The vested and powerful interests in Jeff City could very well invalidate the 190,027 signatures gathered by volunteers for Missourians to Protect Dogs.  This is the puppy mill petition that would force the Dept. of Ag to do what it’s supposed to do – regulate those god-awful puppy mills.  We would rather see them eliminated altogether, but we know that’s impossible right now.  HJR 86 is on the “informal calendar” and can be voted on at any moment.  We have to let these bastards know they can’t just make our right of initiative petition disappear.  Call, fax, email and keep it up until 6 p.m. Friday.   Here is the suggested message, but you might have your own choice words for these creeps.

As your constituent, I urge you to oppose H.J.R. 86 and legislation with similar wording, which attempt to interfere with Missouri citizens’ right to petition the government on abusive practices, such as the puppy mill ballot initiative now circulating. These bills are unfair and undemocratic, and are so broad they could even protect animal abusers.  

There are efforts underway now to amend H.J.R. 86 and one of the measures in the House to require a super-majority vote on ballot measures relating to animal protection.  Please do not fall for this last minute change, which does not improve the fundamentally bad public policy that these bills represent.

This legislation is a cynical and underhanded attempt to take away the rights of Missouri citizens. Voters overwhelmingly banned cockfighting in 1998, and are now circulating a petition to prevent cruelty at large-scale puppy mills. The right of citizens to petition for new laws is guaranteed by the Missouri Constitution, and lawmakers should not try to interfere with a ballot measure already in progress.

H.J.R. 86, H.B. 1747, S.B. 848, and S.B. 795 would also invest more power in the courts and subject the state to expensive lawsuits from animal abusers who want to overturn anti-cruelty laws. We shouldn’t waste our tax dollars and take away the rights of Missouri voters just to protect puppy mills and animal abusers.

Please oppose these bills and any other bill with similar language.

The prefiling of legislation for the 2010 session of the General Assembly began on Tuesday. For some legislators, it’s time to introduce their variant of “texting while driving” bills (four have been introduced). A list of bills is located here. Here are some of the bills that caught my eye.

HB 1212 Dusenberg, Gary

Removes the Blue Springs School District from the requirement that nonresident teachers or employees pay nonresident tuition for their children and adds the Lee’s Summit School District to this provision

(…)

HB 1215 Dusenberg, Gary

Requires health screenings for public school students in the second grade and eighth grade

(…)

HB 1217 Dusenberg, Gary

Requires only persons younger than 21 years of age to wear protective headgear when operating or riding as a passenger on any motorcycle or motortricyle

Talk about making the 21st birthday a lot more special.

How about some more?

HB 1230  Davis, Cynthia L.

Creates the “Missouri Firearms Freedom Act (LR# 3213L.01I)

HB 1231 Davis, Cynthia L.

Requires Missouri driver’s examinations to be administered in English (LR# 3478L.01I)

HB 1232 Davis, Cynthia L.

Revises the crime of unlawful use of weapons by allowing any individual who is lawfully allowed to possess a firearm or weapon to openly carry it into any church or assembled place of worship (LR# 3299L.01I)

HB 1233 Davis, Cynthia L.

Amends the criteria for appointment of guardians ad litem and designation of volunteer advocates for children in certain administrative or judicial proceedings and amends the best interest of (LR# 3498L.01I)

HB 1234 Davis, Cynthia L.

Establishes the Marriage Matters Act which modifies the requirements for a dissolution of marriage or legal separation (LR# 3385L.01I)

HB 1235 Davis, Cynthia L.

Establishes additional requirements for the removal of artificially supplied nutrition and hydration (LR# 3337L.01I)

HB 1236 Davis, Cynthia L.

Establishes the Negligent Screening Act regarding induced abortions (LR# 3259L.01I)

HB 1237 Davis, Cynthia L.

Allows adopted adults who are 21 years of age or older to receive a certified copy of his or her original unaltered birth certificate (LR# 3386L.01I)

HB 1238 Davis, Cynthia L.

Changes the laws regarding the consent requirements for obtaining an abortion (LR# 3479L.01I)

HB 1239 Davis, Cynthia L.

