Blunt, McCaskill both want to better government, so what's the difference?

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Matt Blunt says he wants to make government more efficient. He has even appointed a special commission to do so.

State Auditor Claire McCaskill says she also wants to make government more efficient. That's why she does performance audits -- going beyond financial accounting to recommend management changes in state agencies.

It would seem that Blunt and McCaskill could be working together on a common goal. Yet they appear to be working against one another.

McCaskill claims Blunt is stymieing her efforts to get information from state agencies. Blunt claims McCaskill is exceeding her authority by reaching her auditing arm into places it doesn't belong.

What's this dispute about? Could it possibly be politics?

Let's not forget that Blunt, a Republican, defeated McCaskill, a Democrat, in last year's gubernatorial election. McCaskill will be on the ballot again next year, either seeking re-election or running for the U.S. Senate. She pledges to say which by Labor Day.

Blunt's administration suggests McCaskill is picking a fight for political attention.

"My sense is this is something she is wanting to draw out over the course of the next few weeks as she leads up to her Labor Day Senate announcement," said Blunt spokesman Spence Jackson.

But Blunt also is running for re-election, already banking more than $750,000 for his 2008 contest.

If there's any political fallout from the dispute, it's going to hit the governor, McCaskill's administration says.

"It's not a political problem for us," said McCaskill spokesman Glenn Campbell. "It's a political problem for an administration to deny access to an auditor. But it is a real problem for us because it hampers the way we can do our job."

Each elected official claims a principled stand.

For Blunt, it is protecting the privacy of Missourians' personal information -- income figures shown on tax documents, for example, or the personnel files of state employees.

For McCaskill, it is the public's right to know, via her auditing efforts, that its government is spending money appropriately.

According to McCaskill, rank-and-file auditors have for decades been in the habit of calling state agencies with questions or simply walking into offices to look at record books. She says such preliminary investigations help determine whether an audit is necessary.

But Blunt's administration, led by Revenue Department Director Trish Vincent, views the inquiries as bothersome intrusions. Vincent contends there is no legal basis for such preliminary investigations and has required McCaskill's staff to formally begin an audit -- and lay out its scope -- before her department will turn over information.

The other option, Vincent says, is for McCaskill's staff to submit an official open-records request, which would be handled in the same way as those made by the general public.

Ken Kuster, a 30-year auditor's office employee who has been an audit director under both McCaskill and her Republican predecessor, Margaret Kelly, says the obstacles erected by Blunt's Revenue Department are unprecedented.

McCaskill contends the new policy makes it difficult to check out taxpayer tips to the auditor's hot line or whistle-blower leads from within government. Plus, it requires the auditor's office to do more work than may be necessary to get an answer to a simple question.

"It's not efficient, and it flies in the face of everything (Blunt's) administration claims it was going to do in stopping waste and inefficiency," Campbell said.

Blunt counters that the auditor's impromptu requests are themselves inefficient.

"It would be more efficient if she would lay out in specific detail exactly what she was looking for and why, as opposed to making random phone calls in the day that divert employees from their assigned duties," Jackson said.

Vincent also questions McCaskill's authority to conduct performance audits, which look at how well a program works rather than only whether its finances balance. McCaskill has made performance audits the hallmark of her tenure.

But there is no law or legal precedent making the auditor "the state's designated management consultant," Jackson said.

If Blunt's administration continues to question performance audits, Campbell said, the auditor might take the issue to the ballot box with an initiative petition specifically granting the auditor that right. He is convinced the public is on the auditor's side.

But so far, the ballot measure is mere talk, of which there has been plenty in this dispute. Chances are good that by the next election the politicians will be talking about something else.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Capitol Correspondent David A. Lieb covers Missouri government and politics for The Associated Press.