313 DAYS UNTIL ELECTION DAY… 222 DAYS UNTIL THE AUGUST PRIMARY 

SENATE CONTROL — Nelson exit gives Dems bleak outlook,’ Dave Catanese: “The odds of Democrats clinging to control of the Senate just got that much steeper. Sen. Ben Nelson’s retirement deals a mental and mathematical blow to a party already struggling to maintain its tenuous four-seat majority. … The DSCC and Democratic-aligned super PACs poured more than $1 million into positive television ads on behalf of the incumbent — an early financial gamble that underscores the difficult decisions the committee will have to make next fall as it defends 33 seats. ‘It speaks volumes that even after national Democrats poured roughly $1.5 million into Nebraska in the off-year, at the expense of other vulnerable seats in Montana, Missouri and elsewhere, Sen. Nelson recognized that his support for President Obama’s reckless tax-and-spend agenda left him in a grave political situation,’ said National Republican Senate Committee spokesman Brian Walsh.” http://bit.ly/tbdPHQ

— POLITICO: “Sen. Claire McCaskill … sent a note to Nelson saying how sad she was over his decision to step down next year. In a reference to the two states’ football rivalry, McCaskill jokingly added to her note: ‘Nebraska still sucks.’” http://politi.co/s53W3k

WAGE DEBATE — ‘Kinder backs prevailing wage opt-out legislation,’ PoliticMo: “After his proposal to waive prevailing wage for state-funded housing projects in tornado stricken Joplin failed at the Missouri Housing Development Commission, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder is now supporting a similar push in the General Assembly. Kinder joined local lawmakers near Joplin to announce his support of legislation pre-filed by State Rep. Bill Lant, R-Seneca, that would allow localities declared disaster zones to opt-out of the prevailing wage requirement for reconstruction of schools or local government buildings. Lant’s legislation, which requires majority support by the locality’s governing body, excludes the cities of St. Louis and Kansas City. … 

“Proponents of the requirement argue the wage rates are needed to ensure recovery workers maintain good financial standing, and contend that more money going in to worker’s pockets in a disaster area is a good thing for the recovering economy. Kinder, reacting to the criticism, said ‘that’s not our charge.’ … 

“Additionally, Kinder argued there is a ‘racist history of the prevailing wage statute,’ saying that when the laws were first written, southern lawmakers supported them ‘in order to keep African Americans and other minorities out of the construction trades.’ These days, Kinder said he thinks the laws are used to ‘inflate the cost of labor at taxpayer expense.’” http://bit.ly/vjlH0C

— Kinder op-ed in the Springfield News-Leader: “On May 22, an EF-5 tornado devastated Joplin, destroying lives and property. Despite historic recovery efforts since, there are still more than 3,000 housing units yet to be replaced, many for low- to middle-income residents. Gov. Nixon announced he would set aside $100 million in housing tax credits administered by MHDC to help address this shortage. What Nixon didn’t announce was the new prevailing wage requirement — the first time such a requirement was applied to residential construction. It’s important to note the change was put in place prior to the Joplin tornado, and the amended QAP was approved in August before the Department of Labor announced dramatic increases in the prevailing wage standards in rural Missouri. … I call on Gov. Nixon to ask the MHDC to reconsider my proposal. Meanwhile, I support similar efforts by lawmakers, who continue to be brushed aside by the Nixon Administration and the MHDC.” http://sgfnow.co/tUset2

CLOSING 2011 — ‘Top Missouri Political Stories in 2011,’ Yahoo News: “From January until December, there were many stories and personalities that captured headlines across the Show-Me State. Here are some of the most prominent political stories in Missouri for 2011. (1) Roy Blunt Takes Office … (2) Gov. Jay Nixon’s Travel Expenses … (3) Claire McCaskill’s Plane … (4) Peter Kinder Scandals … (5) Redistricting Veto … (6) Primary and Caucus.” http://yhoo.it/s3hgZb

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

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Renee Hulshof! 

LEGISLATIVE SESSION starts in seven days. 

