Jesus wasn't the only one who has ever had just a few loaves and fishes to feed a throng. This year, every director of a state agency in Missouri knows how it feels to try to do almost as much as ever with only fives loaves and two fishes. That was the message from the panelists at the Missouri Budget Forum last Friday, sponsored by the Nonprofit Services Center and moderated by Dr. James Kimmel. Ron Levy, head of the Department of Social Services, the largest department in the state, with a budget of $8 billion, showed a slide depicting the fact that until 2002, the state had not, in more than a quarter of a century, experienced a drop in revenue. '02 and '03 were bad years, but the drop in revenue in '09 rivaled the drops of those two years put together.
Rep. Rachel Storch, D-St. Louis, serves on the House Budget Committee. She smiled ruefully that there's a difference between playing the hand you're dealt and fretting that the economic structure is a house of cards. Perhaps Storch would feel more upbeat if Missouri were like Oregon, which is one of nine states to raise taxes on the wealthy this year. Right. When hell freezes over. Meantime, some revenue enhancement ideas being seriously considered are: levying an internet sales tax and raising cigarette taxes. One of the Carolinas is about to do the latter, and when it does, Missouri will have the lowest cigarette tax in the country.
The funding issue that will drive the budget this year, Storch says, is that the public school foundation formula is going to require an additional $87 million. Nixon has found $18 million of that. Where the other $59 million will come from, nobody knows.
And looking beyond this year, when we at least have stimulus funds to cushion the blow, the picture is bleak. We could be facing a one billion dollar shortfall in FY 2011.
Even with the stimulus funds, Margaret Donnelly, Director of Health and Senior Services, pointed out that she had to pare 130 jobs--despite the fact, for example, that senior abuse and neglect hotline calls were up 9 percent last year. And those calls have to be answered. She had high praise for Governor Nixon in this tough economic environment:
(Full Disclosure: I consulted for Margaret Donnelly during her 2008 run for Attorney General.)
Sometimes I'm not sure what world the glibertarians at Show Me Institute live in. Last week, Margaret Donnelly, Missouri Director of the Department of Health and Senior Services, called for Missourians to wear purple on Monday to raise awareness of senior abuse. Sounds innocent enough, right?
In the eyes of Show Me Institute contributor Sarah Brodsky, this constituted leading an official government-sponsored protest against senior abuse. Somehow, this will send us on the slippery slope to official state condemnation of unpopular demonstrations, though she never makes it clear how.
One could quibble with the efficacy of a call to wear purple as a tool for raising awareness, but what Brodsky objects to is any and all government intiatives to alter behavior:
But protesting abuse and deciding what color to wear should be left to the private sector, without state influence one way or the other. [I swear, I did not use an Ayn Rand quote generator to make that sentence up. -Clark]
You could just as easily take a page from Brodsky's book and use a slippery slope argument (otherwise known as a fallacy) to say that following Brodsky's objection would lead to anarchy and murder.
Either way, it's a joke. Donnelly wasn't "protesting" against senior abuse; she was trying to raise awareness about a serious problem. And there's nothing wrong with government officials calling attention to a cause that private citizens (mostly doctors) organized.
Congratulations to Margaret Donnelly for being picked by Nixon to head the office of Health and Senior Services. Who could be more appropriate? Margaret is an attorney and a former social worker, who blended those two aspects of her career by representing women and children in court and by establishing the first domestic violence shelter in St. Louis County.
If I worked in the Department of Health and Senior Services, I'd be glad to see a new boss coming who's proven her concern for the more helpless among us by spending her life in the trenches.
Last spring, the Republican legislature shunted aside Margaret Donnelly's eminently practical bill to protect Missouri's children from unsafe toys.
Many consumers aren't aware that product recalls - even when issued by the federal Consumer Safety Product Commission (CSPC) - are voluntary. Stores are not legally required to remove the hazardous items from their shelves. Moreover, the CSPC is sorely under funded and does not have the capacity to adequately share all recall information with consumers. And that leaves families at risk. (.....)