Increases the period of time a conceal carry endorsement is valid from three years to five years from the date of issuance or renewal (LR# 3378L.01I)

HB 1240 Davis, Cynthia L.

Authorizes a state income tax deduction for tuition costs for any dependent of a resident taxpayer enrolled in any elementary or secondary school or any institution of postsecondary education in this (LR# 3256L.01I)

HJR 48  Davis, Cynthia L.

Proposes a constitutional amendment which would prohibit compelling a person to participate in any health care system (LR# 3173L.01I)

HJR 49 Davis, Cynthia L.

Proposes a constitutional amendment making it unlawfult to expend public funds for abortion not medically necessary to save the mother’s life, for abortion services, human cloning, or prohibited hum (LR# 3714L.01I)

Sounds like someone missed the blog spotlight. It’s hard to pick a least favorite there.

HB 1271  Brown, Jason

Designates the Newfoundland dog as the state canine breed and Seaman, the dog accompanying Lewis and Clark on their expedition, as the state canine (LR# 3517L.03I)

Wait wait, Seaman as the state canine? Old Drum and Jim the Wonder Dog are feeling very very overlooked.

HB 1288  Sutherland, Mike

Establishes the Large Carnivore Act which regulates the ownership, possession, transportation, and breeding of large carnivores

Hm, gonna need some more info there. The description just stood out.

HB 1301 Lampe, Sara

Repeals obsolete provisions of law regarding the sale, labeling, transport, and manufacture of imitation butter

The end of the war on Margarine? No word on which advocate of Big Butter will write Steve Tilley a giant check to continue margarine prohibition.

Special thanks to Michael Bersin and RBH who were instrumental in doing the research that backs up my smartassery. This post would have been a couple hundred words of mostly wisecracks without them and a conference room in the Plaza Branch of the KC Public Library.

*****

We have been pretty gleeful in heaping abuse and scorn on Cynthia “Fagin” Davis for her comments about hunger serving as a motivator for poor children to get jobs, and with good reason.

She is, quite simply, nuts, and unfit to serve as the chair of the state’s standing committee on children and families.  In case you have forgotten, she was one of the co-sponsors of HJR-34, the “birther bill” – legislation aimed at keeping President Obama’s name off Missouri ballots in 2012.  The bill was withdrawn and the texts removed from the Missouri general assembly web site – in the hope that everyone else would forget it ever happened. But, the Internets are forever, and we have a copy in our archives:    

…Section 8. We the people of Missouri adopt a voter’s bill of rights as a defense against corruption, fraud, and tyranny. Missouri voters shall have the following rights:

3. The right to have only qualified candidates placed on the ballot. The secretary of state shall determine that each person is qualified for the office he or she seeks, according to the law, before placing his or her name on the ballot. For candidates who are required by the Constitution of the United States to be natural born citizens, the secretary of state shall request an official copy of the candidate’s birth certificate. Other certifications, such as a certificate of live birth, shall not be accepted. Should any candidate fail to provide an official birth certificate within thirty days of the request by the secretary of state, his or her name shall not be placed on the ballot. The secretary of state shall verify the qualifications of any elected officeholder who was previously placed on a Missouri ballot. Should any elected officeholder fail to provide the required documentation or birth certificate within thirty days of the request by the secretary of state, the secretary of state shall turn the matter over to the attorney general who shall within twenty days file suit to obtain the required documentation…

Our previous ‘birther’ coverage:

Do the sponsors of HJR34 believe in anti-Obama conspiracy theories?

Down goes HJR 34

And she is quite the hopper-on of bandwagons, and the wingnuttier the better.  Before she got the ‘birther’ bit in her teeth, she tried to make political hay off the Terri Schaivo tragedy by sponsoring a(nother) bill that went nowhere.

But it isn’t just the crazy – it’s the hypocrisy.  

Cynthia Davis knows first hand that there really is such a thing as a free lunch, but her free lunches aren’t the burger and fries that McDonalds employees receive as their shift meal.  Her free lunches come from lobbyists.

