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Maryville Daily Forum
OpiniOn P.O. Box 188, Maryville, MO, 64468
Wednesday, February 5, 2014 Your opinion matters. Submit your Letter to the Editor to: jfall@maryvilledailyforum.com. Letters must be signed and contain author’s phone number for verification. The Maryville Daily Forum will not publish letters addressed to third parties. The Forum reserves the right to edit correspondence for clarity and length, as well as content and accuracy.
660-562-2424
jfall@maryvilledailyforum.com
ALTERNATIVE VIEWS
Keep Constitution changes in check
Jefferson City News Tribune
Stop the madness. Efforts to change the Missouri Constitution through initiative petitions and legislation are growing exponentially. Secretary of State Jason Kander’s web site lists more than 50 initiative petitions for constitutional amendments approved for circulation in Missouri. In some cases, multiple petitions deal with a single topic. For example, three separate petitions deal with early voting, four relate to eminent domain and more than 20 with marijuana production, sale and distribution. Efforts to change the Constitution, however, are coming not only from interest groups proposing initiatives; state lawmakers are also using the legislative process to put constitutional amendments on the ballot. Already, two proposed constitutional amendments initiated by lawmakers are scheduled to appear on the Nov. 4 election ballot. One would establish a constitutional right to farm; another would allow relevant evidence of past crimes to be used as evidence in cases of sex crimes involving children under age 18. A (recent) story detailed proposed legislation to elevate hunting and fishing to a constitutional right. We have argued repeatedly that a constitution is a framework for government, not a document to be altered in cavalier or willy-nilly fashion. In one of the few areas where Missouri can take a lesson from the federal government, the U.S. Constitution‚ including its 27 amendments‚ spans 16 pages in a volume issued by the Secretary of State. In the same volume, the Missouri Constitution, which amends provisions within the document, spans 125 pages. Missouri lawmakers have no one to blame but themselves for the explosion of constitutional amendments. Our readers may recall Proposition B, an animal welfare law approved by voters, but changed drastically by lawmakers before it became effective. Therein lies a critical difference between state legislation and the state Constitution. The legislature has the power to make, repeal and alter laws; a vote of the people is required to change the constitution. Consequently, legislators, interest groups and the people know the way to prevent legislative tampering is to enshrine action in the constitution. The irony is every constitutional alteration weakens the legislative process. Continuing on this path increasingly will transfer power from elected representatives to the people. Although this may seem like an improvement, consider the drawbacks: increased frequency of elections; repeated barrages of well-financed campaigns to sway voters; and decisions made by a minority of voters if historically low turnout persists. If we continue on this inane path of continually amending the constitution, representative government eventually will become superfluous. Editor’s note: Alternative Views appears each Wednesday on the Daily Forum opinion page and consists of recently published editorials from other newspapers around
the state.
Contact Your Lawmakers STATE SEN. BRAD LAGER: R-Maryville, Room 429, State Capitol Building, Jefferson city, Mo. 65101; Ph. (573) 751-1415; brad.lager@senate. mo.gov. STATE REP. MIKE THOMSON: R-Maryville, Room 406A, State Capitol Building, Jefferson city, Mo. 65101; Ph.: (573) 751-9465; mike.thomson@ house.mo.gov. U.S. SEN. ROY BLUNT: R-Missouri; B40C, Dirksen Senate Office Bldg., Washington, D.C. Ph.: (202) 224-5721. Kansas City Office: 911 Main St., Suite 2224 Kansas City, Mo 64105 Ph: (816) 471-7141 U.S. SEN. CLAIRE McCASKILL: D-Missouri; Hart Senate Office Building, Suite. 506, Washington, D.C. 20510, Ph: (202) 224-6154 Kansas City Office: 4141 Pennsylvania Ave., Suite. 101, Kansas City, Mo. 64111; Ph: (816) 4211639 U.S. REP. SAM GRAVES: R-Missouri 6th District Washington Office, 1415 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515; Ph.: (202) 2257041 Kansas City Office, 11724 NW Plaza Circle, Suite 900, Kansas City, Mo. 64153; Ph: (816) 792-3976 St. Joseph District Office, 411 Jules St., Room 111, St. Joseph, Mo. 64501; Ph: 816-749-0800 GOV. JAY NIXON: D, P.O. Box 720, State Capitol, Jefferson City, MO 65102 Ph: (573) 751-3222.
