MISSOURI WATCH: THE SESSION THAT LOST ITS WAY

It has become increasingly more difficult to characterize the Missouri General Assembly as a representative body of some 5.1 million men, women and children. Surveying the remains of the just-adjourned First Session of the 88th Missouri General Assembly, one overriding them seems to prevail as the list of legislative accomplishments and failures is read by ordinary citizens.

That theme is the ever-growing prominence of virtually every kind of special interest at the expense of the state as a whole. Where, one wonders, is concern evidenced for the average Missourian with no political agenda? Today, it seems, the only hope of many state residents is that their interests, if not fully protected, will at least not be totally ignored in the rush to subservience to more powerful forces within the state.

No one who glances for at least 60 seconds at the finished work of this year's legislature can be overly impressed by either the quantity or the quality. And there's good reason for this legislative failure, for it can be laid at the doorstep of a wide variety of interests seeking only the fulfillment of their own agenda, with little or no regard for the public commonwealth. Indeed, the most highly touted accomplishment of the past session was a rewriting of Missouri's obviously outdated juvenile code, which instead of reducing a serious crime problem seemed actually to enhance it. While not minimizing this piece of legislation, it would be equally foolish to believe that it will make a serious dent in an epidemic of crimes committed by the most conspicuous components are poverty, ignorance and moral turpitude.

As our elected officials have sought to put the best possible light on this year's legislative calendar, they have been forced to list those ideas that were not enacted, either by a vote of member or by parliamentary sleight of hand. There is merit to the argument that legislative bodies succeed when they fail, especially if the ideas being advanced are pejorative, but we do not have representative government simply to keep bad laws off the books. We have a legislative branch to enhance our state government and thusly the lives of its citizens, and regardless of the soothing assurances, one thousand negatives will never equal one positive.

From the moment this session convened on January 4 until it adjourned May 12, the principal agenda seemed primarily the work of special interests. While little attempt was made to meet the needs of the most deserving, ranging from the uninsured to the mentally ill, boundless energy and effort went into the meeting the desires of entrenched interests. Lawmakers seemed not at all interested in delving into how only a small portion of a huge state budget could be used to raise health standards for a shockingly large number of young boys and girls in this state. Was there anyone around Jefferson City who took note of this state's deplorable ranking in terms of the health of its youngest, most vulnerable citizens?

For more than five years, Missouri has moved, mindless so, to the nearly total dismantlement of its once effective mental health system. A state that once ranked among the top three states in caring for a large population of developmentally disabled children now can only boast of a system that principally consists of a bureaucratic referral system to private-care-for-profit companies. As for the treatment of thousands of mentally ill and many additional thousands suffering from substance abuse, the legislature has pretended not to notice as more and more of our multimillion-dollar facilities are converted to handle convicted criminals. Former mental health facilities at Farmington, St. Joseph, Fulton and St. Louis have either been converted or are in the process of conversion to corrections units. Members of the General Assembly pay not the slightest heed to this short-sighted process that began in the mid-1980s.

Legislators do take heed, however, when special interest lobbyists ask for outrageous favors and privileges. The gaming industry is only the latest in a long series of private petitioners for legislative beneficence. It has been argued, often and loudly, by the cynical that the most powerful denizens on the third floor of the state Capitol are not the members inside the two chambers but the men and women standing in the hallways outside the two houses.

If that argument is not correct, then how does one explain the permissive rules and regulations countenanced and approved for out-of-state gambling companies? How does one explain approval of still-higher small loan interest rates for the poorest 10 percent of our population? How does one explain the rush to increase the number of weapons permitted on crime-ridden urban streets, where life has become so cheap that many now view it as virtually worthless?

A pox on the greedy, myopic, selfish special interests in our state who have, by virtue of the power of money, taken over the agendas of our two legislative chambers. The lobbyists may make huge contributions to members of both political parties as they seek public office, but the taxpaying public alone bears the multimillion-dollar cost of supporting this branch of government. As a matter of fact, the taxpayers of Missouri spend more than $23 million every year to support what was once envisioned as our most democratic branch of government.

The General Assembly doesn't belong to any group, any political party, any gambling consortium or any group of companies. It belongs to all of us, 5.1 million of us. After watching this session in action, or inaction, one can assume that not only have the taxpayers overlooked their legitimate claim to representative government, those who promise it at election time have also forgotten their pledges to the people.

Jack Stapleton of Kennett is editor of the Missouri News and Editorial Service.