326 DAYS UNTIL ELECTION DAY… 235 DAYS UNTIL THE AUGUST PRIMARY 

FIRST IN RUNDOWN — Rep. Mary Still, in an email to colleagues yesterday, said she plans to pursue legislation to limit campaign contribution to state candidates. According to her note to legislators, obtained by PoliticMo, her legislation will limit contributions to $2,000 for statewide candidates, $1,000 for state senate candidates, and $500 for state representative candidates. Last week, Still announced she plans to run for the state senate seat currently occupied by Republican Kurt Schaefer.

SPEAKING UP — ‘Gay Republican Lucas Case challenges his party’s hate,’ Tony Messenger editorial: “Lucas Case is a gay Republican. The 24-year-old Branson man, who until recently was U.S. Senate candidate Sarah Steelman’s political director, is very unhappy about how his party treats gays and lesbians. Like so many people like him — and there are many in the Republican Party — he has heard the slurs, sat through meetings in which gays were bashed, and watched the party develop more and more anti-gay positions. He’s sick of it. … 

“Missouri Republicans were key to a constitutional amendment passing overwhelmingly in 2004 prohibiting same-sex marriages. They generally opposed the effort by President Barack Obama to get rid of the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy that banned gay servicemen and women from being honest about their sexuality. … 

“Mr. Case… wants more gay Republicans to out themselves. Only then, he says, will Republican elected officials who are gay, or have gay family members, stop bashing gays for votes. … When he worked for top Missouri GOP strategist David Barklage, Mr. Case frequently walked the halls of the Capitol. He’d interact with other secretly gay Republicans, elected and staff. Then he’d watch in disgust as some of those same individuals would go to the floor to vote against legislation that would offer the same civil rights to gays that other Missourians have. … 

“Just this week, a Republican posted a note on Ms. Steelman’s Facebook page, asking about Mr. Case’s comments about gay issues. Ms. Steelman’s response: She pointed out Mr. Case no longer works for the campaign. And for good measure she reiterated her opposition to same-sex marriage. Mr. Case won’t comment on Ms. Steelman’s response, other than to say she long knew he was gay, and that issue had nothing to do with why he no longer works for her campaign. Gay Republicans are good enough to hire, apparently, just as long as they stay quiet in the back of the campaign bus.” http://bit.ly/skaiU9

LARRY SABADO misses PDK, but thinks the Missouri Governor’s race still is likely Democratic: “Combined with businessman John Brunner… it’s possible that the top two Republican statewide candidates in Missouri next year will be first-time candidates. Whether that’s a blessing or a curse remains to be seen. In any event, the popular Nixon will be very hard to beat, although Spence’s ability to self-fund — he’s already dropped $2 million of his fortune into his campaign — could cause Democrats some headaches.” (h/t @JRosenbaum) 

JAY NIXON’S CAMPAIGN held a conference call last night with supporters previewing their 2012 game. In January, they plan a series of organizational meetings to revamp their huge volunteer base and field operation from 2008. Some key quotes from field director Joe Duffy:

— ON SPENCE: “He has no public service record, and we really don’t know a whole lot about him, but we’re learning a lot. …  What we do know is he has already dumped a $2 million check into his campaign, which is the biggest single check in state’s history. That’s going to buy a lot of TV ads, trying to distort the Governor’s record. …. We also know that he’s staunchly anti-union, besides that we don’t know a whole lot about this guy.” 

— ON NATIONAL INFLUENCE: “The other reason why we know this is going to be a competitive race is that 2012, obviously a lot of money is going to be spent. … We also know that the Republican Govenror’s Associations has a huge cash advantage on the Democratic Governor’s Association, and they’re going to spend millions of dollars here. We know a lot of money is going to be used to distort the Governor’s record.” 

—  ON THE ENVIRONMENT: “The partisan composition of the state has changed. 2008 was obviously a Democratic year. 2010 obviously was not, and back in 2008, more Missourians identified themselves as Democrats. That’s no longer the case, by a long shot, and we need to win people back.”

REDISTRICTING FALLOUT — ‘Norr running in new 132nd House district,’ News-Leader: “Former state Rep. Charlie Norr has announced that he is running for the Missouri House of Representatives in the newly drawn 132nd district. … Norr represented … northwest Springfield in the state House of Representatives from 2007 through 2010.” http://sgfnow.co/ug6iq5 (As we understand, Republican Lyandall Fraker also intends to run in that district.) 

