MISSOURI NOTEBOOK: REFORM RAGES

~If you'd like to land one of those high-paying, cushy jobs in state government, the best way might be to run for a seat in the Missouri House of Representatives. Gov. Mel Carnahan has tapped this chamber for more major appointments than any chief executive in recent memory, and the pace continues as the governor seeks to fill several important jobs still waiting to be filled after more than five months.

Carnahan has named legislators to several key posts, including director of the Department of Economic Development, chief of the state's Workmen's Compensation division, commissioner of the State Water Patrol and state Fire Marshal. Still other lawmakers have been tapped for important positions in the state's Department of Labor.

In the meantime, special elections to replace nearly 5 percent of the House membership are being held throughout the state.

~REFORM REVIVAL: In recent days two so-called reform organizations have cropped up, one seeking to limit campaign contributions of every elective office in the state, from mayor to governor, and the other promising tighter controls over the power of the General Assembly to increase taxes without a public vote.

The first group, known as Missourians for Fair Elections, seeks to put campaign contribution restrictions on the ballot as early as next year and is currently holding hearings around the state to get citizen input. Lead by former Secretary of State Roy B~lunt, the organization bears an uncanny resemblance to last year's group that put term limits on the ballot - and got it approved - in 1992. Fair Elections has several of the same officers and directors and the same campaign consultant as the term limitation group. One addition is Sandy McClure, Springfield, who serves as a paid state director of Ross Perot's United We Stand America organization.

The group seeking tighter restrictions in what is commonly called the Hancock Amendment is none other than the man who wrote the law: Republican congressman Mel Hancock. The 7th District representative is angry the General Assembly decided not to send the $310 million school tax to voters and now vows to rewrite the original 1980-enacted constitutional amendment.

Ironically, under recent revised initiative referendum statutes enacted by the Legislature, both groups should have an easier time getting their proposals on the ballot next year.

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STATE SMOKERS: The director of the Missouri Department of Health, Dr. Coleen Kivlahan, has disclosed our state has the fifth highest prevalence of cigarette smokers in the U.S. With one in every four Missourians puffing on a multitude of brands from Merits to Marlboros, a majority became smokers before the age of 18, Dr. Kivlahan says.

In fact, the incidence of youth smoking in Missouri is so high the state health director says it has reached "epidemic proportions." Dr. Kivlahan has called for stricter enforcement of laws barring cigarette advertising on television. "More than 1.2 million teenagers are taking up smoking every year, and they are getting an extra push by the credibility and recognition tobacco brands receive during televised sporting events," she says.

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LIQ~UOR LETHARGY: At least one member of the Missouri Senate has voiced criticism of the failure of churches in Missouri to oppose relaxed liquor-control bills introduced in this year's earlier session. State Sen. Emory Melton, veteran Cassville Republican lawmaker, has castigated state churches and their public affairs committees for not even showing up when the recent Sunday package liquor measure was being heard in committee. Not only did churches not attend the sessions, many never expressed opposition to lighter enforcement.

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~~SCARY STATISTIC: The Missouri Highway Patrol reports more than 5,200 children were reported missing during the first four months of 1993. A patrol official says about 80 percent of these are runaways, while parental abductions account for 3.5 percent. One percent are under suspicious circumstances.

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~~HAPPY NEW YEAR: For the State of Missouri, June is the last month of the (fiscal) year. FY 1994 starts July 1, which means agencies can resume spending without having to worry, at least for the moment, about exceeding appropriation figures.

In past years, June was a busy month for departmental directors and fiscal officers, since they used the month to spend any unused funds in their appropriation accounts. Sometimes the expenditures were frivolous, unnecessary items which were bought simply because an agency had some excess money. The logic was simple enough that a child could understand it: if we don't spend the money now, we might never have the chance in the future. Eventually, this long-honored practice became so blatant, and so obvious, that legislators who were savvy to departmental spending caught on. Now the last-of-the-year spending is carefully inspected for any sign of unseemly agency profligacy, and if it's found there are demands for an explanation when the next budget hearings roll around.

If you think this bureaucratic abuse has been stopped, think again. Bureau chiefs and fiscal officers now often blame employees who are no longer around to defend themselves, but the excuse doesn'~t always pass muster particularly in a tight budget year. Don't be critical of legislators who fail to catch on: remember that bureaucrats have 12 months to come up with a reasonable sounding excuse, while lawmakers are only in session less than half that time.

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HOMELESS HELP: Despite growing numbers, the problem of homeless Americans seems to have received short shrift in recent months, and state officials have just applied for a federal grant, totaling as much as $2 .1 million, to provide housing, mental health and substance abuse services to some 800 homeless in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas.