Missouri House passes fee office reform
by Chuck Gatschenberger
April 6, 2009
Jefferson City, MO
Making government more transparent is a top priority on my list. You elected us to do the work of the people, and do it in an ethical way. Almost every session, we consider multiple pieces of legislation that seek to transform our current system—making government more accessible and beneficial to our tax payers. This year is no different.
Currently, it is in the Governor’s power to hand out contracts for fee offices. As you know, fee offices are where we go to renew driver’s licenses, get new vehicle tags, take driving tests and so forth. For obvious reasons, fee offices have the ability to generate hundreds of thousands of dollars. What you may not know is that a large percentage of that money often found its way back into the Governor’s political treasure chest. The Governor is able to do this by awarding fee offices to individuals who he knows will in turn donate to his political campaign fund. We think Missouri taxpayers deserve better than this and that is why we are taking a step to correct the process.
This week, we passed HB381, designed to ensure a fair system for determining fee office contracts. Through the legislation introduced by Representative Ryan Silvey, we take a common sense approach to awarding the contracts. The bill gives priority to non-profit organizations, then to municipalities, counties and fire protection districts. This is important to me, because I introduced a bill (HB743) that gave priority to non-profit organizations, and I am happy to see the language in Representative Silvey’s bill.
Simply put, it will require our Department of Revenue to award fee office contracts that focus on Missouri’s best interest, not the best interest of the Governor’s pocketbook. In addition, contracts will not be awarded unless the facility has the staff and space to cut the customer wait-time to thirty minutes or less. I think we can all relate to long, frustrating lines—especially when many of us only have time to run errands on an hour lunch break during the week.
Not only will these adjustments change a major flaw in the system, they will also act as a more beneficial tool for Missouri and for our taxpayers. The exchange of lucrative contracts for political favors will come to a close and our civic organizations that exist to assist Missouri families and communities will benefit immensely. In our opinion Missourians deserve nothing less.
Missouri House of Representatives
Chuck Gatschenberger
Chairman – Freshman Republican Caucus
Majority Caucus Deputy Whip
District 13
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