State tobacco authority met without normal public notice

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- State officials failed to properly notify the public about a meeting regarding Missouri's attempts to sell bonds against its share of a national tobacco settlement, officials acknowledged Wednesday.

But officials said the meeting was exempt from certain provisions of the state's open records and meetings law.

Lt. Gov. Joe Maxwell confirmed Wednesday that a meeting of the Tobacco Settlement Financing Authority was held Tuesday without the 24-hour notice required under the state's Sunshine Law.

Maxwell, with the support of Attorney General Jay Nixon, pointed to a Sunshine Law provision allowing an exception to the public notice requirements when there is "good cause."

"We felt there was sufficient good cause," Maxwell said. "It was a conscious decision, and we felt based on the circumstances that was the best thing for the taxpayers of Missouri."

A memo obtained from Maxwell's office says normal notice was waived "in order to preserve the Tobacco Settlement Financing Authority's options of issuing the short-term notes authorized in Senate Bill 1191."

Moving quickly

State officials are trying to move quickly on the bond issue, signed into law last week by Gov. Bob Holden, in order for the bonds to be considered tax exempt under Internal Revenue Service guidelines.

The deadline to acquire that status is July 29. At Tuesday's hastily called meeting, the bond authority decided to begin accepting applications for a financial adviser to help with bond issues.

The Tobacco Settlement Financing Authority created under the new state law is made up of three voting members: the governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.

There also are three non-voting members: the state treasurer, speaker of the House and president pro tem of the Senate.

At Tuesday's meeting, Maxwell was the only member in the governor's conference room for the meeting. Holden, State Treasurer Nancy Farmer and House Speaker Jim Kreider, D-Nixa, all sent representatives to the meeting. Nixon and Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, participated by the phone.

The Associated Press received a news release about the meeting's results nearly four hours after it began but never was notified the meeting was occurring.

The responsibility for letting the public know about the meeting rested with the state Office of Administration, which conceded Wednesday that it had not followed usual notification procedures.

Agency head Jackie White said, "We should've sent this to a staff person in OA who makes sure it gets to appropriate media outlets, but that didn't happen. It was in no way intentional."

White said a copy of the meeting notice was posted outside her Capitol office door "a few hours" before the meeting.

State law requires that meeting notices be posted on "a bulletin board or other prominent place which is easily accessible to the public and clearly designated for that purpose."

Under the tobacco law, Missouri can sell bonds against a maximum of 30 percent of the $4.5 billion it expects to receive over 25 years from the legal settlement with big tobacco companies.

That bond sale could result in as much as $600 million for the state, depending on market conditions. State officials hope to secure at least $50 million to help fill gaps in the upcoming budget.

The law limits the bond revenues to being used for one-time expenditures, short-term revenue shortfalls or capital improvement projects.

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On the Net:

Office of Administration: http://www.oa.state.mo.us