REPUBLICAN FROM PLATTE COUNTY CAMPAIGNING EARLY FOR TREASURER

Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Todd Graves says the state routinely violates the Hancock Amendment's spending lid, and if elected state treasurer he would seek to force the state to abide by it.

Graves visited Cape Girardeau Friday. He plans to attend the local Republican Party's Lincoln Day dinner Saturday at the A.C. Brase Arena Building.

The Republican candidate said the state treasurer should do more than sign checks: Both the treasurer and the auditor should serve as watchdogs over government spending.

"The No. 1 law we don't enforce in this state is the Hancock Amendment," said Graves. With Democrats holding all six statewide offices, there isn't anyone to champion the spending restrictions of the Hancock Amendment, he said.

The Democratic administration of Gov. Mel Carnahan wouldn't be talking about tax cuts at all if it weren't for the Hancock Amendment, said Graves. "They are dragged to the tax-cutting table kicking and screaming," he said.

If elected, Graves said he would consider filing a lawsuit against the state over its spending practices. Graves said state government continues to collect excessive tax revenues.

Graves, 33, describes himself as a fiscal conservative who believes in limited government.

"As a conservative Republican, I generally believe government is not the most efficient way to allocate resources," he said.

Graves hopes to succeed Democrat Bob Holden as treasurer. Holden is running for governor in 2000.

The election is still more than a year away, but Graves said he had to start early to get his name before voters.

Graves was elected prosecuting attorney in northwest Missouri's Platte County in 1994. At the time he was the youngest full-time prosecutor in the state. Graves manages an office with six assistant prosecutors and a yearly caseload of about 400 felonies, 3,000 misdemeanors and 11,000 traffic cases.

He grew up on a Tarkio area farm near the Iowa border. He and his wife, Tracy, have two children. They live on a 160-acre farm just north of Kansas City. Graves also owns and operates Noggin Noodle, an educational toy and teaching supply store in the Kansas City area.

His brother, Sam Graves, is a Republican state senator in northwest Missouri.