BAILEY TAKES ISSUE WITH CARNAHAN SAVINGS CLAIM

State Treasurer Wendell Bailey traveled the state Wednesday challenging claims by Lt. Gov. Mel Carnahan that he "saved the state millions of dollars" during the time he served as state treasurer.

"Nothing could be further from the truth," declared Bailey, who succeeded Carnahan in the office in 1985. "It's not true. He wasted millions of dollars. It's not fair to say we built on his record."

Bailey said when he became state treasurer he put state deposits out for bids. Instead of paying $3 million in fees to the Central Trust Bank in Jefferson City, the bid dropped total fees to $988,000.

"If I had built on Mel Carnahan's record as treasurer we would have dug a hole to China with tax dollars," contended Bailey.

Without bidding the money, Bailey said it would have cost the state $4,414 a day in extra fees and would have now totaled $16 million wasted on "political cronyism."

Central Trust Bank has been a longtime supporter of Democratic Party candidates and has been a depository for state funds for years.

Bailey said that in Fiscal Year 1992 the total cost was $1.048 million for bank fees, which is still well under what the state was paying when Carnahan was treasurer.

"For Mel Carnahan to say that I built on his record is an insult to Wendell Bailey and every dedicated employee in the treasurer's office," said Bailey. "For Mel Carnahan to say he saved the state millions of dollars is simply not true."

Bailey, who finished third in a race for the Republican nomination for governor last August, was accompanied at his airport news conference in Cape Girardeau by Rich Galen, press secretary for Attorney General William Webster, the Republican candidate for governor.

They planned eight stops Wednesday.

Comparing his tenure as treasurer to Carnahan's, Bailey said uncollected deposits now are down $12 million to $5 million. He also said that through his plan to invest the state's disbursement float, Missouri has 111 percent of its funds invested daily.

"In this campaign for governor, Carnahan's campaign theme has been to stay on the attack," complained Bailey. "I think it's appropriate to examine what Carnahan has done in the one elected position in which he had any real duties the state treasurer's job.

"His record as treasurer shows us that he was willing to waste millions of the taxpayer's dollars in order to reward a financial institution that was bank rolling the Democratic candidates for state offices."

Bailey said Carnahan has been making the claims on TV ads and in interviews. Bailey charged Carnahan did not make millions for the state. "That's not right. He wasted millions."