Senators backing away from moving chairs around

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Now that the cost is known, Senate leaders are having second thoughts about supporting a resolution to move desks in the recently renovated Senate chamber.

The Senate passed a resolution on the final day of the legislative session directing the state to return the chamber's seating configuration to its traditional appearance.

But last week it was revealed that the changes could cost as much as $148,000. A far less intrusive option could cost $6,600.

There also is the option of doing nothing.

The desks were placed in their current configuration as part of a $1.8 million chamber renovation completed just before the start of the 2002 session.

Some senators took issue with that, including the sponsor of the seat-changing resolution, Sen. John Schneider, D-Florissant.

A few senators were upset that there was less room to maneuver between desks after the change. Others didn't like the idea that the prestigious back row of desks had been merged with the others.

Even though Schneider is being forced out by term limits at the end of the year, he was able to get the measure passed with the support of 18 others, including several others who also won't be back next year.

Costs weren't reviewed

Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, issued a lengthy statement through the Senate Communications Office after being questioned by The Associated Press about the situation.

Kinder, who did not sign the resolution, explained that a budget committee did not have time to review the potential costs of the measure and that no cost estimate had been provided to all senators when they voted.

"Had senators voting on the measure been aware of the project's estimated cost during floor debate, the resolution would have certainly been amended to call only for a review of the chamber's floor plan, rather than embark on the project," Kinder said.

Cost estimates for the project had been produced in January but apparently were not circulated to most senators.

So now, the issue will be reviewed by the Senate Administration Committee, which may discuss the issue later this month.

Meanwhile, some newspapers in Missouri were not amused by the Senate's seating concerns.

"Somehow senators managed to take time out from their busy last day -- when they were trying to find enough money to balance the budget -- to tend to this weighty matter of desks," The Kansas City Star wrote last week in an editorial. "When officials have priorities like that, you would wonder why Missouri voters would impose term limits."

The Jefferson City News-Tribune also weighed in.

"The consensus response from senators is that they didn't have time to review the costs before passing it. In other words, they gave uninformed consent to spend tax dollars; that's reassuring," the newspaper said in an editorial.

No apologies

Schneider, a master of sneaking changes to bills through the Senate, made no apologies last week about the resolution and noted that a majority of senators supported it.

Sen. Marvin Singleton, R-Seneca, was one of those. But upon learning of the potential cost, he said that things should perhaps stay as they are. Singleton even suggested that the 12 new senators to be elected this fall may like the chamber as is.

Kinder and Singleton both serve on the administration panel.

The language of the resolution is carefully written. It "directs" the state Division of Design and Construction within the Office of Administration to put the desks back as they were.