— ‘Tishaura Jones announces bid for St. Louis treasurer,’ Post Dispatch: “State Rep. Tishaura Jones today announced that she will join the crowded race for St. Louis treasurer, and the Democrat vowed to eliminate the treasurer’s role as the city’s de facto ‘parking czar.’ If elected, Jones said she would try to strip the treasurer’s office of its responsibility for city parking garages and parking meters.” http://bit.ly/vr1sAG

GOOD THURSDAY MORNING, and welcome to this edition of PoliticMo Rundown. Send your tips, comments, and scoops to eli@poiticmo.com. 

SEN. CLAIRE MCCASKILL was on MSNBC’s ‘The Daily Rundown’ yesterday morning. Some key quotes ICYMI: 

— Keystone pipeline: “The reason that this thing stopped was not Washington. The reason this thing stopped was because the people of Nebraska wanted it to stop. … This is about state’s rights, this is about the Tenth Amendment. … These guys are so convenient about, you know, hollering about state’s rights until it actually is in practice, and I think the reason we have to slow down on the pipeline is not that anybody is saying the pipeline shouldn’t happen but we have to respect the rights of Nebraska.” 

—  DIVIDED CONGRESS: “You talked about the low approval of congress. One of the reasons this approval is so low is because we have a very divided congress. The people sent some very extreme folks to Washington a year ago, and they are clashing with really some of the folks frankly to my left.”

— SHOULD CONGRESS NIX THE SEQUESTER: “I think it’s a good way to drive our approval rating to zero if we immediately say ‘well, never mind, the enforcement mechanism we put in place ten minutes ago we’re going to ignore now.’ I think it’s a bad idea to talk about trying to drive a mack truck through the sequester enforcement mechanism. I think what’s a better idea is to use the pressure of the sequester to keep us at the table.” 

TAX REFORM — ‘Opponents of Missouri income-for-sales-tax swap claim momentum,’ Kansas City Star: “A new poll apparently conducted by opponents of Rex Sinquefield’s petition drive to put an income-for-sales tax swap on the November 2012 Missouri ballot shows declining support for the idea in Springfield, Mo., a conservative stronghold. The poll — by Momentum Analysis — shows Springfield voters oppose the swap by a 43% to 37% margin (that is within the poll’s margin of error.) In September, the pollster says, Springfield voters support the swap by a 9% margin. That’s a 15-point swing in three months.” http://bit.ly/uAC629

— Scott Charton, spokesman for the opposition group Missourians for Fair Taxation: “If they cannot peddle this scheme in the most conservative area of Missouri backed by half a million bucks in advertising, they cannot peddle it anywhere to the rightly skeptical voters of the Show-Me State. As we say in the country, this dawg just won’t hunt.”

EDUCATION — FUN FACT: ‘Springfield school district now the largest in the state,’ News-Leader: “Springfield now has the largest school district in Missouri because of an emphasis on academics and an investment in center-city schools, a state official said Wednesday. Ron Lankford, the state deputy commissioner of education, said Springfield made a series of strategic decisions during the past decade — when enrollment was largely flat — that likely prevented the student loss experienced in Kansas City and St. Louis. … 

“According to an official enrollment count from September, Springfield has 24,388 students — 1,850 more than St. Louis and 9,029 more than Kansas City. St. Louis and Kansas City have lost state accreditation and hemorrhaged students to charter and private schools in recent years. In comparison, Springfield is fully accredited by the state and has grown.” http://sgfnow.co/u8tVSw

— ‘Suburban schools could run unaccredited KC schools,’ AP: “Lawmakers are drafting legislation that would allow suburban districts to operate Kansas City schools that are about to lose their state accreditation after years of dismal test scores and administrative churn. The legislation also would create a central clearinghouse for families from the unaccredited St. Louis and Riverview Gardens districts to find spots for their children in charter, suburban or even private schools, said St. Louis-area Republican Sen. Jane Cunningham.

