CUTTING SPENDIN IN MISSOURI SENATE REVERSES LONG TREND

Wow! Attempt to make a few savings of taxpayers' hard-earned dollars, and from the anguished outcry you would think you had ignited World War III.

"This is the crucifixion of the Missouri Senate," cried a usually sensible state Sen. John Scott, the St. Louis Democrat and former president pro tem. Scott, a good friend who sits next to this writer on the Senate floor and with whom I co-sponsor legislation, is a nearly three-decade veteran lawmaker who has long been a valued counselor. Another 24-year Senate veteran was reduced to tears at the prospect that he might have to live within the $92,000 (plus or minus) staff allowance extended to all senators, instead of padding his office with other employees whose salaries are paid out of overall Senate administration funds but who, in fact, work entirely for him.

Coming in after 52 years of one-party domination of the Missouri Senate a scant five weeks ago, here is what we found:

* Your taxpayer dollars: A Senate budget that amounted to a little over a half-million dollars in 1970 today has swollen to well over $12 million, an increase of 2,400 percent. From 2000 to 2001 alone, the last year of Democratic control, the Senate budget increased by an astonishing 23 percent.

* Employees: The Senate payroll, which numbered approximately 75 in 1970, today has swollen grotesquely to 211. All this for a body consisting of 34 members. Some Senate employees constitute a privileged class of executive secretaries, renamed administrative assistants, earning $60,000 to $65,000 a year.

* Vehicles: The Senate owns not one but two vans, which sit idle most of the time in the garage. There might well be a need for us to own one, but certainly not two. It turns out that the newer model is the vehicle for a former president pro tem, who retired from the Senate three years ago. Instead of just selling it on his departure or putting it into the state motor pool, the Senate held onto it.

* Stamps: The Senate has long had a policy of issuing $150,000 in stamps to members each year. Stamps are currency, and there is literally no control over how they are used. They can and doubtless do find their way into personal and staff use and into members' political campaigns. This has been winked at for years, even though two state auditors of differing political parties have spotlighted the practice, urging its elimination.

* Courtesy resolutions: This has been abused by members of both parties. The Senate spends over $200,000 on drafting and framing resolutions for constituents, with no limits whatsoever. We are proposing limits for the first time.

These are a few of the needles in the Senate haystack we have found on our first look through the operation. Senate Republicans are proposing the outright elimination of 12 employee positions with no replacements. Please note: This isn't ordinary patronage firing from these positions, to be replaced by Republican employees. No replacements are planned. After 52 years of increasing employment and bloated budgeting, we are beginning to institute a revolutionary concept known as economy in government.

We will institute savings in the coming fiscal year that starts July 1 of 10 percent of the Senate budget. With the 12 employees who aren't being replaced, we will realize annual savings of $650,000 to $700,000.

~Peter Kinder is assistant to the chairman of Rust Communications and president pro tem of the Missouri Senate.