright side things can only look up from here for Missouri Democrats.

HRCC – The House Republican Campaign Committee led by Hannah Sutton, Dallas Ernst, and Casey Burns started out the cycle staring at the potential of a ten-seat loss. Just last week most projections stood at around a five-seat loss, but on election night they lost ZERO. An amazing accomplishment that literally no one thought possible, delivered by a record-breaking fundraising effort.

Speaker-Elect Jon Patterson – When you look at the remarkable election night for House Republicans you have to credit the man at the top. He not only led House Republicans to a historic night, but he won his own tough re-election. This is Mike Kehoe’s republican party, but the future of this party is Dr. Jon Patterson.

Judges Kelly Broniec, and Ginger Gooch – These two extremely qualified judges were overwhelmingly retained by Missourians to their seats on the Supreme Court in the face of the most coordinated attack on any judge’s retention in recent memory. Another affirmation of our Missouri Plan against left-wing attacks.

The Osage Indian Nation – They caught a huge break with the amendment allowing a state licensed casino at the Lake of the Ozarks being defeated. It sure looks like the road is paved for Governor Parson to grant the Osage application for an Indian casino at the lake.

The Pro-Choice Community – A win is a win and they will take it and celebrate it. Now they will have to defend their win in court and likely in two years at the ballot box. In the end, many Missourians went to the ballot box and voted for Amendment 3 and for many pro-life Republicans.

Senator-Elect David Gregory – First he fought through a bruising and expensive three-way primary, then he had to stand down the Democrat’s top recruit and being heavily outspent. #BulletproofTiger

Amendment 2 – I’ve never seen a Missouri ballot measure survive the amount of money spent against it. Kudos to Christian Morgan, Jack Cardetti, and their entire team. You don’t count wins by how big the margin is, you count ’em by if you won or not. Amazing work against tall odds.

Governor Mike Parson – He continues the incredible undefeated streak of his statewide appointees winning their elections. Governor Mike Parson has remade the party and the State of Missouri in his image.

Senator Eric Schmitt – Speaking of those Parson appointees US Senator Eric Schmitt is now walking on the biggest stages in national politics, and it’s fun to watch. Missouri’s favorite son will now be one of the top contenders for the presidency in 2028.

Attorney General Andrew Bailey – He led the ticket after single-handedly defeating Wall Street and Washington D.C. in the primary. His future is incredibly bright unless the national spotlight comes calling first.

Chris Arps – He led a masterful campaign to a resounding win on Amendment 7 and is carving out quite a niche in the issues game.

Rep. Keri Ingle – Looking to ’26 she caught a huge break in President Trump being re-elected. SD8 is much more winnable for her with a Republican in the White House. It could be the only Republican who could defeat her now is Speaker Jon Patterson.

Senator-elect Joe Nicola – You’re gonna have to quit calling Joe Nicola wins upsets. Ill give you a prediction that many will consider another upset: Senator Nicola will be a productive and quality addition to the chamber. One who will further increase the esteem and clout of Senator Jill Carter. 

DEI – The morning after the election Governor-elect Kehoe restated his commitment to Alex Bryant on KWTO to ending the left-wing DEI practices and the bureaucrats implementing them in state departments such as the Department of Insurance. You wonder if far-left bureaucrats such as John Rehagen, perhaps the most left-wing bureaucrat in all of state government, get the message and hit the road (assuredly in the far left lane of that road) before January 13th?

Drew Dampf – As Meatloaf would say, “Don’t be sad, because 2 out of 3 ain’t bad”. The head of the Missouri Republican Senate campaign efforts helped deliver wins in SD11 and SD15 to keep the 24-10 majority over the doom and gloom predictions of many.

The Pro-Life Community – A few weeks ago Mike Kehoe got involved in the No on 3 campaign and has put together a cohesive, well-funded, and positive pro-life movement that might actually have the potential to convince the majority of Missourians to join it.

Missouri Chamber vs. Trial Attorneys – The chamber finally came out and put their words into action helping candidates of both parties who they consider pro-business. However, it was the trial lawyers who ended up winning in SD15 and SD17 while I tend to think that Senator Nicola in SD11 ultimately ends up being a friendly as well. Now as for the new Governor…. that might be a different story.

Sunday on This Week in Missouri Politics our featured guest will be House Speaker-Elect Jon Patterson as well as freshmen senators Kurtis Gregory, Maggie Nurrenbern, and Jamie Burger. 