#MOLEG HEADS BACK — ‘As new session nears, legislators hope to resolve last session’s unfinished business,’ Jason Rosenbaum: “After Missouri’s General Assembly failed to accomplish many of its goals this year in regular and special session, lawmakers are looking to next year to complete unfinished business — and tackle complex issues. The session starts Jan. 4. The General Assembly’s 2011 session was characterized by big debates yielding little substantive action. … Even in an election year when sweeping legislative action tends to be rare, lawmakers are taking aim at thornier issues, including education policy and funding and regulation of the so-called ‘payday loan’ industry. Lawmakers also are eyeing structural changes to state government, restrictions on legislative perks and caps on campaign donations. … Additionally, Republican legislative leaders are angling for a more collegial relationship between the two GOP-controlled chambers, which seem constantly at odds with each other. And some lawmakers foresee a greater emphasis on quicker action to avoid this year’s pitfalls.” http://bit.ly/ttyp16

BALLOT ISSUE — ‘Carnahan denies conflict over Missouri ballot measure,’ AP: “Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan says the state’s attorney general’s office agrees that there is no conflict of interest in her office promoting renewable energy, even though her brother is an investor in a wind-energy production company. State Rep. Jay Barnes, a Republican from Jefferson City, asked Carnahan to recuse her office from writing a ballot summary on the proposed initiative to seek an increase in the use of renewable energy sources for electricity in the state because her brother is the founder and chairman of Wind Capital Group. … The attorney general office’s general counsel, Ronald Holliger, wrote in a letter that Carnahan does not have a conflict of interest over the ballot initiative.” http://sgfnow.co/sKJ6J7

EDUCATION — ‘Education Dept. concerned about another year of under-funding,’ MissouriNet: “The Department of Education is concerned about a funding shortfall, but looks forward to working with the legislature on addressing the problem. Missouri’s school foundation formula is the mechanism the state uses to distribute money to public schools. It has gone underfunded in recent years, and Department of Education Commissioner Chris NiCastro says this year’s outlook is no better. She says the formula was never designed to be underfunded, and bills filed during the upcoming legislative session will seek to fix that. She says if the structure isn’t reformulated, there will be vast funding differences between districts, creating an environment of winners and losers throughout the state. … 

“The new, higher-funding formula was to be phased in over a seven-year period, but the failure to fully fund the formula has thrown that schedule way off. The phase-in process began at the start of fiscal year 2007, which is in July, 2006, with schools receiving 17 percent of their state funding from the new foundation formula and 85 percent from the formula that was written in 1993. The plan was that each year, the phase-in plan would progressively raise the percentage of funds based on the new, higher foundation formula. For this year, 2012-2013 year, Missouri’s schools should be at 100 percent of the new formula. That has not happened.” http://bit.ly/sKJcPK

KC EDUCATION TROUBLES — The Kansas City Star’s editorial board called on the Kansas City school district to get its act together: “As state Board of Education and Commissioner Chris Nicastro ponders what to do, two points should be obvious: First, the current governance model is failed and unfixable. Kansas City can no longer cling to the hope that a quality school board and dynamic superintendent can solve the district’s problems. We had a scenario close to that as recently as August, and everything fell apart when Covington left. Second, time is of the essence. Kansas City students can’t wait for the community or the state legislature to engage in endless debate. Local leaders, the state Board of Education and the legislature must agree quickly on a path forward.

“The solution will likely incorporate more than one of the proposals put forth. Enabling more annexations, for instance, could allow the state to create a smaller school district with a different governance model and a possibility of more community support. For the sake of Kansas City and its families and children, 2012 must end with more certainty than it begins.” http://bit.ly/uD84Pu

SPORTZZZ — ‘Missouri SEC Football Schedule Released,’ KMOX: “The 2012 SEC football schedule has been released and the Missouri Tigers will have the first new conference game in Columbia on September 8 against the Georgia Bulldogs.  Mizzou will face eight conference opponents with four games each at home and on the road. … The Tigers will face all six teams from the SEC East Division (Georgia Bulldogs, South Carolina Gamecocks, Vanderbilt Commodores, Kentucky Wildcats, Florida Gators, Tennessee Volunteers) plus take on the Alabama Crimson Tide and fellow Big 12 defector Texas A&M Aggies. Texas A&M, who the Tigers face in College Station for the third consecutive year on November 24, will also play their first game on October 8 against the Florida Gators. The Homecoming game will be against Kentucky on October 27.  Senior Day will more than likely be against a non-conference opponent since UK is the last SEC home game on the schedule.” http://cbsloc.al/ts7hg4

— Missing in Mizzou’s release this morning? Details on a Kansas game.