Modeled after Illinois' law, the Missouri Children's Product Safety Act would prohibit the sale of all unsafe children's products in Missouri. It outlines the steps companies must take when a product has been recalled. The act would empower the Attorney General to investigate and prosecute violations.
As it turns out, the problem of dangerous toys is much more widespread than you might imagine:
One in three toys tested by a Michigan nonprofit group contained medium or high levels of toxic chemicals, according to a report released Wednesday. And U.S.-made children's toys didn't necessarily contain fewer toxins than their imported counterparts.
Robin Carnahan, the Missouri Secretary of State, has certified the results of the Democratic Attorney General primary recount. State Senator Chris Koster is the Democratic nominee:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Jefferson City, Missouri - Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan today announced the certified results from the recounts of the Attorney General Democratic primary election and two State Senate Democratic primaries.
The final results of the Democratic Attorney General primary recount confirmed the victory of State Senator Chris Koster over Representative Margaret Donnelly. The difference between the two candidates after the recount is 829 votes, and the difference before the recount was 780 votes.
Final results of the recount are as follows: Sen. Chris Koster, 118,934 votes; Rep. Margaret Donnelly, 118,105 votes; Rep. Jeff Harris 86,550 votes; and Molly Williams, 23,140 votes....
....The Democratic Attorney General primary recount is the second statewide recount conducted since Secretary Carnahan took office in 2005. In 2006, a recount of the Republican State Auditor primary confirmed the victory of Sandra Thomas over Jack Jackson.
-- 30 --
[emphasis added]
Chris Koster's campaign issued the following press release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2008
KOSTER CALLS FOR UNITY; LOOKS FORWARD TO FALL CAMPAIGN
Senator Chris Koster, the Democratic nominee for Attorney General, today issued the following statement regarding the certification of recount results in the Attorney General primary election:
"Throughout a hard-fought primary campaign, Representatives Donnelly and Harris championed issues critical to Missouri's future, ranging from important consumer protections to the prosecution of cyber crimes. I look forward to working with both of them and their supporters to carry those issues and others through the November election and into the Attorney General's Office. It is now time to move forward as one strong, united Democratic ticket led by Missouri's next governor, Jay Nixon, to deliver the change our state's working families so desperately need."
###
Update: Margaret Donnelly's campaign sent out the following e-mail:
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Losing Democratic attorney general candidate Margaret Donnelly has been rebuffed on procedural grounds by the Missouri Supreme Court in her quest for a review of uncounted ballot.
But Donnelly has quickly re-filed her lawsuit in Clay County Circuit Court...
Today I received the following via e-mail from Margaret Donnelly's legal representatives:
Margaret Donnelly Officially Files Request for Recount in Attorney General Primary
Certification of Missouri Democratic Primary Results Means that Campaign Can Proceed with Formal Request of Recount
After receiving word that the Democratic primary results for the Missouri Attorney General race were certified late last week, Representative Margaret Donnelly (Dem.) has officially filed her formal request for a recount of the Democratic ballots. As Donnelly was second to Senator Chris Koster by a 0.2% margin, with a 780-vote differential out of more than 346,000 votes cast, this result is well within the margin necessary to qualify for a recount.
In accordance with the state statutes that provide guidance for this procedure, the Donnelly campaign has filed a petition with the state's Supreme Court to consider all votes, including rejected absentee and provisional ballots, cast in the primary election. With this result representing the closest statewide race in Missouri history, each vote becomes all the more significant in an outcome where a mere one-vote swing in as few as 25% of the precincts in the state would result in a Donnelly victory.
Acting on the campaign's behalf, Lathrop & Gage L.C. filed the official request for recount pursuant to Section 115.601, RSMo late on Friday, and on Monday afternoon filed its petition with the Missouri Supreme Court to consider all votes in the process, including rejected absentee and provisional ballots. Member Richard Rhyne of the firm's Kansas City office has led the legal team in this matter - during the campaign he served as chair of the Donnelly for Attorney General Greater Kansas City-Area Steering Committee, and has handled election recount matters in his legal practice.
"We are following the procedure that the state has established, so at this point it is a legal proceeding," Ms. Donnelly said. "We want to be sure that all voices are heard in this election, which is the common goal that we and the party both share...."
[emphasis added]
As of this writing the petition mentioned in the e-mail and reportedly filed with the Missouri Supreme Court (separate from the recount request filed with the Missouri Secretary of State) doesn't show up in the case file system.
We received the following press release from Margaret Donnelly's campaign:
For Immediate Release
Margaret Donnelly Asks Secretary of State's Office for Recount of Attorney General Results
Representative Margaret Donnelly, 2008 candidate for Attorney General in the state of Missouri, today announced her intention to file a formal request for a recount of the Democratic ballots cast in the state's primary election August 5. Donnelly was second to Chris Koster by a 0.2% margin, with a 794-vote differential out of more than 346,000 votes cast. (Results are still unofficial until they are certified by the Secretary of State.) With the smallest margin in a statewide race in Missouri history, a one-vote swing in as few as 25% of the precincts in the state would result in a Donnelly victory.
"Voting is the heart of the democratic process, and we are pursuing a recount as that is the fairest way possible to make sure the people's voice through the election is most accurately heard," Ms. Donnelly said. "I have received encouragement to pursue the recount from an overwhelming number of Democratic primary voters. At this stage the recount becomes a legal procedure."
Lathrop & Gage L.C. has been hired to represent the Donnelly campaign in this matter. Member Richard Rhyne of the firm's Kansas City office has served as chair of the Donnelly for Attorney General Greater Kansas City-Area Steering Committee, and has handled election recount matters in his legal practice.
"Lathrop & Gage has handled election recounts like this many times before," Ms. Donnelly said. Counted among those matters would be the Dolan v. Powers recount of the Johnson County, Missouri Auditor's race, a precedent-setting case that set the standard for election recounts since Missouri enacted the Uniform Counting Standards. "As candidates are able to request a recount whenever their losing margin is less than 1 percentage point, and given the slim margin separating the candidates at the top, we feel it is in the best interest of the state and of all those who voted to make sure there is no error in tabulating the final results and that the votes of all citizens are counted for this important race."
[emphasis added]
The release from Donnelly's campaign mentions the Johnson County recount from the 2006 election. Our previous coverage of that case:
The last statewide primary recount occurred in 2006, in the republican State Auditor primary. The results were not overturned.
Update:
A press release from Chris Koster's campaign:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FRIDAY, AUGUST 15, 2008
KOSTER WELCOMES RECOUNT; CONFIDENT IN VICTORY
Senator Chris Koster today issued the following statement regarding the recount in the Attorney General primary election:
"Representative Donnelly and her supporters ran a tremendous race. It is within her right to verify the election's results. We remain confident that our campaign is on the path to victory in November, and I will continue to travel to every corner of Missouri to talk about my law enforcement experience and the issues that matter most to working families."
Yeah, it's called the Governor's Ham Breakfast, but the one we've got currently is such a lame duck that the name of the meal doesn't exactly go with his title...
The parking area near the Director's Tent, site of the breakfast, is surrounded by a forest of candidate yard signs.
Starting at 7:00 this morning on the grounds of the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia campaigns lined the path to the ham breakfast entry gate with volunteers who held candidate signs and offered campaign stickers in a long and colorful gauntlet which attendees passed through to get to the breakfast.
State Representative Paul LeVota (D) (right), House Minority Leader.
Before the breakfast candidates greet supporters, each other, their opponents, and their opponent's supporters in one giant schmooze fest outside the tent (and later, inside)- all with the media watching, listening, and photographing.
