Senate put the public ahead of politics

By Peter Kinder ~ From the Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- This session teaches that what some see as a perfect storm is really a perfect opportunity. This year, the Missouri Senate worked together to achieve a truly banner session. We passed a balanced budget. We passed a plan to secure the state's transportation infrastructure for years to come, and we advanced an economic development package that would have benefited every corner of the state.

As the leader of the Missouri Senate, I commend Republican and Democrat senators for working together to meet the needs of all Missouri citizens. I hope that the Democrat leadership of the House can learn from this example.

When the House sent us a budget three weeks late and between $50 million and $200 million out of balance, the Senate Appropriations Committee worked morning, noon and night to pass a balanced budget, eliminate wasteful government spending and increase funding for education by $110 million without raising taxes.

Political posturing in the House delayed appointment of the members needed to finalize the budget. That same political posturing in the House resulted in a final budget that spent $150 million more than we expected to receive and brought threats of a special session from the governor.

Making political promises that can't be kept comes at a cost to citizens. Putting politics ahead of policy costs comes at a cost to us all. Dozens of important bills died because of gridlock resulting from the Democratic House leadership's stubborn drive for new taxes -- revenues needed to fulfill political promises that threw the budget out of balance.

All lawmakers support educational funding. Yet, in honesty, such funding must be considered within the context of the needs of all citizens. Ultimately, we were able to accomplish this, and to do so without increasing taxes or squandering reserves in uncertain economic times.

In the final week of the session, the Senate passed legislation to protect Missourians from terrorism, reform property taxes, aid struggling farmers and implement election reforms to bring fair and honest elections to all jurisdictions in our state.

To help strengthen Missouri's economy, Republicans and Democrats in the Senate passed an economic recovery act containing specific projects for Springfield, Branson, St. Louis and Kansas City. Even though the measure had bipartisan support that included the governor, House leadership denied state representatives a vote on this measure. Without a vote, there is no democracy. Without democracy, the interest of citizens cannot be best served.

We also passed a bill to put the pledge of allegiance back in our schools.

True political leadership is about reaching across party lines to set priorities on what is important, not what's important to the next campaign.

This session, the Senate exemplified what's possible when lawmakers work together to put public priorities ahead of political ambition. The House leadership provides a similar example of what happens when lawmakers do just the opposite.

Peter Kinder of Cape Girardeau is president pro tem of the Missouri Senate.