THEY ALSO SERVE BY SOMETIMES DOING NOTHING

A number of Missouri legislators, in reciting the achievements of the recently ended session of the General Assembly, provided telling commentary by enumerating with equal pride those measures aborted and those measures advanced. We are not far detached from this sentiment. Some of the best work done by the legislature during 1994 was in keeping certain measures from becoming law. And while even skepticism allows us the admission that some good measures advanced to the governor's desk, it speaks volumes about the legislative process that what goes undone in some cases can be hailed as achievement for the state.

Foremost among the defeated endeavors was Gov. Mel Carnahan's highly coveted health care reform legislation, which he prized as a means of bringing the business of medicine more into the nest of government ... and which he surrendered in a flurry of accusations against insurance lobbyists. (He was correct in the sense that lobbying is at its worst when the truth is distorted, but lobbyists are not inherently corrupt simply because they express a view contrary to the governor's.) In fact, Mr. Carnahan found trouble bringing his own party into line on a piece of legislation that threatened to outdistance the extreme Clinton health care proposals being debated in Washington.

We applaud the bi-partisan group of lawmakers, some who withstood significant pressure, resisting passage of this bill, which had the ingredients of the late-session, barely scrutinized, highly flawed school reform legislation of the previous year. That sort of cynical, unreflective approach to legislation does not serve government well.

Further, the legislature did itself proud in the session by rejecting Southwestern Bell's desire to curtail regulation on that company's business. While pleading injury on behalf of Missouri citizens, Southwestern Bell actually wanted legislation to hold in place excessive profits while getting the pesky Public Service Commission off its back, a neat corporate achievement for one solitary bill. Fortunately, lawmakers demurred.

We also appreciate legislators resisting the temptation to advance the cause of video lottery games. In a state trying to find itself on gambling issues, this concept was an unwelcome intrusion.

Not all the unworthy measures were caught by lawmakers. In the case of campaign finance reform, the legislature approved a measure that encourages spending limits and places contribution limits on political candidates; Gov. Carnahan says he will sign the bill. However, there appears likely a constitutional challenge to this law, which opponents say restricts free speech by arbitrarily limiting the ability of some to get a message out. We believe the opponents have a good point. We prefer a system of full disclosure and think current laws provide for that.

And there were some cases where the legislature just couldn't win. We supported the General Assembly's action to require stricter vehicle emissions inspections in the St. Louis area because the state stood to lose too much ($400 million in federal highway funds) by doing nothing. We protest the federal government's heavy-handedness and caprice in making such threats, but the state had little choice but to pay the ransom.

Likewise, we are less than enthused with the legislature's inability to provide concrete funding for a worthy local project, the new College of Business building at Southeast Missouri State University. What makes this particular project stand out, in addition to it waiting in line for several years, is the substantial local contribution to making it a reality. Still, funding for the building this year depends upon the passage of a $250 million bond issue whose proceeds will be used largely for prison construction. We appreciate the fact the funding is not dead for the building for another year, but we feel the project merited more direct consideration.

The brightest spot in the legislative proceedings was passage of several anti-crime measures, the most noteworthy of which requires violent offenders to serve at least 85 percent of their sentences.

The Missouri General Assembly had a full platter for the 1994 session, with some sweeping issues in the mix. Lawmakers' inability to approve all that was put before them should not be counted to their discredit.