A MINUTE WITH MIKE
Ballot positions, Bright Flight, propane gas getting attention
Much of our work as legislators is done in committee hearings where bills are heard, amended, debated and approved or disapproved. After four weeks, those bills that have been approved are beginning to hit the chamber floor for debate. The first one that was passed out of the House to move on for further discussion in the Senate would allow men and women who serve in the military, and disabled Missourians, who are going to run for public office to be treated fairly when their names are placed on the ballot. This legislation would allow deployed military members and folks with disabilities to file by certified mail rather than appearing in person. Our current law does not allow them to be in the drawing to see whose name appears at the top of the ballot if they are not present at the filing location. The legislation would allow them to send a proxy who would be included in the draw for ballot placement. This is a small change, but allows a level playing field for all who wish to run for office. Last week was the first meeting of the Committee on Higher Education and I was able to present a bill that I believe would make college more affordable for some of our state’s best students and, hopefully, entice them to stay in Missouri. The bill would improve the level of financial assistance received by our highest performing students by adding a forgivable loan program to our existing Higher Education Academic (Bright Flight) scholar-
ship. The loan amount would be up to $5,000 per academic year, for a maximum of $20,000, and would be forgiven at $5,000 per year if the student stays in Missouri and has full-time employment here. The Bright Flight Scholarship originated in 1986 and the intent was to keep our best and brightest here in Missouri to attend school and hopefully to join our workforce. Students who scored in the top 3 percent on the ACT or SAT were
Mike Thomson awarded $2,000 if they attended a Missouri institution. At that time, $2,000 would pay for tuition and fees at the University of Missouri. That amount will only pay a small portion of tuition and fees now and the scholarship, as it exists, is not particularly influential to students of
that caliber who are looking across our country for the best education. We feel that if this bill passes, it could make a significant difference to those top students who are deciding where they will go to school and where they will use their talents. A concern that most of us share during this bitterly cold time of the year is that dreaded utility bill. We have all seen escalating costs and this is especially true for those who use propane. In just one week, propane prices have soared. In some cases, costs have tripled. The House and Senate have called for an immediate investigation which will be launched by Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster, to determine the cause. Our attorney general is coordinating with nine other Midwestern states to find the truth about why this has happened. In addition, the U.S. Department of Transportation has issued emergency declarations to allow more propane to be shipped to our state in the hopes that additional propane will help drive down the price. We will continue to stay involved in this issue until we reach a resolution that will help our citizens who have been effected by this drastic price hike. If you have questions, you may reach me at my Capitol number, (573) 751-9465; at the local district number, (660) 582-4014; by email at mike.thomson@house.mo.gov, or by mail at Room 401B State Capitol Building, Jefferson City, Mo. 65101.
STRAIGHT TALK FROM SAM
Presidential priorities questioned
President Obama’s 2014 State of income inequality, but failed to menthe Union address is as memorable tion his own role in making that gap for what he didn’t say as what he did. During the course of his 65-minute speech, the president didn’t mention the phrases ‘national debt’ or ‘spending’ once. It seems that working with the Congress to get our fiscal house in order and reduce our $17 trillion debt remains low on the totem pole for this administration. He did mention “small business,” but only three times in his 6,778word address — in three consecutive sentences of the same paragraph. These private sector firms are our economy’s job generators; yet economists at one small business group argue “it’s hard to make the case that the small business sector has made significant progress” in recent years. Sam Graves The President also spoke about
wider. Five years into his presidency, the labor force participation rate is at its lowest point since Jimmy Carter was in the White House. There are four million Americans who have been unemployed for at least six months, and another eight million Americans working part-time because they still cannot find a full-time job. In fact, precisely because of the President’s policies, it’s harder to find a job or start a business. As the Wall Street Journal noted, most of his speech “… tried to address the economic insecurity that his own policies have done so much to create.” At the end of the day, thePresident’s remarks inspire little confidence that he is prepared to address the critical economic challenges facing our nation.
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