“The proposals are an attempt to deal with changes brought on by a Missouri Supreme Court ruling last year that said students living in unaccredited districts are owed the right to free transfers and that accredited schools must take the students. … Transfer backers say all students deserve a quality education. But the accredited districts argue unfettered transfers would overwhelm their schools, and they’ve been calling on the Legislature to make changes.” http://apne.ws/rILT44 

2012 LEGISLATING — ‘Crowell introduces legislation to make redistricting process more open,’ Southeast Missourian: “Saying he wants to end the secrecy, state Sen. Jason Crowell introduced a proposed constitutional amendment Wednesday that would require all meetings regarding redistricting be open to the public. If passed by voters, the law would correct what Crowell feels was a serious mistake made by the judicial panel that recently redrew Missouri’s House and Senate maps behind closed doors.” http://bit.ly/rR6Q48

— As we reported last week, State Rep. Jason Kander did in fact pre-file new ethics legislation this week, per the Post Dispatch’s Virginia Young: “No Cardinals tickets. No free meals. Not even a cup of coffee. All lobbyist gifts would be outlawed under a sweeping ethics bill filed today by …Kander, D-Kansas City. Other changes would include strict limits on campaign contributions and money-laundering, and a ban on legislators working as political consultants.

“The bill is likely to have an uphill climb, since next year is an election year and Republicans call the shots in the Legislature. The GOP won’t want to give Kander a platform since he is seeking the Democrats’ nomination for secretary of state next year. Three Republican legislators — Rep. Shane Schoeller and Sens. Scott Rupp and Bill Stouffer — are vying for the GOP’s nod for that office.” http://bit.ly/scRoXh

JAIL PROBLEMS — ‘Mo. supreme court judge calls for corrections reforms,’ Missouri News-Horizon: “Missouri’s system of corrections is failing and it’s costing the state a lot of money. That’s the conclusion voiced Wednesday by Missouri Supreme Court judge William Ray Price as he reported on the findings of a special task force looking at ways to cut the costs of the state’s prison system. Price’s Missouri Working Group on Corrections found that more than 58 percent of Missouri offenders released on parole will return to prison will return within five years. Price told members of the House’s Interim Committee on Criminal Justice that the recidivism rate shows that the state is not reforming offenders once they are in prison. … 

“Working with the non-profit Pew Center on the States, the corrections group studied practices underway in several states, and found that when non-violent offenders are placed into treatment programs out side of prison such as drug courts and other diversion programs, they tend to stay out of the prison system. So much so, that Price told the legislative committee that the state could save anywhere from $8 to $12 million a year.” http://bit.ly/rMKf0l

— ‘Union tells House committee prison guards don’t make enough to live on,’ MissouriNet: “The union representing Missouri’s prison guards tells a House Committee they can barely make a living on what they’re paid. … Director[ of the Corrections Officer Association] Gary Gross [told] the House Appropriations Committee on Corrections that starting pay for a corrections officer is about $2,300. He says after paying into a pension, taxes and health insurance, that leaves approximately $1,000 to work with. And he says by comparison, those collecting unemployment receive more than $300 a week.” http://bit.ly/uHWcqA

EDITORIAL — ‘McCaskill sees hope in Blunt election to leadership post,’ Post Dispatch: “During a visit this week with the Post-Dispatch editorial board, Ms. McCaskill offered words of encouragement for Mr. Blunt. The two senators have shown a refreshing ability to work together in the past year, notably on Missouri River issues and a dispute over homes encroaching protected flood boundaries at the Lake of the Ozarks. Ms. McCaskill told us that if Mr. Blunt were to win the leadership race, it would bode well for the ability of the Senate to work together. But when the three candidates vying for the GOP nomination to challenge Ms. McCaskill next year were asked whom they supported in the leadership race, John Brunner, Sarah Steelman and Todd Akin declined to support Mr. Blunt. … 

“There are senators meeting every day, in various groups, Ms. McCaskill told us, trying to forge some sort of meaningful compromise to the debt crisis that mimics the Simpson-Bowles plan that President Barack Obama and the Congress were too late to embrace.  For such a compromise to pass, Democrats and Republicans, conservatives, liberals and moderates, will have to be prepared to take the sort of vote that could end a congressional career.  ‘If we could get a deal I thought we could pass, I’m willing to go home over it,’ Ms. McCaskill said this week. That’s putting country before party. We hope Mr. Blunt is up to the same challenge.” http://bit.ly/vOWk44