Scott Faughn

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.

The post This Week in Missouri Politics Column: Reflections on the general election  appeared first on The Missouri Times.

The post This Week in Missouri Politics – September 22, 2024 appeared first on The Missouri Times.

Now you’re gonna say how in the hell do you figure that?

Every single elected Republican has come out against far left-wing policies like DEI. From Parson to Kehoe to Schmitt to Hawley to Wagner to Smith to Graves to Luetkemeyer to Bailey to Malek to Ashcroft to Hoskins to Rowden to O’Laughlin to Plocher to Patterson and virtually every Republican member of the General Assembly and even the University of Missouri has come out against DEI there is no way a department would flip the bird to all of them and just carry on with this left-wing nonsense as they please…

Well, I heard a rumor to the contrary. I even heard that a department director was at a DEI conference on June 5th.

Now I was like you I was darn skeptical. However, I thought we would make a game out of it for our midweek update. So I made a Clue board of each department director for the suspect and each department for the room and of course DEI as the weapon.

I contacted each of the 17 departments, actually most of them contacted me or saw me around town, and finally at the end, I received the proof I was dreading.

As you can see here Mrs. Chlora Lindley-Myers was seen speaking at the DEI conference here.

Heck, they even promoted her at the conference on Twitter.

Now I know what you’re thinking, Scott you just photoshopped all that on your computer.

Well, there are two problems with all that:

#1 I am not that good at computers.

#2 I Sunshine requested the schedule for Chlora Lindley-Myers for June 5, 2024.

After receiving this grim news I did a little googling and saw that on the State of Missouri’s own website Mrs. Lindley-Myers not only openly touts her record of promoting DEI, but SHE HAS WON AWARDS FOR DEI.

So it’s not just taxpayers paying for DEI, they are working every day to pay for AWARD WINNING DEI. Right there hiding in plain sight.

Now who is to blame? Well all of us. The media dropped the ball, I personally failed you, legislators with oversight responsibilities dropped the ball, and every single Missourian who could have read her biography on the website they pay for dropped the ball. It’s like the 2024 Cardinals there is plenty of blame to go around.

Now the next question is what is gonna happen about it?

Well for starters Senator Mary Elizabeth Coleman laid the law down during veto session.

With the very likely next Governor of the State of Missouri Mike Kehoe in the dias she stated that NO ONE would be confirmed to run the Department of Insurance and NO money would be getting appropriated there until someone could answer the question of what the hell is going on inside that department.

She was followed by Senator Mike Ciepiot and Senator Jill Carter raising some perfectly logical questions about who is paying for this and how deep is the rot in the department.

Then Senators Curtis Trent and Sandy Crawford got to what is the real meat of the issue. They passed a piece of legislation that in part blocked this clearly out-of-control and insubordinate department from further regulating, essentially Obamacaring, rural insurers out of business.

The Department of Insurance essentially responded to a state law passed by the Missouri General Assembly and signed by Governor Micheal L. Parson by saying that it’s a bad law, they don’t support it, so they will just continue their insubordination and not comply with it.

Senators Trent and Crawford have really found the real issue here. It’s the arrogance of the east coast folks who don’t even live here and don’t give a damn about anyone here, the “Greitens philosophy” of I know more than you because I went to a fancier college than you so I don’t have to follow the rules.

That a department paid by the hard-working taxpayers of this state can flip the bird over and over to those taxpayers’ elected representatives is the real problem here.

Now I think your ol’ hillbilly pal here has a real strong track record of spotting folks like this. The man who hired Mrs. Lindley-Myers, Eric Greitens can vouch for me on that.

I believe with every bone in my Missourah body that there is undoubtedly a direct connection with this left-wing bureaucratic arrogance and a department that has declared wholesale war on rural Missouri insurance premiums.

While the elitist, arrogant bureaucrats at the Department of Insurance travel the world to DEI conferences rubbing elbows with their fellow radical left-wing elitists I know a corn farmer in Marshall, who is a true son of Missouri, whose insurance premiums have skyrocketed 200-300% a year since these left wing policies were forced on rural Missourah.

There is no secret to what they are doing. They have a plan to eliminate small insurers and chase folks into the large monopolies…just like Obamacare. See just like President Trump says these elitists all run in the same globalist pack.

Since I broke this story I have had nearly a dozen small insurance brokers reach out to me. These are folks who have insured rural Missourians for 20 even 30 years. They tell horror stories about the heavy-handedness and arrogance of the department, and all say they’ve never seen anything like it.