Yes.  The wingnuttiest state rep of them all, the one who says it is the responsibility of the parents to feed their own children apparently thinks it is the responsibility of lobbyists to feed state legislators (and the children of one particular state legislator):

Missouri Ethics Commission – Lobbyist Reports

April 2009

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Nancy L. Giddens 4/1/2009 Individual Not Amended $8.52 Meals, Food, & Beverage – Dinner

Larry Rohrbach 4/15/2009 Individual Not Amended $17.31 Meals, Food, & Beverage –

William A Gamble 4/20/2009 Individual Not Amended $40.00 Meals, Food, & Beverage – Non alcoholic beverages

Total Amount $65.83

March 2009

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Don R. Kissell 3/3/2009 Individual Not Amended $6.33 Meals, Food, & Beverage – SAINT CHARLES LEGISLATIVE BREAKFAST

William A Gamble 3/9/2009 Individual Not Amended $30.00 Meals, Food, & Beverage – Non alcoholic beverages

Total Amount $36.33

February 2009

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Jorgen Schlemeier 2/9/2009 Individual Not Amended $5.06 Meals, Food, & Beverage – Lunch

Jeffrey T. Sweet 2/27/2009 Individual Not Amended $12.00 Meals, Food, & Beverage – Lunch provided during Boeing briefing on operations

Jeffrey T. Sweet 2/27/2009 Individual Not Amended $8.00 Gift – Desk clock provided during Boeing briefing on operations

John A. Urkevich 2/28/2009 Individual Not Amended $35.00 Meals, Food, & Beverage – CSD Legislative Breakfast

Total Amount $60.06

January 2009

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Lobbyist Name William A Gamble 1/8/2009 Individual Not Amended $67.80 Meals, Food, & Beverage – Non alcoholic beverages

Brad Thielemier 1/9/2009 Individual Not Amended $10.00 Meals, Food, & Beverage – Craig Felzien 1/12/2009 Individual Not Amended $10.00 Gift

C.K. Casteel, Jr. 1/14/2009 Individual Not Amended $33.71 Meals, Food, & Beverage – reception

C.K. Casteel, Jr. 1/15/2009 Individual Not Amended $129.00 Meals, Food, & Beverage – Annual Meeting (2 tickets)

Total Amount $250.51

That is just 2009 – we have 2008 below the fold:

December 2008

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Patricia Lightner 12/5/2008 Individual Not Amended $24.39 Meals, Food,& Beverage –

David A. Murphy 12/9/2008 Individual Not Amended $11.99 Meals, Food, & Beverage – CAC meeting

Total Amount $36.38

November 2008

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Michelle R. Galloway 11/18/2008 Individual Not Amended $92.00 Meals, Food, & Beverage – Educational dinner

Total Amount $92.00

October 2008

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Lyzel Krebs 10/31/2008 Individual Not Amended $18.40 Meals, Food, & Beverage –

Total Amount $18.40

August 2008

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Peggy Nalls 8/25/2008 Individual Not Amended $10.49 Meals, Food, & Beverage –

Total Amount $10.49

July 2008

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Doug Galloway 7/30/2008 Individual Not Amended $30.95 Meals, Food, & Beverage – meal

Thomas W Krewson 7/30/2008 Individual Not Amended $24.40 Meals, Food, & Beverage – dinner

Mary Scruggs 7/30/2008 Individual Not Amended $31.00 Meals, Food, & Beverage –

John R Sondag 7/30/2008 Individual Not Amended $30.95 Meals, Food, & Beverage – Dinner at ALEC Conference

Charles G Simino 7/30/2008 Individual Not Amended $32.72 Meals, Food, & Beverage – Dinner at ALEC

Total Amount $150.02

June 2008

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Donna K. Martin 6/18/2008 Individual Not Amended $40.00 Entertainment – Cardinal ticket

Donna K. Martin 6/18/2008 Individual Not Amended $56.68 Meals, Food, & Beverage –

Total Amount $96.68

May 2008

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Richard K McCullough 5/7/2008 Individual Not Amended $12.19 Meals, Food, & Beverage –

Patricia Lightner 5/12/2008 Individual Not Amended $80.15 Meals, Food, & Beverage –

Total Amount $92.34

April 2008

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Patricia Lightner 4/8/2008 Individual Not Amended $44.00 Meals, Fo
od, & Beverage –

Gary Markenson 4/28/2008 Individual Not Amended $10.00 Meals, Food, & Beverage – Dinner with board members

Total Amount $54.00

March 2008

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Lyzel Krebs 3/17/2008 Individual Not Amended $10.83 Meals, Food, & Beverage –

Donna K. Martin 3/25/2008 Individual Not Amended $32.35 Meals, Food, & Beverage –

Donna K. Martin 3/25/2008 Individual Not Amended $105.29 Other – Women’s Retreat

Donna K. Martin 3/25/2008 Individual Not Amended $31.24 Travel –

Total Amount $179.71

February 2008

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Don R. Kissell 2/19/2008 Individual Not Amended $22.98 Meals, Food, & Beverage – CITY OF SAINT PETERS CITY COUNCIL

Don R. Kissell 2/20/2008 Individual Not Amended $4.50 Meals, Food, & Beverage – LUNCH WITH VISION ST. CHARLES

Total Amount $27.48

January 2008

Representative: DAVIS, CYNTHIA

Patricia L Strader 1/23/2008 Individual Not Amended $2.80 Meals, Food, & Beverage –

Bonnie L Linhardt 1/23/2008 Individual Not Amended $12.31 Meals, Food, & Beverage – Dinner – Discuss policy issues for women.

C.K. Casteel, Jr. 1/23/2008 Individual Not Amended $125.00

Entertainment – Prize – Legislative Reception “Trivia Bowl”

Mark S. Woolbright 1/31/2008 Individual Not Amended $7.00 Meals, Food, & Beverage –

Total Amount $147.11

That is just 2008-2009.  It goes on and on and on like that, for every month of every year she has been in Jeff City.  We just got tired of copying and pasting.

And that is on top of the $80.20 per day per diem that the state pays our legislators to compensate them for being away from home each of the approximately 75 eligible days of each legislative session…for 2009 her per diem was $5934.80 – and that buys a lot of lunches.   Or would, anyway, if she wasn’t already as full as a tick after all that lobbyist largess.

And then, there are the cases that made it to the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Excerpt from 2002 campaign finance report [pdf] (8 Days Before Election – July 26, 2002):

Yep, that’s $2,850.00 for a vehicle, and $275.26 to the Missouri Department of Revenue.

Excerpt from 2004 campaign finance report [pdf] (quarterly report – April 12, 2004):

Yep, that’s $88.50 for vehicle registration and $1084.33 for Real Estate Taxes paid to the Cole County Collector.

What were those campaign funds used for?

July 25, 2005

The Missouri Ethics Commission [pdf], at its July 21, 2005 meeting, took the following actions…

…The following cases were forwarded to the Office of the Attorney General:

05E071 Missourians for Blunt

05E073/05E078 Citizens Against the Levy, Jim Ferguson, Treas.

05E075 Cynthia Davis

05E076A/05E077A/05E083A Janet Ballard…

[emphasis added]

January 23, 2006

The Missouri Ethics Commission [pdf], at its January 19, 2006 meeting, took the following actions:

The following cases were closed against Respondents:

05E131 Joan Bray

05E132 Tom Masteller

05E075 Cynthia Davis….

[emphasis added]

We foresee a Missouri Sunshine Law request to get the final disposition of this matter.

It all adds up to one screaming certainty:  Cynthia Davis is not the person who should be chairing the state’s Special Standing Committee on Children and Families.  

This is who should be leading the Special Standing Committee on Children and Families.

Gee, those term limits are starting to kick in for republican legislators. I wonder what they’re going to try and do about it? Why, that would be to extend their limits!

HJR 39 Proposes a constitutional amendment extending legislative term limits to 12 years in one chamber and 24 years total in the General Assembly

Sponsor: Funderburk, Doug (12) Proposed Effective Date: Referendum

CoSponsor: Franz, Ward (151) ……….etal. LR Number: 2375L.01I

Last Action: 03/26/2009 – Read Second Time (H)

HJR39

Next Hearing: Hearing not scheduled

Calendar: Bill currently not on a calendar

I wonder how that would affect their retirement?

