WHY ANOTHER TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE?

The department of highways and transportation shall be in charge of a highways and transportation commission. ... The highways and transportation commission shall have authority over all state transportation programs and facilities as provided by law, including, but not limited to, bridges, highways, aviation, railroads, mass transportation, ports, and waterborne commerce. -- Art. IV, Sec. 29, Missouri ConstitutionIn the wake of the failed Total Transportation Commission report, legislative leaders have appointed a joint House-Senate committee to assess the transportation needs of the state and make appropriate recommendations. The TTC was the 35-member commission appointed by Gov. Mel Carnahan last year and charged with doing this very same job. It didn't really matter that there existed no warrant in the Constitution for the TTC. Rather, somebody in the governor's office seems to have deemed it just the thing. When the TTC finally issued its report earlier this summer, as a key part of a push for a special session to enact a sales tax increase for transportation, it fell flat, to say the least. In a critical editorial, for instance, the usually mild-mannered Kansas City Star savaged the commissions work product as "Total Transportation Gibberish." Sadly, this rather ridiculous commission cost taxpayers nearly $600,000.

Hope, and schemes for further tax increases, die hard in Jefferson City. Now some lawmakers want a joint committee to take another look. Careful observers will want to gently raise their hands and ask, What about the Constitution? And while we're at it, "What about the standing committees on transportation in both houses of the General Assembly?" The chairmen of these two committees are both from southern Missouri: Sen. Danny Staples, D-Eminence, and Rep. Don Koller, D-Summersville. One would think these two lawmakers would object to the idea of appointing a joint committee to usurp their function, as well as that of the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission. Both of these have their proper constitutional basis. We ought to leave it at that. Who needs another joint committee?