305 DAYS UNTIL ELECTION DAY… 214 DAYS UNTIL THE AUGUST PRIMARY

BUDGET WOES — Heading in to session this year, everyone is mindful of the $500 million hole in the state budget as federal funds dry up. Now people are drawing their lines in the sand: PoliticMo: “Republicans, previewing their 2012 legislative agenda, said while they are ‘ready to make tough decisions,’ they will refuse any tax increases to address the shortfall. ‘We must act, and do so swiftly to pass a balanced budget without a tax increase for the people of Missouri and to help put Missourians back to work in this stagnant and weak economy,’ said Senate Leader Rob Mayer, R-Dexter. Members of the Missouri House Republican leadership agree. According to House Speaker Steven Tilley’s ‘Blueprint for Missouri,’ his caucus also supports balancing the budget without any new taxes.

“Senate Democrats, a small minority in the chamber, called on their colleagues to address the issue in a ‘bipartisan way.’ Democrats said they are ready to address the issue, but drew their own lines at significant health care and education cuts. ‘We’re facing a projected $500-million budget deficit,’ said Senate minority leader Victor Callahan, D-Independence. ‘Senate Democrats will work to ensure we don’t balance the state budget on the backs of those who can least afford it.’” http://bit.ly/zXJWYD

— The lede in the Post-Dispatch, accompanied by a great gallery of of photos: “Missouri’s lame-duck Republican leaders pledged Wednesday to use their final legislative session to find enough savings to balance the state budget while providing quality alternatives for schoolchildren in failing districts.” http://bit.ly/zVAZN8

— Rosenbaum: “Both Tilley and Mayer said attempts to raise taxes — including boosting the state’s tobacco tax or collecting taxes on goods sold over the internet — were non-starters. … Tilley said that any attempt to raise cigarette taxes wouldn’t make it through the House, though he did say he’d be willing to examine an internet sales tax. But with the state looking down a budgetary hole, House Minority Leader Mike Talboy, D-Kansas City, advised the legislature to examine the proposals.” http://bit.ly/whPy4W  

RIGHT TO WORK PUSH — ‘No guarantees in Senate for Right to Work,’ MissouriNet: “[Senate Leader Rob] Mayer maintains turning Missouri into a right to work state will improve the state’s opportunities for manufacturing jobs. But [Tom] Dempsey says the issue faces the same problems it faced last year.  It’s not one of the top-tier priorities of the Republican majority in the Senate.  It also is not listed as a priority a coalition of business groups that announced its pro-business agenda yesterday.” http://bit.ly/woPHL7

— The proposal may not gain traction in the General Assembly, but outside groups are gearing up for a push to place the issue on the 2012 ballot. Gregg Johns, vice president of Missouri Right to Work, is preparing to file with the Secretary of State to place a ‘Right to work’  state constitutional amendment on the ballot. Johns is expected to file later this month. 

MCCASKILL CHALLANGERS — ‘Senate hopefuls staff up,’ The Hill: “Republican businessman John Brunner added four to his payroll on Wednesday on the political, financial and communications fronts. Heading his political department will be Miriam Stonebraker, a veteran of the consulting firm run by John Hancock, who has been Brunner’s media spokesman since October, when he entered the race to unseat Sen. Claire McCaskill. Brunner’s new finance director, Katie McBreen, is an alumnus of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and worked on the fundraising operation for former Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s (R-Minn.) brief presidential campaign. The new hires join campaign manager Jon Seaton, who served in 2011 as Pawlenty’s political director. … 

“Before Brunner can take on McCaskill, he’ll have to knock down Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) and former Missouri state Treasurer Sarah Steelman in the Republican primary. But Akin’s campaign is still reeling from reports on Tuesday that his campaign manager, consultant and finance director all abandoned the effort. Akin’s announcement on Wednesday of his replacement campaign manager — his son, Perry Akin — is unlikely to reassure his supporters, and will give opponents an opening to claim his Senate campaign has fizzled out.” 

— ADDITIONALLY,  Per release: “Todd Abrajano joins the campaign as communications director.  His political background includes serving as director of communications for the Missouri House of Representatives during the 2005 and 2006 legislative sessions. … During the 2008 presidential campaign, he directed ‘Spin Room’ media relations for the McCain-Palin campaign during the vice presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin at Washington University in St. Louis. … 

“Miles Ross joins the campaign’s political department as Western Missouri director.  From 2002 to 2009 he served as executive director of Friends of Roy Blunt…   Simultaneously, Ross spearheaded victories in numerous Missouri state legislative campaigns resulting in historic Republican legislative majorities. He has advised over a hundred races across Missouri and has extensive political grassroots experience that spans the spectrum from county office to presidential campaigns.” 

— Campaign manager John Seaton: “You’d be hard-pressed to build a better, more talented, or more experienced team of first-rate professionals. John Brunner’s commitment to fiscal conservatism and job creation make him the strongest candidate in the race, and this team will make sure he has the infrastructure and organization to win the GOP primary and defeat Claire McCaskill in November.” 

THE MONEY RACE — ‘December was big money month for Nixon, Sinquefield,’ St. Louis Beacon: “According to the Missouri Ethics Commission’s tallies, [St. Louis financier Rex] Sinquefield donated at least $800,000 in 2011 to candidates and causes in the state. … Meanwhile, state House Speaker Steve Tilley, R-Perryville, is doling out some of the money he had planned to use for his now-scuttled bid for lieutenant governor. Tilley gave $15,000 on December 31 to Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, a fellow Republican who is seeking re-election to a third term after dropping his expected campaign for governor. Does Tilley’s donation mean that he prefers Kinder to his primary rival, state Sen. Brad Lager, R-Savannah?

“The biggest year-end beneficiary of hefty contributions appears to be Gov. Jay Nixon, who collected about $350,000 in December from donors who gave more than $5,000 apiece.” http://bit.ly/x2U1Nq

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

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Dave Drebes… Cameron Sullivan… 

SEN. CLAIRE MCCASKILL kicks off her ‘Hometown Energy Tour’ in Ralls County today. McCaskill will travel across the state this month to hear from businesses on how to expand the energy industry with things like alternative energy. 

REP. BILLY LONG will be in Joplin today to present a local talk radio station an award for their post-tornado coverage. 

FMR. GOV. BOB HOLDEN will be in Kansas City this evening, for a Q&A at the KC Public Library. http://bit.ly/xY0coW

DAVE SPENCE  was in Columbia this morning for a meet and greet with Boone County Republicans.

SCHWEICH TRIMS STAFF — State Auditor Tom Schweich announced on Wednesday that he has consolidated the Chief-of-Staff and Director of Administration positions in his office. Trish Vincent, who has worked for Schweich, and previously Gov. Blunt, will take the role. Schweich: “I am pleased that Trish has agreed to serve in this dual role. In my first year, due to our efforts to reorganize the office and make it more efficient, we needed one person dedicated to administration and one person serving as chief-of-staff, but now that we are off to such a great start, I am able to combine these two positions, which will benefit Missouri taxpayers.”

DISASTER RECOVERY — ‘Feds approve $47 million for Missouri disaster relief,’ PoliticMo: “With new funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, … two anchors of the city will receive a significant boost. As part of $47.2 million in grants awarded to Missouri, the Joplin school was awarded $2 million and the hospital was awarded $20 million for their efforts to rebuild. Elsewhere in Missouri, FEMA awarded $37 million for areas recovering from flooding last spring. $4.6 million was awarded to the city of Charleston to repair sewer infrastructure that was damaged in the floods, and $1.3 million was awarded to Mississippi County for road repairs. … FEMA also awarded funds to the Missouri National Guard and the Missouri Department of transportation for their efforts.” http://bit.ly/xsXltj

BOLD — President Obama defied deep Republican opposition in Congress on Wednesday, when he announced he appointed Richard Cordray as director of the newly formed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, PoliticMo: “Obama made the appointment using a Constitutional provision that allows him to install individuals without approval from Congress when the Senate is not in session. Senate Republicans, who blocked attempts by Democrats to vote on Cordray’s nomination last year, tried to prevent Obama from making the recess appointment by holding the senate in “pro forma” session during the holiday break. Obama moved forward with the appointment,  and now, Republicans are accusing Obama of unconstitutionally avoiding Congress. ‘President Obama’s latest power grab is unprecedented and raises serious constitutional questions,’ said Sen. Roy Blunt…  ‘The President is attempting to circumvent the U.S. Senate’s constitutional responsibilities in order to enact another unaccountable czar with unlimited power.’ Last year, Blunt joined an effort to restructure the bureau, which was established in 2010 when Congress passed the Dodd-Frank financial reforms. When the effort was struck down, Blunt joined other Republican Senators in calling on President Obama to address ‘lack of transparency’ in the bureau.” http://bit.ly/wTBCD5

REDISTRICTING FALLOUT — ‘Court asked to invalidate new Mo. Senate districts,’ AP: “A lawyer from Columbia wants the Missouri Supreme Court to strike down the newly drawn districts of the 34-seat state Senate. District boundaries were redrawn by a panel of state appellate judges to reflect population changes based on the 2010 census. Attorney David Brown says in a court filing that some of the boundaries violate the Missouri Constitution by unnecessarily splitting counties among multiple districts. He also argues the new map will effectively deprive voters in one district of Senate representation until 2015.” http://bit.ly/z3bWms

POSTAL CHANGES — ‘Workers challenge Postal Service,’ Joplin Globe: “Hundreds of postal workers turned out Wednesday night to challenge the U.S. Postal Service’s plan to close Springfield’s mail processing center and move those operations to Kansas City to reduce costs. … Holding signs that said ‘Save Our Middle Class,’ workers interrupted postal officials with chants of ‘mic check — return to sender’ as the officials tried to explain why the center’s business should be shifted to Kansas City. … Echoing what some others said, [Rep. Billy] Long expressed the hope that the Postal Service would take into consideration the fact that Southwest Missouri is the fastest growing area of the state. He said the loss of the mail processing center to Kansas City, the loss of dozens of good-paying jobs, and the fact that mail would take several days to be delivered instead of arriving overnight would not help the region further its growth.” http://bit.ly/zL7hbF