Now I suppose some of these issues will sort themselves out in January if Governor Kehoe takes over. Mike Kehoe told the people of this state he would eradicate DEI policies in this state. There is no way to keep that promise if he were to bring Mrs. Lindley-Myers back, and say what you will Mike Kehoe is a man of his word.

Further, by statute, the directors of the departments will have to be re-confirmed by the Missouri Senate.

As of Tuesday, September 17th, I have personally heard from 14 senators who will refuse to confirm Mrs. Lindley-Myers again and will refuse to confirm anyone without changes at the top of the staff.

These are hurting are hard-working men who have spent their lives building a business terrified to speak out publicly because of the backlash they fear will come their way, and they need help…today.

Good rural Missourahians desperate for a hero, but they are too afraid to call for their natural and proven hero Governor Parson because they can’t risk any more retaliation.

I know what the East Coast elitists think about us. I’ve seen it, I can smell it, and this department wreaks of it.

I watched how hard Governor Mike Parson had to work and toil in order to get the state back in a good place after Eric Greitens quit on the job. The job of Governor is harder than any of us can fathom.

I believe with everything in my heart that he wants to leave all 17 departments in good working order for the transition to either Kehoe or Crystal Quade this fall.

Its a fine thing that Mike Parson can look any working man in this state right in the eye and tell them that he left our state in a much much better place than he found it six and a half years ago.

He can look that man in the eye and list 16 of his 17 departments and every single one of them is better off today than when he took office.

I suppose my question is until this mess is cleaned up, would Governor Parson really be able to say that the Department of Insurance is better off today?

If anyone still wonders the answer to that question just tune into the midweek update. I think my simple hillbilly curiosity is going to extend to the NAIC.

The white trash in me likes a fight, so I reckon it will be fun.

Scott Faughn

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.

The post TWMP Column: What the hell is going on at the Dept. of Insurance? appeared first on The Missouri Times.

I had a hard time writing about Kathie because she is one of the people I’ve met covering politics that I consider a friend. Someone I confided in, and it’s hard to write about her in the past tense.

She was not just a friend, but one of those rare mixes of people who are a friend, a mentor, a motherly figure, an example, and someone who you would always want to stand in the back of the room with at a political event and gossip with.

And she was a tried and true Cardinals fan. We always saw eye to eye on that.

To most folks Kathie was a very talented and high profile legislator. She was from St. Charles County, but don’t get the wrong idea. Kathie was a part of the Tom Dempsey era St. Charles County politics.

She was a talented legislator. Kathie had the respect of all of her colleagues, with a large group of Democrats who respected and admired her.

Of course everyone remembers the group of blonde women who ran in a pack and who no one really wanted all fired up about them at once.

One of that crew is former Rep. Shelia Solon, who was kind enough to share a few of her thoughts with me, “Kathie was an inspiring colleague, but more importantly, my friend. Kathie was fiercely loyal, equally kind, opinionated and stubborn. Kathie was true to herself. Each and every day, she was herself, a conservative Republican, who put this state and its people above politics. No one worked harder on our state’s budget than Kathie. Her intelligence and strong work ethic earned her respect from both sides of the aisle. She leaves those of us who loved and respected her so saddened by the loss, but even more grateful to have known such a magnificent person who always put others first. She made us all better people for knowing her”.

I truly enjoyed talking baseball and politics with Kathie, but I’ll probably remember our talks about family more than any other. We never had a good visit without her telling me some story about what her and Pat were up to, or asking about Gussie and Millie.

However, it wasn’t politics, or the Cardinals, that was her passion, it was her son Ryan. Ryan is a talented lawyer and an official in the Parson administration, but all that pales in comparison to being Kathie Conway’s son. She loved him more than anything in the world, my heart is broken for him.

A friend of mine, and a huge fan of Kathie’s, Robert Knodell, gave me a few thoughts about her, “My heart breaks. Kathie was a tremendous public servant and person of courage, but so much more than that. I watched her mentor so many legislators. Especially female members, many of whom advanced to powerful positions in the House and beyond. I heard Kathie say many times, “public service isn’t about what you SAY when the microphones are on; it is about what you DO when you think nobody is looking.” I will miss her integrity and courage, her gallows humor when the Cardinals or Blues weren’t playing well, and above all her friendship.”

