For the past three years Missouri Democrats have criticized procedures Gov. Matt Blunt (R) used to award licensing and fee offices to campaign donors. Yesterday, State Rep. Luke Scavuzzo (D-Harrisonville) filed a bill to end the political patronage system involved with doling out the offices.
Scavuzzo's bill, HB 1866, would require the Missouri Department of Revenue to first give consideration for fee office contracts to school foundations and charities, relying then on a competitive bidding process if necessary.
House Democrats held a press conference earlier in the week announcing Scavuzzo's bill as part of a comprehensive ethics package.
“Ending the government-for-sale culture in the Missouri Capitol hasn’t been a priority by the leadership,” House Democratic Leader Paul LeVota said. “We ask Republican lawmakers to join us in taking the lead on accountability.”
The bill currently has 31 Democratic co-sponsors including Attorney General Candidate Jeff Harris (D).
"This is a system that is broken, outdated, and outmoded," Harris previously said of the current system for awarding fee office contracts. "[Democrats] think the best thing for Missouri taxpayers is to scrap the system of patronage."
But not all Democrats are on board with the proposal. Rep. Margaret Donnelly (D), one of Harris' opponents in the Attorney General race, is not listed as a co-sponsor.
Scavuzzo filed a similar bill last year but it never received a hearing in the Republican-dominated legislature. Harris also co-sponsored the earlier version of the bill while Donnelly did not.
Related Links:
HB 1866 (2008)
Rep. Luke Scavuzzo State Website
Related Stories:
MPN: House Democrats offer ethics proposals
Friday, January 25, 2008
Scavuzzo files fee office bill, calls for end to political patronage
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5 comments:
Harris supports dogfighting. Did not sign on to HB 1566.
http://www.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills081/biltxt/intro/HB1566I.HTM
The text of this story is not intended to imply that since Donnelly is not a co-sponsor she therefore must support the current system. However, as a statewide Democratic candidate, it is interesting that Donnelly is silent on one of the more striking Democratic critiques of the Blunt administration especially with half of the House Democrats on board. Again, MPN does not intend to imply Donnelly is automatically against the bill.
The bill that "quite a stretch" provides a link to, HB 1566, is not an issue that Democrats have charged opponents with in the last year. We're not familiar with any dog fighting rings sponsored by Gov. Matt Blunt or others in the administration (if you know of some, by all means, shoot us an email). Also, this bill has only 8 co-sponsors, which include neither Donnelly or Harris, and clearly does not have the same level of support in the Democratic caucus as Scavuzzo's ethics bill. However, the issue of dog fighting is not a partisan issue either. For further evidence of this, note that Sen. Scott Rupp filed a similar piece of legislation over in the Senate.
That being said, we did not directly acknowledge in the story above that the fee office bill was dead on arrival given its highly political nature. Perhaps that alone is a good reason for Donnelly to remain neutral on the bill. Or is it?
Give me a break, Donnelly doesn't have a good reason to NOT sign onto the bill. It's just a good idea and that's why Sen. Engler - a Republican - filed a similar proposal in the Senate!
Donnelly is probably just afraid it will make her look partisan.
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Good thing that someone is trying to do something about this. Thanks Rep Scavuzzo!
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