Government notice

St. Joseph (Mo.) News-Press

Gov. Matt Blunt's Government Review Commission is setting up a debate over the price of sunshine. That's healthy.

The governor brought the commission together to find ways to make state government more efficient and save taxpayers money. That's good.

But one of the recommendations would change the way public entities provide public notices for construction projects. At issue is a law last updated in 1995 that mandates that all state construction projects costing at least $25,000 be advertised in a newspaper in the county where the project is located. Those projects must also be advertised in two newspapers in the state that have a daily circulation of at least 50,000, according to The Associated Press.

Just three newspapers meet that second threshold -- the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Kansas City Star and the Springfield News-Leader.

The commission's proposal would bump up to $100,000 the trigger at which a construction project would be required to publicly advertise. It also would drop an existing requirement that the project be advertised in the state's three largest newspapers, according to the AP.

At Missouri State University, Springfield, an official testified before the commission in July that the university received 48 bids on 20 advertised construction projects during the past year. Just five of which were generated from $55,000 worth of advertising in Kansas City and St. Louis, the official told the commission. But none of those five bidders ultimately were the lowest, the AP reported.

If saving money is the only criteria before the commission, this is an easy call. It will save money. But there is more at stake here than attracting a handful of bids.

"Public notices aren't just about getting more bidders," Doug Crews, executive director for the Missouri Press Association, told the AP. "It's also about advising the public about what projects are out there and how their tax dollars are being spent." Saving taxpayer money is important. Keeping those taxpayers informed about where and how the state is spending that money is equally important.