In the end I suppose its often hard to maintain your passion while living a world that demands pragmatism. Kathie had a knack for coming into situations and negotiating compromises to actually impact the state.

While I watched her brandish her reputation for pragmatism, but if you wanted to see her red lines, I saw one with Eric Greitens. She stood silent about him for a long time. However, when she, “had enough of him” that was it. With her background investigating sex crimes she was a very respected voice in her caucus.

When she got there, there wasn’t a more passionate or effective advocate of seeing a corrupt Governor removed from office.

Kathie was one of a kind, and I suspect there will never be another one like her.

Scott Faughn

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.

The post TWMP Column: There will never be another one like Kathie Conway  appeared first on The Missouri Times.

The post This Week in Missouri Politics – May 5, 2024 appeared first on The Missouri Times.

Hannah is one of the most genuine, sincere, honest people I’ve ever known in politics.

Goodness literally emanates out of her, and with a handshake that could crack a city slicker’s knuckles.

Her smile can disarm the most angry to the most jaded people in politics, and when she plays piano it fills the entire capitol with joy.

She came to Jefferson City with a famous name, the next generation of a famous southern Missourah family, and as the scripture says to whom much is given much is required.

And she has lived up to their lofty reputation, and then some.

She has left her mark on the State of Missouri in hundreds of ways, perhaps nowhere more so than in the lives of foster children.

Last year Hannah Kelly took on one of the worst jobs in state politics, Chairwoman of the House Ethics Committee.

It’s easily the most thankless job in town. Senators don’t run and tattle on each other, and the Senator’s staff actually works for the senators so if they fire them then….well then they are just fired, and that’s the end of the story.

However, house members, especially more junior house members, and the staff, live for this kind of drama, and the person who has to sort these matters out is ultimately the house ethics chair.

It takes time away from working on the things that they actually ran to do. It’s an awful process of dealing with very personal disputes where no one isn’t a biased witness.

It’s truly public service, and no matter how you do it some people will be put out.

Further, it has clearly taken a toll on the Chairwoman Kelly, as it would anyone.

The person I’ve observed as Chairwoman Kelly runs this ethics committee, and the Chairwoman Kelly that I saw in the hallway last week doesn’t seem much like the Hannah that I know.

There is no other way to put it. This ethics committee has become a dumpster fire that has devolved into getting trash on anyone around it.

It is supposedly a “closed door” and “confidential” process, but there are a handful of facts not in dispute:

• Rep. Chris Sander, a consistent critic of…well everyone and everything, filed an ethics complaint about Speaker Plocher botching his expense reimbursement, totaling approximately $4,000.
• That story broke in October of 2023.
• There are some disgruntled former and current House staffers who are leaking information about House leadership to liberal advocacy groups.
• Last year Speaker Plocher admitted his mistake, audited his entire time in the House, and reimbursed the house approximately $4,000.
• The House ethics committee hired an outside lawyer and paid them $14,750 tax dollars in pursuit of the $4,000 they had already been repaid the year before.
• The leadership of the House ethics committee has repeatedly attempted to go outside the original complaint in attempts to get at Speaker Plocher.
• It is now April of 2024, 7 months later, and there is still no resolution.
• It takes 6.5 months to conceive, carry, and birth a wombat.
• Being chair of the ethics committee sucks.

Do I believe what most do that that Chairwoman Kelly has become a vessel for some current and former staffers to get at Plocher? I do.

Do I believe that she has come to see it as her mission as Chairwoman Kelly to deliver what they consider justice for those current and former staffers? I do.

Now, do I believe Chairwoman Kelly sincerely believes that the ends justify the means? I do.

Further, do I believe that Chairwoman Kelly has intentionally lied or deceived anyone in this endless process? I do not.

Regardless of whether you believe any of the preceding or you don’t, there is literally no one who believes that a competent investigation into what was a pretty simple complaint should have taken this long.

It has surprised me at the seemingly cavalier attitude that Chairwoman Kelly has taken toward the people who have been drug into this endless process.

Imagine being a Republican on that committee and week after week a growing chorus of your caucus is scratching their heads wondering what in the hell you could possibly be doing for seven months. Then how did you authorize spending that much money, and in the end each week you are more and more associated with incompetence and piling up enemies with anyone associated with this dumpster fire.

If you’re a Democrat you’re saddled with this process, you don’t get to decide how long this goes or who is maligned, and the smell of incompetence begins to get on you when week after week there are hearings, the content is leaked to the media and by now your caucus is catching on your being used as a pawn in a fight between Republican electeds and their staff.

