Lipke gets key post back

A decision two years ago by Rod Jetton of Marble Hill, then speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives, to remove Rep. Scott Lipke of Jackson from his chairmanship of the Crime Prevention Committee, was political skirmishing of the worst kind.

With the start of a new legislative session this month, the new House speaker, Ron Richard of Joplin, has again named Lipke to chair the important committee, which reviews major proposals to change the state's criminal laws.

This is welcome news, as Lipke's experience both as a prosecutor and as a legislator make him particularly well-suited for these responsibilities.

The reason Jetton gave in 2007 for stripping Lipke's chairmanship was a bill passed in the previous session that included a provision that removed an unconstitutional law from Missouri's books. Even though that provision was in the proposed bill from the start, Jetton accused Lipke of sneaking it through the legislative process without bringing it to the attention of the Republican caucus.

There are two issues here. One is how this incident highlights the reality that many legislators don't bother to read the bills they vote on, relying instead on summaries and the advice of other legislators and lobbyists. The other issue is how the legislative leadership uses its power to keep reins on the political as well as legislative processes in the legislature.

Insiders say Lipke lost his chairmanship because he was considering a bid for the Missouri Senate seat held by Jason Crowell of Cape Girardeau. Speaker Jetton was Crowell's paid political consultant and wanted to thwart Lipke's potential challenge. As it turned out, Lipke chose not to run for the Senate seat because of a family situation involving the health of a soon-to-be-born child.

Restoring Lipke as committee chairman rights a wrong and places an able legislator in a position of important influence.