I'm not that far along. I have one more bone to pick, and it's with Robert McCulloch, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney.
Not only did McCulloch endorse Chris Koster, he produced a robocall for him on the day before the election. I got one.
The point of his call--the same point Koster himself made in ad after robocall after ad--is that Koster was the only candidate with prosecutorial experience. Right. So? Since the Attorney General does no actual prosecuting himself, and since the duties have mainly to do with setting policy and administrating, Koster's prosecutorial experience is worth ... more than a tinker's damn, but not a whole lot.
So Robert McCulloch could be said to have cost Margaret Donnelly the election. She lost by an eyelash, and that robocall that McCulloch produced easily added enough votes to Koster's column to make the difference.
Thursday evening I went to a forum for attorney general candidates that was hosted by former governor Bob Holden at Webster University. I had heard Harris and Donnelly speak at a previous forum (where Koster canceled because of a scheduling conflict). Since I've never heard Koster speak but have been told what an excellent speaker he is, I was curious to see how he would impress me.
But oops. He had another scheduling conflict. All I got of Koster was that one audience member asked Donnelly and Harris what they knew about him. I never heard either of them criticize the other all evening or the last time they spoke. They were less kind to Koster. Margaret, at least, was strictly Jack Webb in the information she offered. While Jeff added more facts to her answer, he couldn't resist a humorous jab or two during the evening.
But once that question was answered, both candidates fielded questions on issues, highlighting their own impeccable progressive creds. To give you the flavor, here's Margaret talking about preventing prison recidivism:
Last week, Margaret Donnelly issued a press release listing some of her newer ideas for expanding the role of the Attorney General's office, as well as mentioning ideas she's already proposed. Among the old ideas would be banning toxic chemicals in children's products and requiring stores to pull dangerous products or face fines of $500 a day.
Among the new ideas were setting up a senior citizens fraud hotline and e-mail alert system, as well as pushing for funding to help local law enforcement fight meth and track sexual predators who fail to register.
Those are straightforward suggestions, but two of her other ideas require some explanation.
She would investigate fraud in connection with applications for reverse mortgages. If a house is paid off, usually by a senior citizen, that person can apply for a reverse mortgage in order to obtain needed cash. That can be a good move if, for example, the house is in need of extensive repairs or the senior citizen now requires care in the home.
The seed was planted a few weeks ago, when a commenter lauded Jeff Harris' internet outreach and wondered if someone who supported Margaret Donnelly could do the same thing for her. The thought went into full bloom when I saw her in action at the West County Democrats debate last week. From the beginning of the debate, she was passionate, intelligent, articulate, and I agreed with her on the issues. I was also impressed by her experience. Over the last two decades, Rep. Donnelly has been a family lawyer fighting for abused children and spouses, an advocate who helped establish the first battered women's shelter in St. Louis County, served on school boards and as a Metro commissioner; and as ranking Democrat on the budget commitee, she has a comprehensive knowledge of the same state agencies that an Attorney General has to deal with extensively. I was outraged that none of this seemed to be coming across over the internet, and as someone who has been involved in online politics in one way or another since 2002, I thought I could be of help. Late last week, I offered my services to Margaret, and she accepted.
Ironically, I've decided not to write any further frontpage diaries about the Attorney General race, because I'm being paid for my help. I don't want to give candidates the impression that they can pay for access or to slant coverage one way or another. Our other regular frontpagers will continue to do a good job covering the race, and I hope that readers will continue to comment and contribute diaries as well. I may step in now and again to comment in order to correct an incorrect statement about Rep. Donnelly, but I anticipate that others here will do a good enough job that I don't have to. In any case, I look forward to a spirited primary, and to helping Margaret Donnelly become Missouri's first female Attorney General.
The West County Democrats scheduled a forum for candidates in the Attorney General's race for this month's meeting, but unfortunately, we only got a look at Margaret Donnelly and Jeff Harris. Chris Koster was a no show. His campaign informed the WCD hosts that a scheduling glitch had gotten him scheduled for two different events at once.