Others in both caucuses are now openly wondering if the policies and procedures can be so easily manipulated what does that say if they are accused or for the institution in general?

Honestly, the endless efforts to expand their investigation beyond the complaint look more and more like what they did to Wiley every day, and what democrat today wants to be associated with that? Or republican for that matter.

Now, imagine being someone called to testify in a process that is only barely still passing the smell test, then they leak out that you’re coming to liberals in the press so they can drag anything in your past up to embarrass you?

Then to top it all off, this is such a comedic dumpster fire that the Post prints the story 15 minutes before the committee even gavels in.

You would assume the leakers would at least respect Chairwoman Kelly, who is carrying their water, enough to ask them to embargo the story until the committee starts, but clearly, they don’t even respect her or the process enough to do that.

That is perhaps the best example of the ridiculousness that this committee has been engulfed in.

Don’t blame Kurt Ericsson or The Independent they are just doing their jobs cultivating and using sources and doing it well. You can’t blame this one on fake news or a boogeyman in the media.

Imagine the next time there is an ethics complaint filed. Suppose this committee continues to devolve into a joke. How will the next member have any faith in the proceedings, or a potential victim have any faith that this process can produce anything except endless leaks and meeting after meeting?

After eight months of hearings, the Warren Commission was prepared to take a vote on who assassinated the President of the United States.

Using just plain Missouri common sense would dictate that after seven months and $14,750 spent this committee could present their findings and take a vote over $4,000.

If after that the duly elected members of the Missouri House of Representatives want to remove Speaker Plocher from office over this complaint, then that is their right to do so.

The problem is that while Dean made mistakes, and while the staff wants him gone there has simply been no evidence to shown that he did anything close to what it would take to have him booted from office.

In the end, it’s clear that Dean Plocher screwed up, and he has drank from a bitter cup over it.

It has also become clear that petty staff fights and false controversies over computer programs are simply distractions leaked to liberals to push a conservative speaker whom some in the staff do not like from office.

There’s no question that he should be admonished for his mistake. He is the speaker, the leader, and he should set the example for the body.

The buck stops with him, but at some point, the buck has to stop with this committee, hell there are fewer weeks in session than months that this committee has been investigating him.

The members of this committee have things to better the lives of the people of the state of Missouri they would like to get back to working on.

The institution of the Missouri House of Representatives has a standard of fairness and competence they should want to protect.

Hannah Kelly herself has an impressive legacy to be proud of, and deserves to spend her last weeks as a member of the Missouri House of Representatives finishing her work and being lauded for her accomplished career.

Again, ethics chair is an awful grueling job, but I hope that after this is over, whatever her committee decides whenever it finally decides it, that I see my friend Hannah again.

She may have such a dislike for my critique that it means that she never wishes to consider me a friend again, and if she does that is exclusively my loss.

However, I hope that one night this spring I’m walking through the halls during a senate filibuster and hear that piano in the rotunda.

I hope that I get to come to Wright County this summer to the Laura Ingalls Wilder House and interview her about her career, and keep it for history until the next member of the Kelly family comes to the capitol to serve the state.

More than that I hope to see my friend again.

Tune in Sunday for This Week in Missouri Politics on ABC 30 St. Louis – KDNL KMOS-TV Fox 26 Knpn NewsTalk STL MediaCom.

Scott Faughn

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.

The post TWMP Column: I have a friend named Hannah, I’d like to see her again appeared first on The Missouri Times.

Timestamps:

House Speaker Dean Plocher: 0 – 11:11

SD 7: 11:11 – 11:35

SD 1: 11:35 – 11:56

SD 3: 11:56 – 15:30

SD 5: 15:30 – 16:12

SD 9: 16:20 – 17:17

SD 11: 17:17 – 22:53

SD 13: 22:55 – 24:50

SD 15: 24:50 – 33:18

SD 17: 33:18 – 39:00

SD 19: 39:00 – 41:57

SD 21: 41:57 – 45:40

SD 23 45:40 – 50: 44

SD 25: 51:14 – 51:28

SD 27: 55:30 – 58:00

SD 29: 58:00 – 1:00:56

SD 31: 1:00:58 – 1:02:34

SD 33: 1:02:35 – 1:04:10

The post TWMP Midweek Update – April 8, 2024 appeared first on The Missouri Times.