PRISON PANEL GETS A NEW MEMBER

The Joint House-Senate Committee on Corrections has a new member, following the resignation of state Rep. Phil Tate, D-Gallatin, to take a job in the Missouri Department of Economic Development. House Speaker Steve Gaw appointed as Tate's replacement Rep. Bill Skaggs, D-Kansas City.

Whether this development will change the delicate balance within the committee is unknown at present. That balance has led to the current situation: First is Charleston, which won nine of 12 committee votes; tied for second place with seven votes each are Licking, in southern Missouri's Texas County, and Trenton, near the Iowa border, in the district Tate had represented since 1986.

The committee is charged with making a recommendation to the governor for a final decision. Missouri has two prisons to build. The committee chairman, Sen. Danny Staples, D-Eminence, says he will reconvene next month to guide it toward a final recommendation on two sites. Staples is known to favor Charleston and Licking. What the addition of Rep. Skaggs means for this process is anyone's guess at this point.

What does appear certain is that no final decision will be forthcoming until sometime after the General Assembly convenes during next month's veto session.