Since WCD is a very progressive group of people, there was skepticism about the explanation from Koster's campaign--you know, a feeling that Koster might have canceled because he knew he'd be in hostile territory. I have no idea whether the skepticism was warranted, but I was disappointed. I know and respect Harris and Donnelly, both of them. But I was really looking forward to forming an impression of Koster.
Instead, here's what I learned: Donnelly and Harris agree on basically every issue--including the idea that Koster isn't a real Democrat. Margaret pointed out that "there will be two Republicans running in this race--but one of them will call himself a Democrat." Jeff told us he has an eight month old daughter named Grace. "She's a Democrat. And she's been a Democrat longer than one of my opponents."
What neither candidate did was speak ill of the other. There wasn't a whisper of that. In fact, Jeff pointed out that when he was leading the Democratic caucus in the House, he appointed Margaret the ranking member on the budget committee. Of course, though, each tried to highlight his or her accomplishments.
Via Tony Messenger at P-D's Political Fix, Republican AG candidate Michael Gibbons will sign HB 2224 tomorrow flanked by police officers. HB 2224 is a bill that creates funding for pay raises for deputy sheriffs. Nevermind that as Senate President Pro Tem, he already signed the bill before the legislative session ended at the end of May.
Also nevermind that his rival Democratic candidates (Margaret Donnelly, Jeff Harris, and Chris Koster) all voted for the same bill during the session.
Speaking of the Democratic candidates, we'll have a report up later in the day about the West County Democrats' Attorney General Forum, with audio of the event (if I can get it uploaded to my computer!)
Now that the dust is settling on the regular legislative session, the Democratic candidates for Attorney General, all of whom serve in the lege, are whipping out press releases. As you can imagine, they all more or less say that they are teh awsum, and their opponents are teh suck. And they're all probably true, to some degree.
What's most interesting is the clash on the Voter ID bill. State Sen. Chris Koster helped kill the Voter ID bill by participating in a filibuster against the "Village Law" repeal, a measure that would strip developers of the right to populate a tract of land with their own employees or relatives, then have the land declared a "village" in order to release the property from a town's zoning regulations. The "right" was only granted by an unknown senator slipping it in a larger bill undetected last session, and many Republicans and Democrats were rightly upset about it. So Koster filibustered a good measure to correct a bad bill, and both Donnelly and Harris nail him for it.
But Koster has his own side to the story. He quotes our own Blue Girl and Michael Bersin, among others, crediting him for stopping the Voter ID bill by chewing up so much of the waning hours of the session with his filibuster. And he does deserve credit, because it's not clear that the Voter ID bill would have been stopped in the legislature without Koster's key role in gumming up the works.
Still, I'd like to know exactly where Koster stands on forcing all Missouri voters to present government-issued photo IDs before they can vote, especially since he voted for such a restriction in 2006.
Yesterday I mentioned that Jeff Harris was using his campaign website to promote efforts against the Voter ID bill. Now Margaret Donnelly gets in on the action. There's nothing on her website at the moment, but she did send an e-mail to her list (full text below the fold) asking supporters to contact their state senator and ask them to oppose the bill. I like the language in it - she calls this a continuation of the "the Republican attack on suffrage." Interestingly, she only gives a general link to her website. Harris has a tool to mail an e-mail to state senators about Voter ID, while Donnelly directs you to the Missouri Senate website to look up and contact your senator.
Are there any other elected officials mobilizing like this against the Voter ID bill?
There was a lot of talk at the Missouri Democratic Convention about the new voter ID bill. Robin Carnahan made an excellent speech detailing the problems with the proposed bill (she expanded on this in a Huffington Post diary), and Rep. Lacy Clay highlighted Jay Nixon's strong stance against new voter ID restrictions. Basically, the law would knock up to 240,000 Missourians off the voter rolls to combat a problem for which no evidence exists.
So what do we do about it? The bill is headed for the Missouri Senate, and about the best we can hope for is that a filibuster holds. This would be a good chance for Senator Koster to show he is a true Democrat and is willing to fight for the rights of the elderly, the poor, and minorities who would overwhelmingly be affected by the voter purge. Even in the event of a filibuster, the Republicans will probably break it with a PQ ("moving the previous question", also known as the nuclear option) as they have done in recent sessions to get their way. So it then becomes paramount that the public be made aware of the problems with this bill before they vote on it in early August.
Fortunately, there's also an extremely high profile statewide Democratic primary the same day the voter ID law would be placed on the ballot. Three Democrats are running for Attorney General, and if all of them speak often and loudly against the proposed law, in conjunction with other Missouri Democrats with big megaphones, the larger Democratic turnout might be able to overcome it. Jeff Harris is doing just that with a prominent anti-voter ID tool on his website: http://www.electjeffharris.com...
Let's hope the other Attorney General candidates join him soon in this effort.
To bloggers, that is. The Harris campaign hosted another conference call last night with Missouri bloggers. I don't think any bombshells came out of the call. As one could expect, Harris was upbeat about the campaign in general and listed off a number of impressive recent endorsements and fundraising figures. He was restrained and respectful when talking about his primary opponents, as well, only mentioning Koster and Donnelly briefly when talking about fundraising.
I asked Harris two questions. He semi-dodged the first one, and to the second he gave a surprising answer. The first question was about the use of "New Media" in his campaign. Given his greater emphasis on blogger outreach than any other statewide campaign in Missouri, what approach was he taking to other forms of "New Media", like Facebook, Myspace, text messaging, etc.? He gave a generic answer that among other things, his team would continue to be creative. I would have loved to have gotten more specifics, but the answer didn't disappoint all that much. I mean, candidates don't always have every specific detail about campaign statistics and strategy at their fingertips, and frankly, if Jeff Harris can rattle off the ins and outs of Facebook and Myspace, it would probably creep me out a little bit.
Margaret Donnelly thinks like an attorney general. Which is to say that she plans to file legislation that will help the next attorney general control the meth trade. Her bill will call for an electronic log book system to track illegal purchases of pseudoephedrine.
Cover your mouth when you yawn. This may not sound sexy, but it would help cops track the meth trade in minutes rather than days. According to Donnelly's press release:
Law enforcement currently must travel to each pharmacy and copy the written logs before returning to their office to review the data for suspicious purchases. But new technology enables pharmacies to post log books online for law enforcement to track in real time. What takes days can take just minutes when law enforcement can go online to track pseudoephedrine purchases and stop illegal meth production.
Located in the heart of Westport --
The Original Kansas City
Californo's: Elegant dining in a delightful atmosphere,
located in the heart of Westport
Congratulations to Margaret Donnelly for being picked by Nixon to head the office of Health and Senior Services. Who could be more appropriate? Margaret is an attorney and a former social worker, who blended those two aspects of her career by representing women and children in court and by establishing the first domestic violence shelter in St. Louis County.
The West County Democrats scheduled a forum for candidates in the Attorney General's race for this month's meeting, but unfortunately, we only got a look at Margaret Donnelly and Jeff Harris. Chris Koster was a no show. His campaign informed the WCD hosts that a scheduling glitch had gotten him scheduled for two different events at once.
Instead, here's what I learned: Donnelly and Harris agree on basically every issue--including the idea that Koster isn't a real Democrat. Margaret pointed out that "there will be two Republicans running in this race--but one of them will call himself a Democrat." Jeff told us he has an eight month old daughter named Grace. "She's a Democrat. And she's been a Democrat longer than one of my opponents."
Margaret Donnelly thinks like an attorney general. Which is to say that she plans to file legislation that will help the next attorney general control the meth trade. Her bill will call for an electronic log book system to track illegal purchases of pseudoephedrine. 