The resolution:

[text to be replace in brackets, new text in bold]

FIRST REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 39

95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES FUNDERBURK (Sponsor), FRANZ, SCHAD, JONES (89), WELLS, POLLOCK, PARKINSON, SILVEY, DIECKHAUS, GRILL, ROORDA, COLONA, OXFORD, WALTON GRAY, SCHIEFFER, ALLEN, GATSCHENBERGER, ENGLUND, McGHEE, SANDER AND ATKINS (Co-sponsors).

2375L.01I                                                                                                                                                  D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk

JOINT RESOLUTION

Submitting to the qualified voters of Missouri an amendment repealing section 8 of article III of the Constitution of Missouri, and adopting one new section in lieu thereof relating to term limitations.

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring therein:

           That at the next general election to be held in the state of Missouri, on Tuesday next following the first Monday in November, 2010, or at a special election to be called by the governor for that purpose, there is hereby submitted to the qualified voters of this state, for adoption or rejection, the following amendment to article III of the Constitution of the state of Missouri:

           Section A. Section 8, article III, Constitution of Missouri, is repealed and one new section adopted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 8, to read as follows:

           Section 8. No one shall be elected to serve more than [eight] twelve years total in any one house of the General Assembly nor more than [sixteen] twenty-four years total in both houses of the General Assembly. In applying this section, service in the General Assembly resulting from an election prior to December 3, 1992, or service of less than one year, in the case of a member of the house of representatives, or two years, in the case of a member of the senate, by a person elected after the effective date of this section to complete the term of another person, shall not be counted.

[emphasis in original]

Mike McGhee? Mike McGhee? Oh, yes. let’s see what he’s co-sponsored in the past. Like say, 2005:

HJR14 Proposes a constitutional amendment establishing term limits for all statewide elected officials

Sponsor: Brown, Jason (30) Proposed Effective Date: 08/28/2005

CoSponsor: Nolte, Jerry (33) ……….etal. LR Number: 0671L.01I

Last Action: House Committee: ELECTIONS

04/19/2005 – Executive Session held (H)

VOTED DO NOT PASS

HJR14

Next Hearing: Hearing not scheduled

Calendar: Bill currently not on calendar

Hmmm. Term limits for you and you, less term limits for me!:

[text that was to be replaced in brackets, proposed text change in bold]

FIRST REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 14

93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES BROWN (30) (Sponsor), NOLTE, THRELKELD, GOODMAN, CHINN, SANDER, DUSENBERG, DEEKEN, KRAUS, HUNTER, NIEVES, SMITH (14), PORTWOOD, LEMBKE, FLOOK, McGHEE, COOPER (120), SUTHERLAND AND YATES (Co-sponsors).

        Read 1st time February 9, 2005 and copies ordered printed.

STEPHEN S. DAVIS, Chief Clerk

0671L.01I

JOINT RESOLUTION

Submitting to the qualified voters of Missouri an amendment repealing section 17 of article IV of the Constitution of Missouri, and adopting one new section in lieu thereof relating to term limits.

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring therein:

           That at the next general election to be held in the state of Missouri, on Tuesday next following the first Monday in November, 2006, or at a special election to be called by the governor for that purpose, there is hereby submitted to the qualified voters of this state, for adoption or rejection, the following amendment to article IV of the Constitution of the state of Missouri:

           Section A. Section 17, article IV, Constitution of Missouri, is repealed and one new section adopted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 17, to read as follows:

           Section 17. The governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, and attorney general shall be elected at the presidential elections for terms of four years each. The state auditor shall be elected for a term of two years at the general election in the year 1948, and his successors shall be elected for terms of four years. No person shall be elected governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state auditor, or treasurer more than twice, and no person who has held the office of governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state auditor, or treasurer, or acted as governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state auditor, or treasurer, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected to [the] that office [of governor or treasurer] shall be elected to [the] that office [of governor or treasurer] more than once. The heads of all the executive departments shall be appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the senate. All appointive officers may be removed by the governor and shall possess the qualifications required by this constitution or by law.

[emphasis in original]

This one didn’t make it in 2005.

Uh, Mike McGhee, so eight years is enough for statewide office holders, but not quite enough for state legislators? Or is this really about which party gets limited? Just asking.